Cisco Systems ClientsThatSupportThreeSpatialStreams

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CiscoAironetAccessPointDeploymentGuide 
CiscoSystems
Copyright©2012CiscoSystems,Inc.Allrightsreserved.
Page41of52
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TheAP2600,whilesimilartotheAP3600,isslightlydifferentsinceitisa3x4:3.ThismeansthattheAP
2600alsohasfourantennastohelponthereceive(upstreamsignal)butusesonlythreetransmitterson
thedownstreamside.
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TheyellowsectionsoftheMCSchart(seeFigure54)depictthefasterdataratessupportedbytheAP
3600.TheAP3600supports802.11a/b/gratesaswellas802.11nratesofMCSvalues0‐23.
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Figure54:AP2600/3600Supportsupto450Mbps(MCSRates0‐23);AP1600(MCSRates0‐15)
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TheseadditionalMCSratespermitmorechoicesfortheclientsupporting3SSwhenmakingrate‐shifting
decisions,sincetherate‐shiftingalgorithmmaintainsthebestoverallthroughputconnection.
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ClientsThatSupportThreeSpatialStreams
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Clientswith3SSsupportarenowmorecommon.Asthenew802.11acspecificationbecomesmore
accepted,manynewerclientadapterswillhavethenewer���chipsetsandsupport3SSasasubsetto
802.11ac.Unlikemanycompetitors,theAP1600/2600andtheAP3600fullysupportalltheDFS
channelsformoreusablechannelsinthe5GHzrange.Moreclients,especially802.11acclients,will
starttoemergeandsupportthesenewerchannelsin802.11nmodes.
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Currentlythemostpopular3SSclientistheApple2011MacBookPro.ItisbasedupontheBroadcom
BCM4331chipsetandasmallUSBadapter(TEW684UB)byTrendnet,basedontheRalinkchipset.
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TheIntel5300and6300hassupported3SSforalongtime.Perhapsbecausethiscardisinstalledin
differenthardwareplatforms,testershaveobservedgoodthroughput(+320Mbps)onmanynotebooks
andreducedthroughput(suchas240Mbps)onothernotebooks.Ifyouexperiencelowthroughputwith
theIntelcard,tryaMacBookProorTrendnetadapter.Iftheyperformwell,tryanothernotebookwith