Advantages of dual-mode AP Wireless Network

The dual-mode AP wireless network brings new prospects for complex enterprise network construction. What advantages does the dual-mode AP wireless network have? Let's take a look at it together. First, we will go through the introduction of the Protocol, as well as the network structure and application.

The coexistence of 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a standards gave birth to the application of dual-mode products. Currently, we are familiar with dual-mode wireless network adapters, which allow users to connect to the corresponding standard AP to ensure wireless Internet access in different locations. However, more recently, equipment suppliers such as Proxim have also launched dual-mode AP products. Reverse Thinking brings more than two-way selection of wireless environments, because different standard wireless networks can be used in the same space, the dual-mode AP wireless network is more suitable for enterprise users with rapid development and cost saving.

Recently, the introduction of the 802.11g standard, coupled with the existence of 802.11b and 802.11a, has made the current market a situation where a variety of standards coexist, bringing trouble to wireless end users. Undoubtedly, 802.11b is the most widely used, with a market share of nearly 80%. Industry experts predict that the market share of 802.11b will remain at around 50% after the large-scale release of 802.11g products; 802.11g will account for 30%, and 802.11a will account for 5%-15%, therefore, most individual end users use 802.11b-based PC cards, including the latest next-generation laptop technology-Intel's wireless feature integrated with the Mobile Computing Technology of Intel is also based on 802.11b. However, 802.11g and 802.11a still have a considerable share of the market. For some mobile users, their wireless NICs usually only support 802.11b, once transferred to an environment incompatible with the network card, you will not be able to enjoy the convenience of wireless interconnection.

Therefore, the coexistence of the 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a standards gave birth to the dual-mode products 802.11a and 802.11b, or 802.11a and 802.11g. 802.11b and 802.11g are in the same band, applications with the same transmission rate can be well compatible and should not be considered dual-mode.

Dual-mode AP Wireless Network: a hybrid network in the same space

The purchase of a wireless network card that supports dual-mode is a common method, but this is an AP-based application form. The diversity of network cards can meet the needs of AP standards in different environments, A single space can only have one standard wireless network. Products that support the 802.11a technology are relatively expensive and have a low transmission distance. However, they support a speed of up to 54 M/s and provide several times as high-speed channels as 802.11b/g. For example, 802.11a supports 8-12 channels, therefore, it is very suitable for intensive groups, such as telecom and large enterprises. The 802.11g is backward compatible with 802.11b and the speed is higher than 802.11b. However, the transmission distance is shorter than that of 802.11b, and the price is higher, suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises with high speed requirements, while 802.11b is more suitable for families, SOHO and small and medium-sized enterprises with limited funds. Based on the different needs of enterprise users and the characteristics of different standard technologies, enterprises can choose their own products and equipment. However, the problem also exists. An enterprise is not static, and it will grow and grow, or it may fall in recession, so its demand will change accordingly.

If wireless network devices can coexist with multiple standard networks in the same space of an enterprise, individual mobile users no longer need to replace wireless network adapters of different specifications, enterprise users do not need to change their devices because of changes in their status and needs. Using Dual-mode AP, You can have different types of wireless networks in the same space. The above problems will be solved and more choices will be made for enterprise users.

Dual-mode AP Wireless Network: flexible response to Enterprises

As it is shared bandwidth, increasing staff will significantly reduce the performance of the original 802.11b-based wireless network system. In related tests, the maximum transmission rate of 802.11bAP is less than 6 Mbps. When the number of users increases to 10, the bandwidth allocated to each user is less than 1 Mbps, this will seriously reduce the work efficiency of employees. Replacing or adding equipment means a new investment and increasing the operating costs of enterprises. On the contrary, the economic downturn has led to large-scale layoffs by enterprises, which will waste the utilization of high-bandwidth 802.11a wireless devices. Faced with complicated standards and various problems that may occur in applications, enterprises will inevitably feel confused and difficult to choose from. Good scalability solutions will be well received by enterprises, so that enterprise users can protect their investment while enjoying the convenience of wireless Internet technology, eliminating worries.

Users' needs mean new market opportunities. major manufacturers have launched various solutions for this, and enterprise users are facing multiple choices. For example, the latest ProximORiNOCOAP-2000 provides two fully-compliant PCMIC slots to install different types of NICs to support different network types. These two slots can be installed with the same type of wireless network adapter 802.11b or 802.11a), so that you can get twice the bandwidth from the AP-2000 as normal 802.11b/802.11aAP and the number of user support. If you want to upgrade some wireless clients to a higher-speed 802.11a network while using the 802.11b wireless network, you can install an 802.11b and 802.11a network card on the AP-2000, in this way, you can use this AP to provide a hybrid network environment of 802.11b and 802.11a. Although this method of AP-2000 occupies two wireless NICs, it is more flexible in the configuration and upgrade of the device, more suitable for large-scale wireless network environment. In comparison, although some other manufacturers of products also adopt the popular dual-slot design, but due to the slot is not enough rules, as the AP-2000 does not provide double bandwidth and user support in normal mode. Moreover, ProximORiNOCOAP-2000 is ready to support high-security 802.11i standards in terms of hardware, once the standard is officially announced, through the relevant software settings, you can fully support, to ensure the higher security requirements of enterprises.

Dual-mode AP Wireless Network: Increase the number of channels

802.11a can provide eight non-overlapping channels. In contrast, 802.11b and 802.11g share three channels. In intensive installation environments, extra channels can make the 802.11a network several times faster than 802.11b. The dual-mode system in the same space can provide more channels than the non-dual-mode system. Different wireless networks in the same space ensure more choices for enterprise users.

Dual-mode AP Wireless Network: improving throughput

In terms of bandwidth, WLAN users are not concerned about the theoretical bandwidth, but about the throughput. However, throughput changes greatly due to distance, obstacles, and interference. Data shows that the bandwidth gap between 802.11a and 802.11b is theoretically 43 Mbps, but actually only 30 Mbps. In addition, in an environment with moderate density (that is, the extra channel is not important) while obstacles or distance factors are prominent, the lower the frequency, the better the effect. 802.11g can provide better throughput than 802.11a. However, if you consider the bandwidth of the entire network, dual-mode systems in the same space will be favored because they combine the throughput of the two technologies.

Dual-mode AP Wireless Network: effectively solves Band Interference

Currently, there are very few devices running in the 5.8GHz band used by 802.11a, while the 2.4GHz band used by 802.11b and 802.11g is becoming increasingly crowded, mobile phones, microwave ovens, and PDA Bluetooth peripherals all run in this band. From the perspective that the higher the frequency, the shorter the signal transmission distance and the limited ability to penetrate the obstacle, the mutual interference of the 5.8 GHz system is lower than that of the 2.4GHz system. However, after a period of time, the 5.8GHz band will also become congested. By contrast, the most satisfactory system is still a dual-mode system, which provides the possibility of avoiding interference frequency bands. This is especially important for mobile devices that may encounter different types of interference in mobile devices.

Dual-mode AP Wireless Network: more distance options

Devices running at higher frequencies consume more energy than similar devices running at lower frequencies. 802.11g uses the same OFDM modulation method as 802.11a, while 802.11b uses a low-energy complement key technology. In this regard, 802.11b is more advantageous. Distance or penetration) is also an important factor. High-frequency signal transmission distance is shorter than low-frequency signal, and penetration is also worse than that of the latter. However, the chip manufacturer said that the second generation of 802.11a products will have a longer transmission distance than 802.11b in any throughput.