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Key findings and conclusions: • Cisco Client Link Feature increased the average throughput for 802.11a and 802.11g clients by 65% • Increased the overall channel capacity by 27% Lab Testing Summary Report • Extended RF signal range to penetrate through obstacles and reduced coverage holes • Easily deployed without hardware or software modifications required for the client January 2009 Report 090112 Product Category: 802.11 Wireless Optimization Vendor Tested: isco submitted 802.11n access points AP1250 and AP1140 equipped with ClientLink beam forming technology for performance evaluation by Miercom. The focus of the evaluation was the performance enhancement that the ClientLink feature enables for legacy Wi-Fi 802.11a/g clients. We analyzed the overall benefit of ClientLink by comparing the performance improvement before and after enabling this feature. We measured the downstream throughput, reduction of application transaction time, and reduction of coverage holes, particularly at the outer edges of the access points. C ClientLink is a beam forming technology which enables legacy 802.11a/g clients to experience an overall improvement in throughput. Our testing proved that with ClientLink enabled, 802.11a/g clients could experience comparable performance to that of the latest 802.11n client technology. Tests proved that with ClientLink enabled there was an overall extended signal reach through obstacles, improved Signal to Noise Ratio, and increased throughput at the outer points of an access point’s coverage area. Application transaction times and coverage holes were also reduced. (continued on page 3) Products Tested: Cisco AP1250 and AP1140 w/ ClientLink Beam Forming Feature Figure 1 ClientLink Throughput Improvement ClientLink Offers Higher Throughput per 802.11a/g Device 13.6% No Connection without ClientLink Throughput vs. Distance 87.7% 70.4% 89.5% Performance test of Cisco’s ClientLink feature proved up to a 65% average increase in throughput for 802.11 a/g devices. ClientLink also and provided coverage in hard to reach areas that otherwise had no wireless connectivity.

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Test Bed Diagram 1 Gbps 1 Gbps Cisco Wireless LAN Controller 4402-50 1 Gbps Cisco 3750-E 24 Port POE Switch Lenovo X61s Ixia Chariot Endpoint 1G s bp 1G 80 2.1 1a bp s 1a .1 02 8 Cisco Aironet 1252 Cisco Aironet 1142 Dell Precision M2300 Cisco CB21-AG Client Card How We Did It ClientLink was evaluated for the performance benefits it provides in a mixed client environment by measuring the effect on throughput, and coverage with the beam forming feature on and off. We utilized Ixia’s Chariot 6.50 (www.ixiacom.com) to generate bi-directional TCP traffic between the wireless client and a wired...

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(continued from page 1) The introduction of 802.11n wireless technology offers several performance advantages over earlier Wi-Fi standards for improving network efficiency. However, to achieve full advantage of 802.11n technology, both the clients and the Access Points must be 802.11n compliant. However, in real-world deployments, a mixed client environment will continue to exist for the next several years. This is due to corporate refresh cycles, with an increased demand to further the longevity and increase the ROI of existing technology investments. In this mixed environment, legacy...

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and throughput was 7.4Mbps. Enabling ClientLink boosted RSL by 2dBm, and increased throughput to 12.7Mbps, a 70% improvement. The 50 foot test location changed the multipath again by placing another wall and door between the AP and the client. The advantage of ClientLink beam forming was 1dBm improvement in RSL, from -87 to -86, and a 89.5% improvement in throughput. Perhaps the most dramatic display of ClientLink’s benefit was seen when we performed our test at the 60 foot location. With beam forming disabled, the legacy 802.11a client was unable to maintain a stable Wi-Fi connection with...

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at 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° from the AP. The test file was 100KB non-compressible TCP data. With beam forming enabled, we observed using the AirMagnet tool a general upward trend in the frame size distribution versus with beam forming disabled. This reflected the protocol selecting higher frame rates based on the improved SNR. With beam forming disabled, only 44% of the traffic received at the client was received at a rate of 14 Mbps or higher, with a significant portion being received at rates of less than 10Mbps. However, when beam forming was turned on, the amount of traffic being...

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Miercom Performance Verified Based on lab testing of the Cisco AP1250 and AP1140 Access Points with ClientLink feature, Miercom verifies that their performance capabilities offer superior throughput and extended coverage for legacy 802.11a/g clients. Hands on testing confirmed that Cisco’s Client Link Feature can greatly enhance the end user experience in today’s mixed wireless environments. Customers can further protect initial investments made in pre-802.11n technology by using the Client Link feature in Cisco Access Points. The Cisco AP2510 and AP1140 Access Points with ClientLink earned...

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