wi fi-stress-test
TRANSCRIPT
The Ultimate Wi-Fi “Stress Test” Taking Industry-Leading APs to their Breaking Point
Test Overview
o Conceived and performed by Wireless LAN Professionals, based in Orem, UT
o Vendor-agnostic WLAN integrators and consultants
o Enterprise WLAN design and deployment specialists
Keith ParsonsManaging Director
Wi-Fi Stress Test developed to determine:
1. The breaking point at which a given access point fails
2. How and why similar access points perform differently
WI-FI STRESS TEST2
o Stress test industry-leading Wi-Fi APs for capacityo 16 APs from 7 different WLAN suppliers
o Use typical devices and applicationso iPads, MacBook Pros, etc.
o Keep testing real world using standard test tools
o Make tests repeatable
o Eliminate any unfair vendor advantageso eg. Ruckus BeamFlex
o Maintain complete independenceo No vendor donations or underwritingo No vendor influence over testbedo Vendors present for all testing
Testing Goals VENDOR PARTICIPANTS
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5
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7
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Testing Methodology32’ x 28’ portable classroomdonated by Canyons School District (-3dB walls)
o No load throughput baseline establishedo FTP file transfer (600MB file up and down) to servero iPerf run (20 seconds) using default TCP setting
o Capacity test: 5 iPads at a time added until AP breaks (Breakpoint = 50% of clients freeze or FTP download exceeds 20 minutes)
o Video test focused on client experienceo Video freezes count as error, video restartedo At 10 errors, iPad counts as ‘dead’; video restarted
APs restricted to 20MHz wide channels,
2.4GHz (11) and 5GHz (36) used
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Test Process
WI-FI STRESS TEST
iPerf client
FTP client
3x3:3
5-10 10-15 15-20
FTP Server
20-25
iPerfServer
VideoServer
ACCESS POINT UNDER TEST
602MB
1. Unicast HD video streams initialized on iPadso iPad count increased by 5 per roundo First round is baseline - 0 iPads and no video
2. Add ‘throughput’ traffic (one case at a time)o FTP download of 600 MB to MacBook Pro o FTP upload of 600 MB from MacBook proo iPerf on MacBook Pro – 20 seconds, default TCP settings
3. Repeat for 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 iPadso NB – no AP succeeded with 30 iPads
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5
Results at a Glance
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20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
020 30 40 50 60 70 80
VIDEO ERRORS
AVG. TCP THROUGHPUT
Juniper 532
Cisco 3602i
Aerohive AP121
HP 430
Aerohive AP330
Cisco 2602i
HP 460
Xirrus 4820
Aruba 105
Aruba 135
Ruckus 7982
Highest, most reliable performance
Lowest, least reliable performance
Meraki MR24
Meraki MR16
Ubiquiti UniFi Pro
Linksys EA4500
ZoneFlex 7982 receives top marks for the HIGHEST aggregate TCP throughput with the LOWEST number of video errors
A Clear Winner: ZoneFlex 7982
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Average Throughput Results
Ruckus 7982
Cisco 2602i
HP 430 Xirrus 4820
Cisco 3602i
Aerohive AP330
Aruba 135
Juniper 532
HP 460 Aruba 105
aver-age tput
18.27 17.87 16.78 13.98 13.95 13.76 13.47 13.2 12.52 10.08
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
Average TCP Throughput
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Lowest Video Transmission Errors
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Video Errors (bad)R
ucku
s 79
82
Ruc
kus
7363
Juni
per
532
Cis
co 3
602i
Aer
ohi
ve A
P12
1
HP
430
Aer
ohi
ve A
P33
0
Cis
co 2
602i
Xirr
us
482
0
HP
460
Lower is better
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o AP with statistically higher data rates faired best
o BeamFlex always optimizes for performance oConstantly is picking the highest PHY data rate for any given client
because it uniquely supports the “degrees of freedom” to do sooAntenna pattern + rate control = BeamFlex algorithmoEnvironment changes: people move, obstacles change and interference
comes and goes
o Statistical sampling is essential for high data ratesoSampling quickly narrows in on statistically optimal pattern + data rateoSampling quickly adapts to changesoDrives related features – packet scheduler, ChannelFly
o Superior band steering implementation
Why Did Ruckus Fair Better?ANSWER: BeamFlex Statistical Optimization
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More Information
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