Wireless coverage of IT networks has become an essential technological facet to have. However, such coverage can come with limitations. Access points are important devices when it comes to extending wireless coverage of an existing network and for increasing the number of users that can connect to it. With solely routers, organizations have limitations on the amount of users. However, access points can enable organizations to provide hundreds of users access at the same time. Every organization can benefit from access points. These benefits include:
- stronger ability to send and receive signals
- hundreds of users can gain access
- an access point can cover up to 100-300 meters and the increase of wireless access points will extend signal coverage proportionally, which enables users to roam freely in the network
- an Access Point has a variety of modes for you to choose, which is meant to be very flexible, such as Simplex AP, Wireless Client, Wireless Badge, Multi-point Bridge, and more.
With these notable strengths of Access points, the next question arises: which Access Points products should an organization consider?
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
The Cisco Catalyst 9100 access points can handle the challenges of the next generation’s network. Going beyond the Wi-Fi standard, Catalyst 9100 access points are resilient and intelligent and provide integrated security for an organization and their IoT devices. These are the strengths of the Catalyst Series Access Points:
- Support both orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access and Multiuser Multiple Input, Multiple Output, delivering more predictable performance for advanced applications and IoT
- with up to 2.5 Gbps with NBASE-T and IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet compatibility, the Cisco Catalyst 9100 Series can seamlessly offload network traffic without any bottlenecks.
- You can use your existing Category 5e or 6 cabling to achieve speeds up to 5 Gbps, allowing for higher throughputs with minimum cost.
- Three radios: 2.4 GHz (4×4), 5 GHz (4×4), and BLE
Click here to learn more about Cisco Catalyst 9100 Series
Aruba AP-335 Wireless Access Point
Aruba 330 Series Access Points provide the fastest gigabit data speeds and superb user experience for mobile devices and applications in a digital workplace. They provide simultaneous data transmission to multiple devices, maximizing data throughput and improving network efficiency. Designed with an integrated HPE Smart Rate port to scale up to 5Gbps Ethernet, the 330 Series allows enterprises to leverage their multi-gigabit Ethernet wired network infrastructures to eliminate bottlenecks.
- Support for new Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), WPA3 and Enhanced Open – and all existing standards
- Advanced AI-powered closed-loop wireless/RF optimization
- Enhanced AP utilization and client roaming Automated deployment with ZTP and hierarchical configuration
- Dynamic Segmentation enforces wired and wireless access policies to simplify and secure the network
- Application awareness for 3,000+ applications without additional hardware
- Live Upgrade and Seamless Failover
Click here to learn more about Aruba AP-335 Wireless Access Point
Cisco AiroNet 2702i Wireless Access Point
The Cisco Aironet 2700 Series of Wi-Fi Access points delivers industry-leading 802.11ac performance (faster Wi-Fi) at a price point ideal for plugging capacity and coverage gaps in dense indoor environments. The Aironet 2700 Series extends 802.11ac speed and features to a new generation of smartphones, tablets, and high-performance laptops now shipping with the faster, 802.11ac Wi-Fi radios.
The Aironet 2700 series supports 802.11ac “Wave 1” in its first implementation, providing a theoretical connection rate of up to 1.3 Gbps. That’s roughly triple the rates offered by today’s high-end 802.11n APs. The boost helps you stay ahead of the performance and bandwidth expectations of today’s mobile worker, who usually uses multiple W-Fi devices instead of just one. As such, users are adding proportionally larger traffic loads to the wireless LAN, which has outpaced Ethernet as the default enterprise access network.
Click here to learn more about Cisco Aironet 2702i Wireless Access Point