Simultaneous dual-band g/n access point?

[Terry Kennedy]

I'm looking for a business-grade simultaneous dual-band (2.4/5GHz) access point that does (at a minimum) g/n. I need a unique SSID for each frequency; additional SSIDs would be nice but not necessary. MIMO (3 antennas / band) is a requirement. a/b would be nice, but not necessary. I'll be using an AC power adapter, not power-over-Ethernet. I will be operating in n-only mode at 5GHz, so I would like a unit that can do at least 300Mbit/sec data rate on that band (I know that actual throughput will be less).

I will be running 3 of whatever access point I wind up with, in autonomous / independent / whatever each vendor calls it mode, so I don't need / want units that require some sort of additional controller / management station.

I'd prefer a unit that can be wall- or shelf-mounted, which means something in a mostly-rectangular package. Things like the "Prada handbag" Linksys units are not welcome.

The D-Link DAP-2553 would be perfect, except that it is either-or, not simultaneous dual-band. The next model up, the DAP-2690, is only a 2 antenna/band design, and is a LOT more expensive. For only $150 more than the 2690, I could get a Cisco Aironet 1252 dual-radio system (3 antennas/band) with antennas and power supply.

There's also the Motorola AP-7131, but they have accomplished the seemingly impossible - a series of model and option choices more Byzantine than Cisco's, and no obvious price for access to software updates.

Are there any other units I'm overlooking?

 

[thiggins]

NETGEAR WNDR3700 converted to AP.

 

[stevech]

Right- might be cheaper to get a 5.8GHz 802.11a or 11n single band router and fake it to be an access point, than a dual band simultaneous all in one.
Probably better performance, too.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

NETGEAR WNDR3700 converted to AP.

Hmmm. I'm not a big NETGEAR fan due to the SSL312 /Vista/7 fiasco and their utter inability to provide pre-sales information on a suitable replacement - their enterprise forum requires a serial number to register (which someone won't have in a pre-sales environment) and seems to be populated by some seriously unpleasant people anyway, and the customer support people alternate between "Sorry, our systems are down and I can't help you" and non-answers to some question I didn't ask. And that's the business product side of things - I'd expect the consumer side to be even worse.

On technical issues, the WNDR3700 seems to only have internal antennas on the PCB, which means that I'd be stuck with whichever way they point when I mount the unit (some will be wall-mounted, some on shelves). Also, the lack of an official "AP mode" is disappointing.

I don't see any mention of SNMP or VLAN support in the (rather thin and uninformative) manual, which I'd expect in a business-class unit. They aren't essential, but they'd be nice.

Comments?

 

[thiggins]

The WNDR3700 is a consumer, not business class router.
Sounds like you want a business AP for consumer price.

Why not just get your Cisco?

 

[stevech]

I've not used this product, but have used other Engenius products and they were good. They're owned by Senao, a very large chip company - one of the handful of large volume WiFi chip makers.

http://www.engeniustech.com/index.p...00mbps-dual-band-wireless-n-router&Itemid=114


In my profession, I recently for the first time tried to propose use of Netgear professional gear. What I found was that they are not viable in the professional market. The manuals are too terse for pro's (managed/switched access points). An hour on the phone trying to navigate to someone to assist a system integrator with product knowledge doesn't happen. Their whole culture and structure is oriented to selling high volume consumer stuff (rebranded). The experience was both frustrating and laughable.

Their simple unmanaged ethernet switches used to be the best value. Not so now.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Sounds like you want a business AP for consumer price.

Why not just get your Cisco?

Fine by me...

In my original post I was asking if there were any others that I'd overlooked besides the D-Link, Cisco, and Motorola.

I also felt that there was knowledge here that would help me decide between those three - as the consumer equipment reviews here show, specs != actual performance.