AP One connecting at 72Mbits

Product Discussion Pepwave AP & Surf
1

I have gotten both an AP One and a 300M for testing purposes. I can connect at 144Mbits with the 300M, but the AP One will only connect at 72Mbits. Both are set for 20/40mhz, but I have also tried just 40mhz as well and it still connects at 72Mbits. Is there something I’m missing? Thanks for your help.

2

Hi Andy-

This sounds very normal to me. Are you referring to the actual throughput you are getting?

The 802.11 protocol has a lot of overhead, and real world throughput is generally around half of the connected PHY data rate.

This is true with any AP, not just ours.

3

I’m not doing actual throughput tests, just referring to the reported connection speed of the OS which is of course a theoretical best. I’m just not understanding why one is reporting a connection of 144Mbits and the other is 72Mbits. Shouldn’t they both be 144Mbits?

4

The AP One is a single stream device capable of a maximum 150 Mbps data rate, while the AP One 300M is a two stream device capable of a maximum 300 Mbps data rate.

The reason you are seeing the higher data rates on the 300M is because it uses 2x2 MIMO technology.

5

Ok, so to see ~150 on the AP One I would need to be using 40Mhz channels only on both AP and Client, but the 300M will do ~150 with just one 20Mhz channel? Is this correct? Thanks for your time in explaining this.

6

Yes, you are correct. The AP One supports MCS 0-7 while the AP One 300M supports MCS 0-15. Here is a good chart to go by:

Thanks -Tim

7

Thanks Tim, that chart is very helpful.