Meru AP832 dual-802.11ac-radio access point

Meru Networks has announced the Meru AP832, which it claims is the market’s fastest 802.11ac access point. Meru attributes the speed to the Virtual Cell, a single-channel option provided by the MobileFLEX architecture and its support for the use of 80 MHz channels as outlined in the IEEE 802.11ac draft specification. Meru says that other wireless architectures largely restrict support for 40 MHz channels due to limited channel availability, reducing data rates to approximately half of the 1.3 Gbps-per-radio that the specification allows.

The Meru 802.11ac solution enables the use of three spatial streams over two 802.11ac radios on standard 802.3af power, eliminating the need for customers to upgrade their entire ethernet switching infrastructure.

Building on the Meru MobileFLEX architecture, the AP832 features two dual-band 802.11ac-supporting radios capable of simultaneously transmitting on the 5 GHz band. This enables users to overlay 802.11ac APs on 802.11n networks to solve capacity problems in high-density environments. The AP832 also enables the use of three spatial streams with only standard 802.3af power over ethernet (PoE), helping customers avoid forklift upgrades to their switching infrastructures. The AP832 access point enables customers to address the challenges created by high-density client environments and increased client diversity by leveraging the full potential of 802.11ac. It is also backwards-compatible to support 802.11n clients in both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

Meru AP832 access points are designed to fit into existing Meru AP332 (802.11n) mounting brackets, enabling quick and easy plug-and-play upgrades.