Perry Correll, Xirrus, Principal Technologist

1© 2013 XIRRUS :: All Rights Reserved

Perry Correll,Xirrus, Principal Technologist

802.11ac FOR HOTELIERS – ITS TIMEGETTING OFF THE WI-FI ROLLER COASTER - THE GRACEFUL TRANSITION TO 802.11.AC


• Addressing guests' demand for Wi-Fi everywhere

• Understanding Wi-Fi’s evolution to 11ac

• Myth vs. Reality: separating marketing messages from business advantage

• Designing High-Performance Wi-Fi Networks: Doing more with less infrastructure

• Summary / Q&A

AGENDA

3© 2013 XIRRUS :: All Rights Reserved© 2013 XIRRUS :: All Rights Reserved

THE EXPLODING DEMAND FOR WI-FI

UNDERSTANDING GUEST EXPECTATIONS


WI-FI HAS RAPIDLY EVOLVED


WI-FI USAGE HAS EXPLODED

In 2013 Smartphone/tablet sales will exceed that of all consumer electronics combined – IDC Predictions -2013

Every day another 4 million+ wireless devices are activated

– Flurry-2013

55% of hotel guests use Internet during their hotel stay in 2012, up from 20% in 2006. Of those, 87% today connect by Wi-Fi. – J.D. Power, 2012 survey


NETWORKS ARE NOT PREPARED FOR THE TRAFFIC

Real-Time Entertainment responsible for over 67% of peak downstream traffic

Instagram video becomes #1 traffic on Internet on day 1 of release

Netflix And YouTube Account For 50% Of All North American Fixed Network Data


PLAN YOUR WI-FI CAREFULLY!

“80% of newly installed WLANs will be obsolete or re-engineered in the next 3-5 years due to lack of proper planning”

Tim Zimmerman


WI-FI’S EVOLUTION TO 802.11AC

WHAT’S THE ADVANTAGE?


802.11 EVOLUTION

Wi-Fi Standards Evolution

• Multi Gigabit Wi-Fi is the future

• New standards are focused at 5GHz

802.11b 11Mbps

802.11n600Mbps

802.11g54Mbps

802.11ac>1Gbps

20141998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2008 2009 20132011

2.4GHz

5GHz

1997

802.112Mbps

802.11ad>5Gbps 60GHz

802.11a54Mbps

802.11n300Mbps


WHAT IS 802.11AC

• High performance

• Raises the ‘low’ end

• Superior throughput

• Backwards compatible

• Support more devices

• ‘Cleaner’ spectrum

• Improved battery Life

• Focus on 5GHz spectrum

• Improved modulation efficiency

• Channel bonding up to 160Mz

• Up to 8 spatial streams

• MU-MIMO

Technology Benefits

Data rates up to 6.9Gbps


802.11N vs. 802.11AC

• 802.11n• Up to 600Mbps• Up to 64 QAM Modulation• Up to 40Mhz channel width• Up to 4 data streams• MIMO- Single client link

• 802.11ac• Up to 1.3GBps / 6.9Gbps• Up to 256 QAM Modulation• Up to 80/160Mhz channel width• Up to 4/8 data streams• MU-MIMO-Multiple client links


STANDARDS ROLL OUT PLANS

• 3 Streams• 80 MHz channel width• 256 QAM• Product Availability: Now

• 4/8 Streams• 160 MHz channel width• 256 QAM• MU-MIMO• Product availability: 2H ‘14

Wi-Fi Alliance has launched Wi-Fi Certified™ achttp://www.wi-fi.org/discover-and-learn/wi-fi-certified%E2%84%A2-ac Wave 1 product certification completedWave 2 products certification: expected late 2014 /early 2015

Final standard approved by the IEEE Feb’14http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/Reports/802.11_Timelines.htm

WAVE 2

http://www.wi-fi.org/discover-and-learn/wi-fi-certified%E2%84%A2-ac

http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/Reports/802.11_Timelines.htm


SIDE NOTE: NEW SPECTRUM PROPOSED

• Importance of Additional Spectrum Wide bandwidth channels to support high throughput requirements Current UNII spectrum allows only

• Twenty four 20 MHz channels• Six 80 MHz channels• Two 160 MHz channels

Additional unlicensed use of 5.35-5.47 GHz and 5.85-5.925 GHz allow• Nine 80 MHz channels• Four 160 MHz channels

14

41

40

13

61

32

12

81

24

12

011

611

21

08

10

41

00

16

51

61

15

71

53

14

9

64

60

56

52

48

44

40

36IEEE channel #

20 MHz

40 MHz80 MHz

160 MHz

UNII-1 UNII-2 UNII-2 UNII-3

5250MHz

5350MHz

5470MHz

5725MHz

NEW

96

92

88

84

80

76

72

68

16

91

73

17

71

81

5825MHz

5925MHz

NEW

Currently available channels New channels


IS IT TIME TO CONSIDER TO 802.11ac?

802.11ac sales will accelerate, reaching over 90% of all Wi-Fi devices by 2015

Growth of 802.11ac capable Wi-Fi devices reach nearly 2 billion by 2015

Assuming 3 year replacement rate = 70% 802.11ac market share by 2015.

• What is the current feedback from guests and event schedulers?• What Wi-Fi technology is your existing system based on?• How long do you want your next upgrade to last?


802.11AC: MYTH vs. REALITY

SEPARATING MARKETING FROM VALUE


MYTHS vs. REALITY

• Only high-end clients need this much bandwidth/speed Very few 11n clients reached 450Mbps, all still received value Higher bandwidth releases the channel quicker Making additional time (bandwidth) available to other clients Improves overall capacity and performance of the network Key value of 11ac is raising the lower end

• Just wait for Wave 2 (MU-MIMO, 6.9Gbps, …) to be safe Wireless continues to evolve with newer technology every 2-3 years 2007 to 2015 saw 802.11n 2x2, 3x3, 802.11ac Wave 1 & Wave 2 Reality – it depends on your wireless requirements, If your users will

benefit from improved wireless performance today, go forward Probably a few still waiting for 11n 600Mbps (4x4)


MYTHS vs. REALITY

• Only limited # of 11ac clients used by guests Samsung has sold 40 million Galaxy S 4s (11ac) Can’t buy Apple laptop without 802.11ac MRG estimates 58 million 11ac phones shipped in 2013 Turnover rate continues to drop (6 months), 11ac will be the default chipset http://wikidevi.com/wiki/List_of_802.11ac_Hardware

• LTE growth will significantly reduce need for Wi-Fi Cellular and Wi-Fi are not competitors, Cellular and Wi-Fi are complementary technologies Cellular is large coverage area with low data rate (relative) Wi-Fi is reduced coverage area with high data rate (relative) Think Wi-Fi offload, Passpoint, 802.11u, NGH, …..

http://wikidevi.com/wiki/List_of_802.11ac_Hardware

http://wikidevi.com/wiki/List_of_802.11ac_Hardware


MYTHS vs. REALITY

• 802.11ac will require a complete network rip and redesign Technology (wired and wireless) continues to evolve, planning for it is key You will still need to support legacy technology for a long time Designing with up to 160Mhz channels, using 256QAM, Rx Sensitivity of

51dBm to get max data rates is a waste of time, energy and money Think like an engineer, not a scientist

• 11ac allows you to reduce # of APs to offer same bandwidth Yes, in Theory, No, in Reality – where do you want to live? Performance will always be based on the clients capability, not just AP Always will have mixed environments, lowest common technology Wireless is continuing to grow and you will always need more bandwidth

Think radios, not APs


MYTHS vs. REALITY

• Just too many technical challenges with 11ac Not enough 5GHz channels available (80-160Mhz per channel??) Complex channel planning Will increase CCI & ACI interference I will lose support for 2.4Ghz My existing network was designed for 2.4Ghz 11ac requires higher signal strength (RSSI) to be effective

(1.3Gbps) Phones and tablets require stronger signal strength (RSSI) Need to upgrade my edge switches Need to upgrade my switch uplinks Will 802.3af be enough – maybe Now I will need to pay for a consultant too! Urgh, cat 3 to cat 5 was so easy


MYTHS vs. REALITY

• Myths and Questions From Audience

What are you hearing?

What are you believing?

What are you thinking about?

What's keeping you up at night?

What are other vendors telling you?

What are your consultants telling you?

What about other technologies 802.11ad, af, …


DESIGNING HIGH-PERFORMANCE WI-FI

DOING MORE WITH LESS INFRASTRUCTURE


HOTEL WI-FI DESIGN EVOLUTION

2010

• Nice to offer

• 3-5 active devices per floor

• Design RF for laptops (-72)

• 2.4 centric

• Application focus - Email

• Guestroom coverage

• Wired still primary

• Cellular - not my problem

• Quality of Service

• Meeting space Wi-Fi requested

• Wi-Fi = infrastructure expense

2014

• Mandatory requirement

• 3-5 active devices per room

• Design RF for tablets/phones (-65/-59)

• 5Ghz centric, but 2.4 is required

• Application focus – Video and Gaming

• Facility wide coverage

• Wired is no longer an option

• Cellular integration - Passpoint

• Quality of Experience

• Meeting space Wi-Fi required

• Wi-Fi = Monetization of the data?


CLIENT ENVIRONMENT - REALITY

= 2.4GHz

= 5GHz300Mbps 65Mbps

65Mbps 150Mbps

52Mbps

6Mbps

1.3Gbps

45Mbps

150 Mbps

6Mbps120Mbps

24 Mbps

2.4G and 5G

450Mbps Max

2.4G and 5G

150Mbps Max

2.4G only

65Mbps Max

=

=

=

In a Wi-Fi network, the user data rates varies with distance, device type, Wi-Fi band, channel width capability, interference, …..


WI-FI CAPACITY - REALITY

300Mbps Max Instantaneous

Bandwidth

100Mbps Avg Capacity:

Multiple Users

2.4GHz Radio

150Mbps Max Instantaneous

Bandwidth

50Mbps Avg Capacity:

Multiple Users

In a Wi-Fi network, radio capacity is reduced by protocol overhead and is shared by multiple users

5GHz Radio


HIGH DENSITY CAPACITY PLANNING

Total Available Capacity

Gartner recommends provisioning 6Mbps per user

Radio

Individual User Capacity

Wireless network design based on number of users per radio

5GHz radio: 100Mbps / 6Mbps = ~15 users per radio

2.4GHz radio: 50Mbps / 6Mbps = ~8 users per radio


MIXED CLIENT ENVIRONMENT - OPTIMIZATION

• The Challenge

Wi-Fi is shared medium - slow clients reduce speed of fast clients

• The Solution – Client Classification and Segmentation

Separate high speed and low speed clients on different radios

Maximize system performance for ALL clients


11AC DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

• Wireless Architecture Distributed/Edge traffic processing Design for 5Ghz coverage

• Achieving AC speeds Understand the mixed client environment Classify and segment clients based on Band/Mode

• Wired Infrastructure Gigabit links to APs Design for increased backhaul traffic (MU-MIMO*), Multi-Gigabit uplinks

• Implementation planning Clients and Traffic volume will grow Designing for the future

How long do you expect a new install to last?


SUMMARY

•802.11ac will become prominent in 2014 Driven from client manufactures

•802.11ac brings great promise Understand myths vs. realities

• Implementation planning is key Architecture, client mix, fixed radios


THANK [email protected]

Perry Correll,Xirrus, Principal Technologist

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Perry Correll, Xirrus, Principal Technologist