Cambium WiFi 6 products substantially improve WiFi speeds, reduce ownership costs

WiFi 6 technology is designed to address the unprecedented strains placed on WiFi networks, caused by the exploding demand for streaming video, the proliferation of outdoor hotspots, IOT sensors and controls.

WiFi 6 is the marketing term that describes the IEEE 802.11ax standard. The key value of 802.11ax is efficient use of RF spectrum. It does this by bringing MU-OFDMA from the cellular world into WiFi. 802.11ax is a deterministic network where the access point is now in charge of assigning transmit resource units, time to transmit and when to sleep all the clients in the network.

Cambium Networks has introduced several new WiFi 6 products that will allow managed service providers and value-added resellers to offer more compelling and competitive services.

The new range includes two wireless access points and enhanced cloud-based software that simplifies wireless network design and deployment. The new products are based on a software-defined radio architecture that dramatically improves WiFi speeds while reducing ownership costs by up to 30% when compared to similar products.

The products are ideal for enterprises, office buildings, retailers, schools, smart cities and apartment complexes, that can now deliver more simultaneous data streams and support more concurrent users.

“Now more than ever, organisations must deliver exceptional WiFi performance at a low total cost. Recent tests on these WiFi 6 products indicate a performance that is up to 40% higher than that of WiFi 5 technology,” said Teresa Huysamen, Wireless Business Unit Executive at Duxbury Networking, local distributor of Cambium technology.

Cambium’s software-defined and multi-radio architecture enables organisations to improve coverage and support more concurrent users and devices than before, helping them transition to WiFi 6 without the premium. In addition, the company’s cloud-based provisioning and management capabilities allow users to significantly improve performance at a lower total cost.

Cambium’s new WiFi 6 portfolio includes:

• Cambium XV3-8 access point: A tri-radio, eight-antenna access point designed for high-density environments, including enterprises, public venues, smart cities and campuses. Its application intelligence and policy controls support more than 2 000 applications to match business requirements to the wireless network in order to support more users and high-density applications. The XV3-8 also features seamless roaming, fast roaming, automatic RF optimisation and interference avoidance, to automatically optimise performance to specific local needs. “By mid-2021, networks are expected to be dominated by WiFi 6 devices that support 802.11ax. The XV3-8’s software-defined radios will allow the network administrator to reconfigure the network to use all eight antennas on the 5 GHz radio. By using all eight antennas with 802.11ax wireless devices, the network will fully utilise all the capability for mobile devices and IOT,” said Huysamen.
• Cambium XV 2-2 access point: A dual-radio, dual-antenna AP with software-defined Wi-Fi that delivers the high performance of WiFi 6 technology, without the extra cost. The XV 2-2 is ideal for small to medium enterprise deployments and retail, bringing consistent, high-speed performance at a lower cost.

A key component of Cambium’s new software-defined WiFi technology is the company’s cloud-based management solutions that eliminate the need for onsite, highly technical resources to provide support and maintenance, while providing a complete view of all sites across the enterprise and improved security features.

Specifically, customers can now use XMS – a massively scalable, easy-to-use multi-tenant platform that virtually eliminates on-site system maintenance – or the cnMaestro, to simplify management with full network visibility and zero-touch provisioning. Coupled with the WiFi Designer heat-mapping tool that visualises coverage and capacity, WiFi network architects can now better design and test their WiFi network, including modelling alternative solutions and generating a complete bill of materials.

“The new Cambium WiFi 6 offering improves performance and efficiency beyond 802.11ac networks, even without the use of 802.11ax devices. Businesses can now deliver more simultaneous video streams and support more concurrent users and devices,” said Huysamen.

For more information, contact Duxbury Networking, (+27) 011 351 9800, info@duxnet.co.za, www.duxbury.co.za