I inundated clients with 100 iterations of a 1-MB, TCP-based, long-file receive (filercvl) transfer. I used Proxim's 11a/b/g ComboCard for testing with 650-MHz Pentium III laptops running Windows 2000.
Results for 11b testing were impressive. Tests using both one and two clients yielded aggregate average throughputs just below 6.5 Mbps. Similarly, aggregate average throughputs for 11g clients were strong, returning aggregate results of just over 20 Mbps for both one and two clients--still about 30 percent slower than the fastest 11a products we've tested. Throughput didn't slow until I tested using both 11b and 11g clients at once. One client of each returned an aggregate average throughput of just over 8 Mbps, with each client sharing the bandwidth almost equally. In tests using two clients of each mode, aggregate throughput held steady at 8 Mbps, while each client came in at close to 2 Mbps.
The reason for the slowdown in an environment where both 11b and 11g clients are present is attributable not to the AP-2000 but to the way the 802.11g standard accommodates 11b traffic. The moment an 11b client associates to the 11g AP, a mechanism known as "protection" is implemented. To allow 11b clients to communicate with both 11g APs and clients, all communications are mediated with RTS/CTS (Request To Send/Clear To Send). This solves the backward compatibility problem by requiring that each node request to send data and then receive clearance to send that data--all mediated in a form of traffic that both 11g and 11b clients understand. Unfortunately, using RTS/CTS results in a throughput reduction because of the added control frames that must be transmitted before data may be sent.
To address this problem, Proxim suggests populating one slot of the AP-2000 with an Orinoco 11b radio and the second slot with an 11b/g radio configured to support only 11g traffic. This method will ensure the faster speeds of 11g while supporting existing 11b traffic. However, it requires doubling the use of channels in a band where channel allocation is already a nightmare. Also, with both slots full, supporting 802.11a becomes more difficult--requiring more than just a simple upgrade using Proxim's 11a Kit.
When I set the AP-2000 to operate in 802.11g-only mode, throughput results were nearly identical to results of 11g client tests under the 802.11b/g compatibility mode. The AP-2000b/g can be set to operate in 802.11b-only mode as well.
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