21815 - SCTE Broadband Feb2023 COMPLETE v3

65 Vol. 45 No. 1 - February 2023 Issue technical Previous Intel IT laboratory testing has shown some performance benefits to Wi-Fi 6. 1 However, we wanted to explore how the latest enhancements offered by Wi-Fi 6E impact performance in dense enterprise networks, and how it might improve our deployment strategy. Currently, Intel IT designs wireless network deployments based on the following assumptions: n Access points (APs) should be placed 13.7m/45ft apart. n Maximum users per AP should not exceed 15. n Channel bandwidth is 40MHz only in the cases where there are at least 6x 40MHz non-overlapping channels. A channel width of 20MHz is used where the above criteria is not met. We wanted to test these lab-based assumptions in a real- world environment. Pilot Study Typically, real-world testing in a working Intel office environment would not be practical due to the presence of workers. However, the COVID pandemic presented a unique opportunity. With the majority of Intel’s office staff working from home, we were able to use these empty offices to test our assumptions outside the lab. We deployed the latest Wi-Fi 6-enabled APs throughout an Intel enterprise floor and connected to them using laptops running with a Windows operating system and equipped with Intel’s Wi-Fi 6E (AX210) network card. With the floor vacated of workers at the time, we were able to mix and match configurations and Wi-Fi operational modes without worrying about negatively affecting employee productivity. In four separate tests, we evaluated AP utilisation, client throughput and the occurrence rate of resulting negative issues such as long jitter and round-trip time or packet loss. Test 1: Maximum User Capacity per AP This test used a single AP configured with a dedicated SSID to control the clients’ AP connection. Clients were deployed in the cubicles around the AP. The test cycle was repeated for 5 users, 10, 15 and finally 25 users. Figure 1 shows the results of the following operating modes: n Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) n Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple- Output (MU-MIMO) and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) disabled n Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with MU-MIMO and OFDMA enabled When the AP was configured to operate in Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) mode, client performance degraded significantly past 15 users. At 20 users the test failed completely, and we couldn’t even reach our 25 users per AP goal. The Wi-Fi 6 configuration, along with all features enabled, demonstrated far less degradation, even up to 25 users (see Figure 1: Wi-Fi 6 was able to support more users with less latency and packet loss. A marked drop in latency occurred using Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with MU-MIMO and OFDMA enabled. 1 For details, read the white paper, “IT@Intel: Building a Faster, More Secure Enterprise Network with Wi-Fi 6.”