[ETA] 802.11ac (Wave 2) devices?

[MichaelM55]

Hello,

I know, HP bought Aruba. In my opinion H3C has some better wifi access points. It´s not only hardware but software support. So, we´re here at the end of 2015 and H3C published some information about new 802.11ac (wave 2) access points. http://www.h3c.com.cn/pub/weizhan/201511/wuxian/index.html

Well, when will we be able to buy them? Any information about this? (As wave 2 is here I do not want to buy new wave 1 devices an more for new buildings...)

Regards

Michael

[Mechanicalthink]

The new H3C AP's do look sweet but I would not hold my breath that they will be available outside the China. I'm sure eventually some of the features and configurations end up in Aruba/HP products but if and when is unknown.

I have been told that currently the best way forward for new installations is with Aruba as future of everything else is quite uncertain at the moment. The rumor from a HP rep I heard is that HP is going to drop all MSM in all the regions, and Comware based wireless solutions outside the China. Aruba will be the main wireless solution HP is going forward with in international markets. So there probably won't be any new Comware based wireless devices available outsie China. This is also evident from the HP website makeover where virtually all the MSM and Comware based solutions have dissapeared from immediate view.

Now the question is do you really need Wave 2 AP's at this point? Like really need. Aruba still officcially reccommends using Wave 1 AC devices for new installations as this is tried and tested while Wave 2 is still very new. I'd say that for majority of new installations Wave 1 still the best way to go as it is much more economical and would also satisfy all the bandwith needs. The cases where it makes sense to roll out Wave 2 at this time are in minority.

But if you really need Wave 2 then Aruba does have the 320 series AP's with integrated BT modules.

[MichaelM55]

Well, It would be actually sad, if those new Comware based access points wouldn´t be sold in the rest of world by HP. I like the H3C devices because of their interesting IPv6 support. (e.g. SAVI).
We currently use well kind of first generation 802.11n dualband access points. For new installations I really want to use current 802.11ac wave 2 devices. I think MIMO 2x2:2 support would really be sufficient for me. But I want a platform that will be supported for at least for the next 5+ years by (whatever) vendor. Wave 1 is already 2-3 years old...

[MichaelM55]

Any update on this? The new H3C devices look really nice...

H3C WA5620i-ACN datasheet: http://h3c.com.hk/Products___Technology/Products/WLAN/FIT_FAT_AP/H3C_WA5620i_Indoor_802_website_version/Data_Sheet/201601/907266_57_0.htm