IEEE 802.11n dual band access points for boosting the performance of heterogeneous WiFi networks

The deployment of IEEE 802.11 WLANs is increasing incredibly. Standardization bodies are working on the new so-called 5G 802.11ac technology. This paper addresses the ability of dual band access points (APs) to support heterogeneous client adapters and applications. A focus is given to the dual band APs performance in different configurations. The goal of the work is to understand the characteristics of 802.11n networks in heterogeneous deployments, to ultimately be able to predict behavior so that network performance is maximized. Through real extensive experimentation, we found that dual band routers can effectively help in reducing the negative effects of adapters heterogeneity as well as providing backward compatibility.