The 802.11ac Wave 2 standard is coming soon. Companies who specialize in wireless networks have been trumpeting that fact for over a year while simultaneously claiming that their products are the best solutions. There is only one company that aced the performance tests and costs a lot less than its competition-the answer may surprise you.

Miercom compared three Cisco Wave 2-based access points, with 802.11ac Wave 2-based Aruba and Ruckus Wave 2 access point. The independent testing lab found that the Cisco access points trounced the other brands in its performance tests. Not only did the Cisco access points- the Cisco Aironet 1852i in particular-meet or exceed the performance of Aruba and Ruckus products, but it was also a less expensive solution than the others. In fact, the Cisco Aironet products were anywhere from$300 to$400 less expensive than the Aruba or Ruckus devices.

The Cisco Aironet 1852i was the only access point that could deliver an aggregate throughput of over 1Gbps. Providing 1Gbps of throughput is a major feature of the Wave 2 standard. Neither the Ruckus R710-which tested at 570Mbps-or the Aruba AP-326-which registered at just 350Mbps-could deliver anywhere close to the Cisco number.

In a test where the number of clients grows from 10 to 100, theCisco Aironet 3702i access point loses the least amount of throughput. The product that lost the most throughput was the Aruba AP-325, while the Aironet 1852i, 1832i and Ruckus R710 registered about the same level of throughput loss. When compared to Aruba or Ruckus, the Aironet 1852i and 1832i showed its mettle during a test where the access point kept more clients attached at the 80 to 100 client threshold.

Miercom also determined that the 1852i made better use of Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) than its competition. The Aironet 1852i nearly doubled the throughput between older Single-User MIMO clients and newer Wave 2 MU-MIMO clients.  With the proven strong performance at the least amount of money, Wave 2-based Cisco Aironet access points are really the only choice.

Not convinced? Click here to read the entire Miercom Report.