Intel 7260 2x2 802.11ac question regarding beamforming

[thiggins]

So nope I've got nothing worthy to present. Sorry

No problem, Dave. I'll see if I can get anything from any of the chip vendors.

 

[sfx2000]

Say some more about this, please. As I think you pointed out awhile ago, MU STA designs are moving to 2x2. So why not MU 2x2 in laptops?

Depends on what the enterprise wants - as they're key drivers in what goes into them - many network managers/engineers may not want the additional complexity - not saying it won't happen, but at the moment, there's not a compelling case for it - to whit, while 802.11ac Wave 1 has been around for several years now (hard to believe, eh?), only within the last year or so have we seen availability of enterprise grade AP's that support 11ac, and with the lifecycle of enterprise, it's likely going to be a while before we see validated enterprise grade 11ac Wave 2 AP's that support MU...

In the home/residential environment, I do see the carriers driving MU for their services - e.g. wireless set top boxes, vertical services, etc, where arrangements are static, and work well for MU.

 

[Sebastienbo]

MU-mimo network cards have arrived:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/wireless-products/dual-band-wireless-ac-8265-brief.html

I was wondering: In my HP X360 spectre laptop I have the generation before: ac-7265 , do you think I could just purchase and replace in my laptop?

Comparisson: http://ark.intel.com/compare/83635,86068,94150

Specs:
2014: http://www.intel.com/content/dam/ww...t-briefs/dual-band-wireless-ac-7265-brief.pdf
2015: http://www.intel.com/content/dam/ww...t-briefs/dual-band-wireless-ac-8260-brief.pdf
2016: http://www.intel.com/content/dam/ww...t-briefs/dual-band-wireless-ac-8265-brief.pdf

I like the new bluetooth, the faster speeds, the lower power consumption, beamforming, mu-mimo, etc...

I already have a galaxy S7 which is mu-mimo equiped and an asus router ac87 which is also mu-mimo

 

[sfx2000]

I was wondering: In my HP X360 spectre laptop I have the generation before: ac-7265 , do you think I could just purchase and replace in my laptop?

Wouldn't be in much of a hurry - let intel sort out the drivers....

 

[TonyH]

The Intel 7260 is kind of tricky because Intel used that number on three products:
Intel® Wireless-N 7260
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260

Looking at the data sheet for the AC 7260 shows no sign of beamforming.
But the Wi-Fi Certification (if I have the right one) shows certification for
"Tx SU beamformee". This means it supports beamforming.

When I picked up couple of AC7260 at our local supply house, there was two different ones with slight price difference. I chose the ones costing few dollars more and was told they had newer f/w. They seem to make at least noticeable difference between beamforming on or off. I have them on older ASUS ROG and Alienware R14-R3 both 4th Gen i7 boxes. Never have had any issues running them.

Don't expect miracles from beamforming. It doesn't increase range. It mainly provides a moderate throughput boost under mid-level signal conditions.

 

[thiggins]

I was wondering: In my HP X360 spectre laptop I have the generation before: ac-7265 , do you think I could just purchase and replace in my laptop?

The HP (and other laptops) may have a BIOS WLAN card whitelist and accept only certain cards. I ran into this when trying to upgrade a Lenovo T450.