Link Aggregation with Wi-Fi 6E Access Points
Up until now, we’ve been using access points (APs) with a single Ethernet connection of up to 1 Gbps. With Wi-Fi 6E APs we will begin to see dual Multi-gigabit (mGig) Ethernet ports in either 2.5 Gbps or 5 Gbps. Multi-gigabit Ethernet is defined by IEEE 802.3bz.
It’s a significant upgrade receiving one mGig Ethernet port but we’re going to get two!
One reason for the upgrade is due to the expected bandwidth increase of Wi-Fi 6E. Newer spectrum and at least 80 MHz wide channels will boost performance beyond 1 Gbps.
What is Link Aggregation
To realize the benefits of multiple bonded connections we must use a protocol from the IEEE standard, 802.3ad, or otherwise known as Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) or Link Aggregation. It is the action of combining two or more Ethernet ports to form one logical interface.
Nearly every network vendor supports Link Aggregation on their switches. It is widely used. The purpose of using Link Aggregation is to increase throughput and provide link redundancy in case of a link failure.
Soon, we will see APs with dual Ethernet ports supporting Link Aggregation with up to 5 Gbps and even 10 Gbps of combined speed (dual 2.5 Gbps or dual 5 Gbps).
Considerations for AP Link Aggregation
Aruba Networks has shown devices can exceed 1 Gbps with Wi-Fi 6E. As we transition to 6 GHz, these APs will be tri-band and may very well exceed 1 Gbps of throughput on the wired network.
Two Ethernet runs per AP may be required to fully utilize the mGig ports. It will also increase labor and material costs to include an additional Ethernet run.
As the amount of Ethernet cables increases, the switch port count must be carefully planned in addition to Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) requirements. More features are coming with PoE as well, which we’ll cover in another article.
It may be possible to connect an AP to a two different switches for additional redundancy in case of a switch outage. But it will introduce some network complexity with switch virtual chassis configurations. But something worth considering for environments requiring the highest uptime.
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Featured photo by Glen Wheeler on Unsplash
