MR44 vs MR46 Access Point Coverage

[AdityaKurulkar]

Hello Experts,

We are working on designing a greenfield Network design and deployment for out Super Specialty Hospital in India (bangalore). We are looking at MR44 vs MR46, although the specs say they are very similar. I wanted to hear from the experts here if there is any difference in terms of the coverage area that these APs have? 

Like in a 20ft x 20ft area  with few walls in the middle, would MR46 work or MR44. or would the coverage be the same. 

consider the density is the same (Med density) I am more concerned on the coverage as it will affect the number of APs and ports on the access stack. 

Hope this gives some good background. 

Thanks ahead. 

Regards,

Aditya! 

[DarrenOC]

If you look closely through the spec sheets of both the MR46 and MR44 you appear to get a little more oomph from the MR46's.  Also pay attention to the signal coverage patterns within the data sheets, the coverage looks greater for the MR46's also:

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/MR_Overview_and_Specifications/MR46_Datasheet

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/MR_Overview_and_Specifications/MR44_Datasheet

What you may come across during the procurement process however is pressure from the sales rep to purchase the MR44's as they're shipping slightly quicker.

[TinOmen]

I can't speak for the MR46's, but I have about 20 of the MR44 deployed in my organization.  Environment is pretty open with low to medium density and they've shown to have great range and handle the traffic very well.

The price vs performance difference between the two look to me like the MR44 is the better bang for you buck imo.

[AdityaKurulkar]

Hi @DarrenOC 

Thank you so much for sharing the links on the data sheet! 

Yes you are right on the MR44's push that we receive from the sales team based on the availability. However as this is part of an NGO pricing is very important for us here! That is one more reason to push on the MR44's if that solves our purpose compared to MR46. 

My main concern was would MR44 cover same area as MR46 ? 

If yes, I do not mind go with MR44's instead. 

Kindly Suggest! 

Regards & Gratitude,

Aditya

[UKDanJones]

Coverage is easy… capacity is hard. 

Use software to design your space. Something like Hamina or Ekahau. 

[DarrenOC]

Hi @UKDanJones, when did you make it onto this board?

[UKDanJones]

Hi @DarrenOC , just got here! Hopefully I can help and get some advice too

[DarrenOC]

There’s nothing you don’t know about WiFi. Great to see you

[UKDanJones]

I wish!! There’s always so much to learn and never enough time.

[KarstenI]

We switched quickly from MR46 to MR44 when they came available and in Real Life (tm) didn't see any relevant differences.

[AdityaKurulkar]

Hey @KarstenI thank you for responding. You did not see any diffs in the range/coverage you mean? 

That is very interesting. 

Thanks

Aditya

[KarstenI]

No, but the deployments where we removed the MR46 and replaced them with MR44 had a quite good coverage previously. And there no difference was seen.

[AdityaKurulkar]

Thank you all for your responses and guidance here! 

Appreciate the support. 

Regards

Aditya

[The1Metallian]

May I ask why you switched? At face value, it would seem a downgrade.

[KarstenI]

The MR44 are cheaper and with 5GHz only there is no real difference. The MR46 were moved to a site that didn’t need many APs and the old site was equipped completely with more MR44s as additional floors were used.

[The1Metallian]

Thanks for your reply.

It is my understanding that 44s are not 5GHz only, but that they handle 2.4 in 2x2 as opposed to 4x4.

It is also my understanding that the 46s are better for denser areas, so the site that didn't need many AP's would have been a better placement for the 44s. No?

I'm not questioning, I'm trying to borrow your experience to make my decision. 🙂

And about the old site equipped completely with more 44s, I believe that you mean that the new ones you bought were for this old site and by switching to 44s you avoided mix-and-matching and covered the entire space with one model AP, yes?

Thanks again!

[KarstenI]

The 5 GHz only was that we didn't care about 2.4, The Business-SSIDs are 5GHz only. 2.4 is enabled on the Guest SSID. In this setup we have 4*4 on the SSIDs we care of for a reduced price per AP. The rest was exactly as you say. We try not to mix APs which is quite easy if there are enough sites to shift the APs around.

The next shifting will be more complex as the CWs have other mounting plates compared to the MRs.

[The1Metallian]

Thanks so much again.