Mixing MR42 with MR32 - good idea?

[NArone]

I have a client that has 10-MR18 and 14-MR32 APs in their office environment.  I want to eliminate the older MR18 units with an AC capable model.  I was thinking of using the MR33, but read on the web that 2x2 Wave2 is not worth it, so go with 3x3 or 4x4 Wave2 (MR42).  I would also be taking advantage of MU-MIMO.

Is it okay if I mix MR42 (Wave2) and MR32 (Wave1) APs?  I want to future proof, but don't want to have to replace all 24 units.

[GIdenJoe]

Both, MR32 and MR34 use VHT as modulation so you should not have a problem mixing them.  Just make sure the AP's have access to the same L2 VLANs.

MU-MIMO can only be used if your clients send large frames and if they are far apart.  If you have mostly voice packets or small data then MU-MIMO doesn't help at all.

[PhilipDAth]

First of all you should know that nearly all clients are 2x2.  Only a small number of clients are 3x3 (examples are MacBook Pro's).

The MR42 is 3x3.  The MR53 is 4x4.  The MR55 is 8x8.

On the whole I don't like mixing different generations of WiFi technology.  I've had issues where a client is (say) wave2 compatible, and it can see a wave2 AP a long way away and stays attached to it even though the user is standing next to a wave1 AP.

At least in this case they are both 802.11ac - so the issue may not be as pronounced.

Also the WiFi6 APs are out now, so check out the MR45.

I typically use MR33 for guest WiFi.  I typically use MR42/MR45 in non-dense office environments.  I typically use the MR53/MR55 in dense office environments.

[jorgeplata]

NO GOOD IDEA. When you mix the enviroment of acess points, you could get problems and the users devices could be affected between model MR42 and MR32.

We experience it in our office. 

Homologation of models is a good idea!!!

Rgards

[NArone]

Thanks for the reply.  Real world experiences have a lot of worth in my books!