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MU-MIMO only with Sophos Central?

Wayne Folta

I was looking at the brochure comparing Sophos Central wireless management versus XG appliance wireless management (https://www.sophos.com/en-us/medialibrary/PDFs/factsheets/sophos-wireless-licensing-guide.pdf), and the row "MU-MIMO" has only a check for Sophos Central's Central Wireless Standard, and not for the XG (nor UTM for that matter). Sophos AP's are advertised as 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, etc, which implies MU-MIMO, so my question is: is the brochure incorrect or is it using the term in a different manner, or are the APs in fact handicapped unless managed by Sophos Central?



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  • +1

    Hello Wayne,

    Thank you for contacting the Sophos Community.

    You would need Sophos Central Wireless if you want to take advantage of MU-MIMO, however, the APXs can still be managed using the XG, only some features aren’t available.

    Regards,

     
    Emmanuel (EmmoSophos)
    Technical Team Lead, Global Community Support
    Sophos Support Videos | Product Documentation  |  @SophosSupport  | Sign up for SMS Alerts
    If a post solves your question use the 'Verify Answer' link.
  • 0 in reply to emmosophos

    Thanks for your clarification!

    I'd add that I'm a big Sophos fan, but I have to say that this has really soured me on Sophos APs. MU-MIMO is a feature of an AP and saying something like "3x3" implies a basic, fundamental, low-level feature of an AP. The idea that you don't get 3x3 MU-MIMO if you don't use the appropriate high-level management software is about as nonsensical to me as saying you only get 2.4 GHz bands on the AP unless you use SC Wireless management. It really guts the value of the AP. MU-MIMO isn't a "some feature" kind of thing like most of the others.

    I can always manage a firewall from inside via a direct connection, even if there are ISP issues. I feel the same about APs, which are critical for inside connectivity -- in fact APs are more critical for internal connectivity than the firewall or switches when it boils down to it: no AP, no possibility of connectivity for 95% of users.

    I went with a Sophos AP for performance and integration with the XG firewall -- even though current Sophos APs are a generation behind WiFi standards. If I was going to have to use cloud management, I could've gotten WiFi 6 from another manufacturer. (Not to mention that one of the most important monitoring capabilities an AP has -- wireless signal strength meters for each client device -- is only available under XG management as far as I can tell, but MU-MIMO is only available with SC Wireless management. So gut performance or gut monitoring, take your pick.

    Sorry to go on, and I appreciate your clarification. 

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  • 0 in reply to emmosophos

    Thanks for your clarification!

    I'd add that I'm a big Sophos fan, but I have to say that this has really soured me on Sophos APs. MU-MIMO is a feature of an AP and saying something like "3x3" implies a basic, fundamental, low-level feature of an AP. The idea that you don't get 3x3 MU-MIMO if you don't use the appropriate high-level management software is about as nonsensical to me as saying you only get 2.4 GHz bands on the AP unless you use SC Wireless management. It really guts the value of the AP. MU-MIMO isn't a "some feature" kind of thing like most of the others.

    I can always manage a firewall from inside via a direct connection, even if there are ISP issues. I feel the same about APs, which are critical for inside connectivity -- in fact APs are more critical for internal connectivity than the firewall or switches when it boils down to it: no AP, no possibility of connectivity for 95% of users.

    I went with a Sophos AP for performance and integration with the XG firewall -- even though current Sophos APs are a generation behind WiFi standards. If I was going to have to use cloud management, I could've gotten WiFi 6 from another manufacturer. (Not to mention that one of the most important monitoring capabilities an AP has -- wireless signal strength meters for each client device -- is only available under XG management as far as I can tell, but MU-MIMO is only available with SC Wireless management. So gut performance or gut monitoring, take your pick.

    Sorry to go on, and I appreciate your clarification. 

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