Is it already on the roadmap or can it be added for beamforming SM's to combat the ever growing interference levels on 5ghz and 3.6ghz bands? We all can see how much of an impact the beamforming makes on the uplink side but to have it on the downlink side would greatly increase the chances of a succesful install at higher speeds and modulation levels and also help with Nlos customers steer around obstructions. Last request for this idea, do not make the SM's overly priced. Radwin already has this ability and the SM's with beamforming are cheaper than a pmp450 sm.
A beamforming SM has very little user cases.
Since by definition an SM only talks to one AP, and the AP is in the same location every time:
It is a lot cheaper and practical to have higher gain antennas (more directional to signal, picks noise from less directions too...)
Even then, the "beamforming " nature of the SM would only ever actually help if the antenna was grosselly misaligned, or maybe in some NLOS settings when you don't know where are the reflections coming from (why would anyone trust such a setup, is beyond me).
i wouldn't have high hopes for such a feature.
Well you must not have to deal with extreme interference issues on 5ghz like we do. Every wisp we talk to is constantly complaining about interference issues and available capacity from working at lower modualtion levels. Lets be honest, customers dont give a crap about upload speed they just want to see 20meg down and their netflix not buffer. Our 450d SM's can range from 6x to 2x mimo b at any point in a day due to other operators in the area, its sad when you have rssi of -69 to -57 but cant get higher than 6x or stay away from 4x or 2x. We dont want to pay the 450 price when it doesnt work for us and there are better options that are actually cheaper. Its funny becuase my rtm said almsot the exact same thing as you. However, when we explained how we have tested epmp2000 beamforming he understood. We have anywhere from -70/-80 interference issues on the channel and with beamforming our mcs levels are almost always 12-15 but on our downlink side they are mostly 7-10 which with epmp thats awful and really a waste of time and resources. So yes, beamforming SM's are practical and have a very large case for use!