JZ356A - Aruba AP-555 (RW) Unified Access Point

Aruba JZ356A — AP-555 (RW) Wi-Fi 6 Unified Campus Access Point

What it is

An Aruba 550 Series high-performance Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) indoor access point built for high-density campus and enterprise WLANs.
JZ356A is the AP-555 (RW) model: a dual-radio AP with a 5 GHz 8×8:8 MIMO radio and a 2.4 GHz 4×4:4 MIMO radio, plus an optional tri-radio mode. It’s designed for places where client density and airtime efficiency actually matter — lecture halls, busy offices, healthcare, large branches, etc.

Why buyers pick AP-555 (plain English)

• Top-tier Wi-Fi 6 performance for crowded spaces
  Built to push lots of clients smoothly with OFDMA + MU-MIMO.

• Real 5 GHz horsepower
  The 8-stream 5 GHz radio handles high client counts and heavy throughput.

• Optional tri-radio mode
  Can split 5 GHz into two radios for more capacity and less contention.

• Multi-gig wired ports
  Two Smart Rate ports so your AP uplink doesn’t bottleneck the Wi-Fi side.

• IoT-ready out of the box
  Integrated Bluetooth 5 and Zigbee radio for location/IoT use cases.

60-second spec box (JZ356A / AP-555)

Radios / Wi-Fi

• Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) indoor campus AP

• Dual radio by default

  • 5 GHz: 8×8:8 MIMO, up to 4.8 Gbps (HE80)

  • 2.4 GHz: 4×4:4 MIMO, up to 1.15 Gbps (HE40)

• Optional tri-radio mode

  • Two separate 5 GHz radios (4×4 each) + one 2.4 GHz radio

• Combined peak data rate: up to ~5.37 Gbps

Client efficiency features

• OFDMA

• Bidirectional MU-MIMO (5 GHz)

• Target Wake Time (TWT)

• Aruba ClientMatch steering

Wired connectivity

• 2 × HPE Smart Rate RJ-45 ports

  • Each negotiates 100M / 1G / 2.5G / 5G

• Serial console (micro-USB)

• USB 2.0 host port (IoT accessories, LTE dongles, etc.)

IoT / location

• Bluetooth 5

• 802.15.4 (Zigbee) radio

• Supports location and IoT overlay use cases

Power

• PoE powered

  • Best performance with 802.3bt or dual 802.3at

  • Power-save modes available if limited PoE

• Typical max draw: ~38W class (full features)

Form factor

• Indoor AP with integrated antennas

• Ceiling / wall / rail mount support via Aruba kits

Where it fits (and when to choose something else)

Perfect for:

• High-density enterprise/campus spaces

• Wi-Fi 6 upgrades where you want real 5 GHz capacity

• Deployments that need multigig uplinks to avoid AP bottlenecks

• IoT/location-enabled campuses

Choose something else if:

• You need an outdoor model → look at Aruba rugged/outdoor APs

• You want a lower-density / budget Wi-Fi 6 AP → step down to AP-515/505 class

• You need Wi-Fi 6E/7 → move to newer 6E/7 AP families

TL;DR

JZ356A is the Aruba AP-555 (RW): a high-density Wi-Fi 6 indoor campus AP with an 8×8 5 GHz radio, 4×4 2.4 GHz radio, optional tri-radio mode, dual 5Gb Smart Rate uplinks, and built-in Bluetooth/Zigbee for modern enterprise WLANs.