Introduction to Cisco Catalyst 9100 Wireless Access Points

Today I am going to talk about the new launch from Cisco in Access points. The newly launched access points are Cisco Catalyst 9100 series Access points which includes two different models and they are Cisco Catalyst 9115 and Cisco Catalyst 9117 Access Points.

As demand and the requirement of the enterprises increases with the new technology, Cisco Catalyst 9100 access points are built to take care of that demand. Cisco Catalyst 9100 series Access points supports the Wi-Fi 6 standard, also known as 802.11ax, the Catalyst 9100 addresses current and future network needs. ​

As with the new approach, the next generation of Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points, with high-performance Wi-Fi 6 (8012.11ax) abilities and revolutions in RF performance, security, and analytics, enables end-to-end digitization and helps accelerate the rollout of business services by delivering beyond Wi-Fi.

Fig 1.1- Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points

Key Features of Cisco Catalyst 9115 Series Access points
Both internal and external Antenna’s 
They also have Multigigabit support
Wi-Fi 6 Certified
Three Radios which includes 2.5 G (4x4), 5 G (4x4) and BLE
OFDMA and MU-MIMO supports
Cisco DNA Support which includes Group based policies, Context based analytics and Unified management of wireless networks

Note: Here in Cisco Catalyst 9115, it supports 4 spatial streams

Specifications
802.11ac:4x4 downlink MU-MIMO with four spatial streams, MRC, 802.11ac beam forming, 20,40,80,160 MHZ channels
802.11ax: 4x4 MIMO with four spatial streams for 5-GHz band and 4x4 MIMO with four spatial streams for 2.4-GHz band. 20, 40, 80, and 160-MHz channels support, 802.11ax beam forming

Supported wireless LAN controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Cisco 3500, 5520, and 8540 Series Wireless Controllers, and Cisco Virtual Wireless Controller 
Cisco Mobility Express


Key Features of Cisco Catalyst 9117 Series Access points
Only support internal Antenna
They also have Multigigabit support
Wi-Fi 6 Certified
Three Radios which includes 2.5 G (4x4), 5 G (4x4) and BLE
OFDMA and MU-MIMO supports
Cisco DNA Support which includes Group based policies, Context based analytics and Unified management of wireless networks

Note: Here in Cisco Catalyst 9117, it supports 8 spatial streams

Specifications
802.11ac:8x8 downlink MU-MIMO with eight spatial streams, MRC, 802.11ac beam forming, 20,40,80,160 MHZ channels
802.11ax: 8x8 MIMO with eight spatial streams for 5-GHz band and 4x4 MIMO with four spatial streams for 2.4-GHz band. 20, 40, 80, and 160-MHz channels support, 802.11ax beam forming

Supported wireless LAN controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Cisco 3500, 5520, and 8540 Series Wireless Controllers, and Cisco Virtual Wireless Controller 
Cisco Mobility Express

Fig 1.2- Comparison between various Access Points
Above is the table showing the comparison between Cisco Access points Cisco Catalyst 9115, Cisco Catalyst 9117, Cisco Aironet 1815, Cisco Aironet 2800 and Cisco Aironet 3800 models