CW9172H Datasheet

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High-Performance Wi-Fi 7 Wireless

The Cisco® Wireless 9172 Series Wi-Fi 7 access points provide a seamless entry into next-generation wireless networking, delivering reliable, high-performance connectivity for environments like boutique hotels, student housing, retail stores, healthcare clinics, remote work hubs, and distributed business locations such as satellite offices, regional branches, and logistics hubs. With a compact, energy-efficient design and flexible management options, the 9172 Series helps ensure strong, future-ready connectivity without compromising affordability.

The Cisco Wireless 9172H is a tri-band, tri-radio, 2x2:2, Wi-Fi 7 wall plate access point with wired access ports, an integrated Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio and scanning radio.

With tri-radio functionality across 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, and 6-GHz bands, the 9172H access point provides reliable, high-speed connectivity (up to 9000 Mbps frame rate) for spaces with low to moderate device density. Flexible deployment options—cloud, on-premises, or hybrid—allow seamless integration into existing networks.

Cisco Meraki Cloud Management

Pairing the Cisco Wireless 9172 Series Access Points with the Meraki cloud platform gives organizations a unified IT experience for network monitoring and management. The Meraki dashboard provides an intuitive and interactive web interface connecting your network to the industry’s leading cloud IT platform.

Through the dashboard, Meraki provides sophisticated and scalable tools to automate network optimization, deploy policy and segmentation configurations across thousands of sites and devices, and manage a full-stack network from SD-WAN to Access to IoT technologies. The platform supports over 3.5 million active networks around the world.

Working together, the Cisco Wireless 9172 Series and Cisco Meraki offer such features as:

Cisco Spaces
Cisco Identity Services Engine
Wireless AIOps innovations
Meraki Vision, smart cameras, and sensors for network closet monitoring

Cisco Catalyst Center and Catalyst 9800 WLC support

Cisco Wireless 9172 Series Access Points can also be paired with Catalyst 9800 WLC and Cisco Catalyst Center to understand your network with real-time analytics, quickly detect and contain security threats, and easily provide network-wide consistency through automation and virtualization.

Working together, the Cisco Wireless 9172 Series and Cisco Catalyst Center offer such features as:

Cisco Spaces
Cisco Identity Services Engine
Cisco Catalyst Center Analytics and Assurance along with Intelligence Capture (iCAP)
For information about Cisco Catalyst Center, refer to the Cisco Networking Solution Overview.

High-Performance 802.11be compatible wireless

The CW9172H is a cloud-managed 2x2:2 802.11be compatible access point that raises the bar for wireless performance and efficiency. Designed for next-generation deployments in offices, schools, hotels, hospitals, the CW9172H offers high throughput, enterprise-grade security, and simple management.

The CW9172H provides a maximum of 9 Gbps* aggregate frame rate with concurrent 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz radios. A dedicated fourth radio provides real-time WIDS/WIPS with automated RF optimization, and a fifth integrated IoT radio delivers Bluetooth scanning and beaconing.

With the combination of cloud management, high-performance hardware, multiple radios, and advanced software features, the CW9172H makes an outstanding platform for the most demanding of uses—including high-density deployments and bandwidth or performance-intensive applications like voice (Cisco WebEx) and high-definition video.

CW9172 and Meraki cloud management

Management of the CW9172H is through Dashboard with an intuitive browser-based interface that enables rapid deployment without time-consuming deployment complexity and time-consuming staging process. Since the CW9172H is self-configuring and managed over the web, it can be deployed at a remote location in a matter of minutes, even without on-site IT staff.

24x7 monitoring via the Meraki cloud delivers real-time alerts if the network encounters problems. Remote diagnostic tools enable immediate troubleshooting over the web so that distributed networks can be managed with a minimum of hassle.

The CW9172H’s firmware is automatically kept up to date via the cloud. New features, bug fixes, and enhancements are delivered seamlessly over the web. This means no manual software updates to download or missing security patches to worry about.

Product Highlights

2x2:2 UL/DL MU-MIMO 802.11be compatible
9 Gbps tri-radio aggregate frame rate
24x7 real-time WIDS/WIPS and spectrum analytics via dedicated Scanning radio
Integrated Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon and scanning radio
Single 2.5 Gbps mGig Ethernet port support
3x 1 Gbps Wired LAN Port with 1 LAN port capable of PoE out.
1 Pass through port

Full-time Wi-Fi location tracking via dedicated Scanning radio
Integrated enterprise security and guest access
Application-aware traffic shaping
Optimized for voice and video
Self-configuring, plug-and-play deployment
Enhanced transmit power and receive sensitivity

Features

Tri–radio aggregate frame rate of up to 9 Gbps*

A 6 GHz 2x2:2, 5 GHz 2x2:2 and 2.4 GHz 2x2:2 radio offer a combined tri–radio aggregate frame rate of 9 Gbps*, with up to 5764 Mbps in 6 GHz band, 2882 Mbps in 5 GHz band and 344 Mbps in 2.4 GHz band. Technologies like transmit beamforming and enhanced receive sensitivity allow the CW9172H to support a higher client density than typical enterprise-class access points, resulting in better performance for more clients from each AP.

* Refers to maximum over-the-air data frame rate capability of the radio chipset, and may exceed data rates allowed by IEEE 802.11be operation.

Multi Link Operation (MLO)

With support for features of 802.11be, the CW9172H can operate in multiple bands simultaneously to achieve higher throughput and improved SLA. This increases the total network performance and improves the end-user experience.

Multi User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO)

With support for features of 802.11be, the CW9172H offers DL and UL MU-MIMO and OFDMA for more efficient transmission to multiple clients. Especially suited to environments with numerous mobile devices, MU-MIMO and OFDMA enable multiple clients to receive data simultaneously. This increases the total network performance and improves the end-user experience.

Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon and Scanning Radio

An integrated Bluetooth radio provides seamless deployment of BLE Beacon functionality and effortless visibility of Bluetooth devices. The CW9172H enables the next generation of location-aware applications while future-proofing deployments, ensuring it’s ready for any new customer engagement strategies.

Automatic Cloud-Based RF Optimization

The RF data collected by the dedicated fourth radio is continuously fed back to the Meraki cloud. This data is then used to automatically tune the channel selection, transmit power, and client connection settings for optimal performance under even the most challenging RF conditions.

Integrated Enterprise Security and Guest Access

The CW9172H features integrated, easy-to-use security technologies to provide secure connectivity for employees and guests alike. Advanced security features such as AES hardware-based encryption and Enterprise authentication with 802.1X and Active Directory integration provide wired-like security while still being easy to configure. CW9172H will also support 192-bit encryption along with WPA3 support for added security of the wireless network. One-click guest isolation provides secure, Internet-only access for visitors. PCI compliance reports check network settings against PCI requirements to simplify secure retail deployments.

Dedicated Scanning Radio Delivers 24x7 Meraki Air Marshal and RF analytics

The CW9172H’s dedicated tri-band scanning and security radio continually assesses the environment, characterizing RF interference and containing (in 2.4GHz and 5GHz only, since 6GHz mandates PMF) wireless threats like rogue access points. There’s no need to choose between wireless security (Air Marshal), advanced RF analysis, and serving client data - a dedicated fourth radio means that all functions occur in real-time, without any impact on client traffic or AP throughput.

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) & Mobile Device Management (MDM) Integration

Meraki Systems Manager natively integrates with the CW917H to offer automatic, context-aware security. Meraki Systems Manager’s self-service enrollment helps to rapidly deploy MDM without installing additional equipment, and then dynamically tie firewall and traffic shaping policies to client posture.

Application-Aware Traffic Shaping

The CW9172H includes an integrated layer 7 packet inspection, classification, and control engine, enabling the configuration of QoS policies based on traffic type, helping to prioritize mission-critical applications while setting limits on recreational traffic like peer-to-peer and video streaming. Policies can be implemented per network, per SSID, per user group, or per individual user for maximum flexibility and control.

Voice and Video Optimizations

Industry-standard QoS features are built-in and easy to configure. Wireless Multimedia (WMM) access categories, 802.1p, and DSCP standards support, all ensure important applications get prioritized correctly, not only on the CW9172H but on other devices in the network. Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery (U-APSD) and the Target Wait Time feature in 802.11ax clients ensure minimal battery drain on wireless VoIP phones.

Self-configuring, Self-Maintaining, Always Up-to-Date

When plugged in, the CW9172H automatically connects to the Meraki cloud, downloads its configuration, and joins the appropriate network. Administrators can schedule automatic firmware upgrades for their dashboard network seamlessly. This ensures the network is kept up-to-date with bug fixes, security updates, and new features.

Meraki Health

CW9172H will support all the latest and greatest analytics to provide machine learning-based anomaly detection, server root cause analysis, wireless client scoring based on performance and connectivity metrics and network benchmarking for networks of similar size and vertical. Along with these features, CW9172H will provide advanced location analytics via API and graphs in the dashboard to provide a clear picture of client density and their movement across the floor plan.

Choice of Mode

Cisco Wireless 9172H Series Access Points can be managed either on-premises with Catalyst 9800 Wireless Lan Controllers (WLC) or cloud-managed through the Meraki dashboard. Customers have the flexibility to deploy these access points in one mode and migrate to the other mode in the future.

Specifications

Category	Specifications
Radios	2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n/ax/be client access radio 5 GHz 802.11a/n/ac/ax/be client access radio 6 GHz 802.11 ax/be client access radio 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz tri-band Air Marshal WIDS/WIPS, spectrum analysis, & location analytics radio 2.4 GHz Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio with Beacon and BLE scanning support Concurrent operation of all five radios. BLE Version 5.3, software upgradable to 6.0 in the future.
Antenna	2.4 GHz Peak Gain 3 dBi, Internal Antenna, Omnidirectional in azimuth 5 GHz Peak Gain 6 dBi, Internal Antenna, Omnidirectional in azimuth 6 GHz Peak Gain 5 dBi, Internal Antenna, Omnidirectional in azimuth
802.11ax, 802.11ac Wave 2 and 802.11n Capabilities	DL-OFDMA, UL-OFDMA, TWT support, BSS coloring 2x2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams SU-MIMO, UL MU-MIMO*, and DL MU-MIMO support Maximal ratio combining (MRC) & beamforming 20 and 40 MHz channels (802.11n); 20, 40, and 80 MHz channels (802.11ac Wave 2); 20, 40 and 80* MHz channels (802.11ax) Note: 40MHz and 80 MHz channels are supported only in the 5GHz and 6 GHz band. 802.11ax supported only in 6 GHz band. *802.11ax capability
802.11be Capabilities	Up to 4096-QAM on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands 20 MHz channels on 2.4 GHz bands 20, 40, 80, 160 MHz on 5 GHz bands 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 MHz on 6 GHz bands MLO (Multi-link operation) across different bands MRU (Multiple Resource Unit) allocation in OFDMA
Power	Power over Ethernet: 42.5 - 57 V 802.3bt(Class 5)/802.3at/802.3af compliant Minimum power requirement : (PD: 12.95W min 802.3af) Maximum power requirement : (PD: 32W max 802.3bt class 5) Power over Ethernet injector sold separately Note: Actual power consumption may vary depending on the AP usage.
Interfaces	1x 100/1,000/2.5 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) 2x 100/1,000 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) LAN Ports 1x 100/1,000 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) LAN port with 802.3af PoE output 1x Passthrough (RJ45) Port 1x Console Port
Mounting	Desktop and wall mount capable CW-MNT-H1-00 MA-MNT-MR-H1A AIR-AP-BRACKET-W4 CW-ACC-DESK1-00 CW-ACC-SPACER1-00 CW-MNT-H3-00
Physical Security	Two security screw options (included) Concealed mount plate. Kensington lock slot available for desktop stand (CW-ACC-DESK1-00) LAN Port security cover available (CW-MNT-H3-00)
Environment	Nonoperating (storage) temperature: -40° to 158°F (-40° to 70°C) Nonoperating (storage) altitude test: 25°C (77°F) at 16,000 ft (4863 m) Operating temperature: 32° to 122°F (0° to 50°C) Operating humidity: 10% to 95% (noncondensing) Operating altitude test: 45° C (113° F) at 4205m (13.8K ft) Humidity:10% to 90% non-condensing
Reliability	Mean time between failure (MTBF): 912,409 hrs at 25°C operating temperature Mean time between failure (MTBF): 349,710 hrs at 50°C operating temperature
Physical Dimensions	CW9172H 5.1 x 7.0 x 1.0 in. (13 x 18 x 2.6 cm) Weight: 1.16 lb. (572 g)
Security	Integrated layer 7 firewall with mobile device policy management Real-time WIDS/WIPS with alerting and automatic rogue AP containment with Air Marshal Flexible guest access with device isolation VLAN tagging (802.1q) and tunneling with IPsec VPN PCI compliance reporting WPA, WPA2-PSK, WPA2-Enterprise with 802.1X, WPA3 - Personal, WPA3 - Enterprise, WPA3 - Enhanced Open (OWE)*** EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS, EAP-MSCHAPv2, EAP-SIM TKIP, AES encryption Enterprise mobility management (EMM) and Mobile device management (MDM) integration Cisco ISE integration for guest access and BYOD posturing
Quality of Service	Advanced power save (U-APSD) WMM access categories with DSCP and 802.1p support Layer 7 application traffic identification and shaping
Mobility	PMK, OKC, and 802.11r for fast layer 2 roaming Distributed or centralized layer 3 roaming
Analytics	Embedded location analytics reporting and device tracking Global layer 7 traffic analytics reporting per network, per device, and per application
LED Indicators	1 power/booting/firmware upgrade status Ethernet LED
Regulatory	RoHS For additional country-specific regulatory information, please contact Meraki sales
Warranty	Indoor access point Lifetime hardware warranty with advanced replacement included
Ordering Information	CW9172H Cloud Managed Omnidirectional 802.11be Compatible AP CW-INJ-8: Multigigabit 802.3bt Power over Ethernet Injector (power cables sold separately) MA-INJ-6: Meraki Multigigabit 802.3bt Power over Ethernet Injector (power cable sold separately) Cisco AIR-PWRINJ-6 802.3at Cisco AIR-PWRINJ-7 802.3bt Power cord - MA-PWR-CORD-XX (XX Country Code) should be ordered separately for the Ethernet injector Note: Cisco Subscription or Meraki access point license required

Compliance and Standards

Category	Standard
IEEE Standards	802.3 ab/bz 802.3 af/at/bt 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be 802.11d/h/i/k/r/u/v/w
Certifications	● Wi-Fi Alliance: Wi-Fi 7 (R1), Wi-Fi 6 (R2), Wi-Fi 6E, WPA3-R3, WPA3-Suite B, Enhanced Open Security ● Bluetooth SIG: Bluetooth Low Energy
Safety Approvals	CSA and CB 60950 & 62368 EN 60601 certified
Radio Approvals	FCC Part 15C 15E RSS-247 (Canada) EN 300 328 ( v2.1.1) EN 301 893 (v2.1.1) AS/NZS 4268 (Australia/NZ) NOM-121 (Mexico) NCC LP0002 (Taiwan) For additional country-specific regulatory information, please contact Meraki sales
EMI Approvals (Class B)	FCC Part 15B ICES-003 (Canada) EN 301 489-1-17 EN 55032 EN 55024 (Europe) CISPR 32 (Australia/NZ) VCCI (Japan)
Exposure Approvals	FCC Part 2 RSS-102 (Canada) EN 50385 EN 6231 EN 62479 (Europe) AS/NZS 2772 (Australia/NZ)

Context and Comparisons

802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac Wave 2 and 802.11n Capabilities

MR36H	MR44	CW9162	CW9172H
DL-OFDMA, UL-OFDMA, TWT support, BSS coloring	DL-OFDMA, UL-OFDMA, TWT support, BSS coloring	DL-OFDMA, UL-OFDMA, TWT support, BSS coloring	DL-OFDMA, UL-OFDMA, TWT support, BSS coloring MLO
2.4 GHz: 2 x 2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams 5 GHz: 2x2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams	2:4GHz: 4 x 4 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with four spatial streams 5 GHz: 4 x 4 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with four spatial streams	2.4 GHz: 2x2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams 5 GHz: 2x2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams 6 GHz: 2x2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams	2.4 GHz: 2x2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams 5 GHz: 2x2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams 6 GHz: 2x2 multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams
Maximal ratio combining (MRC) & beamforming	Maximal ratio combining (MRC) & beamforming	Maximal ratio combining (MRC) & beamforming	Maximal ratio combining (MRC) & beamforming
SU-MIMO, UL MU-MIMO and DL MU-MIMO support	SU-MIMO, UL MU-MIMO and DL MU-MIMO support	SU-MIMO, UL MU-MIMO and DL MU-MIMO support	SU-MIMO, UL MU-MIMO and DL MU-MIMO support
20 and 40 MHz* channels (802.11n); 20, 40, and 80 MHz channels (802.11ac Wave 2); 20, 40 and 80 MHz channels (802.11ax)	20 and 40 MHz* channels (802.11n); 20, 40, and 80 MHz channels (802.11ac Wave 2); 20, 40 and 80 MHz channels (802.11ax)	20 and 40 MHz* channels (802.11n); 20, 40, and 80 MHz channels (802.11ac Wave 2); 20, 40, 80MHz and 160MHz channels (802.11ax)	20 and 40 MHz* channels (802.11n); 20, 40, and 80 MHz channels (802.11ac Wave 2); 20, 40, 80MHz and 160MHz channels (802.11ax) 320MHz channels (802.11be)
Note: *40MHz channels are supported only in 5 & 6 GHz bands.
Up to 1024-QAM on both 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz bands	Up to 1024-QAM on both 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz bands	Up to 1024-QAM on all three - 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands	Up to 4096-QAM on all three - 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands
Packet aggregation	Packet aggregation	Packet aggregation	Packet aggregation

Power

MR36H	MR44	CW9162	CW9172H
Power over Ethernet: 37 - 57 V (802.af compliant)	Power over Ethernet: 42.5 - 57 V (802.3at compliant)	Power over Ethernet: 42.5 - 57 V (802.3at and 802.3bt compliant)	Power over Ethernet: 42.5 - 57 V (802.3at and 802.3bt compliant)
Alternative: Only PoE	Alternative: 12 V DC input	Alternative: 12 V DC input	Alternative: Only PoE
Power consumption: 15W max (802.3af)	Power consumption: 30W max (802.3at required)	Power consumption: 30.0W max (802.3 at required)	Power consumption: 32W max with PoE Out on the LAN Port
Power over Ethernet injector sold separately	Power over Ethernet injector and DC adapter sold separately	Power over Ethernet injector and DC adapter sold separately	Power over Ethernet injector sold separately

** features can be enabled via future firmware updates

Interfaces

MR36H	MR44	CW9162I	CW9172H
1x 100/1000/2.5G BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45)	1x 100/1000/2.5G BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45)	1x 100/1000/2.5G BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45)	1x 100/1000/2.5G BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45)
No DC Power Plug	1x DC power connector (5.5 mm x 2.5 mm, center positive)	1x DC power connector (8 mm, center positive)	No DC Power Plug
1x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) with 802.3af Power over Ethernet output 2x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) outputs 1x Passthrough port (non-managed).			1x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) with 802.3af Power over Ethernet output 2x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) outputs 1x Passthrough port (non-managed).

Physical Dimensions

MR36	MR44	CW9162I	CW9172H
15.5 cm x 11 cm x 2.3 cm (6.1" x 4.33"x 0.9") not including desk mount feet or mount plate	12.05" × 5.06" × 1.74" (30.6 cm × 12.84 cm × 4.43 cm), not including desk mount feet or mount plate	7.8" x 7.8" x 1.7" 200 x 200 x 45.45 mm) , not including mount plate	13 cm x 18 cm x 2.6 cm (5.1” x 7.0” x 1.0 in. , not including mount plate
Weight: 17.35 oz (492 g)	Weight: 28.22 oz (800 g)	Weight: 35.27 oz (1 kg)	Weight: 1.16lbs (572g)