CW916x Family Frequently Asked Questions

How can the CW916x be managed?

The CW916x family of AP 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 management mode and migrate to the other in the future.

The AP can be ordered either in a Meraki management mode or a DNA management mode. The AP will come pre-loaded with both images, the SKU that is ordered will determine what the active software is when the AP is shipped to the customer.

How do you identify if the AP is in Meraki or DNA management mode?

If you are on-site and have visibility to the AP:
Reboot the AP and watch the LEDs. 

In Meraki mode the LED blinks in this sequence:

1. Orange for ~40secs
2. Off for ~8 secs
3. Rainbow sequence 
4. Solid green or blue when associated to dashboard

For more details, you can check out Decoding the LED lights

In Cisco mode, the LED blinks in this sequence:

1. Orange for ~3secs
2. Green/off sequentially for ~25 secs
3. Off for ~2 mins
4. Green/off/orange/off sequence for ~2mins
5. Solid green or blue when associated to a WLC

Alternatively, run a packet capture on the port where the AP is connected and review the Platform field of the CDP packets.

Example of a CDP packet sent by a CW9164I AP in Meraki mode:

What are the capabilities of the new CW916x Access Points?

The CW916x family of AP are tri-band enterprise-class Wi-Fi 6E cloud-managed access points supporting 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and the newly opened unlicensed 6 GHz frequency bands. Designed for ultra-high capacity and highest density, the CW916x family meets the needs of the most demanding and mission-critical environments. The access points include a Tri-band scanning radio dedicated to optimizing the RF environment and securing the airwaves using Air Marshal. The AP also has an additional Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capable radio used for location and other IoT applications. In addition, these AP have a USB port that can be connected to external USB devices to support other third-party applications.

What is new with the Wi-Fi 6E standard?

The new WiFi 6E standard allows Access Points to operate in the newly opened 6 GHz frequency, which provides additional 59 - 20 MHz, 29 - 40 MHz, 15 - 80 MHz, and 7 - 160 MHz channels in the USA and 500 MHz of frequency band available in Europe. These channels are slowly being opened up by other regulatory bodies across the world. Please read the WiFi 6E FAQ asked questions for more details

How many Wi-Fi radios are present in the CW916x?

The CW916x has three Wi-Fi radios capable of serving clients in 2.4 GHz, 5GHz, and 6 GHz respectively.

The CW9166 can be configured to operate in with one radio in 2.4 GHz and two radios in 5 GHz or where one radio operates in 2.4 GHz, one radio in 5 GHz, and one radio in 6 GHz frequencies, all radios on the CW9166 are 4x4:4 capable.

The CW9164 has three Wi-Fi radios capable of serving clients in 2.4 GHz (2x2:2), 5GHz (4x4:4), and 6 GHz (4x4:4). 

The CW9162 has three Wi-Fi radios capable of serving clients 2.4 GHz, 5GHz, and 6 GHz, all radios in the CW9162 are 2x2:2 capable

What are the power requirements to operate the CW916x Access Point?

The CW9166 and CW9164 can be powered by 802.3at or 802.3bt power. When powered by 802.3at/PoE+, all the five radios in AP (3 Client serving + 1 Scanning + 1 IoT) will operate at full capacity. 

The CW9162 can be powered by 802.3at.

For CW9164 and CW9166 the USB port will only be enabled with 802.3bt power, the same can be achieved for CW9162 with 802.3at power.

The table below indicates the different modes of PoE power input and the expected operation of the AP

What are the different powering accessories that are available for the CW916x?

The CW916x AP can be powered by PoE power in different modes as mentioned above when using a PoE capable switch. CW916x can also be powered by a single 802.3bt capable PoE injector, MA-INJ-6 - Meraki multiGigabit 802.3bt Power over Ethernet Injector.

The CW9164/66 can also be powered by AC power adaptor MA-PWR-50WAC - Meraki AC Adapter for MR Series. 

The CW9162 can be powered by AC power adaptor MA-PWR-30W-XX - Meraki AC Adapter for MR Series.

What are the out-of-box radio settings for the CW916x Access Points?

The CW9166 AP will be set to 2.4 GHz and dual 5 GHz mode. Options to enable the 6 GHz frequencies will be available in Radio Settings, for the regulatory domains that support 6 GHz.

The CW9164 and CW9162 will always operate in tri-band mode, as long as the regulatory domain supports 6 GHz otherwise, the 6 GHz radio will be disabled.

Which countries are supported for 6 GHz?

Currently, the supported countries by the CW916x for 6 GHz at FCS include the US, UK/ EU, Canada, and Korea. The US, Canada and Korea will support UNII-5 through UNII-8 channels in LPI mode. UK/EU will support UNII-5 channels in LPI mode. Please see the approved country list by the Wi-Fi Alliance for the most up to date in information on 6 GHz frequency adaption and support. 

What is the benefit of CW916x having a 6 GHz radio when there are not a lot of 6 GHz clients in the market?

Even though there are not a lot of 6 GHz clients in the market today, we do expect that there will be a significant increase in clients that support the 6 GHz band in the near future. In addition to supporting 59 new 6 GHz band channels, the third radio of the CW9166 also has the advantage of being able to be configured either as a 6 GHz or 5 GHz radio. When configured in the dual 5 GHz, a single CW9166 can support two times the client capacity on 5 GHz to address the growing needs of the network today. CW916x also provides organizations with investment protection for the future when 6 GHz clients become more prevalent by simply enabling 6 GHz operation with just a simple configuration change.

Do I need to be in licensing compliance to migrate.

Yes. For all migration requests of Meraki Persona APs to Cisco DNA Center, please ensure the CW916X series access points are claimed into an organization with sufficient licensing for the migration. Organizations in a grace period or without sufficient AP count licenses will not be eligible for migration until the organization is brought back into licensing compliance.