MR57 Frequently Asked Questions

What are the capabilities of the new Meraki MR57 Access Point?

The Cisco Meraki MR57 is a tri-band 4x4 enterprise-class Wi-Fi 6E  cloud-managed access point supporting 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and the newly opened unlicensed 6 GHz frequency bands. Designed for ultra high capacity and highest density, MR57 meets the needs of the most demanding and mission critical environments. The access point also includes a Tri-band scanning radio dedicated to optimizing the RF environment and securing the airwaves using Air Marshal. The MR57 also has an additional Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capable radio used for location and other IoT applications. In addition to this MR57 has 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 MR57?

The MR57 has three 4x4 Wi-Fi radios capable of serving clients in 2.4 GHz, 5GHz and 6 GHz respectively. The AP 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

How many Ethernet ports are available in the MR57?

MR57 has two mGig (upto 5 Gbps) Ethernet ports in which both ports are 802.3bt uPoE capable. The two Ethernet ports can be combined together for an aggregate throughput of up to 10 Gbps. The two ports are also capable of combining the power of two 802.3 af/PoE to provide 802.3 at/PoE+ or two 802.3 at/PoE+ power to provide 802.3 bt/uPoE power.

What are the power requirements to operate the MR57 Access Point?

MR57 requires 802.3bt/UPoE for full operation of the Access Point. 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 USB port will be disabled when powered up by 802.3at/PoE+

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

What would happen if the switch port connected to the AP fails?

The dual Ethernet ports can provide full Ethernet and power redundancy/failover capabilities when they are both connected to the AP. Please refer to the table below on the expected functionality  

What are the different powering accessories that are available for the MR57?

MR57 APs can be powered by the PoE power in different modes as mentioned above when using a PoE capable switch. MR57 can also be powered by a single 802.3bt capable PoE injector MA-INJ-6 - Meraki multiGigabit 802.3bt Power over Ethernet Injector. It can also be powered by an AC power adaptor MA-PWR-50WAC - Meraki AC Adapter for MR Series. 

What are the out of box radio settings for the MR57 Access Points?

MR57 APs will be set to 2.4 GHz and dual 5 GHz mode. As of today only few countries support the availability of 6 GHz band channels. For countries that do not support the 6 GHz band yet, the APs will remain and operate in dual 5 GHz mode. Options to configure 6 GHz frequencies will be disabled in the dashboard for these countries

Which countries are supported for 6 GHz?

Currently the supported countries by the MR57 for 6 GHz at FCS include the US, UK/ EU and Korea. The US 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 most up to date in information on 6 GHz frequency adaption and support. 

Does the MR57 support 8x8 radio like the MR56?

No. Even though MR57 does not support 8x8, it is spatially more efficient because of its flexibility to operate in multiple bands and supports higher aggregate throughput as compared to the MR56. MR57 is a Wi-Fi 6E capable AP and can operate in 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz spectrum. Since there are 3 different spectrums, there is no overlap in the frequency space - which makes it spectrally more efficient. 
The availability of 6GHz band in the MR57 enables the newer Wi-Fi 6E capable clients to operate in the 6GHz spectrum, thus providing legacy 2.4GHz and 5GHz clients more available spectrum and less interference. Hence the overall throughput in real world from MR57, even being a 4x4, will be higher as compared to our MR56.

What is the benefit of MR57 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 MR57 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 MR57 can support two times the client capacity on 5 GHz to address the growing needs of the network today. MR57 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 config change.