Cisco CW9162I-Z Access Point
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Model: CW9162I-Z
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Description:
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Price: USDLast Update:
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The Cisco Catalyst 9162 Series Access Points represent a versatile, next-generation networking solution designed to meet the demands of modern hybrid work environments. These access points are specifically engineered for small to medium-sized deployments, offering a high level of resilience, security, and intelligence. By supporting the 6-GHz frequency band, they provide a more reliable and efficient wireless experience with increased capacity and reduced interference.
A standout feature of the 9162 Series is its management flexibility. Organizations can choose to deploy these access points using either on-premises management via Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers or cloud-based management through the Cisco Meraki dashboard. This design allows businesses to protect their initial hardware investment, as they can transition between management modes in the future without the need to replace or redistribute their existing equipment.
Product overview
The Cisco Catalyst 9162 Series includes the Catalyst 9162I access point, which is fully Wi-Fi 6E-compliant. These devices are built to deliver high throughput and superior performance for bandwidth-intensive applications, such as high-definition video collaboration and IoT integration. By combining the robust architecture of the Catalyst line with the intuitive, scalable cloud platform of Meraki, Cisco provides a unified IT experience that simplifies network monitoring and optimization.
Security is foundational to the 9162 Series, which utilizes Cisco Trust Anchor technologies to ensure the authenticity of both hardware and software. This provides a strong defense against supply chain risks and potential man-in-the-middle attacks. Furthermore, the series is designed for sustainability, featuring power-saving modes that reduce energy consumption during off-hours, helping organizations lower their overall carbon footprint while maintaining a high-performance, digital-ready network.
Features and benefits
- Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E Support: Extends wireless capabilities into the 6-GHz band for higher capacity and lower interference, ideal for high-density environments and modern IoT applications.
- Flexible Management: Offers the choice between on-premises (Catalyst 9800) and cloud-based (Meraki) management, allowing for seamless transitions as business needs evolve.
- AP Power Save Mode: Automatically reduces power consumption during periods of low activity, contributing to energy efficiency and sustainability goals.
- Cisco CleanAir Pro: Provides advanced RF interference detection and classification, now extended to the 6-GHz band.
- Band Steering: Intelligently directs 6-GHz capable devices to the 6-GHz radio, optimizing performance for both new and legacy clients.
- OFDMA and MU-MIMO: Enhances throughput and reduces latency by efficiently scheduling bandwidth and splitting spatial streams among multiple devices.
- BSS Coloring: Improves spatial reuse, allowing for more simultaneous transmissions in dense network environments.
- Target Wake Time (TWT): Significantly extends battery life for connected IoT devices by allowing them to sleep and wake at scheduled intervals.
- Intelligent Capture: Provides deep network analysis and anomaly tracking to assist administrators in making informed, data-driven decisions.
- Application Hosting: Supports containerized applications directly on the access point, simplifying IoT deployments without the need for additional overlay networks.
- Bluetooth 5.1: Integrated BLE radio enables location-based services such as asset tracking and wayfinding.
- Secure Infrastructure: Includes hardware-level security features like Secure Boot and image signing to ensure system integrity.
The Cisco Catalyst 9162 Series Access Points (APs) allow you to choose between on-premises and cloud management. These next generation APs are perfect for small to medium-sized deployments and support the new 6-GHz band for Wi-Fi. They are resilient, secure, and intelligent.
Catalyst 9162I access point
With the flexibility to choose between cloud and on-premises management, the Catalyst 9162 Series Access Points help protect your network investment and unlock the power of hybrid work. The Wi-Fi 6E-compliant access points take advantage of the 6-GHz band expansion to produce a network that is more reliable and secure, with higher throughput, more capacity, and less device interference. They come with three 2x2 radios and provide a host of cutting-edge features.
The Catalyst 9162 Series joins the industry’s leading network architecture (Catalyst) with the industry’s leading cloud IT platform (Meraki), for an unparalleled network experience. Organizations that need solutions to power hybrid work and allow their people to work anywhere at any time with elevated, secure, and connected experiences will find that the 9162 Series is the best choice.
With the Catalyst 9162 Series, you can change your network management whenever you want. For example, you can start with an on-premises deployment and later change to cloud-based management without the need to purchase and redistribute additional hardware.
Table 1.Features and benefits
| Feature |
Benefits |
| Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
The IEEE 802.11ax standard, also known as High-Efficiency Wireless (HEW) or Wi-Fi 6, builds on 802.11ac. It delivers a better experience in typical environments with more predictable performance for advanced applications such as 4K or 8K video; high-density, high-definition collaboration apps; all-wireless offices; and the Internet of Things (IoT). Wi-Fi 6E is Wi-Fi 6 “extended” into the 6-GHz frequency band. |
| AP power optimizations (AP Power Save mode) |
AP power optimizations (AP Power Save mode) allow the access point to reduce its power consumption by, for example, shutting off radios during off-hours and weekends, while being smart enough to reengage all features should they be needed. This both saves power and reduces the carbon footprint of running a wireless network. |
| Cisco CleanAir Pro |
CleanAir Pro extends Cisco’s industry-leading RF Interference detection and classification into the 6-GHz band. |
| Band steering |
Band steering helps clients that are 6-GHz capable leave the 5-GHz radio and connect to the 6-GHz one. Wi-Fi 6E clients are automatically directed to connect to the 6-GHz radio to take advantage of the benefits that it offers and free up the 2.4- and 5-GHz radios for legacy clients. |
| Uplink/downlink OFDMA |
Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)-based scheduling splits the bandwidth into smaller frequency allocations called Resource Units (RUs), which can be assigned to individual clients in both the downlink and uplink directions to reduce overhead and latency. |
| Uplink/downlink MU‑MIMO technology |
Supporting six spatial streams, multiuser multiple input, multiple output (MU-MIMO) enables the access points to split spatial streams between client devices to maximize throughput. |
| BSS coloring |
Spatial reuse (also known as Basic Service Set [BSS] coloring) allows the access points and their clients to differentiate between BSSs, thus permitting more simultaneous transmissions. |
| Target Wake Time |
Target Wake Time (TWT) allows the client to stay asleep and to wake up only at prescheduled (target) times to exchange data with the access point. This offers significant energy savings for battery-operated devices, up to three to four times the savings achieved by 802.11n and 802.11ac. |
| Intelligent Capture |
Intelligent Capture probes the network and provides Cisco DNA Center with deep analysis. It can track more than 240 anomalies and instantaneously review all packets on demand, emulating the onsite network administrator. This feature allows for more informed decision making on your wireless network. |
| Application hosting |
Application hosting helps simplify IoT deployments and ready them for the future by eliminating the need to install and manage overlay networks. Using the USB interface, containerized applications and hardware modules can be deployed to reduce cost and complexity. Adding Cisco DNA Center provides workflows and deployment-wide application lifecycle management. |
| Bluetooth 5.1 |
The integrated Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.1 radio enables location-based use cases such as asset tracking, wayfinding, and analytics. |
| Container support for applications |
Container support enables edge computing capabilities for IoT applications on the host access point. |
| Choice of management mode |
The Catalyst 9162 Series can be managed either on-premises with Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers or cloud-managed through the Meraki dashboard. It gives you the flexibility to deploy the access points in one management mode and shift to a different management mode in the future. |
For more details about Catalyst 9162 Series feature support, see Cisco's Feature Matrix.
Secure infrastructure
Trustworthy systems built with Cisco Trust Anchor technologies provide a highly secure foundation for Cisco products. With the Cisco Catalyst 9162 Series Access Points, these technologies enable assurance of hardware and software authenticity for supply chain trust and strong defense against man-in-the-middle attacks that compromise software and firmware. Trust Anchor capabilities include:
●Image signing
●Secure Boot
●Cisco Trust Anchor module
Cisco DNA and Catalyst 9800 controller support
Pairing the Cisco Catalyst 9162 Series Access Points with Cisco DNA allows for a total network transformation. Cisco DNA allows you to truly understand your network with real-time analytics, quickly detect and contain security threats, and easily provide networkwide consistency through automation and virtualization. The 9162 Series supports Software-Defined Access (SD-Access), Cisco’s leading enterprise architecture.
Working together, the Catalyst 9162 Series and Cisco DNA offer such features as:
●Cisco Spaces
●Cisco Identity Services Engine
●Cisco DNA Analytics and Assurance along with Intelligence Capture
The result? Your network stays relevant, becomes digital ready, and is the lifeblood of your organization.
Note: For information about Cisco DNA, refer to the Cisco Networking Solution Overview.
Cisco Meraki cloud management
Pairing the Cisco Catalyst 9162 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 Catalyst 9162 Series and Cisco Meraki offer such features as:
●Cisco Spaces
●Cisco Identity Services Engine
●Meraki Health intelligent optimization and assurance
●Meraki Vision, smart cameras, and sensors for network closet monitoring
Note: For information about Cisco Meraki, refer to https://meraki.cisco.com/products/.
Product specifications
Table 2.Specifications
| Item |
Specification |
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| Part numbers |
Cisco Catalyst access points
●CW9162I-x: Cisco Catalyst 9162 Series
Regulatory domains: (x = regulatory domain) Customers are responsible for verifying approval for use in their individual countries. To verify approval and to identify the regulatory domain that corresponds to a particular country, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/aironet/compliance. Not all regulatory domains have been approved. As they are approved, the part numbers will be available on the Global Price List and/or regional price lists.
●CW9162I-MR: Cisco Catalyst 9162 Series, w/Meraki
Cloud-managed version using Meraki Dashboard Cisco wireless LAN services For details on optional WLAN services, visit Services for Wireless and Mobility |
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| Software |
●Cisco IOS XE Software Release 17.9.2/17.10.1 or later
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| Supported wireless controllers |
●Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers (physical or virtual)
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| 802.11n version 2.0 (and related) capabilities |
●2x2 MIMO with two spatial streams
●Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC)
●802.11n and 802.11a/g
●20- and 40-MHz channels
●PHY data rates up to 444.4 Mbps (40 MHz with 5 GHz and 20 MHz with 2.4 GHz)
●Packet aggregation: Aggregate MAC Protocol Data Unit (A-MPDU) (transmit and receive), Aggregate MAC Service Data Unit (A-MSDU) (transmit and receive)
●802.11 Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS)
●Cyclic Shift Diversity (CSD) support
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| 802.11ac |
●2x2 downlink MU-MIMO with two spatial streams
●MRC
●802.11ac beamforming
●20-, 40-, and 80-MHz channels
●PHY data rates up to 866.7 Mbps (2x2 80 MHz on 5 GHz)
●Packet aggregation: A-MPDU (transmit and receive), A-MSDU (transmit and receive)
●802.11 DFS
●CSD support
●Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) 3 support
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| 802.11ax |
●2x2 uplink/downlink MU-MIMO with two spatial streams (6 GHz)
●2x2 downlink MU-MIMO with two spatial streams (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
●Uplink/downlink OFDMA
●TWT
●BSS coloring
●MRC
●802.11ax beamforming
●20-, 40-, 80-, and 160-MHz channels (6 GHz)
●20-, 40-, and 80-MHz channels (5 GHz)
●20-MHz channels (2.4 GHz)
●PHY data rates up to 3.9 Gbps (2x2 160 MHz on 6 GHz, 2x2 80 MHz on 5 GHz, and 2x2 20 MHz on 2.4 GHz)
●Packet aggregation: A-MPDU (transmit and receive), A-MSDU (transmit and receive)
●802.11 DFS
●CSD support
●WPA3 support
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| Integrated antenna |
●2.4 GHz: Peak gain 4 dBi, internal antenna, omnidirectional in azimuth
●5 GHz: Peak gain 5 dBi, internal antenna, omnidirectional in azimuth
●6 GHz: Peak gain 5 dBi, internal antenna, omnidirectional in azimuth
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| Interfaces |
●1x 100M/1000M/2.5G Multigigabit Ethernet (RJ-45) port
●Management console port (RJ-45)
●USB 2.0 at 4.5W
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| Indicators |
●Status LED indicates boot loader status, association status, operating status, boot loader warnings, and boot loader errors
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| Dimensions (W x L x H) |
●Access point (without mounting brackets):
◦7.8 x 7.8 x 1.7 in. (200 x 200 x 44.45 mm) |
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| Weight |
●2.05 lb. (0.93 kg)
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| Input power requirements |
●802.3bt, Cisco Universal PoE (Cisco UPOE), 802.3at Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+)
●Cisco power injectors: AIR-PWRINJ7=, AIR-PWRINJ6=, MA-INJ-6
●802.3af PoE (for 802.3af, see the matrix below for radio configuration)
●DC power input (12V/ MA-PWR-30W)
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| Power Source |
2.4-GHz |
5-GHz |
6-GHz radio, low power indoor (LPI) |
Link speed |
USB |
Max PoE Power Consumption. |
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| 802.3bt (UPOE) |
2x2 |
2x2 |
2x2 |
2.5G |
Y (4.5W) |
25.5W |
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| 802.3at (PoE+) |
2x2 |
2x2 |
2x2 |
2.5G |
Y (4.5W) |
25.5W |
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| 802.3af (PoE) |
– |
1x1 |
1x1 |
1G |
N |
13.3W |
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| DC power (30W) |
2x2 |
2x2 |
2x2 |
2.5G |
Y (4.5W) |
– |
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| Note: Actual power consumption may vary depending on AP usage. It is recommended that you ensure that LLDP/CDP is enabled to allow proper power negotiation. |
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| Environmental |
●Nonoperating (storage) temperature: -22° to 158°F (-30° to 70°C)
●Nonoperating (storage) altitude test: 25°C (77°F) at 15,000 ft (4600 m)
●Operating temperature: 32° to 122°F (0° to 50°C)
●Operating humidity: 10% to 90% (noncondensing)
●Operating altitude test: 40°C (104°F) at 9843 ft (3000 m)
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| System memory |
●2048 MB DRAM
●1024 MB flash
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| Warranty |
Limited lifetime hardware warranty (WARR-CW-LIFE-LTD) |
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| Available transmit power settings |
2.4 GHz
●20 dBm (100 mW)
●-7 dBm (0.20 mW)
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5 GHz
●20 dBm (100 mW)
●-7 dBm (0.20 mW)
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6 GHz
●20 dBm (100 mW)
●-7 dBm (0.20 mW)
Note: In countries where use of the 6-GHz band is not allowed or there is no current software support, the 6-GHz radio will be disabled. The radio may be enabled with future software, once the product is certified to operate at 6 GHz for that country. |
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| Regulatory domains |
Note: Customers are responsible for verifying approval for use in their individual countries. To verify approval and to identify the regulatory domain that corresponds to a particular country, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/aironet/compliance. For information about regulatory domain support, refer to the Cisco Regulatory Domain White Paper. |
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| Compliance standards |
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Safety:
◦IEC 60950-1 / IEC 62368-1 Ed.3 ◦EN 60950-1 / EN 62368-1 Ed.3 ◦UL 60950-1 / UL62368-1 3rd ◦CAN/CSA-C22.2 No. 60950-1 / CAN/CSA-C22.2 No. 62368-1 3rd ◦AS/NZS60950.1 / AS/NZS62368.1 Ed.3 ◦UL 2043 ◦Class III equipment
●
Emissions:
◦CISPR 32 (rev. 2015) +AMD1:2019 ◦EN 55032:2015/A11:2020 ◦EN IEC 61000-3-2:2019/A1:2021 ◦EN61000-3-3:2013+A1:2019 ◦AS/NZS CISPR32: 2015+AMD1:2020 ◦47 CFR FCC Part 15B ◦ICES-003 (Issue 7, Class B) ◦VCCI-CISPR 32:2016 ◦CNS 13438:2006 (95) ◦KS C 9832:2019
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Immunity:
◦EN 55035: 2017+A11:2020 ◦KS C 9835:2019
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Emissions and immunity:
◦EN 301 489-1 V2.2.3 (2019-11) ◦EN 301 489-17 V3.2.4 (2020-09) ◦QCVN 112:2017/BTTTT ◦KS X 3124:2020 ◦KS X 3126:2020 ◦EN 61000-6-1: 2019 |
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Radio:
◦EN 300 328 (v2.2.2) ◦EN 301 893 (v2.1.1) ◦EN 303 687 (v0.0.14, draft) ◦AS/NZS 4268 (rev. 2017) ◦47 CFR FCC Part 15C, 15.247, 15.407 ◦RSP-100 ◦RSS-GEN ◦RSS-247 ◦LP002 ◦Japan Std. 66, and Std. 71
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RF safety:
◦EN 50385:2017 ◦EN 62311:2020 ◦AS/NZS 2772.2 (rev. 2016) ◦47 CFR Part 2.1091 ◦RSS-102 ◦IEEE standards: ◦IEEE 802.3 ◦IEEE 802.3ab ◦IEEE 802.3af/at/bt ◦IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax ◦IEEE 802.11h, 802.11d
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Security:
◦WPA2-Personal (802.11i) ◦WPA2-Enterprise with 802.1X ◦WPA3-Personal, WPA3-Enterprise ◦WPA3-Enhanced Open (OWE) ◦Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
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Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) types:
◦EAP-Transport Layer Security (TLS) ◦EAP-Tunneled TLS (TTLS) or Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (MSCHAP) v2 ◦Protected EAP (PEAP) v0 or EAP-MSCHAP v2 ◦EAP-Flexible Authentication via Secure Tunneling (EAP-FAST) ◦PEAP v1 or EAP-Generic Token Card (GTC) ◦EAP-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) |
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| Certifications |
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Wi-Fi Alliance: Wi-Fi 6 (R2), Wi-Fi 6E, WPA3-R3, WPA3-Suite B, Enhanced Open Security
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Bluetooth SIG: Bluetooth Low Energy
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Antenna patterns for Catalyst 9162I 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz client serving radios
Antenna patterns for Catalyst 9162I 6-GHz client serving and scanning radios
Antenna patterns for Catalyst 9162I 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz scanning radios
Antenna patterns for Catalyst 9162I 6-GHz scanning radio and 2.4-GHz IoT radio
Licensing
You have two options for licensing: unified wireless licenses or Cisco DNA licenses. The details for each licensing model are captured below:
Unified licensing with the Cisco Networking Subscription
Unified licensing is available through the Cisco Networking Subscription and Cisco Enterprise Agreement.
The Cisco Networking Subscription provides a consistent way to purchase and manage eligible Cisco networking software, hardware support, services, and platform capabilities. It offers customers the flexibility to:
●Align renewal dates with business and budget requirements
●Add licenses to an existing subscription while maintaining a common renewal date
●Upgrade license entitlements during the subscription term or at renewal
●Include both Essentials and Advantage licenses in the same subscription
●Choose cloud-based or on-premises license management and deployment options, where supported
A new Cisco Networking Subscription has a standard minimum term of 12 months for wireless licenses.
There are two unified wireless license tiers:
●Cisco Wireless Essentials
●Cisco Wireless Advantage
Both tiers combine wireless capabilities with subscription-based management, monitoring, and assurance capabilities. The precise capabilities available depend on the license tier, access point or controller platform, software release, deployment model, and management platform.
For a complete comparison, see the Cisco Wireless Licensing Feature Matrix.
Cisco DNA licensing
Cisco DNA wireless licenses are offered in Essentials and Advantage tiers with 3-, 5-, or 7-year terms. The applicable Cisco DNA tier must correspond to the network entitlement supported by the wireless product.
●Cisco DNA Essentials provides foundational wireless automation, management, visibility, monitoring, and assurance capabilities.
●Cisco DNA Advantage adds advanced assurance, analytics, policy-based automation, segmentation, security, location, and application-experience capabilities.
As part of the Cisco DNA licensing model, applicable wireless products support corresponding perpetual network entitlements:
●Network Essentials
●Network Advantage
See the Cisco DNA Software Wireless Feature Matrix for more information.
| Model | CW9162I-Z |