Cisco talked about the management choice between Meraki & DNAC, but shows separate part numbers on the data sheet:
CW9166I-x: Cisco Catalyst 9166 Series
Regulatory domains: (x = regulatory domain)
CW9166I-MR: Cisco Catalyst 9166 Series, w/Meraki
Cloud-managed version using Meraki Dashboard
But then it says in the datasheet:
"Cisco Catalyst 9164 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 persona and shift to a different persona in the future."
So will it be a single SKU that can be moved around Meraki & DNAC or separate SKUs which cannot be converted among the two?
Solved! Go to solution.
Hi @FlyingFrames they are dual-boot APs and there will be separate SKUs to order either the DNA Persona or the Meraki Persona, and they can be converted from one to the other after the fact if necessary.
The new converged hardware AP platforms will have the “CW” branding (for Catalyst Wireless) and then either regulatory domain geo-specific SKUs for a DNA persona (such a CW9166I-A or -E) or the Meraki persona with a -MR SKU such as CW9166I-MR.
So the SKUs will end with -A or -B or -E for specific regulatory domains for the DNA persona, or -MR for the Meraki Persona since the actual regulatory domain is enforced in Dashboard.
Hi @FlyingFrames they are dual-boot APs and there will be separate SKUs to order either the DNA Persona or the Meraki Persona, and they can be converted from one to the other after the fact if necessary.
The new converged hardware AP platforms will have the “CW” branding (for Catalyst Wireless) and then either regulatory domain geo-specific SKUs for a DNA persona (such a CW9166I-A or -E) or the Meraki persona with a -MR SKU such as CW9166I-MR.
So the SKUs will end with -A or -B or -E for specific regulatory domains for the DNA persona, or -MR for the Meraki Persona since the actual regulatory domain is enforced in Dashboard.
https://www.wifireference.com/2022/06/14/cisco-catalyst-cw916x-access-points-the-choice-is-yours/
This answers it very clearly with the UI knob to convert to Meraki.
I can confirm that it works from DNA persona to Meraki persona, quite easily, but have patience when the AP boots in Meraki persona the first time, it will be somewhat a while before it shows up green in the dashboard after you claimed and added it to a network.
But unfortunately you do NOT get 6Ghz enabled on the Dashboard, you have to ask someone(tm) for that feature to be enabled. .. *sigh*
I have seen it on test networks, and just though that part was done, but alas.
Do we know the prices of these new APs?