Recommendation to Upgrade

[Muammer]

I have a Meraki solution consisting of 6*MR42, MS220-24p, and MX84.
I am facing issues with connecting IoT devices, which I suspect might be due to the Access Point (AP).
I would like to upgrade step by step, which model of AP do you recommend as a newer and better option than the MR42?

[rwiesmann]

I would probably go for the new ones CW9176, CW9178 with WIFI 7 Support.

Still CW9164/62 would be also ok.

[Muammer]

I believe CW9176, CW9178 are an Ultra High-Performance, and my organization is not large. What do you think about the MR44?

[rhbirkelund]

IoT devices are notorious for not supporting modern technology.

Why do you suspect that the issue might be your APs?

What wireless standards do your IoT devices support?

[Muammer]

My IoT devices, such as temperature and humidity sensors, frequently show an offline status. I lack sufficient information regarding the wireless standards.
The access point I have does not support WiFi 6, and after researching, I found that there is a specific feature in WiFi 6 for IoT(Wi-Fi 6's Target Wake Time (TWT) technology reduces power consumption by allowing devices to schedule their data transmissions)

[rhbirkelund]

The IoT devices, are they Meraki MT sensors?

I would look into tweaking the Wireless settings. IoT devices usually don't support modern technology, and even in some case don't support 5 GHz.

Configure an IoT SSID for 2.4 GHz only using PSK, and enable datarates to make it more robust. On the RF profile in Radio Settings, make sure you have Client Balancing disabled, and as well as disabling Band Steering for your IoT SSID.

Target Wait Time would only really be relevant towards llimiting power consumption.

[Muammer]

No, these are not Meraki sensors; they are from another vendor.
Regarding the standard they support, it is true that they only support 2.4GHz.
As for upgrading from MR42 to MR44, do you recommend it or not? Or what do you advise me exactly?

[rhbirkelund]

Instead of going to MR44 I'd go directly to WiFi6E due to the longer lifetime. MR44 is simply a WiFi6 AP.

A Wifi6E AP could be CW9162-MR or CW9164-MR, as @rwiesmann mentioned.

But before going the lengths of replacing APs due to IoT sensors going offline, I'd tweak the wireless settings first, and ensure that it isn't a configuration issue.

[Muammer]

What is the added value of WiFi 6E over WiFi 6?
Is it compatible with MS220 and MX84 or not?

[GIdenJoe]

1) you have lifecycle management (6E AP's are newer than 6 AP's and will be supported longer in the future)

2) 6E is the first generation that supports the 6 GHz band.  So if you have new devices that can use the new 6 GHz spectrum, then 6E or 7 is the biggest upgrade for that.

IoT devices using Wi-Fi can be problematic at times and you will have to experiment with different security settings so they are more stable.  Ofcourse you should also check dashboard what their upstream SNR is so you are sure they have enough connectivity.  You can view this on the AP status page, currently connected clients.  Every clients is shown a certain value varying from 50 to less than 10.  This value is SNR in dB and should be at least 20 for good connectivity.

[Muammer]

Very clear and thank you.
Just one confirmation needed
CW9162-MR or CW9164, are they compatible with MS220 and MX84?

[rhbirkelund]

Yes, both APs are supported on MS220 and MX84.

[GIdenJoe]

The only compatibility you need to concern yourself with is the amount of PoE your ports can deliver.
The heaviest of those AP's (9164) can work just fine on a regular PoE+ (30 Watt) port.  The only thing is that the USB port on the AP will be disabled due to power constraints.  These ports are only used for special dongles for very specialized applications.

[GreenMan]

I must admit, in your shoes, I'd be reticent about simply upgrading my AP hardware, in the hope that fixes your issues - particularly as your clients only support 2.4 GHz.   Now;  being 2.4 only may be a design choice for good reasons, but may also just indicate they're old (physically or architecturally).   While later versions of WiFi do indeed include multiple new capabilities related to enhancing IoT performance, they all basically require the IoT clients themselves to also support those capabilites.   I fear yours may not - can you ask the manufacturer?
Did you also look at the wifi basics;   are they close enough to the APs?  Is the 2.4 GHz spectrum overly congested?  (i.e. what signal strength / quality do they experience?)   Related:  are they associating with (or roaming to) the most appropriate / nearest AP?   (old 2.4 clients are often notorious for selecting or staying with the wrong AP).

[jbright]

I would recommend the CW9162i APs as well. They will work just fine with the MS220 switches. I know this because I have both working in this manner. 

[BlakeRichardson]

In my experience with wifi based IOT especially if they come from a website like Aliexpress or Temu the wireless chipsets aren't that great and the devices need to be close to the access point they are connecting to. 

A lot of IOT is still only 2.4Ghz as the chipsets are much cheaper, Some Ring door bells for instance only support 2.4Ghz and because that spectrum gets a lot of interference this is more likely the problem than the access point itself. 

[PhilipDAth]

I would consider upgrading the IoT sensors to resolve the problem they are causing ...

[GIdenJoe]

I strongly agree with your comment.  Most problems come from client issues if RF is OK.