Upgrading home setup – which access points to target?

[Andreas_Augdahl]

Dear community,

I'm looking to upgrade my home Meraki installation and would appreciate some recommendations.

Current setup:

• 1x MR42
• 1x MR36

What I'm looking for:

• New access points with better performance – I am considering taking the step all the way to Wi-Fi 7
• License renewal is still 3 months out, so good timing to refresh hardware

Questions:

• Which current-gen MR models would you recommend for a home setup?
• Would you consider any other cloud-managed access point models (CW), and if so why?
• Any particular considerations I should keep in mind when upgrading from MR42/36?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Andreas

[alemabrahao]

For a complete Wi-Fi 7 experience, I would go with the CW9172I or the CW9176I.

https://documentation.meraki.com/Wireless/Product_Information/Overviews_and_Datasheets/CW9172I_Datas...

https://documentation.meraki.com/Wireless/Product_Information/Overviews_and_Datasheets/CW9176I_%2F%2...

[Andreas_Augdahl]

Thanks Alessandro!

Quick follow-ups on CW9172I/9176I:

• Meraki mode experience: Any limitations vs. native MR products when operating through dashboard.meraki.com?
• Why CW over MR46E? Is this primarily for Wi-Fi 7, or are there other advantages?
• I read about some issues converting/upgrading CW to MR SW. Is this something I should just disregard?

//Andreas

[alemabrahao]

The CW operates with the same capabilities as the MR.

In the future, the MR  will no longer exist, the trend is for everything to become CW.

You can already purchase the CW with Meraki software without needing any conversion.

[Andreas_Augdahl]

Okay, thanks a lot for the clarification.

Are these the correct SKUs?

CW9172I-RTG

CW9176I-RTG

//Andreas

[alemabrahao]

To be honest, I've never heard of RTG. To me, the correct SKU should be something like CW9172I-MR, but I confess I'm having second thoughts now.

[Andreas_Augdahl]

Thanks anyway, I'll get in touch with our Cisco partner manager here in Norway – I am sure we'll be able to figure it out.

Thanks again!

[AndyEspo]

We do a lot of high-end residential networks with Meraki systems. IMHO. unless you have one of the very few brandy-new computers or phones that support WiFi 7, it's likely you won't see any performance difference between the MR36 and the CW APs. Better to get one used MR36, replace the MR42 and wait on the WiFi 7 APs until there's more device support and the AP prices come down. Cabling, termination quality, switching and AP placement matter, as always.