Wi-Fi 7 becomes affordable

[KarstenI]

Well, kind of ... 😉

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/catalyst-9100ax-access-points/wireless-91...

For general use, I still hope for a 9174I.

[Paccers]

+1 on the 9174i!

[RaphaelL]

I'm happy to hear that but at the same thing a bit frustrated once again that products and features get announced everywhere except here. I understand that they were announced at Cisco Live , but I saw multiple meraki related features/products go unannounced here.

[KarstenI]

This!!! It should be announced here at least at the same time.

[Mloraditch]

The partner comms on this model was nearly silent as well. 🤦‍ I didn't know about it until you posted and found one webinar that apparently happened a few weeks ago on salesconnect.

[DarrenOC]

@KarstenI - define affordable….!  Given the PoE requirements I don’t see this hitting mainstream for a while.

People are still playing catch-up with wifi6 and 6e.

[KarstenI]

The thing with affordability is the "kind of" ...

However, with the 9176 having the same list price as the 9166, I hope for the same for the 9172. And with that, there is no reason to buy any older MRs (for indoor operation). Interesting for people who don't need 6 GHz is the 2-radio operation mode with 2*2 on 2,4 and 4*4 on 5 GHz. Ok, I had preferred 2*2 on 6 and 4*4 on 5; but this is a different story. This mode is compatible with PoE+. But I still have to find out if it is operating as a Wi-Fi 7 AP with only PoE+.

My 9178 doesn't announce any Wi-Fi 7 with only having PoE+.

[PhilipDAth]

>there is no reason to buy any older MRs (for indoor operation).

Personally, I am not pitching or telling any customers about WiFi7 yet, and are still leading with WiFi-6E.  And even then, I still struggle to enable WPA3 and use that extra 6Ghz spectrum.

I'll feel happier once the second generation of the APs come out, or once a lot of the bleeding edge people have used them and can share the experience about broad device compatbility.  Or at least not say how they work poorly with devices.

[DarrenOC]

@PhilipDAth - glad to see I’m not alone with this one.  I’ve tuned out the marketing hype and still pushing 6/6e.

[rhbirkelund]

I don't think the 9172i is going to be mainstream yet, either. Like you say, people are still trying to catchup to WiFi6 and 6E.

The 9172H however, is really interesting! Finally, a replacement for MR36H which is newer and modern.