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.

[Paccers]

Same, not sure 802.11be has even been ratified yet! (WFA certification track doesn't count!)

[KarstenI]

It was ratified end of last year. 

[Paccers]

Ah yes wasn't sure, September looks like?

[KarstenI]

I just counted a couple of networks (Mist has easy statistics for that, but it seems to be a manual count on Meraki): About half of the clients use 6GHz on the networks that have already been upgraded to 6E (most 9162I). I will definitely use the 9172I for all the networks that will be upgraded next. I also hope they will be supported longer than the previous generation.

[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.

[TyShawn]

To see the industry move past 6E isn't shocking. I recall multiple brands SEs say that 6E was just a steppingstone until 7 released. Now that it's here I am hoping to see the feature set grow along with the client devices.

[rhbirkelund]

Well... Based on what I'm hearing and looking at how vendors are integrating WiFi7, I think WiFi7 looks more like the next iteration of AC Wave 1.

Basically just getting the standard supported by using off-the-shelf technology, without putting real development into it.

The way Cisco supported AC Wave 1 was to use the Qualcom chipset, before introducing their own innovation with AC wave 2.

[Paccers]

Is that in reference to Wi-Fi 8 introducing MAPC instead of under Wi-Fi 7?

[rhbirkelund]

I think it's more general, when looking across vendors and seeing how fast they are going to market with WiFi7.

If i remember correctly, the standard hadn't even been ratified before vendors such as Ubiquity or MiST began annoncing WiFi7 access points. Even before there were any WiFi7 clients. 

I recall that Cisco had the stance that they didn't really belive in WiFi7 and were expecting to jump over it. But I'm guessing because everyone else were putting devices on the market, they had to aswell, otherwise they'd be left behind.

So it's merely to have a presence, rather than the lack thereof.

I have the BE201 NIC from Intel in a Wlanpi, and eventhough is supports MLO and I have two links when connected to a WiFi7 AP, it's still only using one, because it's a Non-STR(?) device.

But then again, I can't say for other 11be NICs.

[Paccers]

Felt like Cisco were the holdouts waiting for ratification before releasing hence the November drop in Melbourne but yes they also couldn't miss out on the Wi-Fi 7 & AI train!

Haven't played with W7 myself, I'll leave that to the innovators and early adopters..

[KarstenI]

I am connected with Wi-Fi 7 on my phone (iPhone 16 and Pixel 9). These are my only devices that are new enough. Now, I am hoping for the next MacBook Pro.

[KarstenI]

Mist was also quite late with Wi-Fi 7. I think Ruckus was first, but Extreme also says they were first to market.  Yes, Ubiquty and the HO devices like TP-Link also came early.