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Oct 20 2024
6:13 AM
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Thank you! This cleared a lot of things up. So, an AP that starts with MR is native Meraki and it can ONLY be managed via Meraki cloud. I always understood that. Its easy. Its the Catalyst line that is confusing. So, as I understand it, all APs that are NOT Meraki native are called Cisco Catalyst APs. BUT, to really understand their management paradigm and capabilities, you have to look at the actual SKU/part number. All native Cisco APs are called "Cisco Catalyst" APs. Now, looking deeper into the SKU as I stated above, let's take an example with the Cisco Catalyst 9166. That AP has 2 parent SKU numbers for the APs themselves of CW9166I (integrated omni-directional antennas) or CW9166D (integrated directional antennas). And, because the SKU starts with CW, it denotes that it can be managed by both an on-prem Catalyst 9800 controller or via Meraki Cloud (which I think is going to be called Cisco Catalyst Center). In the case of the former, the parent SKU of, say, CW9166I is further augmented with the "-domain/country code" to create CW9166I-x. In the case of the latter (Meraki/Cisco cloud managed), it becomes CW9166i-MR. On the other hand, some Cisco Catalyst APs are NOT "CW" series SKUs, but instead "C" SKUs, such as the C9136I-x, which is the SKU for the Cisco Catalyst 9136I (integrated omni-directional antennas). That AP is ONLY managed via an on-prem 9800 controller because of the "C" designation in the SKU. So, as I stated above, you MUST look at the SKUs to really understand how they can be deployed. So, what you wrote below should be in the first paragraph of every Cisco Catalyst AP landing page. All Meraki APs that start with MR, e.g. MR33, MR36, MR46E, etc. are Meraki native Access Points. All APs with CW, e.g. CW9162, CW9164 are dual-mode APs which can be in either Catalyst persona or Meraki persona, and may be converted back and forth. All APs with C, e.g. C9120, C9130, C9136 etc. are Catalyst only APs, meaning they can not be managed by the Meraki Dashboard, and thus requires a Wireless Controller. Thank you once again! By the way, I'm afraid of what is going to happen with WiFi7 - yet MORE changes.
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Oct 20 2024
5:46 AM
Thanks for the information, but I still think it's confusing because there are too many marketing terms and designations. Also... "Cisco had their ISR's, ASR's, Catalyst switches, Aironet Access points and chose to rebrand every enterprise network gear into Catalyst." Not exactly correct. The Cisco ISR and ASR products were routers, not LAN switching gear. The Catalyst brand name was/is still only used to denote LAN switches (L2/L3), wireless controllers and APs. Routers were never Catalyst.
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Oct 18 2024
3:19 AM
Please forgive me if I sound frustrated, but why does Cisco ALWAYS make things difficult and confusing? I'm tempted to just tell my customers to buy Mist or Aruba. Trying to follow the difference between a Catalyst AP, a Meraki AP, a Catalyst AP that CAN support Meraki dashboard, and a Meraki AP that only does Meraki dashboard, and the ones that do BOTH is MADDENING! What is the difference between a CW9166 and a Catalyst 9166? Are they the same AP? Do they get managed differently? Different options? What is the difference between a CW9166 and a CW9166I? What about the APs that end in "-MR"? Can someone intelligently, clearly, and unambiguously define ALL the different categories of Catalyst and Meraki APs, their designations and what those letters mean, their management paradigms, as well as roadmap changes? PLEASE! Thank you
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Dec 8 2023
8:21 AM
Alessandro, you and I are on the same page. Thank you. I will give you the "acceptance" for the solution, but not right now because I would like to hear other opinions.
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Dec 8 2023
7:27 AM
This is with regard to Meraki, BUT it can apply to any wireless deployment... IHAC who has Meraki MR32 APs in their environment and they want to replace them with MR57 APs. Now, there is a world of difference between the two... 2x2:2 vs 4x4x4 (MR57) 1GHz ports vs 5GHz ports... .11ac vs WiFi-6E... etc... My view is that an RF assessment should be done to ensure that these APs are deployed judiciously and in a way that provides the correct RF coverage, doesn't overlap with existing MR32 channels, etc. I would also think that fewer MR57s would be needed to cover the same area that the MR32s are covering today (same room/space). Seems like a BAD idea to just rip out an MR32 and replace it with an MR57 willy nilly... no? Am I correct in my thinking?
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