New Wi-Fi 6 APs!

[davidvan]

Hi All,

We just released three brand-new APs on our website! (MR36, MR46, and MR56)

You can learn more on our Meraki blog tomorrow morning. Let us know if you have any questions.

[Roska]

these are same as the MR45/55 but with u/d OFDMA, right?

[davidvan]

As well as UL/DL MU-MIMO, but yes. The MR36 is unique in that it is Cisco's first 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 AP for <$1,000 list price

[redsector]

Hi, I don´t understand the difference between MR55 and M56 / MR45 and MR46.

Can you explain it for dummies?

Thank you

[PawelG]

Looking at the specs the only difference is that 46/56 offer uplink/downlink OFDMA, while 45/55 offer only downlink OFDMA.

Br, Pawel.

[BrechtSchamp]

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@PawelG wrote:

Looking at the specs the only difference is that 46/56 offer uplink/downlink OFDMA, while 45/55 offer only downlink OFDMA.

Br, Pawel.

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Yup, I think that's the difference between the two.

@davidvan any news on full Wi-Fi 6 certification for these? I still see "802.11ax compatible" in the datasheet? Also, any news about WPA3?

[NolanHerring]

These are supposed to be 'certified' where as the MR45/MR55 were 'compatible'. Basically the uplink/downlink issue

[davidvan]

@BrechtSchamp Thanks for pointing out the "compatible" in the tech specs. That's a typo I am going to fix

@NolanHerring was correct in saying they are certifiable. Stay tuned for more on that and WPA3. If customers want to try WPA3 now, they can enable via NFO

[BrechtSchamp]

Cool thanks for the quick feedback!

[Mr-E]

and how do we enable by NFO? What is NFO?

[NolanHerring]

NFO = Network Function Override (or so I've been told)

Basically it means if you call support, and tell them that you know about this feature and want to have it enabled for your dashboard, so you can play with it, then they will oblige you.

[NolanHerring]

I submitted a ticket, they processed it, and now I can see this under 'WPA Encryption Mode' settings:

[PawelG]

I've got also WPA3 enabled by NFO. 

The only drawback is that Meraki Authentication does not support WPA3, so to have WPA3 and 802.1x You have to use external radius server.

Br, Pawel.

[NolanHerring]

I would be hesitant to use WPA3 for a while to come since your very likely going to run into devices that won't/can't/don't support it

[sthanhlam]

NFO is an internal-only term used to describe a feature that can only be enabled by Meraki (customers have to call into support)

[GIdenJoe]

Hey guys, I'm really excited about these fully certified 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6 AP's) and I can't wait to have the antenna patterns in Ekahau.

However I saw a few chart errors in the datasheets.

The MR36 is missing the 5 GHz XY plane chart is missing.
And the drawing on the right with the AP and the colored X Y Z is wrong.
The AP inside the chart itself is correct.

X points up and should only point sideways of the you look at the shortest edge (sideview) of the AP not the longest edge (bottom)  And this error is on all three datasheets.

[FlyingFrames]

Are the following features supported in MR26.7, the current stable release candidate

• DL-OFDMA**, UL-OFDMA**, TWT support**, BSS Coloring**, UL MU-MIMO** 

As per data sheets:

"** software features can be enabled via firmware updates"

@davidvan 

[davidvan]

@FlyingFrames It will not be in MR26.7, but in a future firmware release. Remind me in a few months and I can check for another update.

[JohnD]

Hi David, can you clarify if you mean that OFDMA or TWT is not enabled for any Meraki Wifi 6 AP at the moment? I understand UL direction MU-MIMO and OFDMA being a relatively new feature for the industry but it seems like DL-OFDMA is something that several vendors have enabled for a few months now. 

It would be great to see a breakdown of wifi 6 features and which ones are currently available. I assume currently it sounds like it's just MCS10/11. 

[pjc]

Anyone seen any real world pricing for the MR36's yet?

[BrechtSchamp]

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@pjc wrote:

Anyone seen any real world pricing for the MR36's yet?

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$849 list according to CCW

[cmr]

Just under £450+VAT in the UK

[JohnD]

I just got my MR56 today and it seems like it supports 1024QAM and DL MU-MIMO but on 26.7 I don't see OFDMA support in either direction. Also, note DFS is currently not enabled so the only channels I can choose are 36-48 or 149-157. 

[PawelG]

Could you check if MR56 under 26.7 has still bug with signal level of foreign neighbors? It is easiest to check it once connected to AP via my.meraki.com in Neighbours.
In 45/55 it shows all neighbours on own-channel as transmitting with over 160dB signal (which is absurd).
The problem is that I've received confirmation from TAC that is influences AutoRF behavior.

Br, Pawel.

[cmr]

If I look at the RF spectrum on an MR55 running 26.7, 5GHz now looks good and 2.4GHz seems to still show interfering APs at -40dB, but only for  very low signal level ones,the arriva-wifi ones are a bus going past the end of the road about 100m away.  The close ones now seem to be showing correctly.  It may therefore be fixed as I only upgraded this network about 36 hours ago...

 

[cmr]

DFS not being available seems odd, on my MR55 with 26.7 I have the below channels available:

 

[NolanHerring]

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@cmr wrote:

DFS not being available seems odd, on my MR55 with 26.7 I have the below channels available:

 

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I have some of the new MR36 and they do not have the option to select any DFS channels. I believe this is normal as they have to wait for these 'new' products to pass certifications. I believe @MerakiDave can shed some light on this 😃

[pjc]

@NolanHerring  Looking forward to a review once you have the MR36's up and running 😉

[JohnD]

I heard back from support this morning that engineering knows about no DFS support for the new APs. No timeframe but they are working on it.

[MerakiDave]

Confirmed @NolanHerring the MR team is aware and working the issue, stay tuned.

[JohnD]

Thanks @MerakiDave! I've been a long time customer of one of your competitors and after a string of letdowns over both the product and the quality of communication find myself here. So far the support experience and the product has been top notch!

[MerakiDave]

That's great to hear @JohnD, welcome to the Meraki Community (and our Meraki family!)  I've been involved with several online IT forums over the years, and I'm not just saying this because I'm a Merakian... But this is the friendliest, most welcoming online forum I've ever seen, and it has become a valuable support and learning tool for so many Meraki customers. 

[JohnD]

@MerakiDave would you be able to give us any more guidance on when DFS can be available for these new APs?

Unfortunately given the situation with everyone work from home, I've seen non-DFS channels spike in average utilization to over 50%. It would be great to hop over to some of the less crowded channels. At this point my MR42 on DFS is delivering higher throughput than my MR56 to 11ax clients and when they're using the same channels the comparison isn't even close!

[NolanHerring]

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@JohnD wrote:

@MerakiDave would you be able to give us any more guidance on when DFS can be available for these new APs?

Unfortunately given the situation with everyone work from home, I've seen non-DFS channels spike in average utilization to over 50%. It would be great to hop over to some of the less crowded channels. At this point my MR42 on DFS is delivering higher throughput than my MR56 to 11ax clients and when they're using the same channels the comparison isn't even close!

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I know he probably can't, and there is nothing he can probably really do.

That being said however...

[MerakiDave]

Correct, nothing I can really do directly, however I have been in touch and can say Eng is aware of this and actively working to address the DFS enablement.  No timeline, unfortunately all I can say is stay tuned.  Some of our offices have also been subjected to the work from home policies which could add a bit of delay I might imagine.

[JohnD]

Thank you Dave! No worries, wishing everyone at Meraki the best 🙂

[MerakiDave]

@JohnD I heard a fix is in place actually, can you confirm?  If not, check back with Support or re-open the case to confirm with them, I believe a fix should be in place by now, perhaps it's not fully implemented if you're not seeing it yet, but Engineering should be able to confirm an approx time frame with Support.

[JohnD]

Nice, indeed, I can select DFS channels on the dashboard now! No firmware changes.

Thanks again, this is incredible -- my channel utilization has dropped from 35% to 9%

[NolanHerring]

Same here, MR36 (2nd gen .ax) and I can now select the DFS channels. Woot woot !

[cmr]

MR36s here and we can choose more than one 80MHz channel 😎