PACKETPERF

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Pro Max 48 PoE Ubiquiti UniFi Standard 24 PoE (USW-24-POE) Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Pro Max 16 PoE Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Ultra Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro Max Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro Outdoor Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro Wall Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro XGS Ubiquiti UniFi6 Mesh (U6 Mesh) Ubiquiti USW Pro Max 24 PoE Ubiquiti USW Pro Max 48 PoE Ubiquiti USW-Enterprise-24-PoE Ubiquiti USW-Pro-24-PoE

Technical Specifications

• Wi-Fi Standard: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E, 6 GHz capable); also 802.11a/b/g/n/ac backward compatible
• Spatial Streams (MIMO): 4x4:4 on each of the three client radios (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz); MU-MIMO and OFDMA supported
• Aggregate Throughput: Up to 7.78 Gbps tri-radio aggregate (maximum over-the-air PHY/chipset frame rate, not per-client throughput)
• Radios (bands): Tri-radio 4x4:4: 2.4 GHz client radio, 5 GHz client radio, 6 GHz client radio; plus tri-band scanning radio (2.4/5/6 GHz) for security/RF analytics and a 2.4 GHz Bluetooth Low Energy radio
• Uplink Port Speed: 1x multigigabit RJ45 (100 Mbps / 1 Gbps / 2.5 Gbps / 5 Gbps BASE-T); also 1 USB 2.0 Type-A port
• Max Clients: Not published in the sources reviewed
• PoE Requirement: 802.3bt (UPOE) 30.5 W for full functionality including USB; 802.3at (PoE+) 25 W supported with reduced functionality and no USB; 802.3af not supported; 54 V DC option available
• Form Factor: Indoor ceiling/wall-mount access point; omnidirectional (CW9166I) or directional (CW9166D1) antenna variants
• Dimensions: 241.3 x 241.3 x 56.9 mm (CW9166I) / 57.9 mm height (CW9166D1); approx. 1.6 kg
• Management: Catalyst 9800 wireless controllers (IOS-XE) or Meraki cloud (CW9166I-MR / CW9166D1-MR SKUs)

Curation Review

• ✔ Pros: Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E with 4x4:4 on every client radio for high-density capacity; dedicated tri-band scanning radio for WIPS, spectrum analysis, and location analytics; multigigabit 5 Gbps uplink on a single RJ45 port; Bluetooth Low Energy radio for beacons and asset tracking; supports both Catalyst 9800 controller and Meraki cloud management; full functionality on 802.3bt PoE with USB output
• ✘ Cons: Full feature set requires 802.3bt (UPOE) power, and 802.3at operation reduces functionality; only one uplink port, so no link aggregation or redundancy; premium price compared with many Wi-Fi 6E APs; maximum client count is not published in available sources; Catalyst (CW9166I-B/-E) and Meraki (CW9166I-MR) SKUs are the same hardware under different management licences, which can confuse purchasing; end-of-sale/end-of-life status is unconfirmed and should be checked with Cisco
• Est. Price: $1,136 - $3,317

Compare Against

Select Comparison Hardware... Aruba AP-515 Aruba AP-535 Aruba (HPE) 7030 Aruba (HPE) AP-735 Aruba (HPE) Aruba AP-655 Aruba (HPE) Aruba AP-755 Aruba (HPE) Instant On AP33 Aruba (HPE) Instant On AP45 Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Cisco Catalyst 9136 Cisco Catalyst 9136I Cisco Catalyst 9164 (CW9164I) Cisco Catalyst 9166 Cisco Catalyst 9166 Series (CW9166) Cisco Catalyst 9176I (CW9176I) Cisco Catalyst 9176I (CW9176I-CFG) Cisco Catalyst 9178i Cisco Catalyst CW9164 Cisco Catalyst CW9166 Cisco Catalyst CW9166I Cisco Catalyst CW9171 Cisco Catalyst CW9172I Cisco Catalyst CW9174 Cisco Catalyst CW9176 Cisco Catalyst CW9176I Cisco Catalyst CW9178I Cisco Catalyst CW9179F Cisco Cisco Catalyst 9166I Cisco Cisco Wireless 9178I (CW9178I) Cisco CW9176 Fortinet FortiAP 231G Fortinet FortiAP 231K Fortinet FortiAP 241K Fortinet FortiAP 431G Fortinet FortiAP 441K Juniper Networks AP34 Juniper Networks AP36 Juniper Networks AP37 Juniper Networks AP45 Juniper Networks AP47 Juniper Networks AP66 Juniper Networks Mist AP33 Juniper Networks Mist AP37 Juniper Networks Mist AP43 Ubiquiti U6 Pro Ubiquiti U6-Enterprise Ubiquiti U6-Pro Ubiquiti U7 Pro Ubiquiti U7 Pro Max Ubiquiti U7 Pro Outdoor Ubiquiti UniFi Enterprise 7 Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro Max Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro Outdoor Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro Wall Ubiquiti UniFi U7 Pro XGS Ubiquiti UniFi6 Mesh (U6 Mesh)

Technical Specifications

• Wi-Fi Standard: IEEE 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7); also supports 802.11ax, ac, and n
• Spatial Streams (MIMO): 4x4:4 MU-MIMO on 5 GHz and 6 GHz; 4x4 on 2.4 GHz with 802.3bt/af, 2x2 on 2.4 GHz with 802.3at
• Aggregate Throughput: Up to 18 Gbps PHY (tri-radio: 11.52 Gbps on 6 GHz, 5.7 Gbps on 5 GHz, 688 Mbps on 2.4 GHz); a 23 Gbps figure also appears but looks like a datasheet typo
• Radios (bands): Tri-radio: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz (or 5 GHz + 5 GHz + 6 GHz); plus dedicated BLE 5.3 IoT radio and dedicated scanning radio
• Channel Width: Up to 320 MHz on 6 GHz, 160 MHz on 5 GHz, 20 MHz on 2.4 GHz
• Uplink Port Speed: 1x 100M/1G/2.5G/5G/10G Multigigabit RJ-45 (10G requires 802.3bt and Cat6A cabling); 1x console port
• Max Clients: 1,200 total (400 per radio), per Cisco Deployment Guide
• PoE Requirement: 802.3bt (UPOE, Class 5, max 39W) for full 10G and 4x4 performance; 802.3at (PoE+, max 25.5W) with 2.5G uplink and 2x2 on 2.4 GHz; 802.3af only for staging with radios off; optional CW-INJ-8 injector
• GNSS: Built-in GPS/GNSS module with external antenna port
• UWB: Integrated Ultra-Wideband radio for asset tracking (model-dependent)
• Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.5 x 2.0 in (24 x 24 x 5.1 cm); 3.4 lb (1.56 kg)
• Form Factor: Indoor ceiling/wall-mount access point; CW9176I has omnidirectional antennas, CW9176D1 has directional antennas

Curation Review

• ✔ Pros: Wi-Fi 7 tri-radio design with 4x4 MU-MIMO on 5 and 6 GHz; Supports 320 MHz channels on 6 GHz for high throughput; Dedicated IoT (BLE 5.3) and scanning radios for security and RF monitoring; Integrated UWB and GNSS for asset tracking and location analytics; 10G multigigabit uplink when powered by 802.3bt; Backward compatible with 802.11ax, ac, and n clients
• ✘ Cons: Full performance requires 802.3bt (UPOE) power, which many switches do not provide; Advertised 18 Gbps and 23 Gbps PHY figures are theoretical and not achievable by client devices; Premium price compared with Wi-Fi 6E and 6 APs; Only one uplink port, so no link aggregation or redundancy at the AP; 10G uplink requires Cat6A cabling; Some datasheet and reseller figures are inconsistent (band slots, 5 GHz duplication, 1,200-client figure not on the datasheet)
• Est. Price: $1,183 - $2,507