Radios (bands): 4 client-serving radios: tri-band 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz / 6 GHz with a 4th radio (quad-radio design)
Uplink Port Speed: 2x 10 Gbps mGig ports (multi-gigabit Ethernet)
Max Clients: 1200 (400 per radio)
PoE Requirement: 802.3bt (PoE++) required for full operation; 802.3at/af supports reduced functionality; draws approx. 30-52 W
Curation Review
✔ Pros:Wi-Fi 7 with tri-band 2.4/5/6 GHz and 4x4 MU-MIMO on every radio; 24 Gbps aggregate throughput for high-density environments; dual 10 Gbps mGig uplinks avoid a 1 Gbps bottleneck; rated for up to 1200 clients; supports 802.3bt PoE on the mGig ports with at/af fallback; manageable from Catalyst 9800 WLC/Catalyst Center or Meraki cloud depending on SKU
✘ Cons:Requires 802.3bt PoE for full functionality, which raises switch and injector cost; needs Catalyst 9800 controller running IOS XE 17.15.2 or later for the Catalyst SKU; Wi-Fi 7 benefits need Wi-Fi 7 clients to be realized; list pricing varies widely by reseller and SKU (CFG vs Global vs RTG), and reseller spec figures differ in places; cloud-managed (Meraki) deployment requires separate licensing; premium cost compared with Wi-Fi 6E alternatives
Est. Price:
$1,681 - $2,996
Compare Against
Cisco Catalyst CW9176
★ 3.3 Value Score
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)
