PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Select Primary Hardware... Aruba 6000 24G 4SFP Aruba AP-515 Aruba AP-535 Aruba (HPE) 6300M Aruba (HPE) 7030 Aruba (HPE) 9004 Gateway Aruba (HPE) 9240 Campus Gateway Aruba (HPE) AP-735 Aruba (HPE) Aruba 6400 Switch Aruba (HPE) Aruba 8320 Aruba (HPE) Aruba 9004 Gateway Aruba (HPE) Aruba 9106 Gateway Aruba (HPE) Aruba 9114 Gateway Aruba (HPE) Aruba 9240 Campus Gateway Aruba (HPE) Aruba AP-655 Aruba (HPE) Aruba AP-755 Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6100 Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6100 Switch Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6200 Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6200F Switch Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6300 Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6300M Switch Aruba (HPE) Instant On AP33 Aruba (HPE) Instant On AP45 Cisco C9200L-24T-4G Cisco C9200L-48T-4G 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 9200 Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series Cisco Catalyst 9200L Cisco Catalyst 9300 Cisco Catalyst 9300-48P Cisco Catalyst 9300X Cisco Catalyst 9500 Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Cisco Catalyst 9500-48Y4C Cisco Catalyst 9500X 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 Catalyst 9200 Cisco Cisco Catalyst 9200L Cisco Cisco Catalyst 9300X Cisco Cisco Catalyst 9500 Cisco Cisco Secure Firewall 1210 Cisco Cisco Secure Firewall 3105 Cisco Cisco Secure Firewall 3110 Cisco Cisco Wireless 9178I (CW9178I) Cisco CW9176 Cisco Nexus 9300-GX2 Cisco Nexus 9300-GX2 (N9K-C9332D-GX2B) Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX3 Cisco Secure Firewall 1010 Cisco Secure Firewall 1120 Cisco Secure Firewall 1140 Cisco Secure Firewall 1150 Cisco Secure Firewall 1210 Cisco Secure Firewall 1220 (1220CX) Cisco Secure Firewall 220 Cisco Secure Firewall 3105 Cisco Secure Firewall 3110 Cisco Secure Firewall 3120 Cisco Secure Firewall 3130 Cisco Secure Firewall 3140 Cisco Secure Firewall 4215 Cisco Secure Firewall 4225 Cisco Secure Firewall 4245 Fortinet FortiAP 231G Fortinet FortiAP 231K Fortinet FortiAP 241K Fortinet FortiAP 431G Fortinet FortiAP 441K Fortinet FortiGate 1000F Fortinet FortiGate 120G Fortinet FortiGate 200G Fortinet FortiGate 3500G Fortinet FortiGate 400G Fortinet FortiGate 40F Fortinet FortiGate 60F Fortinet FortiGate 70G Fortinet FortiGate 90G Fortinet FortiGate Rugged 60G (FGR-60G) Fortinet FortiSwitch 1048G Fortinet FortiSwitch 124G Fortinet FortiSwitch 124G (FS-124G) Fortinet FortiSwitch 124G-FPOE Fortinet FortiSwitch 148F Fortinet FortiSwitch 148G Fortinet FortiSwitch 2048F Fortinet FortiSwitch 3032G Fortinet FortiSwitch 648F Fortinet FortiSwitch 648F-FPOE Fortinet FortiSwitch-124F Juniper Networks AP34 Juniper Networks AP36 Juniper Networks AP37 Juniper Networks AP45 Juniper Networks AP47 Juniper Networks AP66 Juniper Networks EX4000 Juniper Networks EX4100 Juniper Networks EX4100-48P Juniper Networks EX4400 Juniper Networks EX4400-48P Juniper Networks Mist AP33 Juniper Networks Mist AP37 Juniper Networks Mist AP43 Juniper Networks QFX5120-48Y Juniper Networks QFX5220-32CD Juniper Networks QFX5230-64CD Juniper Networks QFX5240 Juniper Networks SRX1600 Juniper Networks SRX2300 Juniper Networks SRX4120 Juniper Networks SRX4300 Juniper Networks SRX440 Juniper Networks SRX4600 Juniper Networks SRX4700 Netgate 4100 Netgate 6100 Palo Alto Networks ION 1200-S Palo Alto Networks ION 1200-W Palo Alto Networks ION 3200 Palo Alto Networks ION 3200-S Palo Alto Networks ION 3200-W Palo Alto Networks ION 3200H Palo Alto Networks ION 3200H-C5G-WW Palo Alto Networks PA-1410 Palo Alto Networks PA-3410 Palo Alto Networks PA-410 Palo Alto Networks PA-415 Palo Alto Networks PA-440 Palo Alto Networks PA-445 Palo Alto Networks PA-445-W Palo Alto Networks PA-5410 Palo Alto Networks PA-545-PoE Palo Alto Networks PA-5450 Palo Alto Networks PA-555-POE Palo Alto Networks PA-7500 Palo Alto Networks Prisma SD-WAN ION 3200H Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Max Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Max (UCG-Max) Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro Max Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro Max (UDM-Pro-Max) Ubiquiti Dream Machine Special Edition (UDM-SE) Ubiquiti Enterprise 24 PoE (USW-Enterprise-24-PoE) Ubiquiti Enterprise 8 PoE Ubiquiti Enterprise Fortress Gateway (EFG) Ubiquiti Pro Max 24 PoE Ubiquiti Pro Max 48 PoE Ubiquiti Pro Max Aggregation (USW-Pro-Max-Aggregation) Ubiquiti Switch Enterprise 24 PoE (USW-Enterprise-24-PoE) Ubiquiti Switch Pro Max 24 PoE Ubiquiti Switch Pro Max 48 PoE Ubiquiti U6 Pro Ubiquiti U6-Enterprise Ubiquiti U6-Pro Ubiquiti U7 Pro Ubiquiti U7 Pro Max Ubiquiti U7 Pro Outdoor Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Fiber Ubiquiti UniFi Cloud Gateway Max (UCG-Max) Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Beast Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro Max Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Pro Max (UDM-Pro-Max) Ubiquiti UniFi Enterprise 7 Ubiquiti UniFi Pro Max 24 PoE Ubiquiti UniFi 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: 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7), backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax; Wi-Fi Alliance Wi-Fi 7 (R1) certified
• Spatial Streams (MIMO): 4x4:4SS on each of the three serving radios (12 total); 2.4 GHz drops to 2x2 under 802.3at
• Aggregate Throughput: Up to 18 Gbps PHY rate (802.11be, 4x4 at 320 MHz on 6 GHz, 160 MHz on 5 GHz, 20 MHz on 2.4 GHz); not a sustained throughput figure. Per-band PHY maximums per Meraki datasheet: 6 GHz 11,520 Mbps, 5 GHz 5,700 Mbps, 2.4 GHz 688 Mbps. Some listings cite 23 Gbps, which Cisco's datasheet appears to have as a typo
• Radios (bands): Three 4x4 serving radios (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz); dedicated tri-band scanning radio (WIDS/WIPS, spectrum analysis); 2.4 GHz IoT radio; integrated BLE 5.3 (upgradable to BLE 6.0 in software); integrated GNSS/GPS and UWB
• Uplink Port Speed: 1x RJ-45 multigigabit (100M/1G/2.5G/5G/10G); 10G requires Cat6/Cat6A cabling; plus 1x USB 2.0 (9W) and 1x RJ-45 management console
• Max Clients: 1,200 total per Cisco scale (400 per radio); Cisco does not state a recommended practical client count
• PoE Requirement: 802.3bt Class 5 (UPOE), 39W max, required for 10G uplink, 4x4 on all bands and USB; 802.3at (25.5W) gives 2.5G uplink, 2x2 on 2.4 GHz and no USB; 802.3af (13.95W) for staging only with radios off. Cisco recommends CW-INJ-8 injector
• Antenna / Form Factor: Indoor, internal omnidirectional antennas (5 dBi 2.4 GHz, 6 dBi 5/6 GHz); directional variant is CW9176D1; 9.5 x 9.5 x 2.0 in (24 x 24 x 5.1 cm), 3.4 lb (1.56 kg)
• Management: Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller (on-premises) or Meraki cloud management, depending on SKU; Meraki requires a license
• Price Source: Single reseller only (Aztek Computers, CW9176I-CFG, new, $3,547.97 current, $4,789.76 struck-through reference). No Cisco list price found. Cisco directs buyers to its price list or a partner quote

Curation Review

• ✔ Pros: Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 with 4x4 on all three client radios, giving high per-client throughput on 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz; Dedicated tri-band scanning radio supports 24/7 WIDS/WIPS and spectrum analysis without taking a client radio out of service; Integrated BLE 5.3, GNSS and UWB radios support asset tracking and location services in one AP; 10G mGig uplink removes the 1G bottleneck for Wi-Fi 7 traffic when 802.3bt PoE is available; Flexible management: Catalyst 9800 controller or Meraki cloud, with 1,200-client scale per Cisco; Wi-Fi 7 (R1), WPA3 and Suite B certifications
• ✘ Cons: 10G uplink and full 4x4 radio operation need 802.3bt (39W) PoE; 802.3at drops to 2.5G, reduces the 2.4 GHz radio to 2x2 and disables USB, which can force switch upgrades; Advertised 18 to 23 Gbps figures are PHY rates, not real-world throughput, and vendor sources disagree on the 23 Gbps value; Only one 10G uplink port and no second uplink for redundancy; Indoor omnidirectional model only; the directional variant is a separate SKU (CW9176D1); Meraki-managed SKUs require an ongoing license; Pricing data is limited to one reseller, and no official Cisco list price was found; Spec sources conflict on PoE (Cisco says 39W, a Meraki document says 60W Class 6), so verify before purchase
• Est. Price: $3,548 - $4,790

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