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Technical Specifications

• Wi-Fi Standard: IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6/6E); legacy 802.11a/b/g/n/ac also supported
• Spatial Streams (MIMO): 4x4:4 on each of the three radios (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz); 12 spatial streams total for MU-MIMO
• Aggregate Throughput: 7.78 Gbps tri-radio PHY maximum (4x4 160 MHz on 6 GHz, 4x4 80 MHz on 5 GHz, 4x4 20 MHz on 2.4 GHz); Cisco notes this is a radio frame-rate capability and may exceed 802.11ax-allowed rates, so real-world throughput is lower
• Radios (bands): Tri-radio: 2.4 GHz 4x4, 5 GHz 4x4 plus a secondary XOR radio, 6 GHz 4x4 (LPI); dedicated Bluetooth 5.1 (BLE) radio
• Uplink Port Speed: 1x multigigabit Ethernet RJ-45 (100M/1G/2.5G/5G)
• Max Clients: Not published in Cisco datasheet (Cisco states higher client density than typical enterprise APs, without a number)
• PoE Requirement: 802.3bt (UPOE) 30.5 W for full operation (USB 4.5 W); 802.3at 25.5 W (no USB, reduced operation); 802.3af 14.0 W for configuration staging only with radios off; optional 54 V DC input via MA-PWR-50WAC
• Form Factor: Indoor ceiling/wall-mount AP; 9.5 x 9.5 x 2.2 in (241.3 x 241.3 x 56.9 mm) for CW9166I; 3.54 lb (1.60 kg)
• Antenna Options: CW9166I-x: integrated omni-directional; CW9166D1-x: integrated directional
• Management: On-premises (IOS XE / Catalyst 9800) or cloud via Meraki Dashboard (CW9166I-MR / CW9166D1-MR)

Curation Review

• ✔ Pros: Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E with dedicated 6 GHz radio for less congested high-capacity spectrum; Four 4x4 spatial streams per band with 7.78 Gbps tri-radio PHY capability; Multigigabit uplink up to 5 Gbps for higher aggregate throughput than 1 GbE APs; Dedicated Bluetooth 5.1 radio for IoT and asset-tracking use; Cisco Trust Anchor, Secure Boot and image signing for hardware-level security; Flexible management: on-premises Catalyst 9800 or cloud-managed Meraki variant; Directional (D1) and omni (I) antenna SKUs for different coverage designs
• ✘ Cons: Full performance requires 802.3bt (30.5 W) PoE; 802.3at switches limit USB and radio operation; Max client count is not published, so capacity planning relies on third-party or community estimates; Uplink tops out at 5 Gbps, which can bottleneck a 7.78 Gbps radio capability at high load; Price is high relative to many 802.11ax APs, with reseller prices spanning roughly $1,100 to $3,300; Multiple SKUs (I vs D1, -ROW/regional, IOS XE vs Meraki-MR) complicate ordering and comparison; Minimum IOS XE version differs by SKU and reseller listings conflict
• 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)