Overview of Cisco's Aironet Family of Wireless APs
Cisco's top-selling Aironet line of Wi-Fi APs has developed in concert with wireless technology and has continually delivered improvements in performance, capacity, coverage, security, manageability and dependability. Modern Aironet Wave 2 Wi-Fi access points support as many as 400 clients each and can handle data rates in excess of 5 gigabits/sec. Deployments of Aironet access points integrated with Cisco's Prime Infrastructure design model allow you to build multi-site wireless networks with up to 18,000 access points supporting up to 64,000 users, all under single-point management. Progent's Cisco CCIE-certified wireless networking consultants offer remote or onsite consulting and troubleshooting support to assist you to plan, install, update, tune, manage and troubleshoot Aironet wireless environments of any size, inside or outdoors.
Progent's Cisco CCIE-certified Wi-Fi infrastructure consultants can provide online or onsite integration and debugging services to help your organization to design, implement, update, optimize, manage and troubleshoot Aironet wireless access point environments of any size or topology. Progent's Cisco wireless controller consultants can also assist you to integrate your wireless ecosystem with your wired network infrastructure and cloud-based resources to build an enterprise-wide connectivity solution that is easy to administer and scale. Progent also offers affordable wireless site surveys to assist you to decide the most appropriate selection, placement and configuration of Aironet Wi-Fi access points to accommodate your unique office layout, building structure, and expected workloads.
Cisco Aironet Wave 2 Indoor Wireless Access Points
Cisco's Wave 2 Wi-Fi access points offer substantial improvements compared to the first generation of 802.11ac devices, called Wave 1. Enhancements include 2.34 Gbps instead of 1.3 Gbps in the 5 GHz band, multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) for transmitting data to multiple clients at the same time, better coverage and expandability, and the ability to utilize 160-MHz-wide channels and/or an additional spatial stream to improve performance and support more features. For high-density wireless deployments, nearly all Aironet Wave 2 wireless access points support Cisco Mobility Express, which permits 50 to 100 APs to be deployed quickly without requiring a physical Cisco wireless controller. Progent can assist your organization to evaluate the business advantages of upgrading your Wave 1 or older Aironet Wi-Fi access points and can also help you to design, deploy and administer a Wave 2 Aironet wireless AP solution that maximizes business value.
Cisco's Aironet 1810W Series Wi-Fi access points are compact Wave 2 wall-plate-mountable access points designed for use in hospitality venues such as hotels and cruise ships. The Aironet 1810W includes Dual 2.4 and 5 GHz transceivers and a Bluetooth radio, features 2x2 multi-user MIMO with two spatial streams, and delivers a combined transfer rate of 867-Mbps and a maximum user count of 400. Cisco's Aironet 1810W comes with three local Gigabit Ethernet connections including one with PoE Out for supporting a device such as a VoIP phone, printer or surveillance camera. The Aironet 1818 adds a 10/100/1000BASE-T PoE uplink interface and a pass-through RJ-45 connection. The Aironet 1810 OfficeExtend Series access point is a Wave 2 802.11ac unit that features a mounting cradle and is engineered to deliver safe wireless connectivity for remote workers and branch office employees. Cisco's Aironet 1810W Series OfficeExtend AP must be attached to a remote Wi-Fi network controller, which allows easy unified management of policies and eliminates the hassle of managing home-based or remote-office firewalls. Cisco's Aironet 1810 OfficeExtend Series offers the same performance and I/O ports as the Aironet 1810W Wireless access point.
The Cisco Aironet 1815 Series wireless access points are low-cost, compact Wave 2 devices designed for small and mid-size companies. The 1815 series includes four models made for different usage scenarios. Cisco's 1815i wireless AP has flexible alternatives for wall or ceiling mount. Cisco's 1815w wireless AP is a desktop device. Cisco's 1815t Wi-Fi access point features three Gigabit Ethernet ports for use by telecommuters or users in a micro branch office; and the 1815m Wi-Fi access point features extra transmit power for greater signal coverage. All models in Cisco's 1815 Wi-Fi Access Point family feature dual radios (2.4/5 GHz) and 2x2 multi-user MIMO technology with two spatial streams. All but the 1815t Wi-Fi AP can be administered with Cisco Mobility Express software. Only the 1815t wireless AP works with OfficeExtend. Each 1815 Wi-Fi AP offers an aggregate data transfer rate of 1 gigabit/sec and can support up to 400 Wi-Fi users. All models except the 1815t feature a Bluetooth Low Energy radio, and only the 1815t includes a USB interface and offers the option of PoE or AC/DC power.
The Cisco Aironet 1830 Series Wi-Fi AP is intended for small and mid-size networks and includes 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios, features 3x3 multi-user MIMO technology with two spatial streams, includes a 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ-4 Ethernet port with Power over Ethernet, supports a combined data rate of 867-Mbps on the 5-Ghz radio, and can support a maximum of 400 clients. The Cisco 1830 Series Wi-Fi AP also supports a BLE radio via a USB dongle. The Bluetooth radio can be used for navigation, proximity marketing, and inventory.
The Aironet 1850i wireless access point is intended for small and medium-sized companies and features 4x4 MU-MIMO technology with up to four spatial streams (when in single-user MIMO mode, three spatial streams when in multiuser mode), incorporates a GigE Power over Ethernet (PoE) interface, a GE port for link aggregation, and an RJ-45 management console port. The Aironet 1850i Wi-Fi access point supports a total aggregate dual-radio data transfer rate of 2 gigabits/sec and a maximum user count of 400. A Bluetooth radio can be attached to the 1850i Series Wi-Fi access point by means of a USB dongle.
Cisco's Aironet 2800 Series Wi-Fi access point is intended for large companies and can optimize throughput by dynamically designating its dual radios as one 2.4 and one 5 GHz radio or as two 5 GHz radios, delivering combined performance as high as 5 Gbps. The Aironet 2800 Wi-Fi access point features 4x4 multi-user MIMO supporting up to three spatial streams and can serve up to 400 Wi-Fi clients. A second antenna interface accommodates difficult sites like high-ceiling halls, libraries and cafeterias. Cisco's 2800 wireless AP features two Gigabit Ethernet ports and an RJ-45 management console port. A BLE radio can be added by using a USB dongle.
The Aironet 3800 Wave 2 wireless access points are intended for crowded sites like large offices or warehouses. The Aironet 3800 offers three antenna options. The Aironet 3800i has internal antennas, the 3800e has external ones, and the 3800p offers high-power external antennas to support high-density indoor scenarios such as arenas and convention areas. All 3800 series wireless APs support 4x4 MU-MIMO with three spatial streams, and their two radios can be run in 2.4-GHz/5-GHz mode or in Dual 5-GHz 802.11ac mode. Total performance can be up to 5.2 Gbps in Dual 5-GHz 802.11ac mode. The Aironet 3800 Wi-Fi AP can serve as many as 400 Wi-Fi users and has two 100/1000/2500/5000 Multigigabit Ethernet interfaces, one 100/1000BASE-T RJ-45 auxiliary port, and an RJ-45 management console interface.
The Aironet 4800 Wi-Fi AP, intended for large organizations in need of high performance and advanced security, is the top of the line of Cisco's Aironet family, featuring dual 2.4/5 GHz or dual 5 GHz radios and 4x4 MU-MIMO technology with three spatial streams. The Cisco 4800 Wi-Fi AP can handle as many as 400 clients. The AP comes with two Multigigabit ports, one RJ-45 management console port, and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio. By having a fourth radio, The 4800 Wi-Fi AP can assign key Aironet functions to more radios so they can run concurrently. These core functions include built-in Flexible Radio Assignment, Hyperlocation, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Cisco's 4800 Wi-Fi access point's fourth internal radio adds enhanced security and deep analytics for throughput and location. Having four radios also allows the two Wi-Fi radios with Flexible Radio Assignment to run in 5 GHz client serving mode, delivering 5.2 Gbps Wi-Fi data rates and expanding client capacity.
Aironet Wave 1 Indoor Wi-Fi Access Points
The Wi-Fi 802.11ac standard works in the 5-GHz band, utilizes 80-MHz channels for higher performance, and enables Wi-Fi radios to utilize spectrum more efficiently, transmit data faster, and relinquish spectrum more quickly than earlier Wi-Fi standards. This optimizes speed, recovery, expandability, and roaming for high-density Wi-Fi networks. Although the 802.11ac specification was accepted at the start of 2014, Cisco designed transitional Aironet 802.11ac APs prior to that. These transitional products offer many of the major benefits of 802.11ac technology and Cisco refers to them as Wave 1 APs. Cisco's Wave 1 dual-band Aironet APs incorporate 2.4 GHz radios to accommodate earlier generation client devices.
Cisco's Aironet 1700 Series is an economical Wi-Fi access point that supports 802.11ac Wave 1 technology, features 3x3 multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) with two spatial streams, supports a speed of 867 Mbps, and can serve 200 client devices. The Aironet 2700 Series is a wall-mountable Wi-Fi access point intended for midsize or large organizations and features four internal or external antennas. Cisco's 2700 Series wireless AP offers a 3x4 MIMO radio design with three spatial streams, has a top connection speed of 1.3 Gbps, and supports up to 200 802.11ac client devices and up to 128 802.11n users. The Aironet 3700 Series wireless APs are wall-mountable units offered with an internal antenna, an external antenna, or in a special Aironet 3700p version with a narrow-beam-width, high-gain antenna. The Cisco 3700 Series wireless access point features a 4x4 MIMO design with three spatial streams and delivers a maximum connection rate of 1.3 Gbps. The modular design of the 3700 Series Wi-Fi access point supports Cisco's Wireless Security add-on module as well as the 3G Small Cells module.
Aironet 802.11n Indoor wireless Access Point
The 802.11n specification made it realistic for people to use Wi-Fi as their day-to-day LAN connection, nominally supporting 390 Mbps data rates and single-user MIMO (multiple input multiple output) in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Cisco continues to offer an extensive portfolio of wireless access points based on this widely used Wi-Fi technology. Progent offers online and onsite consulting and debugging support for Cisco's current line of 802.11n Wi-Fi APs and for discontinued Aironet access points, and Progent's consultants can assist your organization to assess the value to your company of upgrading from your outdated Wi-Fi infrastructure to Cisco's current line of 802.11ac Wi-Fi APs.
The Aironet 700W Series Wi-Fi AP is an 802.11n device intended for multi-dwelling sites such as college dorms or hotels and can be installed on a wall junction box. The dual-radio Aironet 700W has 2x2 MIMO and two spatial streams, can handle 100 Wi-Fi clients, comes with four 10/100/1000BASE-T ports (one with PoE), and delivers data rates as high as 300 Mbps. Cisco's Aironet 1600 Series is a value-priced wireless access point intended for small and midsize organizations and includes 802.11n 3x3 MIMO with two spatial streams, can handle 128 Wi-Fi clients, and delivers data rates as high as 300 Mbps. Cisco's Aironet 2600 Series Wi-Fi AP is intended for high-density sites and includes 802.11n 3x4 MIMO with three spatial streams, serves 200 wireless users, and delivers throughput up to 450 Mbps.
Cisco Aironet Outdoor and Ruggedized Wi-Fi APs
Cisco's Aironet family of wireless APs includes Wave 2, Wave 1, and 802.11a/b/g/n APs designed to be installed in outdoor environments that range campuses and municipalities to severe industrial sites such as transportation, mining, or oil. Progent can help you to select, deploy and administer Aironet outdoor and industrial wireless APs to fit your technical requirements and budget. Progent's security consultants can also assist your organization to specify and enforce security policies for your outside wireless infrastructure or test the security profile of your Aironet Wi-Fi access points.
The Aironet 1530 Series outdoor 802.11b/g/n wireless access points are Wave 1 dual-radio, carrier-grade units offered in an IP67-rated enclosure to withstand dust particles, humidity, vibration and temperature extremes. The Wi-Fi access points have a Gigabit Ethernet LAN port and a GE uplink port and deliver data rates of up to 300 Mbps. Cisco's Aironet 1530I incorporates integrated antennas and supports 3x3:2 MIMO with three spatial streams on the 2.4 GHz radio and 2x3 MIMO with two spatial streams on the 5GHz radio. The Aironet 1530E outdoor wireless AP offers 2x2 MIMO and two spatial streams on each radio and comes with software-configurable dual- or single-band external antennas.
Cisco's Aironet 1540 Series outdoor wireless AP is a Wave 2 unit that provides performance as high as 867-Mbps on the 5 GHz radio. This allows a total dual-radio data rate of up to 1.1 Gbps. The 1540 wireless access point includes 2x2 MU-MIMO technology and supports up to two spatial streams. For networks with a maximum of 50 wireless APs, you can run Cisco Mobility Express Solution control software for rapid and simple configuration without the need for a Cisco wireless Wi-Fi controller. One of Cisco's smallest outdoor wireless APs with internal antennas, the 1540 access point is available with either a directional or a semi-omni directional antenna, giving you flexibility in selecting antenna patterns to fit various usage scenarios.
Cisco's Aironet 1552S outdoor/industrial Wi-Fi AP is engineered for hazardous sites like refineries or chemical plants and has a built-in ISA100-compliant backbone router to communicate with wireless sensor networks, providing an all-in-one solution for wireless client support and connectivity to sensor devices. The Cisco Aironet 1552WU comes in a Div 2/Zone 2 hazardous location-certified enclosure, supports 2:3 MIMO and two spatial streams, delivers performance of up to 300 Mbps, and includes a GbE connection, a 10/100/1000 BaseT interface, and a fiber Small-Form-Factor Pluggable (SP) uplink interface. Cisco's Aironet 1552WU Wi-Fi access point is designed for hazardous environments and includes an integrated WirelessHART gateway for communicating wirelessly with industrial sensor devices. Cisco's Aironet 1552WU Wi-Fi access point comes in a hazardous location-compliant body, supports 2:3 MIMO and two spatial streams, delivers performance of up to 300 Mbps, and provides Gigabit Ethernet and 10/100/1000 BaseT uplink choices.
Aironet 1562 series outdoor wireless access points are offered with three antenna options to match different usage scenarios. The high-performance 1562I wireless AP has integrated omnidirectional antennas for conventional scenarios like a school campus. The 1562E includes powerful external omni antennas for sites such as outdoor warehouses or malls where customers can configure the required signal coverage. The Aironet 1562D wireless AP features a built-in directional antenna suitable for high-density venues or for locations that call for wireless point-to-point bridging such as parks or stadiums. All three 1562 models can handle up to 400 clients, offer 48 VDC and Power-over-Ethernet power, and feature fiber Small-Form-Factor Pluggable optics and cable modem backhaul. The 1562E and 1562D models incorporate 2x2 MU-MIMO with 2 spatial streams and deliver data rates as high as 867 Mbps. The 1562I features 3x3 MU-MIMO with 3 spatial streams and delivers performance as high as 1,300 Mbps.
Cisco's Aironet 1570 Series is an enterprise-class Wi-Fi AP that was at one time the fastest performing outdoor wireless AP available. The Aironet 1570 includes internal or external antennas, incorporates 4x4 MIMO with three spatial streams, supports data rates of up to 1.3 Gbps, and has Fiber/SFP, Gigabit Ethernet, and Cable Modem uplink interfaces. Versions include the Aironet 1572EAC that has an external antenna with AC-power, the Aironet 1572IC which includes internal antennas with cable modem, and the Aironet 1572EC which includes an external antenna with cable modem.
The Aironet Industrial Wireless 3700 (IW3700) Series is the first industrial/outdoor Wi-Fi access point to offer 4x4 MIMO technology with three spatial streams and beamforming. The Aironet Wave 1 IW3700 Wi-Fi AP has a rugged IP67-rated enclosure, incorporates a dual-band radio compliant with 802.11ac (5 GHz) and 802.11n (2.4 GHz) specifications, provides over-the-air data speeds as high as 1.3 Gbps, and supports a maximum of 200 Wi-Fi clients.
Legacy Cisco Aironet Wi-Fi Access Points Supported by Progent
The remarkable enhancements in Wi-Fi throughput and capacity driven by 802.11ac technology, combined with the proliferation of BYOD users using bandwidth-hungry applications with streaming video, has rendered older generations of wireless infrastructure devices out of date. Even though many organizations run Wi-Fi workloads that are well served by existing 802.11n environments, the fact that discontinued Wi-Fi infrastructure appliances such as APs have reached, or are soon to reach, end-of-support status can have serious implications for compliance, the ongoing availability of technical support, and the difficulty of downstream expansion.
Progent's Cisco-certified wireless solutions consultants offer advanced consulting services to assist organizations of any size maintain and troubleshoot their legacy Aironet environment, assess the possible advantages for upgrading to the latest family of Aironet APs, and develop an affordable plan to migrate seamlessly to a unified wireless solution that delivers the speed. performance, security, manageability and availability expected of a modern Wi-Fi ecosystem. Examples of legacy Aironet access points for which Progent continues to offer remote and onsite expertise include:
Cisco Aironet 1000 or 1130AG Series wireless access points are designed for conventional workplaces and similar sites which have minimal environmental variability. These access points include integrated antennas that provide predictable radio range patterns. The Aironet 1130G family access point is intended for regulated domains that do not allow 802.11a/5GHz operation.
Cisco Aironet 1230AG/1240AG family wireless access points are designed for more difficult radio frequency situations like manufacturing plants or above suspended ceilings which commonly call for flexible external antennas and ruggedized cases. The Cisco 1240G family access point is designed for controlled locations that do not allow 802.11a transmission.
Cisco Aironet 1500 Series lightweight outside wireless mesh access points provide an economical, scalable, protected outdoor wireless network solution for enterprise campuses and for public venues that require access for mobile phones or computers.
The Cisco Aironet 600 OfficeExtend Series wireless AP is an 802.11n unit intended for telecommuters. The Aironet 600 Wi-Fi access point features a dual 2.4/5 GHz radio, incorporates 2x3 MIMO with two spatial streams, serves a maximum of 15 Wi-Fi users, and delivers throughput as high as 300 Mbps.
How Progent Can Assist You with Cisco Aironet Wi-Fi Access Points
Progent offers affordable remote or on-premises support from a certified CCIE network infrastructure consultant to assist you to design, deploy, manage, optimize, update or troubleshoot a Wi-Fi network that incorporates Cisco's Aironet wireless APs. Progent can assist you maintain legacy Aironet devices or move smoothly to Cisco's latest lineup of Wave 2 wireless APs based on the 802.11ac specification. Progent's certified Cisco Wi-Fi controller consultants can assist you to determine whether your wireless deployment calls for Cisco Wi-Fi controller hardware or can be managed with software tools like Cisco Mobility Express.
Progent's remote and on-premises Wi-Fi site surveys can assist your organization to identify the most appropriate selection and location of Cisco Aironet Wi-Fi access points to handle your user density, offer the RF coverage you require, and deal with your critical workloads. Progent's certified cybersecurity experts can assist you to design, implement and validate a security and compliance strategy that includes policy enforcement, remote network and endpoint monitoring, and unified management. Progent's disaster preparedness consultants and business continuity planning consultants can help you to build availability and recoverability into your Cisco product deployments to optimize the uptime of your seamless wired/wireless infrastructure.
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