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Cisco Meraki WiFi APs Integration
Cisco Meraki Cloud-managed Access Points
Cisco Meraki Wi-Fi access points (APs) are designed to be deployed and managed, along with Meraki switches and security appliances, using Meraki's cloud-based services. Meraki's 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6/6E APs and 802.11ac Wi-Fi 5 APs are available for a wide variety of venues and include advanced features such as multigigabit Ethernet, location analytics, application visibility and control for prioritizing critical apps, automatic RF optimization to support high density sites, dedicated security radios, plus the ability to enforce policies and throttling rules for each class of user. High-end APs from Meraki can handle up to 7.8 Gbps of WiFi traffic over a single cable. Meraki's cloud-based management services provide centralized control over deployments that can range from a single AP at a home office to a multi-site distributed network with thousands of WiFi-connected clients.
Progent's Cisco-certified wireless networking experts offer remote and on-premises consulting and support services to help you plan, configure, administer, tune, and debug WiFi deployments that incorporate Cisco's Meraki access points. Progent can also help you plan and configure hybrid networks that integrate local and cloud-based resources and that deliver easy access, enhanced security and compliance, streamlined management, and consistent performance for all your wired and wireless endpoints. Progent also offers affordable Wi-Fi site surveys to help you select, situate, and configure Cisco Meraki Wi-Fi APs to create a wireless solution optimized for your physical environment and network traffic.
Cisco Meraki Indoor Wave 2, Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6/6E Access Points
Cisco's Meraki line of Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6/6E dual-band and tri-band indoor access points include low-cost devices for general use as well as enterprise-class APs capable of handling data rates of up to 7.8 Gbps. All Meraki indoor APs offers advanced features like self-configuration for easy installation, built-in security and analytics, automatic updates, and unified cloud-based management for deployments of any size, from single site to multi-site distributed networks. Meraki indoor APs also feature radios with enhanced receive sensitivity plus a proprietary wireless intrusion detection and prevention system (wIDS/wIPS) with a dedicated radio for RF analysis and realtime packet inspection.
Other features of the Meraki family of indoor access points include a Gigabit Ethernet port, 802.3af PoE compatibility, hardware-accelerated encryption, wireless IPs, self-healing zero-configuration mesh routing, cloud-based location analytics, one-click secure guest access with a guest isolation firewall, customizable splash pages, an integrated policy firewall for granular group or device-based access control, built-in antivirus scan (NAC), WPA2-Enterprise authentication with 802.1X and native Active Directory integration, Layer 7 traffic shaping for prioritizing or restricting various classes of applications, plus MIMO and integrated beam forming to support high density environments while preserving range.
Cisco's Meraki MR20 is an entry-level Wave 2 Wi-Fi access point intended for small office or home office (SOHO) deployments. The cloud-managed AP features 2x2:2 MU-MIMO with two spatial streams and supports up to 1.3 Gbps combined throughput with 866 Mbps in the 5 GHz band and 400 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band. The Meraki MR20 access point includes Meraki's Air Marshal wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) for threat detection and attack remediation. The AP has one 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet RJ45 port but no a Bluetooth BLE radio. The MR20 AP is desktop, ceiling, or wall mount capable.
The Cisco Meraki MR42 is an 802.11ac Wave 2 access point for performance-critical and/or high-density wireless LANs. The MR42 supports 3'3:3 MU-MIMO with beamforming, delivers a maximum data rate of 1.9 Gbit/sec, includes a Gigabit Ethernet port, and has an integrated Bluetooth radio that provides scanning and Beaconing. The Cisco Meraki MR52 is a high-performance Wave 2 802.11ac AP designed for high density campus and enterprise environments. The 4-radio MR52 offers 4'4 MU-MIMO with four spatial streams and beamforming, handles over-the-air data rates of up to 2.5 Gbps, supports 160 MHz channels, includes two GE Ethernet LAN interfaces, and features a Bluetooth radio. Cisco's Meraki MR53 AP has the same specs as the Meraki MR52 but has a single GE Ethernet LAN port plus a 2.5 Gbps Multigigabit Ethernet port.
Cisco's Meraki MR30H is a wall switch access point designed for hotel rooms or dormitory environments and features 2x2 MU-MIMO 802.11ac Wave 2 support, an integrated 4-port gigabit Ethernet switch, and an integrated Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) radio for beacon and scanning functionality. The MR30H provides up to 1.3 Gbps aggregate throughput with concurrent 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios. The Meraki MR33 is a general-purpose access point suitable for offices, schools, hospitals, shops and other busy environments. The MR33 has the same feature set as the MR30H access point but is packaged in a low-profile enclosure and lacks the integrated 4-port Gbit Ethernet switch.
The Meraki MR28 is an entry-level 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 access point suited for small businesses and SOHO deployments. The MR28 AP features concurrent 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios, 2x2:2 MU-MIMO for each radio, a fixed 1x 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) port, and an internal antenna. Cisco's MR28 access point delivers an aggregate frame rate of 1.7 Gbps. The Meraki MR36 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 access point is a general-purpose device for deployments such as offices, hospitals, and schools. The MR36 features concurrent 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios with 2x2:2 MU-MIMO for each radio, an integrated 1x 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) port, and an internal antenna. The Meraki MR36H 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 wall-switch access point is designed for in-room hotel or dormitory deployments. The MR36H features concurrent 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios with 2x2:2 MU-MIMO for each radio, includes an internal antenna, and supports an aggregate frame rate of 1.3 Gbps. Integrated interfaces include 1x 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) port with 802.3af Power over Ethernet output, 2x 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) ports, and 1x Gigabit Ethernet passthrough port.
The Meraki MR44 is an 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 AP designed for high-density or speed-critical deployments. The MR44 access point features concurrent 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios, 2x2:2 MU-MIMO for the 2.4 GHz radio and 4x4:4 MU-MIMO for the 5 GHz radio, a built-in 1x 100/1000/2.5G BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) port, and an internal antenna. The Cisco/Meraki MR44 access point delivers an aggregate frame rate of 2.7 Gbps. The Meraki MR45 is an 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 access point designed for high-density deployments. Cisco's MR45 AP features four dual-band radios covering 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, 4x4:4 MU-MIMO for each radio, a fixed 1000/2.5G Ethernet port, and four internal antennas. Cisco's MR45 access point delivers maximum aggregate throughput of 3.5 Gbps. The Meraki MR46 is an 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 access point designed for high-performance deployments such as offices, schools, hospitals, shops, and hotels. The MR44 access point features concurrent 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios, 4x4:4 MU-MIMO for both the 2.4 and the GHz radios, a built-in 1x 100/1000/2.5G BASE-T Ethernet (RJ45) port, and an internal antenna. The device is desktop, ceiling, and wall mount capable. The Cisco/Meraki MR44 access point delivers an aggregate frame rate of 2.98 Gbps.
The Meraki MR55 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 wireless access point also has four dual-band radios and offers 4x4:4 MU-MIMO for the 2.4 GHz radio and 8x8:8 MU-MIMO for the 5 GHz radio. The MR55 AP has an integrated 1000/2.5G/5G Ethernet port and eight internal antennas. The top data rate for the Cisco's MR55 wireless access point is 5.9 Gbps. The Meraki MR56 is an 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 AP intended for deployment in dense indoor environments. The MR56 APs features concurrent 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios, 4x4:4 MU-MIMO for the 2.4 GHz radio and 8x8:8 for the and the GHz radios, and integrated 5 Gbps multigigabit Ethernet port, and an internal antenna. The Cisco/Meraki MR56 access point delivers an aggregate frame rate of 5.9 Gbps. The Meraki MR57 WiFi 6E access point includes support for the 6 GHz band, more than doubling the spectrum available to earlier generation Meraki APs. You can operate the MR57 AP either in dual 5 GHz mode or in tri-band 2.5/5/6 GHz mode. The 4x4:4 MU-MIMO MR57 supports a max aggregate data rate of 7.78 Gbps. The MR57 features dual configurable multigigabit 5Gbps Ethernet ports and integrated omni-directional antennas.
Catalyst CW916x Series Wi-Fi 6E APs with Meraki Cloud Management Support
Cisco's Catalyst 916x Series Wi-Fi 6E APs are the first Cisco access points that have the versatility to be managed either on-site via Cisco DNA Center or through the cloud by deploying Meraki management tools. This enables businesses to transition to cloud-based or hybrid management environments on their own schedule. All Catalyst 916x APs support the a/b/g/n/ac/ax and 6E wireless standards and fully support the new 6-GHz band. Each AP includes 5 radios and supports up to 400 clients on each radio. Every AP also contains a dedicated radio for Cisco CleanAir Pro for reducing interference, comes with a USB 2.0 port, and offers Bluetooth Low Energy. The small-footprint Catalyst 9162 Series AP is designed for small organizations, has three 2x2 radios, and includes 1x 100M/1000M/2.5G mGig Ethernet support. Cisco's Catalyst 9164 Series access point is designed for small and middle-size enterprises, has one 2x2 radio and two 4x4 radios, and offers 1x 100M/1000M/2.5G mGig Ethernet support. The Catalyst 9166 Series access point is designed for large and mid-sized enterprises, has three 4x4 radios, and provides 1x 100M/1000M/2.5G/5G mGig Ethernet connectivity. The 9166 also comes with environmental sensors to detect air quality, temperature, and humidity.
Legacy Meraki Indoor Wi-Fi Access Points
Cisco's Meraki MR18 is a wall or desktop mountable 802.11n access point that can deliver speeds as high as 600 Mbps with its two concurrent 2x2:2 MIMO radios. This entry-level access point is value-priced and designed for general-purpose use in moderately dense environments. The Meraki MR32 is a wall, ceiling or desktop mountable wireless AP with a 5 GHz 2x2:2 802.11ac radio and a 2.4 GHz 2x2:2 802.11n radio, offering a maximum dual-radio aggregate frame rate of 1.2 Gbit/s. This access point includes a low-power Bluetooth radio for Beacon and BLE scanning and is intended for high-density campus, retail, and enterprise environments.
The Meraki MR34, which has reached end-of-life status, is a 3x3 MIMO 802.11ac Wave 1 access point with 1.75 Gbps throughput. Designed for very high density applications, the MR34 offers 802.af PoE (low-power mode) and 802.3at PoE+ and does not include Bluetooth.
Cisco Meraki Cloud-managed Outdoor/Industrial Wi-Fi Access Points
Cisco's Meraki outdoor and industrial access points are IP67 rated, designed to operate in harsh outdoor environments, and tested for dust, shock, vibration and moisture. Meraki outdoor access points include a Gigabit Ethernet port and offer advanced features that include cloud management with network-wide visibility and control, 802.1X and native Active Directory integration, built-in antivirus scan (NAC), 1-click secure guest access and guest isolation firewall, application-aware traffic shaping, plus self-configuring mesh with MIMO and beamforming.
Cisco's Meraki MR62 is a value-priced, single-radio 802.11n outdoor AP that offers 300 Mbit/sec performance and features a single-radio mesh and VPN tunneling for teleworkers. The mid-range Meraki MR66 has dual-concurrent radios with band steering, delivers 600 Mbit/sec max rate performance, and features 2x2 MIMO, beamforming, and multi-radio mesh. The high-capacity Meraki MR72 is a three-radio access point that supports data rates as high as 1.2 Gbps with concurrent 802.11ac and 802.11n 2x2:2 MIMO radios. A separate third radio is dedicated to WIDS/WIPS security and automated RF optimization. The MR72 also incorporates a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) radio to provide Beacon functionality and BLE device scanning. The ultra-fast Meraki MR84 is a 4-radio outdoor AP designed to handle any difficult, high-density RF environment such as a stadium, an arena, or any outdoor venue. The MR84 includes 4'4:4 MU-MIMO support, 160 MHz channels, a 1 Gbit Ethernet port and a Multigigabit Ethernet port, and an integrated BLE radio.
Meraki's Cloud-based Wireless Management Services
Meraki access points include the CPU, memory and architectural resources needed to perform packet processing, QoS, layer 3-7 security, encryption and other functions at the network edge while at the same time supporting Meraki's cloud management infrastructure. Meraki's cloud-hosted management provides centralized control over a virtually unlimited number of sites and devices via a single web-accessible dashboard with features that include layer 7 device and application visibility, performance and connection monitoring and alerts, extensive reporting, live diagnostics for remote troubleshooting, automatic updates, and enterprise-class security.
In Meraki's remote services solution, only control data rather than application or web browsing traffic is transferred to and from the cloud. The control data is sent via an efficient out-of-band management tunnel that uses about 1 kbps of bandwidth per managed device. This imposes an imperceptible impact on AP performance while eliminating the capital cost and management overhead of installing and maintaining wireless controller hardware within the network core. Also, this architecture allows clients to continue using their Wi-Fi networks even in the event their connection to the Meraki cloud is interrupted.
Meraki's cloud-based management solution features advanced traffic analysis and shaping capability that gives network managers insight into user behavior, making it possible to tune your Wi-Fi ecosystem to optimize productivity. Meraki's traffic analytics engine allows the Meraki management dashboard to shed light on all network layers so administrators can visualize the aggregated results of statistical analysis organized by network, SSID, or user. Flow-by-flow deep-packet inspection (DPI) of network traffic in real time provides administrators with the data they need to devise and implement granular application firewall and traffic rules. To improve productivity or encourage customer engagement, Meraki's traffic shaping engine lets you define informed policies for QoS and prioritization according to users and network groups. Administrators can specify and enforce restrictive policies like access control and application firewalling or throttling, or prioritize bandwidth availability for various classes of business-critical applications.
Additional features of Meraki access points that take advantage of Meraki's cloud management include the Air Marshal wireless intrusion detection and prevention system (WIDS/WIPS) and CMX Location Analytics for real-time analytics on the presence of mobile Wi-Fi devices such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Meraki access points with Air Marshal activated perform real-time scanning across channels on 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and react to detected threats according to remediation policies defined via a centralized management tool. A cloud-based heuristics engine allows Air Marshall to detect, send alerts, and suggest solutions for the latest threats, which can include rogue SSIDs, AP spoofs, packet floods, and attempts to hack your Wi-Fi environment.
Cisco Meraki CMX Location Analytics utilizes the Bluetooth radio integrated into every Meraki access point to derive presence data from the probe requests beaconing of WiFi-enabled client devices such as smartphones and tablets. The data collected by Meraki's WiFi APs is synchronized with the Cisco Meraki cloud and displayed graphically in the management dashboard to help organizations understand patterns of foot traffic near different Wi-Fi hot spots. Analysis can include traffic volume by time of day, new clients vs. repeat clients, and length of stay. The statistics organized by CMX can be used by any organization to optimize staffing or drive employee BYOD policies. Retailers can use CMX to compare customer trends before and after sales campaigns to understand and improve the impact of various marketing initiatives on customer engagement. CMX also enables assisted navigation and supports location-aware mobile applications.
How Progent's Consultants Can Help You with Cisco Meraki WiFi Access Points
Progent's Cisco-certified wireless networking consultants can provide remote and on-premises expertise to assist organizations of all sizes to plan, configure, manage, tune or troubleshoot Wi-Fi networks that incorporate Cisco Meraki Wi-Fi APs. Progent's experts can provide as-needed help to guide you through challenging technical problems or Progent can provide comprehensive project management or co-management services to ensure that vital Wi-Fi initiatives are completed on time and within budget. Progent can help you integrate Meraki-based WiFi APs with Meraki switches and security appliances or with non-Meraki network appliances from Cisco or other vendors. (See Cisco Meraki switches consulting.) Progent's also offers wireless site surveys to help you choose and locate Cisco Meraki access points optimally to provide the coverage, throughput and capacity required to handle your wireless environment.
Progent's certified cyber security and compliance experts can help you define and enforce policies that are consistent across your wired and wireless clients and that comply with industry and government standards. Progent's disaster recovery consultants can help you design fault-tolerant and recoverable Wi-Fi environments that deploy the high-availability technology designed into Cisco-Meraki access points and cloud services.
To learn more about Progent's wireless consulting services, see Progent's Wireless Network Consulting and Troubleshooting Support.
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