Cisco offers an extensive line of wireless LAN products and technologies designed to enable continual connections to data and other resources and to promote collaboration among workers, associates, suppliers, and customers. Cisco's wireless product families include the Small Business, Aironet and Meraki series of access points (APs), plus Cisco's Wireless LAN Controller modules and standalone devices. Progent's certified wireless consulting experts can help organizations of any size to utilize Cisco wireless products to support the current model of Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) networks by converging their wired and wireless environments to achieve easy configuration, predictable performance, centralized management, uniform policy, high availability (HA), and across-the-board security.

The Cisco Unified Wireless Network solution can expand to as many as 18,000 wireless access points with Layer 3 connectivity across local or remote venues like enterprise headquarters, college lecture halls, branches, and telecommuter homes. Cisco's 802.11x APs and wireless controllers are components of Cisco's Unified Wireless Network and are engineered to support the identical level of security, performance, and manageability for wireless LANs that businesses expect in their wired ecosystem. Cisco's technology incorporates integrated mobility services like Voice over IP, IP video, and safe guest connectivity. Cisco's Unified Wireless Network architecture allows companies to create wireless ecosystems that streamline the way they do business and enhance output via a dynamic and connected employee base.
Progent's Cisco-certified network infrastructure consulting services offers online or onsite expertise to help you to design, configure, maintain, upgrade, and repair converged wired and wireless networks of any size and for any environment. In addition, Progent offers economical online and onsite Wi-Fi site surveys to help your company to design and deploy a Wi-Fi LAN with customized wireless access point clusters optimized for your specific office layout, building structure, and application workloads.
Small Business, Aironet, Meraki and Catalyst Wireless Access Points (APs)
Cisco's Small Business, Aironet, Meraki and Catalyst lines of wireless access points allow you to integrate wired and wireless networks to deliver the coverage, capacity, performance, security compliance and ease of management needed to support practically any environment. Cisco's APs range from entry-level, single-radio 802.11b/g/n units with throughput of 300 Mbps intended for very small companies or telecommuters to 802.11ax access points suitable for supporting hundreds of clients per AP and offering sustained throughput in excess of 5 Gbps. Cisco's latest line of APs can be combined or clustered to provide the capacity to handle environments with high client density and with high usage rates of HD video apps.
Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Family of Access Points
Cisco's Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Series of access points are Linux-powered devices intended as value-priced Wi-Fi APs for small offices. Many versions in Cisco's Small Business family of wireless access points work with Cisco's Single Point Setup system, which allows you to configure, control and repair a group of wireless access points from one AP via a simple browser-based tool. All of the versions include Power over Ethernet and feature QoS, rogue AP detection, and bridge mode for wirelessly connecting to a second network.
Cisco's Small Business WAP121 Wireless-N Access Point is a wall-mountable, single-band 2.4GHz unit that can support 16 802.11b/g/n clients, includes a 10/100 Ethernet interface, permits up to 4 AP devices and 40 active clients per cluster, and can handle throughput of 300 Mbps. The Cisco WAP131 is a desktop dual-radio 802.11n AP that can support 16 wireless clients per radio for a total of up to 32 wireless clients, includes a GE port, and can support throughput of up to 300 Mbps per radio. The WAP131 does not support AP clustering. The Cisco Small Business WAP150 is an entry-level dual-radio AC/n wireless access point that features a one Gbit Power over Ethernet port and can support 16 clients per radio with 867 Mbps throughput for AC devices and 300 Mbps for 802.11n devices. The Cisco WAP1501 supports 4 access points per cluster.
The Cisco Small Business WAP321 Wireless-N model is a wall-mountable selectable-band (either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) 802.11n unit that can handle 80 active wireless clients sharing an 8-AP cluster. The Cisco WAP321 includes a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port and can support a data rate of 300 Mbps for the activated radio. Cisco's WAP351 is a dual-radio 802.11n AP that includes a 5-port Gigabit Ethernet switch and can handle 32 active clients per radio for a total of up to 64 active clients, and support sustained throughput of 300 Mbps for each radio. The WAP351 AP does not allow clustering. Cisco's WAP361 is a dual-band 2.4/5 GHz 802.11ac access point that features a 5-port Gigabit Ethernet switch, can support 32 clients per radio, and delivers 867 Mbps throughput for 802.11ac devices and 300 Mbps performance for 802.11n devices. The Cisco WAP361 allows eight access points for each cluster. Cisco's wall-mountable WAP371 Wireless-AC/N is a dual-radio device that supports 802.11n as well as the new 802.11ac IEEE Wi-Fi standard. The WAP371 Wireless-AC/N has a 10/100/1000 Ethernet interface, can handle up to 32 active wireless clients on each radio, and 8 access points per cluster.
The Cisco Small Business WAP561 802.11n Selectable Band wireless access point includes one GE LAN interface and dual concurrent radios (2.4 and 5.0 GHz) that deliver 450 Mbps throughput for each radio, can handle 64 clients per radio, and allow 16 wireless access points per cluster. Cisco's WAP551 is like Cisco's WAP 561 but features a single selectable band. Cisco's WAP571 and WAP571E (the ruggedized outdoor version) are dual-radio Wireless-AC/N wireless access points that feature 2 x GE ports with link aggregation (LAG), and up to 1.9 Gigabit/sec performance with 1300 Mbps over 11ac and 600 Mbps over 802.11n. Both units support 32 clients on each radio and 16 wireless access points on each cluster.

Cisco's Small Business WAP581 Wireless-AC Wave 2 Access Point supports the Wi-Fi 5 standard and features 4x4 and 3x3 MU-MIMO to provide 2.8 Gbps throughput at 5 GHz and 0.6 Gbps on the 2.4-GHz radio for a total max throughput of 2.4 Gbps. The WAP581 includes a fixed 2.5G Ethernet interface and a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port with 802.3at PoE. The WAP581 Wave 2 Wi-Fi 5 AP supports as many as 200 connective client users, up to 50 active client users for each radio, 16 access points for each cluster, and 960 active users for each cluster.
To learn more about Progent's consulting services for current and legacy Cisco Small Business series of wireless access points, see Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 WiFi APs configuration and troubleshooting.
The Aironet Family of Wireless Access Points

Cisco's Aironet line of wireless access points has for years been the top-selling access point product. Aironet APs run the gamut from value priced models to advanced units. The Aironet series cover multiple generations of models supporting the evolving 11x standard. The latest line of Aironet access points support Cisco's Unified Wireless Network architecture and incorporate 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology, which offers three times the performance as well as greater range and user density compared to the prior generation of APs. Cisco's current multi-band Aironet APs continue to support 802.11n at 2.4 GHz for clients that lack 802.11ac capability.
The earliest Aironet APs are outdated units that have come to end-of-life status and are not supported by Cisco. Progent continues to provide technical support for the entire Aironet line of wireless access points and can help you to maintain your existing Aironet wireless environment or upgrade smoothly to the latest Aironet products. For details about Progent's support for both current and outdated Cisco Aironet wireless access points, see Aironet access points consulting services.
Meraki Access Points
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Cisco's portfolio of Meraki dual-band indoor access points range from budget-friendly devices for small businesses to advanced units supporting up to 5.9 Gigabit per second performance. Every Meraki indoor AP provides next-generation capabilities such as plug-and-play installation, advanced protection, BYOD support, extensive traffic analysis, automatic over-the-web updates, and consolidated cloud-based management via an intuitive dashboard. Every Cisco Meraki indoor wireless access point also incorporates dual high-power radios with enhanced receive sensitivity as well as a dedicated radio that offers (WIDS/WIPS) security for threat detection and deep packet inspection at line rate.
Meraki outdoor wireless access points are IP67 rated, designed to withstand rugged outdoor environments, and tested to withstand dust particles, shock and humidity. Cisco's Meraki outdoor access points include a Gigabit Ethernet port and deliver advanced features that include cloud management with network-wide visibility and control, native Active Directory integration, built-in antivirus scan (NAC), 1-click guest access and guest isolation firewall, Layer 7 traffic shaping, plus self-configuring mesh with MIMO. To find out more about Progent's consulting services for Cisco's Meraki wireless access points and management tools, refer to Meraki access points consulting services.
Cisco's Catalyst 9100 Line of Wi-Fi 6 and W-Fi 6E Access Points

Cisco's Catalyst 9100 Series 802.11ax wireless access points are designed for environments ranging from telecommuter homes to high-density stadiums. Catalyst 9100 APs are compliant with the 802.11ax specification, referred to as Wi-Fi 6, which is an evolution of the previous 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) specification. As an improvement to 802.11ac, Wi-Fi 6 is able to utilize both the 2.4-Ghz and 5-GHz bands. Headline enhancements supported by Catalyst 9100 Series APs include OFDMA scheduling for high density deployments, dual NAVs for better dependability, increased device sleep time for conserving power consumption in battery-dependent endpoints, adaptive power and sensitivity thresholds for better spectrum utilization, and extended guard intervals for improved outdoor performance. Cisco Catalyst 9100 802.11ax APs can run Cisco's Embedded Wireless Controller, accommodate as many as 400 clients per Wi-Fi radio, and are powered by Cisco IOS XE Software.
Cisco's Catalyst 916x Series Wi-Fi 6E access points are the first Cisco APs that have the flexibility to be managed on-site with Cisco DNA Center or through the cloud using Meraki Dashboard management tools. This permits businesses to transition to cloud-centric or hybrid management environments on their own timetable. All Cisco's Catalyst 916x access points meet the a/b/g/n/ac/ax and 6E Wi-Fi specifications and support the 6-GHz band. Each device has 5 radios and supports up to 400 clients per radio. Every model also comes with a dedicated radio for Cisco CleanAir Pro for reducing wireless interference, comes with a USB 2.0 port, and offers Bluetooth Low Energy. Cisco's value-priced Catalyst 9162 Series AP is meant for small organizations, has three 2x2 radios, and includes 1x 100M/1000M/2.5G mGig Ethernet connectivity.
The Catalyst 9163E Wi-Fi 6E AP is intended for tough outside venues such as campus environments or municipal Wi-Fi. The 9163E includes three client serving 2x2 radios, one IoT radio, and a tri-band scanning radio. Interfaces include 1x 100M/1000M/2.5G mGig Ethernet (RJ-45), a management console port (RJ-45), 4x N-Type Wi-Fi antenna connectors, and a GPS/GNSS antenna connector. The 9163E works with Omnidirectional Dipole Self-Identifying Antennas. Cisco's Catalyst 9164 Series access point is designed for small and middle-size organizations, includes one 2x2 radio and two 4x4 radios, and provides 1x 100M/1000M/2.5G mGig Ethernet. The Catalyst 9166 Series Wi-Fi access point is designed for large and medium-sized organizations, includes three 4x4 radios, and features 1x 100M/1000M/2.5G/5G mGig Ethernet connectivity. The 9166 also includes environmental sensors that measure air quality, temperature, and moisture. For more information about Progent's consulting services for Catalyst 9100 Series Wi-Fi 6/6E 802.11ax APs, refer to Wireless APs system planning, configuration, and management consulting.
Cisco 9800 Series Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wi-Fi 6-supported wireless controllers allow you to manage advanced wireless networks that support 802.11ax wireless APs. The 802.11ax standard, popularly known as Wi-Fi 6, builds on prior generation 802.11ac (referred to as Wi-Fi 5) devices by delivering less latency and more reliable performance, supporting higher client density, providing enhanced security, conserving energy for battery-dependent handheld devices, and allowing more flexibility for handling the latest types of Internet-of-Things endpoints. Catalyst 9800 family Wi-Fi controllers feature always-on availability with transparent software updates, live fixes, and the ability to add APs with zero disruption of service. Advanced cybersecurity features include Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA), image signing, and Cisco Software-Defined Access. Streaming telemetry allows you to monitor and analyze infrastructure and endpoint health.
All controllers in the Catalyst 9800 line are powered by Cisco's IOS XE Software and work with Cisco's DNA Center (DNAC) or Prime Infrastructure management tools. Cisco's Catalyst 9800 wireless LAN controllers can manage Cisco Aironet Wi-Fi 5 Wave 1 and Wave 2 access points concurrently with Cisco Catalyst 9100 Series 802.11ax access points. To find out more about Progent's support for Cisco 9800 line of Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Controllers, refer to Cisco Catalyst 9800 line of Wi-Fi 6 wireless controllers system planning, deployment, and debugging services.
Cisco Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac Wireless LAN Controllers
Cisco Wave 2 Wi-Fi controllers allow realtime communication, deployment, administration, monitoring and troubleshooting for Cisco Wi-Fi devices and software services. Cisco has developed both physical and software-based Wi-Fi controllers for centralized management of WiFi environments, but WLANs with many wireless access points are better served by hardware-based wireless controllers. Current generation Wi-Fi controller appliances from Cisco offer major advantages in comparison to Wave 1 and older products including higher throughput, simultaneous support for both 1G and 10G Ethernet, improved application visibility and control (AVC), and hardened, integrated protection.
The Cisco 3504 WiFi Controller is a value-priced device available in a desktop form factor and designed for small and medium-sized organizations. You can use the 3504 in a centralized WLAN architecture such as in small branch and remote offices managed across the wide-area network with FlexConnect, or in bridge deployments where Ethernet cabling is limited. The 3504 Wi-Fi controller supports up to 150 wireless APs and 3,000 clients, offers 4 Gbps throughput, and supports 4,096 VLANs. The 3504 controller includes a multi-gigabit Ethernet port and four 1-GB Ethernet connections. APs can be connected to the WiFi controller via two Power over Ethernet ports. The 3504 wireless controller features subsecond failover for APs and users, which provides uninterrupted availability for applications. Like other current Wave 2 Wi-Fi controllers from Cisco, the 3504 model has the integrated ability to communicate with Cisco Prime Infrastructure, Cisco Mobility Services, and Cisco 5520 and 8540 WiFi controllers.
The Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller, available in a 1 rack unit (RU) package, is designed for larger enterprises and campus networks and can be used in centralized, distributed, and mesh deployments. The 5520 wireless controller supports up to 1,500 access points and 20,000 clients, delivers 20 Gbps throughput, and supports 4,096 VLANs. The 5520 WiFi controller includes two 10 GE ports and incorporates solid-state storage, redundant fans, optional dual power supplies, and rapid failover for nonstop availability.
The Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller, offered in a 2 rack unit (RU) enclosure, is a top-of-the-line wireless controller intended to support large enterprises, service providers, and large campus environments. The 8540 Wireless controller can be used in centralized, distributed, and mesh architectures and can handle up to 6,000 Wi-Fi access points and 64,000 clients. The 8540 WiFi controller offers data rates up to 40 Gbps and supports 4,096 VLANs. The 8340 comes with four 1-GB or 10GE ports and features SSD storage, redundant power supplies, backup fans, and rapid failover.
Wave 1 Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Cisco wireless network controllers reduce the time and expense needed to configure, monitor, and troubleshoot Wi-Fi networks by offering single-point control of functions such as setting up APs, enforcing consistent policies throughout converged LANs, supporting enterprise-wide Quality of Service (QoS) for voice and video, monitoring and troubleshooting system performance, activating wireless intrusion prevention system (wIPS) tools to guard against cyber break-ins and Distributed Denial of Service attacks, and handling IPv6 and dual-stack clients. Cisco has developed wireless network controllers for businesses of all sizes and offers desktop or rackmount appliances, modular add-on controllers for Cisco routers and Catalyst switches, and switches with integrated wireless network controllers.
Cisco's Wave 1 WiFi controllers include Cisco CleanAir tools to avoid RF interference and produce self-healing and self-optimizing wireless networks for top 802.11n and 802.11ac performance and protection. Built-in Apple Bonjour Gateways permit discovery and policy across WLAN, LAN and WAN for Apple-based applications. For high availability, Cisco wireless network controllers support access point and client stateful failover by enabling a standby HA wireless controller to synch with a main controller for AP license count, CAPWAP keys, and access point CAPWAP state. In case the primary controller fails, thousands of wireless access points and clients can switchover in less than a second to the secondary wireless controller.
Cisco's Wireless Controller Module for ISR G2 Routers with UCS-E provides entry-level 802.11n and 802.11ac support for Cisco 2900 and 3900 routers deployed by smaller organizations and branch offices. This value-priced and scalable solution can support up to 200 wireless access points and up to 6000 clients. (To learn concerning Progent's remote and on-premises consulting services for Cisco routers, refer to Cisco router configuration and troubleshooting consulting.)
Catalyst 3650 Series are 1RU switches intended for small to mid-size businesses and branches and come with an integrated wireless LAN controller with the capability to handle up to 40 Gb of wireless throughput per switch and 25 wireless access points and 1000 clients per switch. Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series are 1RU switches designed for mid-size and large organizations and include a built-in wireless LAN controller supporting up to 40 Gb of wireless throughput on each switch and support for up to 50 wireless access points and up to 2000 wireless clients. The Wireless Services Module2 (WiSM2) is a plug-in blade for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches with an integrated wireless network controller intended for mid-to-large size enterprises and capable of 20 Gbps performance and able to handle 1000 wireless access points and 15,000 clients. (To find out about Progent's online and onsite consulting support for Catalyst switches, refer to Cisco switches configuration and troubleshooting support.)
Cisco 2500 Wireless Controllers are entry-level desktop devices that simplify the provisioning and management of Wi-Fi networks for small to medium-sized enterprises and branch offices. The 2500 Series wireless network controller supports from five to 75 APs and 1000 clients and offers sustained data rates of 1 Gbps.
Cisco's 5500 Series Wireless Controller is an expandable 1RU appliance intended for mid-to-large sized businesses and campuses and can manage 500 access points and 7,000 wireless clients while providing 8 Gbps performance. The Cisco 5760 Series Wireless Controller is a 1RU device designed for mid-to-large campus environments with support for 1000 access points and 12,000 wireless clients and providing performance of 60 Gbps to accommodate high wireless client densities and high amounts of media-rich applications.
The Cisco Flex 7500 Series Wireless Controller is designed to enable centralized management of massive collections of wireless remote sites from a single location, avoiding the requirement for a wireless controller at every branch. The 1RU rackmount Flex 7500 lets you build a private cloud to deploy, monitor, manage, and repair up to 6000 wireless access points and 64,000 clients while supporting 1 Gbps throughput. Cisco's 8500 Wireless Controller is a 1RU rackmount appliance designed to manage wireless environments for large campuses or for service providers and can scale to support 6000 APs and up to 64,000 clients while delivering 10 Gbps performance.
To learn more about Cisco wireless controllers, go to Cisco wireless controllers consulting and integration.
Legacy Cisco Wireless Access Points, Bridges and Controllers Supported by Progent
The 802.11ac specification for Wi-Fi largely made obsolete all earlier releases of Wi-Fi devices for venues that have high numbers of wireless clients and high incidence of video-intensive applications. Even for organizations who do not need the bandwidth efficiency of 802.11ac Wi-Fi, many of Cisco wireless products have reached end-of-life status, which can present serious service and regulatory compliance problems. Progent's Cisco-certified consulting experts provide online and on-premises support for a broad array of older-generation wireless products from Cisco. Progent can in addition help organizations to evaluate the financial justification for updating legacy wireless technology and can help in designing and carrying out cost-effective, non-disruptive migrations. Below are a few of Cisco older-generation wireless devices that Progent's consulting experts continue to support.
Legacy Cisco Aironet Wireless Access Points
Cisco Aironet 1000 or 1130AG Series wireless access points are ideal for conventional workplaces and other locations which have minimal environmental variability. These products have built-in antennas that provide dependable omnidirectional coverage profiles. The Aironet 1130G Series wireless access point is offered for regulated locations that do not permit 802.11a operation.
Cisco Aironet 1230AG/1240AG family access points are ideal for more problematic radio frequency environments such as manufacturing plants and warehouses or above ceiling structures which commonly call for adjustable protruding antennas and ruggedized cases. The Cisco Aironet 1240G Series AP is designed for controlled domains that do not permit 802.11a/5GHz operation.
Aironet 1500 lightweight outdoor mesh access points offer a cost-effective, expandable, secure outdoor wireless solution for campus areas and for public sites that require access for portable phones or computers.
Legacy Cisco Wireless LAN Bridges
Cisco Aironet wireless LAN bridges offer a high-speed and multi-featured solution for integrating multiple local area networks in a metro situation or public access environment. Cisco Aironet bridges offer a versatile, easy-to-use solution that satisfies the protection requirements of public networking professionals. These bridges handle both point-to-point and PTMP configurations with good coverage and support for traffic throughput up to 54 Mbps.
Cisco Aironet wireless LAN bridges offer data rates substantially higher than E1/T1 connections for a fraction of the cost, avoiding the necessity of costly leased lines when connecting separate offices. Because bridges have no periodic costs, the expenses saved on connection services quickly cover the startup hardware investment. Private lines and even leased lines using copper or optical cable often result in very expensive up-front expenses in cases where they are separated by barriers like highways, train tracks, or bodies of water. Cisco wireless bridges can be installed rapidly with a fast ROI.
Cisco 1300 Series outdoor access points/bridges can be deployed as independent wireless access points, bridges, or workgroup bridges. These products have a tough cover and provide fast, affordable wireless connectivity between multiple stationary or mobile environments and clients.
Cisco Aironet 1400 family bridges offer high-performance, reliable outdoor connections for line-of-sight environments. These devices are housed in a durable enclosure that can hold up to harsh outside environments and operate in wide temperature ranges.
Legacy Cisco Wireless Network Controllers
Cisco WLAN Controllers provide single-point management of wireless networks by simplifying the control of common technologies such as integrated intrusion prevention system (IPS), fast RF management, automatic deployment, and N+1 redundancy. Cisco Wireless controllers operate with lightweight access points to offer superior performance and advanced management functions.
Wireless LAN Controllers provide the manageability, expandability, security, and reliability that system managers need to build safe, enterprise-scale wireless solutions, from satellite locations to small companies to headquarter campuses. Cisco's first-generation Wireless Controllers can be configured together to offer accommodation for up to 2400 access points for each roaming domain.
Cisco's WLCM or WLCM-E Module for IS Routers provides small-to medium businesses and enterprises a cost effective way to implement and control protected WLANs at satellite offices. These controllers manage up to a dozen Aironet access points and are supported on 2800/3800 IS Routers and 3700 Series Routers. (To learn concerning Progent's remote and on-premises support for Cisco routers, see Cisco router deployment and management consulting.)
How Progent Can Help Your Business with Cisco Wireless Products
Progent can provide access to a Cisco-certified expert to assist you to plan, install, maintain and repair a converged wired and wireless ecosystem integrating a wide array of wireless technologies that offer the identical security, expandability, and manageability you demand from a wired network. Progent can help you to maintain legacy wireless products from Cisco or upgrade seamlessly to the latest 802.11ax-compatible products. Progent's CISA and ISSAP security professionals can show you how to design security into your WLAN and into your business operations. Progent's disaster recovery consultants and business continuity consultants can assist you to set up the high availability technology incorporated into Cisco's wireless and wired products so your converged network provides significant business value.
Progent's Wi-Fi Site Survey assists you to plan and deploy a robust WLAN customized for your facilities, offering a wireless solution that delivers comprehensive coverage, high performance and capacity, Quality of Service features to accommodate IP video, enterprise-class security and compliance, and easy management. Progent's Wireless Site Survey can be delivered remotely to reduce time and expense, or onsite to deal with more complex facilities.
For a further discussion of Progent's wireless integration services, visit Progent's Wireless Expertise.
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