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About This Product
The Cisco® Wireless 9172 Series Wi-Fi 7 access points offer a seamless transition to next-generation wireless networking, providing reliable, high-performance connectivity for environments such as boutique hotels, student housing, retail stores, healthcare clinics, remote work hubs, and distributed business locations like satellite offices, regional branches, and logistics hubs. With a compact, energy-efficient design and flexible management options, the 9172 Series ensures robust, future-ready connectivity without compromising affordability.

Designed for high-performance wireless solutions, the Cisco Wireless 9172 Series Wi-Fi 7 access points are ideal for healthcare clinics, retail stores, and distributed business locations like regional branches and logistics hubs. Featuring tri-radio functionality across the 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, and 6-GHz bands, the 9172 Series delivers reliable, high-speed connectivity (up to 9000 Mbps) for spaces with low to moderate device density. Flexible deployment options—cloud, on-premises, or hybrid—allow seamless integration into existing networks.

The 9172I model supports versatile configurations, including a high-density 4x4 radio option for 5 GHz when the 6-GHz band is disabled, making it suitable for retail, healthcare, and branch office use. It features plug-and-play setup with existing mount compatibility for quick and efficient deployment.

For customers, the 9172 Series provides reliable Wi-Fi 7 performance, enabling advanced applications like IoT integration, telehealth, and seamless customer experiences. The primary business benefit is future-ready connectivity with energy efficiency, reducing power consumption while supporting evolving network demands. This makes the 9172 Series a cornerstone for modernizing and optimizing network infrastructure.

Cisco Meraki Cloud Management
Combining Cisco Wireless 9172 Series Access Points with the Meraki cloud platform offers organizations a unified IT experience for network monitoring and management. The Meraki dashboard features an intuitive and interactive web interface, connecting your network to the industry's leading cloud IT platform.

Through this dashboard, Meraki provides advanced and scalable tools for automating network optimization, deploying policy and segmentation configurations across thousands of sites and devices, and managing a comprehensive network that includes SD-WAN, Access, and IoT technologies. The platform supports over 3.5 million active networks worldwide.

Together, the Cisco Wireless 9172 Series and Cisco Meraki deliver features such as:

• Cisco Spaces
• Cisco Identity Services Engine
• Wireless AIOps innovations
• Meraki Vision, smart cameras, and sensors for network closet monitoring
  
  

Cisco Catalyst Center and Catalyst 9800 WLC Support
The Cisco Wireless 9172 Series Access Points can also be integrated with the Catalyst 9800 Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) and Cisco Wireless Center. The Cisco Wireless Center provides real-time analytics to help you understand your network, quickly identify and mitigate security threats, and ensure network-wide consistency through automation and virtualization.

Together, the Cisco Wireless 9172 Series and Cisco Catalyst Center offer features such as:

• Cisco Spaces
• Cisco Identity Services Engine
  
• Cisco Catalyst Center Analytics and Assurance along with Intelligence Capture (iCAP)
• For information about Cisco DNA, refer to the Cisco DNA Solution Overview
  

Software Configurable Flex Radio Architecture for Tri-band or High Performance Dual-band Support
The CW9172I features a software-defined flex radio that can operate in either a 2.4/5/6 GHz 2x2:2 tri-band mode or a dual-band mode with 2x2:2 in 2.4 GHz and 4x4:4 in 5 GHz. This flexibility allows the access point to function in dual-band mode in regions where 6 GHz support is not yet available or if higher performance is desired for the 5 GHz radio.

The CW9172I is a cloud-managed 2x2:2 802.11be-compatible access point designed to enhance wireless performance and efficiency. Ideal for next-generation deployments in offices, schools, hospitals, retail stores, and hotels, the CW9172I offers high throughput, enterprise-grade security, and straightforward management.

With concurrent 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz radios, the CW9172I achieves a maximum aggregate frame rate of 9 Gbps*. It includes a dedicated fourth radio for real-time WIDS/WIPS with automated RF optimization, and a fifth integrated IoT radio for Bluetooth scanning and beaconing.

Combining cloud management, high-performance hardware, multiple radios, and advanced software features, the CW9172I is well-suited for demanding applications, including high-density deployments and performance-intensive tasks like voice (Cisco WebEx) and high-definition video.

CW9172 and Meraki Cloud Management
The CW9172I is managed through an intuitive, browser-based dashboard that facilitates rapid deployment without the complexity and time-consuming staging processes. Being self-configuring and web-managed, the CW9172I can be set up remotely in minutes, even without on-site IT staff.

The Meraki cloud provides 24/7 monitoring, delivering real-time alerts for any network issues. Remote diagnostic tools enable immediate troubleshooting over the web, making it easy to manage distributed networks with minimal hassle.

Firmware updates for the CW9172I are automatically handled via the cloud, ensuring new features, bug fixes, and enhancements are seamlessly delivered. This eliminates the need for manual software updates and concerns about missing security patches.

Tri–radio aggregate frame rate of up to 9 Gbps
The CW9172I features 6 GHz 2x2:2, 5 GHz 2x2:2, and 2.4 GHz 2x2:2 radios, offering a combined tri-radio aggregate frame rate of 9 Gbps*. This includes up to 5764 Mbps in the 6 GHz band, 2882 Mbps in the 5 GHz band, and 344 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band. When the flex radio operates in dual-band mode, the dual-radio aggregate frame rate is 6 Gbps, with up to 5764 Mbps on the 4x4:4 5 GHz radio and 344 Mbps on the 2x2:2 2.4 GHz radio. Technologies such as transmit beamforming and enhanced receive sensitivity enable the CW9172I to support a higher client density compared to typical enterprise-class access points, resulting in improved performance for more clients per AP.

*Refers to maximum over-the-air data frame rate capability of the radio chipset, and may exceed data rates allowed by IEEE 802.11be operation.

Multi Link Operation (MLO)
Supporting 802.11be features, the CW9172I can operate across multiple bands simultaneously, achieving higher throughput and improved SLA. This enhances overall network performance and the user experience.

Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO)
With 802.11be features, the CW9172I offers DL and UL MU-MIMO and OFDMA for efficient transmission to multiple clients. Ideal for environments with numerous mobile devices, MU-MIMO and OFDMA enable simultaneous data reception by multiple clients, improving network performance and the user experience.

Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon and Scanning Radio
An integrated Bluetooth radio facilitates seamless deployment of BLE Beacon functionality and easy visibility of Bluetooth devices. The CW9172I supports next-generation location-aware applications and future-proofs deployments, ensuring readiness for new customer engagement strategies.

Automatic cloud-based RF Optimisation
RF data collected by the dedicated fourth radio is continuously fed to the Meraki cloud, which uses this data to automatically adjust channel selection, transmit power, and client connection settings for optimal performance under challenging RF conditions.

Integrated Enterprise Security and Guest Access
The CW9172I includes integrated, user-friendly security technologies to ensure secure connectivity for both employees and guests. Advanced security features such as AES hardware-based encryption, enterprise authentication with 802.1X, and Active Directory integration provide wired-like security while remaining easy to configure. The CW9172I also supports 192-bit encryption and WPA3 for enhanced wireless network security. One-click guest isolation offers secure, Internet-only access for visitors. PCI compliance reports verify network settings against PCI requirements, simplifying secure retail deployments..

Dedicated scanning radio delivers 24x7 Air Marshal and RF analytics
A dedicated scanning radio allows simultaneous wireless security (AirMarshal), advanced RF analysis, and client data service without impacting client traffic or AP throughput. The CW9172I's tri-band scanning radio continuously monitors the environment, characterizing RF interference and containing wireless threats like rogue access points (containment in 2.4GHz and 5GHz only, as 6GHz mandates PMF).

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) & Mobile Device Management (MDM) integration
Meraki Systems Manager integrates with the CW9172I to offer automatic, context-aware security. System Manager's self-service enrollment facilitates rapid MDM deployment without additional equipment, dynamically linking firewall and traffic shaping policies to client posture.

Application-aware traffic shaping
The CW9172I features an integrated layer 7 packet inspection, classification, and control engine, enabling QoS policy configuration based on traffic type. This helps prioritize mission-critical applications while limiting recreational traffic like peer-to-peer and video streaming. Policies can be applied per network, SSID, user group, or individual user for maximum flexibility and control.

Voice and video optimisations
The CW9172I includes industry-standard QoS features that are easy to configure. It supports Wireless Multimedia (WMM) access categories, 802.1p, and DSCP standards, ensuring that critical applications are prioritized correctly across the network. Features like Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery (U-APSD) and Target Wait Time in 802.11ax clients help minimize battery drain on wireless VoIP phones.

Self-configuring, self-maintaining, always up-to-date
Upon connection, the CW9172I automatically links to the Meraki cloud, downloads its configuration, and joins the designated network. Administrators can effortlessly schedule automatic firmware upgrades via the dashboard, ensuring the network remains updated with bug fixes, security enhancements, and new features.

Meraki Health
The CW9172I supports advanced analytics, including machine learning-based anomaly detection, server root cause analysis, wireless client scoring based on performance and connectivity metrics, and network benchmarking for similar-sized networks. It also offers advanced location analytics through API and dashboard graphs, providing a clear view of client density and movement across the floor plan.

Choice of Mode
Cisco Wireless 9172I Series Access Points can be managed either on-premises with Catalyst 9800 Wireless LAN Controllers (WLC) or through the Meraki dashboard. This flexibility allows customers to deploy these access points in one mode and switch to the other mode in the future.