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Cisco Catalyst 9117AX Series Access Points
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)-based scheduling splits the bandwidth into smaller chunks
called resource units (RU) which can be allocated to individual clients in both the downlink and uplink to reduce
overhead and latency.
Spatial Reuse (also known as BSS coloring) allows APs and their clients to differentiate between BSSs, thus
permitting more simultaneous transmissions.
Built-in BLE radio (Bluetooth 5.0)
mGig Ethernet (1G,2.5G, 5G, and 100M)
Supports up to 500 Wi-Fi devices
New power savings mode called Target-Wakeup-Time (TWT), allows the client to stay asleep and wake up only at
pre-scheduled (target) times to exchange data with the AP. This allows for significant energy savings for
battery-operated devices.
Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) support enables Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences, Apple FastLane
and Cisco Identity Services Engine
Cross-AP Noise Reduction, a Cisco innovation that enables APs to intelligently collaborate in real time about RF
conditions so that users connect with optimized signal quality and performance.
Optimized AP Roaming for ensuring that client devices associate with the AP in their coverage range that offers the
fastest data rate available.
MIMO equalization capabilities, which optimize uplink performance and reliability by reducing the impact of signal
fade.
The AP supports both Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller and lightweight deployments (using Cisco Wireless
Controllers). The AP also supports the following operating modes:
Local—This is the default mode for the Cisco AP. In this mode, the AP serves clients.
In local mode, the AP creates two CAPWAP tunnels to the Cisco WLC, one for management and the other for data
traffic. This is known as central switching because the data traffic is switched (bridged) from the AP to the controller
where it is then routed.
FlexConnect—In FlexConnect mode (previously known as HREAP), the data traffic is switched locally and is not sent
to the controller.
In this mode, the Cisco AP behaves like an autonomous AP, but is managed by the Cisco WLC. Here, the AP
continues to function even if connection to the controller is lost.
Monitor—In the monitor mode, specified Cisco APs can exclude themselves from handling data traffic between
clients and the infrastructure. These APs act as dedicated sensors for location based services (LBS), rogue AP
detection, and intrusion detection (IDS).
When APs are in monitor mode, they actively monitor the airwaves and typically do not serve clients.
Sniffer—In the wireless sniffer mode, the AP starts sniffing the air on a given channel. It captures and forwards all the
packets from the clients on that channel to a remote machine that runs Airopeek or Wireshark (packet analyzers for
IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs). This includes information on the time stamp, signal strength, packet size, etc.
Note
In the sniffer mode, the server to which the data is sent should be on the same VLAN as the wireless
controller management VLAN otherwise an error will be displayed.
