Catalyst 9117AX AP Datasheet for Wi-Fi 6 OFDMA and MU-MIMO

The Cisco Catalyst 9117 Series is an enterprise indoor Wi-Fi 6 access point with internal antennas, 8×8 MIMO capability on the 5 GHz radio, 4×4 MIMO on 2.4 GHz, multigigabit Ethernet, integrated Bluetooth Low Energy, optional embedded wireless controller operation, and support for Cisco DNA Software.

Product positioning and deployment role

The Catalyst 9117AXI is designed for indoor enterprise WLAN deployments requiring high 5 GHz capacity, predictable performance in dense client environments, and an access layer capable of supporting IoT, collaboration, video, and high client concurrency.

The platform supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax. Its primary capacity advantages are:

• 8×8 MIMO with eight spatial streams on the 5 GHz radio.
• 4×4 MIMO with four spatial streams on the 2.4 GHz radio.
• 8×8 downlink MU-MIMO for 802.11ac.
• Downlink OFDMA for 802.11ax.
• 20, 40, 80, and 160 MHz channel widths.
• Up to 5 Gbps PHY data rate at 5 GHz under 802.11ax.
• Up to 3.5 Gbps PHY data rate at 5 GHz under 802.11ac.
• A 5 Gbps multigigabit Ethernet uplink.
• 802.3at, 802.3bt, and 802.3af power options, with reduced capability under 802.3af.

The 9117AXI uses internal omnidirectional antennas and is intended for indoor mounting. It is not described as an outdoor or externally antenna-connected model in the supplied specifications.

Wireless capabilities

802.11ax and Wi-Fi 6

The access point supports 802.11ax, also known as Wi-Fi 6 or High-Efficiency Wireless. The radio architecture supports the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, with the following published capabilities:

OFDMA divides a channel into smaller Resource Units that can be assigned to individual clients in the downlink direction. This reduces scheduling overhead and latency for traffic patterns involving multiple clients with smaller or intermittent transmissions.

Target Wake Time allows compatible client devices to remain in a low-power state and wake at scheduled intervals for data exchange. The datasheet identifies potential energy savings of up to 3x to 4x compared with 802.11n and 802.11ac, subject to client support and operating conditions.

802.11ac and legacy support

The 5 GHz radio supports 802.11ac with:

• 8×8 downlink MU-MIMO.
• Eight spatial streams.
• 20, 40, 80, and 160 MHz channels.
• 802.11ac beamforming.
• PHY data rates up to 3.5 Gbps at 5 GHz.
• A-MPDU transmit and receive aggregation.
• A-MSDU transmit and receive aggregation.
• Cyclic Shift Diversity.
• 160 MHz operation only on four spatial streams.

For 802.11n, the platform supports 8×8 MIMO with four spatial streams on 5 GHz and 4×4 MIMO with four spatial streams on 2.4 GHz. Supported features include Maximal Ratio Combining, 20 and 40 MHz channels, packet aggregation, and Cyclic Shift Diversity. The specified 802.11n PHY rate is up to 600 Mbps using a 40 MHz channel at 5 GHz.

The access point also supports 802.11a/b/g operation. Actual client throughput depends on client radio capability, channel width, spatial streams, modulation and coding rate, signal conditions, interference, airtime utilization, and protocol overhead. PHY rates must not be treated as equivalent to application throughput.

Antenna and RF design

The Catalyst 9117AXI has integrated internal antennas:

The internal antenna design supports standard ceiling and indoor coverage patterns without requiring external antenna selection. Final placement still requires a site survey or RF design because wall construction, ceiling height, client density, co-channel interference, adjacent-channel interference, mounting orientation, and required minimum data rates affect coverage and capacity.

The published transmit power settings are:

Detailed transmit power and receive sensitivity vary by standard, channel width, modulation, and number of spatial streams. Selected published values include:

• 802.11ax HE20, MCS0: up to 23 dBm transmit power and receive sensitivity down to -95 dBm on 5 GHz with one to three spatial streams.
• 802.11ax HE20, MCS11: 18 dBm transmit power and receive sensitivity of -68 dBm with one spatial stream on 5 GHz.
• 802.11ax HE80, MCS11: 17 dBm transmit power and receive sensitivity of -63 dBm with one spatial stream on 5 GHz.
• 802.11ax HE160, MCS11: 16 dBm transmit power and receive sensitivity of -59 dBm with one spatial stream on 5 GHz.
• 802.11ac VHT80, MCS0: 23 dBm transmit power and receive sensitivity from -91 dBm to -88 dBm across one to four spatial streams.
• 802.11ac VHT80, MCS9: 19 dBm transmit power and receive sensitivity from -67 dBm to -64 dBm across one to four spatial streams.

The RF tables should be used for engineering link-budget analysis rather than relying only on nominal antenna gain or maximum power.

Ethernet, console, and USB interfaces

The access point includes one RJ-45 multigigabit Ethernet interface supporting:

• 100 Mbps.
• 1 Gbps.
• 2.5 Gbps.
• 5 Gbps.
• IEEE 802.3bz.

The platform documentation states that 5 Gbps, 100 Mbps, and 1 Gbps operation is supported over Category 5e cabling. It also references 10GBASE-T cabling for 802.3bz deployments.

Additional interfaces include:

• One RJ-45 management console port.
• One USB 2.0 port capable of up to 4.5 W.
• USB operation is identified as enabled through future software in the supplied datasheet.

The USB interface supports the stated application-hosting design, where containerized applications and hardware modules can be deployed for IoT use cases. USB power and software enablement must be confirmed during solution design because the access point has different USB behavior depending on the available PoE class.

PoE selection and power budgeting

Power selection is a primary presales decision. The access point supports 802.3at PoE+, 802.3bt Cisco UPOE+ and Cisco UPOE, and 802.3af PoE. Cisco injector options listed are AIR-PWRINJ6= and AIR-PWRINJ5=. The AIR-PWRINJ5= injector supports only 802.3af.

The 802.3at row includes an important qualification: the USB port can be enabled, but the 5 GHz radio is then reduced to 4×4.

When 802.3af is used, both radios are reduced to 2×2, Ethernet is limited to 2.5 Gbps, and the USB port is disabled. This mode should not be selected for a design requiring maximum 5 GHz spatial-stream capacity, USB-connected modules, or the full 5 Gbps uplink.

The listed power draw is measured at the access point power requirements level. Power required at the Power Source Equipment depends on cable length and other environmental factors. PoE switch selection must therefore account for per-port availability, cable loss, switch power budget, and the intended radio and USB profile.

Presales rules:

1. Use 802.3bt when full radio capability, LLDP behavior, USB operation, and maximum feature availability are required together.
2. Use 802.3at when full 4×4 and 8×8 radio operation and 5 Gbps Ethernet are required, but the design does not require the highest PoE class.
3. Use 802.3af only after confirming that 2×2 radio operation, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, and no USB are acceptable.
4. Do not size the access switch using only the nominal access point count. Apply the stated per-unit draw and include the switch’s total PoE budget.
5. Confirm cabling and negotiation capability for 2.5 Gbps and 5 Gbps operation.

Controller, management, and security

The Catalyst 9117 Series can operate with an embedded wireless controller. The embedded controller resides on the access point and uses Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller code. This model is represented by the EWC SKU family.

Supported wireless LAN controllers include:

• Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers.
• Cisco 3500 Series Wireless Controllers.
• Cisco 5520 Series Wireless Controllers.
• Cisco 8540 Series Wireless Controllers.
• Cisco Virtual Wireless Controller.

The software requirements listed are:

• Cisco Unified Wireless Network Software Release 8.9 or later.
• Cisco IOS XE Software Release 16.11 or later.

Cisco DNA Software support includes SD-Access, Cisco Spaces, Cisco Identity Services Engine integration, and Cisco DNA Analytics and Assurance. Cisco DNA Center features described in the datasheet include User Defined Network and deployment-wide application lifecycle management for application hosting.

User Defined Network is positioned for shared environments such as university residences and extended hospital stays, where individual users require controlled wireless partitions. Office Extend Access Point operation is also supported for remote workers and temporary micro-office deployments.

Security capabilities include:

• Image signing.
• Secure Boot.
• Cisco Trust Anchor module.
• WPA3, WPA2, and WPA.
• 802.1X.
• AES.
• EAP-TLS.
• EAP-TTLS with MSCHAPv2.
• PEAP with MSCHAPv2.
• EAP-FAST.
• PEAP with EAP-GTC.
• EAP-SIM.

These mechanisms provide hardware and software authenticity controls and enterprise WLAN authentication options. Actual security architecture depends on controller configuration, identity services, certificate infrastructure, and client support.

SKU and services matrix

The regulatory-domain suffix is represented by x. The applicable domain must be selected for the country of deployment, and approval must be verified before ordering and installation.

The service identifier is repeated in the source for multiple service descriptions. It should be validated against the applicable service catalog before quotation.

Physical and environmental specifications

The supplied datasheet does not specify MTBF. It also does not provide an acoustic-noise rating or a measured sound-power or sound-pressure value. The access point is therefore unsuitable for a presales claim involving a specific acoustic level unless a separate approved document supplies that value.

The stated environmental limits are operating and storage limits, not a guarantee of RF performance at every combination of temperature, humidity, altitude, and enclosure condition. Installation planning should prevent exposure to condensation, excessive heat, blocked airflow, and locations outside the stated operating range.

Compliance and installation considerations

The access point references safety, emissions, immunity, radio, RF safety, IEEE, and WLAN security standards. Listed IEEE standards include IEEE 802.3, 802.3ab, 802.3af/at/bt, and IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, along with IEEE 802.11h and 802.11d.

Regulatory-domain selection is mandatory. The customer is responsible for verifying that the selected regulatory domain is approved for the intended country. Not all regulatory domains are necessarily available under every ordering suffix.

The internal antenna design simplifies installation, but it does not remove the need for a coverage and capacity survey. Dense deployments should be engineered around client density, minimum data rates, expected traffic mix, 5 GHz utilization, channel reuse, and PoE capability rather than maximum PHY rate alone.

Warranty and service

The Catalyst 9117 Series includes a limited lifetime hardware warranty. Coverage applies for as long as the original end user continues to own or use the product.

The warranty terms specified include:

• Full hardware warranty coverage during the applicable ownership period.
• Ten-day advance hardware replacement.
• Software media warranty coverage for 90 days.

Cisco Services listed for the platform include WLAN readiness assessment, planning, implementation, solution support, migration, and training activities. The supplied service identifiers include network planning and design, 802.11n migration, and performance and security assessment services.

Licensing and packaging are handled through Cisco DNA Software for Wireless. Smart Account operation through Cisco Smart Software Manager is used to order devices and licensing packages and to manage software licenses from a centralized location. Licensing should be included as a separate presales workstream because controller mode, management functions, analytics, assurance, SD-Access, and application workflows can impose different software requirements.

Engineering acceptance checklist

Before final quotation or deployment approval, verify:

• Correct x regulatory-domain suffix for the installation country.
• Centralized controller or embedded wireless controller requirement.
• Controller software compatibility.
• Required 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spatial-stream capability.
• Required Ethernet speed, including 2.5 Gbps or 5 Gbps negotiation.
• PoE class available at every access switch port.
• Total switch PoE budget under the selected power profile.
• USB requirement and its effect on the 5 GHz radio under 802.3at.
• Whether 802.3af restrictions are acceptable.
• Indoor mounting conditions and physical clearance.
• Operating temperature and humidity limits.
• RF survey requirements and target minimum data rates.
• Cisco DNA Software and Smart Account requirements.
• Warranty and advance-replacement expectations.
• Acoustic and MTBF requirements, noting that neither value is specified in the supplied datasheet.