Pre-Sales question 240AC

[tyshawn76]

I am looking at other options for access points and wanted to get a feeling on what people thought of the 240AC for an access point? I am looking at having multiple SSIDs, VLANs, and a guest portal. I am hoping to hear about multiple APs in a single location and any got your I should be aware of. 

Thank you all for any info you can provide.

[Martin Aleksandrov]

Hello tyshawn76,

Thank you for your interest in our latest wireless solution for the small businesses!

The CBW240AC is the premium and best performer 4x4 MU-MIMO 802.3.ac Wave 2 AP in the family of CBW APs and mesh extenders. You do have SSID to VLAN mapping and support of up to 16 VLANs (WLANs). You can also set up a customizable guest portal for guest WiFi access. You can manage up to 50 Cisco Business access points and Mesh Extenders in a cluster with a controller-less software solution build in the AP. 

Management is even easier with the Cisco Business Mobile app and optional multisite remote management is available through Cisco Business Dashboard (https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/small-business/networking/business-mobile-app.html and https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/cloud-systems-management/business-dashboard/index.html.) No license is required for the Cisco Business access points and for the Cisco Mobile app to download and operate. With the Cisco Business Dashboard, you can fully manage up to 25 Cisco Business and/or Cisco Small Business products without a license and free of charge. 

More information about the CBW240AC you can find in the product datasheet and administration guide available on the following links:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/business-200-series-access-points/smb-01-bus-240ac-ap-ds-cte-en.html

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/access_point/csbap/CBW_Admin/Admin/en_US/b_Cisco_AP_Admin_Guide.pdf

Please let us know about any other questions or doubts you have.

Regards,

Martin

[tyshawn76]

So what are the major differences between the 240ac and the WAP 581? I see the 581 has a 2.5g eth port on it.

[Martin Aleksandrov]

Hello,

The Cisco Business Wireless (CBW) series access points are the next generation of our small-to-midsized enterprise deployments. Both APs accommodate the same wireless 4x4 MU-MIMO technology and most of the common features are the same (like Cisco Umbrella integration, ZTD for mass deployments, security and authentication options). The major difference between the WAPs and the CBW is the deployment options, manageability and performance. Basically, you now have the choice to install the APs in a non-mesh deployment (wired deployment) or mesh deployment (wireless deployment with single/multiple wired uplinks). Every CBW access point can act as a master AP or subordinate AP. Furthermore, you can add one of three different models of mesh extenders to each AP to easily increase Wi-Fi coverage with no extra wiring.  

Management is further simplified by using Cisco Business Mobile app (available for Android and iOS) with clustering and without the need of a physical controller. Enhanced multisite remote management is also available through the Cisco Business Dashboard.  

The CBW250 is equipped with 1 GB DRAM and 256 MB flash compared to 512 DRAM and 125MB flash on WAP581.

Here is the At-a-Glance data available:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/business-100-series-mesh-extenders/smb-01-bus-wap-mesh-aag-cte-en.html

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/smb/product-support/small-business.html 

Let us know for any specific question you may have.

Regards,

Martin

[rikki]

Hi Martin,

I am not sure if I am in the right thread, but may I ask if data and control traffic are tunneled back to the master AP from the subordinate AP's?

Datasheet of CBW140AC says it does, and but was not specifically mentioned in CBW240 datasheet. The administration guide also does not mention anything about this.

Thanks,

[Martin Aleksandrov]

Hello,

Yes, that is correct. The same stands for all CBW series -140/145/240.

Regards,

Martin