WPA3-OWE supported by 150AX?

[Maurice_]

Hello,

Does the 150AX support WPA3-OWE (Enhanced Open)? It's essentially an 9105AXI (ap1g8) with a modified version of EWC, correct? The 9105AXI does support OWE, but I can't find anything about the 150AX.

We currently use 1815i APs with Mobility Express and would like to upgrade to 802.11ax. The 9105AXI with EWC is so much more expensive than the 150AX without offering any real benefits for a small network.

Cheers
Maurice

[balaji.bandi]

Not that i am aware that supported Cisco 150AX - Sure Agreed, that is 150 AX for the smaller networks as cisco placing that model.

Some feature you looking more of Enterprise-wide security - that is the reason they offering in new model Cat 9K AP

I can understand the cost as you mentioned.

May be you can do wish list to Cisco to have that feature in Cisco 150AX model in the latest code

[Martin Aleksandrov]

@balaji.bandi 

@Maurice_

Please note the OWE/Enhanced Open feature is not supported as you already know and there is no plan to have this functionality included with the product firmware.

Thanks

[Maurice_]

Hey Martin,

That's disappointing of course, but thanks for the unambiguous answer. We'll now look for a different product.

Maurice

[marce1000]

  - Ref : https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/business-100-series-access-points/business-access-point-ds.html
       >...

Table 2.           Specifications

Item	Specification
Authentication and security	●  Wi-Fi Protected Access - with WPA2 or WPA3, including WPA2-Entperprise authentication ●  802.1X, RADIUS Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) ●  Segmentation via VLANs (up to 16) ●  802.11r and 802.11i ●  Guest network can also authenticate against a Social Login account: Google and Facebook

[Maurice_]

Thanks guys. I'm specifically interested in OWE / Enhanced Open, not WPA3 in general (which is supported of course). Neither the 150AX data sheet nor the 9105 data sheet mentions OWE. The feature matrix says it's supported by all Catalyst APs, but the 150AX isn't listed there at all. The feature matrix doesn't mention OWE for older (pre-Catalyst) APs, but we're using OWE on the 1815i with Mobility Express. It's documented in the ME user guide, but not in the CBW 6 admin guide. Quite confusing.

OWE is not an enterprise feature, just a convenient way to encrypt a guest Wi-Fi without requiring authentication.

So if I could please ask someone who owns a 150AX with current firmware to check the GUI for OWE support? Thanks.

[balaji.bandi]

OWE is not an enterprise feature, just a convenient way to encrypt a guest Wi-Fi without requiring authentication.

Maybe I was not clear in the last post - Enterprise Features -  so Only certain features are added based on the requirement and what Chipset can do the work as required.

If you are keen on that feature and contact TAC they will give you more clarity (or ask a partner who can help you).

As I mentioned some features may be added in latest version (so that can be only confirm by TAC and release notes)

[Maurice_ · Accepted solution]

For future reference: We got one CBW150AX for evaluation anyway. I was a bit surprised to find that it actually runs Mobility Express (with a bunch of non-essential features removed from the GUI). Why Enhanced Open was removed from the GUI is beyond me, but not to worry:

Create a WPA3 PSK WLAN, backup the config, change "wlan security wpa akm sae" to "wlan security wpa akm owe" and restore the config. Works flawlessly, Enhanced Open mode is then even correctly displayed in the GUI.

You can also enable OWE Transition Mode by adding "wlan security owe-tm" to the open WLAN and OWE WLAN (see docs for details).