802.11ai and 802.11r suppor on Cisco Catalyst 9800 Catalyst 9100

[dingjunh]

Hi,

We would like to build a small WLAN network. Therefore, we would like to purchase one WLAN controller and (at least) two access points. We need the WLAN network to support at least:

-Wi-Fi6E 802.11ax

-Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) 802.11ai

-Fast Transition (FT) 802.11r

We checked the product specicification for Catalyst 9800 + Catalyst 9100, but there is no clear specification for support of 802.11ai and 802.11r, who can help to confirm whether Catalyst 9800 + Catalyst 9100 can support 802.11ai and 802.11r? If not support, which AC+AP model can support 802.11ai and 802.11r?

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/networking/wireless/wireless-lan-controllers/catalyst-9800-series/index.html

Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points

https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/networking/wireless/access-points/catalyst-9100-series/index.html

[Leo Laohoo]

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@dingjunh wrote:
-Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) 802.11ai

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Does 100% of the wireless client support 802.11ai?

[dingjunh]

Yes, the wireless client also need to support 802.11ai with100%.

[Leo Laohoo]

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@dingjunh wrote:

Yes, the wireless client also need to support 802.11ai with100%.

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You are not understanding the question. 

Do you guarantee 100% of the wireless clients support 802.11ai?  Because there will be problems if a wireless client, which does not support 802.11ai, attempts to join an SSID configured with 802.11ai.

As far as I am aware, there are not a lot of 802.11ai-capable wireless NIC available.

[dingjunh]

Thanks, get it, it needs both AP and Client to support 802.11ai.

My question is whether Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers  and  Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points have supported 802.11ai, even if most wireless NIC has not support it.

[Leo Laohoo]

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@dingjunh wrote:
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers  and  Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points have supported 802.11ai, even if most wireless NIC has not support it.

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Talk to your Cisco AM/SE and find out when is 802.11ai support going to get introduced. 

[marce1000]

 - FYI : https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless/catalyst-9166-series-access-points/220526-configure-and-verify-wi-fi-6e-band-opera.html#toc-hId--1629474710

 M.

[Rich R]

As the link provided by Marce shows - 802.11ai is supported, but only on 6GHz band. Also take note of the highlighted note there:
"Note: 6 GHz Discovery Frames are needed only if 6 GHz is the only radio that is operational. When other radios (2.4/5 GHz) are operational, clients detect 6 GHz presence from RNR IE."

[okm]

Hi all,

I am also interested in this topic.

Thanks Marce1000 for the link. However, what I understood from the link is that the Access Point (Catalyst 9166 in the link) only can send FILD Discovery frame. It does not do much more than that. FILS (802.11ai) is a comprehensive authentication algorithm for enterprise networks. You need to configure a special authentication server etc. (I would expect to see this special configuration in the Wireless Controller and Wireless Access Points).

I do not see that Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controllers and 9100 Access Points support it. Am I missing something? 

Thanks!

[Leo Laohoo]

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@okm wrote:
However, what I understood from the link is that the Access Point (Catalyst 9166 in the link) only can send FILD Discovery frame.

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802.11ai is part of 6 Ghz, isn't it?  

Currently, only APs which support 6 Ghz, such as 9136, 9162, 9164 and 9166, may support 802.11ai.