Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Series

We are more dependent on our wireless networks than ever before. Additional devices connect to the network every year and the Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Series Access Points will provide a seamless experience anywhere for everyone. Going beyond the Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) standard, the 9120AX Series provides integrated security, resiliency, and operational flexibility as well as increased network intelligence.

Extending Cisco’s intent-based network and perfect for networks of all sizes, the Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Series scales to the growing demands of IoT while fully supporting the latest innovations and new technologies. Not only that, but the 9120AX Series is the leader in performance, security, and analytics.

The Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Series Access Points, paired with Cisco DNA, are enterprise-class products that will address your current and future needs. These access points are the first step in updating your network so that you can take better advantage of all of the features and benefits that Wi-Fi 6 provides.



The Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Series Access Points support both Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) and multiuser Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO), delivering more predictable performance for advanced applications and IoT. Additionally, with up to 2.5 Gbps with NBASE-T and IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet compatibility, the 9120AX Series can seamlessly offload network traffic without any bottlenecks. With Cisco’s Multigigabit technology, you can use your existing Category 5e or 6 cabling to achieve speeds up to 2.5 Gbps, allowing for higher throughputs with minimum cost. And with different antenna choices, you’re able to decide which option works best for you.



With the 9120AX Series, you can secure remote workers or the micro-office. Any Cisco Aironet or Catalyst access point can function as an OfficeExtend Access Point (OEAP). With an OEAP, an employee at home or in a temporary micro-office will have access to the corporate SSID and the corporate network without the need to set up a VPN or have any advanced technical know-how.



Cisco User Defined Network, a feature available in Cisco DNA Center, allows IT to give end users control of their very own wireless network partition on a shared network. End users can then remotely and securely deploy their devices on this network. Perfect for university dormitories or extended hospital stays, Cisco User Defined Network grants both device security and control, allowing each user to choose who can connect to their network. (Available second half of calendar year 2020.)



The Wi-Fi 6 readiness dashboard is a new dashboard in the Assurance menu of Cisco DNA Center. It will look through the inventory of all devices on the network and verify device, software, and client compatibility with the new Wi-Fi 6 standard. After upgrading, advanced wireless analytics will indicate performance and capacity gains as a result of the Wi-Fi 6 deployment. This is an incredible tool that will help your team define where and how the wireless network should be upgraded. It will also give you insights into the access point distribution by protocol (802.11 ac/n/abg), wireless airtime efficiency by protocol, and granular performance metrics.



Resilient - steady performance in demanding environments



Network infrastructure that upgrades to Wi-Fi 6 enables devices to get up to a 4x capacity boost to support the additional devices connected to the network as well as the data that they generate. Wi-Fi 6 will offer Multigigabit performance, with seamless connectivity and higher throughput compared to the 802.11ac standard. This means you’ll see your network run more smoothly. With support for BSS coloring, the new standard eases high-density environments by allowing simultaneous transmissions, ultimately increasing network capacity, customer interactions, and value-add services. BSS coloring allows the limited channels in the 2.4 GHz band to have better spectral reuse, benefiting IoT and 2.4-GHz clients.



Wi-Fi 6, with better coordination of transit time to and from devices, will also bring about a reduction in latency and a greater reliability, allowing for hundreds of devices per access point. This allows for IoT devices to be reliably deployed at scale. And an overall improved user experience will be seen as well, as Wi-Fi 6 will improve the battery life of devices such as smartphones, tablets, and IoT devices when compared to prior standards. For more details about Wi-Fi 6, please see Cisco’s technical white paper on Wi-Fi 6.



Secure infrastructure

Trustworthy systems built with Cisco Trust Anchor Technologies provide a highly secure foundation for Cisco products. With the Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points, these technologies enable hardware and software authenticity assurance for supply chain trust and strong mitigation against man-in-the-middle attacks that compromise software and firmware. Trust Anchor capabilities include:



● Image signing: Cryptographically signed images provide assurance that the firmware, BIOS, and other software are authentic and unmodified. As the system boots, the system’s software signatures are checked for integrity.



● Secure Boot: Cisco Secure Boot technology anchors the boot sequence chain of trust to immutable hardware, mitigating threats against a system’s foundational state and the software that is to be loaded, regardless of a user’s privilege level. It provides layered protection against the persistence of illicitly modified firmware.



● Cisco Trust Anchor module: A tamper-resistant, strong cryptographic, single-chip solution provides hardware authenticity assurance to uniquely identify the product so that its origin can be confirmed to Cisco. This provides assurance that the product is genuine.



Aesthetically redesigned for next-generation enterprise



The Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points are built from the ground up, with a new aerodynamic look and smooth finish, integrating RF excellence and next generation technologies to provide a best-in-class wireless experience without compromise. While packing several high-performance features, the hardware is redesigned to deliver higher efficiencies in a more compact form factor to make visually appealing Wi-Fi deployments commonplace.



Cisco DNA support



Pairing the Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Series Access Points with Cisco DNA allows for a total network transformation. Cisco DNA allows you to truly understand your network with real-time analytics, quickly detect and contain security threats, and easily provide networkwide consistency through automation and virtualization.



Cisco DNA with Software-Defined Access (SD-Access) is the network fabric that powers business. It is an open and extensible, software-driven architecture that accelerates and simplifies your enterprise network operations. The programmable architecture frees your IT staff from time-consuming, repetitive network configuration tasks so they can focus instead on innovation that positively transforms your business. By decoupling network functions from the hardware, you can build and manage your entire wired and wireless network from a single user interface. SD-Access enables policy-based automation from edge to cloud with foundational capabilities. These include:



● Simplified device deployment



● Unified management of wired and wireless networks



● Network virtualization and segmentation



● Group-based policies



● Context-based analytics



The Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Series Access Points support Software-Defined Access, Cisco’s leading enterprise architecture.

Working together, the Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Series and Cisco DNA offer such features as:

● Cisco DNA Spaces



● Cisco Identity Services Engine



● Cisco DNA Analytics and Assurance



The result? Your network stays relevant, becomes digital ready, and is the lifeblood of your organization.