As organizations are automating and establishing remote operations, Cisco IoT is expanding its portfolio of industrial wireless and management tools to meet the secure and reliable connectivity requirements of businesses wherever they operate. To that end, the company has introduced outdoor Wi-Fi 6E ready access point and enhancements purpose-built for operational environments to help organizations connect, automate, and operate anywhere.
People expect seamless Wi-Fi – outdoors, walking across campus from buildings to parking lots, and everywhere in between. The same is true of industrial sites. Smooth operations require reliable wireless connectivity at the factory, into the warehouse, and across loading docks and ports. Machines need reliable, high bandwidth connectivity as businesses increase automation and connect more assets like autonomous robots and AGVs.
Cisco Catalyst IW9167 Series is the new, state-of-the-art Wi-Fi access point bringing next generation wireless technologies to outdoor and industrial spaces. The flexible hardware is the first platform that can operate in two modes:
Wi-Fi 6/6E Ready Access Point: As a high-performance Cisco access point, it doubles the available bandwidth for outdoor and industrial deployments by accessing 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and the new 6GHz bands.
Cisco Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul: This proven technology has been enhanced and now delivers the added benefits of Cisco’s industry-leading, built-in security where zero-packet loss and fiber-like performance is required.
Enhanced Cisco IoT Operations Dashboard: New capabilities have been added to enable remote operations, uncover more digital blind spots with new industrial sensors, and expand and simplify network management.
As part of the new Catalyst IW9167 Series running on Cisco hardware, the technology delivers the benefits of Cisco’s built-in security. Cisco also enhanced Cisco Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul to deliver even higher data rates and reliability to ensure more applications can be supported without interruptions.
The new Catalyst IW9167 Series expands the industrial wireless portfolio with more choices for businesses to deploy the best wireless technologies for their applications – and to future-proof deployments by simply switching between the two technologies when business needs evolve. The Catalyst IW9167 brings the latest Wi-Fi standard to life for businesses to connect Wi-Fi 6/6E-ready assets. Catalyst IW9167 in Wi-Fi AP mode is managed by Cisco DNA Center via the Catalyst 9800 Wireless LAN Controllers, allowing IT to use the same tools to manage their entire network across their headquarters, parking lots, and operational spaces.
For example, an organization looking to connect workers’ devices in common areas can deploy Catalyst IW9167 in Wi-Fi mode. For wider coverage with seamless handoffs as autonomous vehicles or equipment move from one coverage zone to another, they can choose to operate the device in Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul mode.
As connectivity demand grows, Cisco believes that Wi-Fi 6E will provide the right mix of spectrum and features to drive next generation IoT and enable a wide range of innovations across industries.
Cisco IoT Operations Dashboard is a cloud-based tool designed for operational teams to deploy and manage networks and gain visibility across the business with integrated sensor and data solutions.
The enhanced Cisco IoT Operations Dashboard help operations teams more efficiently remotely operate and manage industrial IoT – whether connecting traffic control systems, service vehicles, kiosks, and more. These enhancements include:
These enhancements are designed to provide improved visibility across the business, bringing the industrial network and connected assets and applications together in a single cloud-based toolset.
The Secure Equipment Access of the Cisco IoT Operations Dashboard is available today, the new industrial vibration sensor and industrial sensor bridge are planned for first customer ship in July 2022. The Cisco Catalyst IW9167 Series will be orderable in mid-2022.