Cisco cheaper than Ubiquiti? Impossible? Cisco SMB WiFi 6 setup // CBW150AX Access Point

The Cisco CBW150AX is a WiFi 6 access point for small medium businesses.

Note: The PoE injector is not included for the following countries: India, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

// Menu //
00:00 - But looking online...
00:54 - What This Video Covers
01:10 - Disclaimer//Not Sponsored
01:48 - Comparison
02:44 - Unboxing
02:59 - In the Box
03:41 - PoE Injector Included
04:07 - Ethernet Cable
04:34 - Powering Up the AP
04:43 - Instructions
05:37 - Setup
06:14 - Connecting to the AP
06:41 - Initial Setup Steps
08:04 - AP Configuration Overview
09:28 - Upgrading the Software without Logging into Cisco's Website
10:24 - Updating the Software on the AP
12:28 - Summary

Per Cisco:
The CBW150AX AP and CBW 151AXM Mesh extenders are the next generation of the Cisco Business Wireless Product line. The major new feature / improvement is the implementation of 802.11ax / Wi-Fi 6. These new APs provide improved performance by increasing the efficacy of the network and it's ability to manage higher numbers of devices.

These specifications apply to both CBW150AX AP and CBW 151AXM:
- Authentication and Security:
WiFi protected access - WPA2 and WPA3, including WPA2-Enterprise 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.

Maximum number of associated wireless clients
- 200 per Wi-Fi radio, for a total of 400 clients per access point, or 1000 in a system.

Maximum number of access points
- 50
- Recommended up to 25

Maximum number of mesh extenders
- Maximum number of associated Cisco Business mesh extenders: 25 per Access Point, up to 8 hops

#wifi #unifi #cisco

[dave-]

I think what this demonstrates is that companies like TP-Link and Ubiquity caused a real threat to Cisco with well priced high performing products. It’s good to see that this has in turn forced Cisco to come out with more affordable pro-consumer products. It’s good to see competition in the market at the higher levels but with lower pricing, allowing small business and homes to get the benefits. I’m studying IT at the moment and it’s interesting how much Cisco is still the default they teach especially with Packer Tracer. I have adopted the ubiquity range within my own home and happy with their products. As usual informative and interesting to watch.

[DavidBombalTech]

The Cisco CBW150AX is a WiFi 6 access point for small medium businesses.

Note: The PoE injector is not included for the following countries: India, China, Tawiwan and Hong Kong.

// Menu //
00:00 - But looking online...
00:54 - What This Video Covers
01:10 - Disclaimer//Not Sponsored
01:48 - Comparison
02:44 - Unboxing
02:59 - In the Box
03:41 - PoE Injector Included
04:07 - Ethernet Cable
04:34 - Powering Up the AP
04:43 - Instructions
05:37 - Setup
06:14 - Connecting to the AP
06:41 - Initial Setup Steps
08:04 - AP Configuration Overview
09:28 - Upgrading the Software without Logging into Cisco's Website
10:24 - Updating the Software on the AP
12:28 - Summary


Per Cisco:
The CBW150AX AP and CBW 151AXM Mesh extenders are the next generation of the Cisco Business Wireless Product line. The major new feature / improvement is the implementation of 802.11ax / Wi-Fi 6. These new APs provide improved performance by increasing the efficacy of the network and it's ability to manage higher numbers of devices.

These specifications apply to both CBW150AX AP and CBW 151AXM:
- Authentication and Security:
WiFi protected access - WPA2 and WPA3, including WPA2-Enterprise 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.

Maximum number of associated wireless clients
- 200 per Wi-Fi radio, for a total of 400 clients per access point, or 1000 in a system.

Maximum number of access points
- 50
- Recommended up to 25

Maximum number of mesh extenders
- Maximum number of associated Cisco Business mesh extenders: 25 per Access Point, up to 8 hops


#wifi #cisco #wifi6

[lamerdan]

Great overview. As a former support person my only suggestions is to work on getting people in the habit of reviewing the details/changelog/release notes. PLEASE! If the vendor puts great details in there it shows transparency and attention to detail. It also makes those technical writers who put them together feel really good knowing their work is used and not just brushed aside.

[vyasG]

Thank you for this video. Cisco cheaper than Unifi is unbelievable! It would be a great choice in the SMB market if it lives to Cisco standard.

[maurice_walker]

A little bit of technical background: This runs good old Mobility Express with a slightly debloated GUI, but they made it intentionally incompatible with other APs and WLCs. Also, SSH is locked, so you can't easily use the CLI. For configuring features not available in the GUI, you can however download a config backup, modify it and upload it again.
The serial port works, but it requires a cable with a special plug and 3.3V levels.

[charanteja]

Great overview David, thanks for walking us through the initial setup very clearly. This looks to be a great product and better pricing too.

[michaelwiley]

Am I missing something?

This is Wifi 6 but from the spec sheet, it looks like AX1200 vs AX5400 that the Ubiquiti supports. From my understanding, this means that the total shared/overall bandwidth for all wireless clients is an aggregate of 1200 Mbps vs 5400 Mbps. The total bandwidth is shared amongst all wireless clients because they're all reliant on CSMA/CA and are sharing the same carrier. This is unlike any wired switch made in the last 20 years that only forwards traffic to the appropriate port based on what's in the MAC tables and only broadcasts when the mac address isn't in the mac table. From my understanding, Wi-Fi acts more like an old-school hub and everyone in the range has to make sure that no one else is currently transmitting before they transmit, and if two accidentally start transmitting at the same time, they both back off, wait a random amount of time and then retry assuming no-one else is speaking at the moment, but they all have to wait for their own turn in an aggregate of 1200 Mbps vs a potential 5400 Mbps. This isn't huge in most home scenarios where you're bottlenecked by the WAN connection, but if you have multi-gig WAN and/or you're doing a lot of internal large-file transfers/streaming on your network then you may see a noticeable difference between an AX1200 AP vs an AX5400 AP.

[bsmith]

I don't want something cheaper than Ubiquiti for APs. Where Ubiquiti fails is software / firmware development and maintenance. I would pay say 10% - 15% more to have an environment with much better development practices.

[shadowj]

These look great. Thanks for the peek at the interface. It looks like the same web UI they tacked on to the 8.5 AireOS wireless controllers which is interesting. These will even support up to 16 VLANs which will be good for IoT, guest etc.

[jamesleecoleman]

Thanks for sharing the video. I've been looking at getting a Unifi switch and AP for my home lab.
I do just want to say though, Unifi does have an AX AP for 99USD without the POE injector but it can be a separate purchase for either 8, 15 or 29USD depending on the wattage needed. So for the 99USD AX AP, the 8USD POE inject would be needed, so it'll put the cost of the devices at 107USD.

The AP that I'm talking about might not have the same authentication and security features that the CBW150AX has but it does have similar speeds.

[MactelecomNetworks]

Great video. Unifi has wifi 6 APs the have 5ghz ( the u6 lite does not)

Also they have the U6 extender which is a mesh AP ( just wanted to clarify 😅)

Looks like a good kit though wouldn’t mind trying it out

[norbital]

Not sure what you mean by No Wifi Mesh Extender. All of their access points support mesh mode and have for a years. So they can be extenders as well as wired APs, they sell the wifi 6 mesh model that comes with a Poe injector and the same capabilities in a more placeable form factor. They also have a dedicated mesh extender. Just confused by what's listed in the video is all.

[kvocal]

I not surprised. Cisco purchase Linksys. This ain't no Cisco enterprise switch. Just from the sound from your handling device, it sounds pretty hollow like a drum (3:06).

[FCB]

Cheap and cisco stand in opposite sides 😄
But this one surprisingly looks cheap. I've used aironets back at work before. Great product

[Christos]

When you review something, please open each and every tab of the menu for us to see what is there and the available options.

[cyberdevil]

I love David.
If I save some money I can definitely do some fun stuff with this😁

[johnheller]

Not sure if having a POE inject is such a major feature. It will be built into the price somewhere. Maybe a 3 or 5 pack of access points could be offered with no injectors for better pricing

[MrPeter]

Good sounds great video. David. Wifi 6. 👍 box.

[sunblck]

I went ahead and bought 3 of them! And there's no client isolation option! I have to enable guest mode, but then it forces you to use a captive portal that uses an untrusted certificate so it throws an error on the users' browser.
Arggh...

[mikescott]

Certainly looking at the along with Aruba. Fed up UniFi support / RMA process and such (UK).
Need:
24 port PoE
8 port switch, ideally with PD power option
2 x indoor AP
1 x outdoor AP

Then all UniFi kit going on eBay!