Cisco Flexible Antenna Port

Cisco flexible antenna port

A Cisco flexible antenna port is an antenna configuration feature that

  • enables APs to assign antenna ports as either single-band or dual-band

  • optimizes wireless coverage and performance through flexible radio assignments, and

  • supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless bands to accommodate various deployment scenarios.

Multiple antennas on the transmitters and receivers improve AP performance and reliability for your wireless deployment. Multiple antennas improve reception by selecting stronger signals or combining individual signals at the receiver. These mechanisms help APs deliver reliable wireless coverage. You can configure AP antenna ports as dual-band or single-band antennas to optimize radio coverage for your environment.

  • In dual-band antenna mode, APs operate in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands using all four antennas A, B, C, and D. An example of a dual-band antenna mode AP is the Cisco Industrial Wireless 3702 AP.

  • In single-band antenna mode, antennas A and B operate in the 2.4 GHz band, while antennas C and D operate in the 5 GHz band. An example of a single-band antenna mode AP is the Cisco Catalyst Industrial Wireless 6300 AP.

Configure a Cisco flexible antenna port (GUI)

Set the appropriate antenna mode on a selected AP.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Configuration > Wireless > Access Points.

Step 2

Click AP Name.

Step 3

Click the Advanced tab.

Step 4

Select the antenna mode from the Antenna Mode drop-down list.

Step 5

Click Apply & Update.

Configure a Cisco flexible antenna port (CLI)

Set the band mode for a Cisco flexible antenna port to single or dual band using commands.

Procedure

Configure the antenna band mode as single or dual.

Example:

Device# ap name ap-name antenna-brand-mode {dual | single}

Verify flexible antenna port configuration

This is a sample output of the show ap name ap_name config general command that shows the bands selected on a specific AP:
Device# show ap name APXXXX.31XX.83XX config general 

Cisco AP Name   : APXXXX.31XX.83XX
=================================================
Cisco AP Identifier                            	 : b4de.312e.00c0
Country Code                                    	: Multiple Countries : US,IN
Regulatory Domain Allowed by Country   : 802.11bg:-A   802.11a:-ABDN
        
AP Submode                                      	: Not Configured
Antenna Band Mode                               	: Dual
This is a sample output of the show ap name ap_name config slot 0 command that shows the bands selected on a specific AP with dual-band mode enabled:
Device# show ap name APXXXX.31XX.83XX config slot 0 | sec 802.11n Antennas
        
802.11n Antennas
A                                         : ENABLED
B                                         : ENABLED
C                                         : ENABLED
D                                         : ENABLED
        
802.11n Antennas
MIMO                                      : x
Tx                                        : Unknown
Rx                                        : Unknown
This is a sample output of the show ap name ap_name config slot 1 command that shows the bands selected on a specific AP with single-band mode enabled:
Device# show ap name APXXXX.31XX.83XX config slot 1 | sec 802.11n Antennas
        
802.11n Antennas                                                   
A                                         : DISABLED             
B                                         : DISABLED             
C                                         : ENABLED              
D                                         : ENABLED              
        
802.11n Antennas
MIMO                                      : x
Tx                                        : Unknown
Rx                                        : Unknown