Tag: outdoor

Unboxing external GPS antenna CW-ANT-GPS2-S-00 for Cisco CW9163E access point

Cisco CW9163E has an in-built GPS/GNSS antenna, and there is an option to attach an external one if signal strength is too weak. We are talking GPS only in this post. For Wi-Fi to work, this AP requires either omnidirectional dipoles or directional patch antenna.

Let’s peak inside the book.

There is a single hose clamp to attach the antenna to a pole, and the GPS antenna itself with directly attached cable.

Before you ask, the cable is about 3 meters long.

It’s now time to remove the GPS antenna port cap.

Detail for the GPS antenna port.

The rubber seal helps protect it from the weather.

Now, the last thing to deal with is how to mount the antenna. You can either use the 2 holes and screws (screws were not provided). Or run the provided hose clamp through the loop inside the antenna mount, pole mount the antenna, and point it towards the sky.

And here is our final setup before the AP gets mounted.

Note: For official Cisco guidance and information, please refer to the Cisco.com data sheet and deployment guide.

Unboxing Cisco CW9163E outdoor access point

CW9163E is Cisco’s outdoor Wi-Fi 6E access point. It comes in external antenna flavor only, so make sure you order either 4 omnidirectional dipoles (in some cases 2 might do just fine), or one directional patch antenna along with the AP itself.

It has built-in GPS antenna. If you expect poor GPS coverage, you can order an optional external GPS antenna.

Note that there are no plastic bags anymore.

Underneath the AP we find the mounting bracket, hose clamps, and other accessories.

Let’s look closely at the acessories.

Inside the little cardboard box is a cable gland and grounding pad.

6 GHz ports A and B, along with the GPS antenna connector live on the top side of the access point.

The bottom side hosts antenna ports C and D shared by 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios, reset button, Console RJ-45 port, and up to 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port.

No 6 GHz outdoors in the UK yet

Ofcom, the UK regulator, doesn’t permit 6 GHz use outdoors, at least not yet as of May 2025. The 6 GHz radio of the access point is disabled in software.

Unboxing Cisco CW-ANT-D1-NS-00 directional patch antenna for CW9163E AP

Cisco’s Wi-Fi 6E outdoor CW9163E access point requires an external antenna. It has no built-in Wi-Fi antenna. The antenna is a separate purchase and is not included.

You can choose between either omnidirectional dipoles (make sure you order 4 of them), which we covered here, or an external directional patch antenna CW-ANT-D1-NS-00. That’s what we are going to talk about today.

CW-ANT-D1-NS-00 is a 2×2 self-identifying antenna (SIA). The AP detects its presence, model and gain automatically. No more manual antenna configuration needed on your part anymore, yay!

Here is what’s in the box.

After opening all little paper bags you will find these accessories.

Coaxial cable length is about 60 cm and it uses N-type connectors. On the antenna side, all coax cables are permanently attached and are not removable.

The thickest part of the N-type connector measures about 2 cm.

Don’t judge my cable management, please. Also, colour of the AP and antenna is the usual “Cisco outdoor AP grey”. White balance in these two photos is slightly misleading, my bad.

The cable length allows you to achieve about 20 cm distance between the AP and the antenna.

Ultimately, this is how the final setup looks like.

Note: For official Cisco guidance and information, please refer to the Cisco.com data sheet and deployment guide