Cisco Meraki MR53E
Crowd-friendly, mission-critical performance

Overview:

MR53E

Dual-band, 802.11ac Wave 2 access point with external antenna connectors for challenging RF and high-density deployments

High performance 802.11ac Wave 2 wireless

The Cisco Meraki MR53E is a cloud-managed 4x4:4 802.11ac Wave 2 access point with 160 MHz channels and MU-MIMO support. Designed for demanding next-generation deployments in busy offices, schools, hospitals, stadiums, factories, warehouses, and other venues, the MR53E offers high performance, enterprise-grade security, and simple management. The MR53E provides a maximum of 2.5 Gbps* aggregate frame rate with concurrent 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios. A dedicated third radio provides real-time WIDS/WIPS with automated RF optimization, and a fourth integrated radio delivers Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) scanning and Beaconing.

The MR53E supports a variety of smart, auto-detectable external antenna that can deliver both focused, targeted coverage in challenging RF scenarios as well as broader coverage in a variety of environments, including those with very high ceilings. These antenna include panel and panel downtilt omnidirectionals, wide patch, and narrow patch options.

With the combination of cloud management, best-in-class hardware, multiple radios, and advanced software features that leverage the intelligence and power of the Meraki cloud, the MR53E makes an outstanding platform for the most challenging use cases — including high-density deployments and bandwidth or performance-critical applications like voice and high-definition video.

MR53E and Meraki cloud management: a powerful combination

Management of the MR53E is handled through the Meraki dashboard, an intuitive browser-based interface that enables rapid deployment across multiple sites without the need for timeconsuming training or costly certifications.

Since the MR53E is self-configuring and managed over the web, it can be deployed at a remote location in a matter of minutes, even without on-site IT staff. 24x7 monitoring via the Meraki cloud delivers real-time alerts if the network encounters problems. Remote diagnostic tools enable immediate troubleshooting so that distributed networks can be managed with a minimum of hassle.

The MR53E’s firmware is automatically kept up to date via the cloud. New features, bug fixes, and enhancements are delivered seamlessly over the web. This means no manual software updates to download or missing security patches to worry about.

MR53E Highlights

• External antenna connectors
• 4 x 4 160 MHz MU-MIMO 802.11ac Wave 2
• 2.5 Gbps dual-radio aggregate frame rate
• Multigigabit ethernet
• 24 x 7 real-time WIPS/WIDS and spectrum analytics via dedicated third radio
• Integrated Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon and scanning radio
• Enhanced transmit power and receive sensitivity
• Full-time Wifi location tracking via dedicated 3rd radio
• Integrated enterprise security and guest access
• Application-aware traffic shaping
• Self-configuring, plug-and-play deployment
• Sleek, low-profile design blends into office environments
• Optimized for voice and video

Features:

Dual–radio aggregate frame rate of up to 2.5 Gbps*

A 5 GHz 4x4:4 radio supporting 160 MHz channel widths and a 2.4 GHz 4x4:4 radio supporting 40 MHz channel widths offer a combined dual–radio aggregate frame rate of 2.5 Gbps*, with up to 1,733 Mbps in the 5 GHz band thanks to 802.11ac Wave 2 and 800 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band. Technologies like transmit beamforming and enhanced receive sensitivity allow the MR53E to support a higher client density than typical enterprise-class access points, resulting in fewer APs for a given deployment.

Multi User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO)

The MR53E’s sophisticated, dedicated dual-band third radio scans the environment continuously, characterizing RF interference and containing wireless threats like rogue access points. No more need to choose between wireless security, advanced RF analysis, and serving client data: a dedicated third radio means that all three occur in real-time, without any impact to client traffic or AP throughput.

Multi-gigabit and Link Aggregation uplink options

The MR53E’s integrated multi-gigabit uplink ensures maximum capacity for this high performance 802.11ac Wave 2 hardware configuration. The MR53E’s two Ethernet uplinks can be configured for link aggregation if switch infrastructure does not yet support multigigabit. The second Ethernet port can be used to connect wired client devices, like a security camera, when not used for link aggregation.

Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon and scanning radio

An integrated fourth radio for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) provides seamless deployment of BLE Beacon functionality and effortless visibility of BLE devices. The MR53E enables the next generation of location-aware applications while future-proofing your deployment, ensuring it’s ready for any new customer engagement strategies.

Automatic cloud-based RF optimization

The MR53E’s sophisticated and automated RF optimization means that there is no need for the dedicated hardware and RF expertise typically required to tune a wireless network. The RF data collected by the dedicated third radio is continuously fed back to the Meraki cloud. This data is then used to automatically tune the channel selection, transmit power, and client connection settings for optimal performance under even the most challenging RF conditions.

Integrated enterprise security and guest access

The MR53E features integrated, easy-to-use security technologies to provide secure connectivity for employees and guests alike. Advanced security features such as AES hardware-based encryption and WPA2-Enterprise authentication with 802.1X and Active Directory integration provide wire-like security while still being easy to configure. One-click guest isolation provides secure, Internet-only access for visitors. PCI compliance reports check network settings against PCI requirements to simplify secure retail deployments.

3rd radio delivers 24x7 wireless security and RF analytics

The MR53E’s dedicated dual-band scanning and security radio continually assesses the environment, characterizing RF interference and containing wireless threats like rogue access points. There’s no need to choose between wireless security, advanced RF analysis, and serving client data - a dedicated third radio means that all functions occur in real-time, without any impact to client traffic or AP throughput.

Low-profile, environmentally friendly design

Despite its robust feature set, the MR53E is packaged in a sleek, low-profile enclosure that blends seamlessly into any environment. Energy-saving components and intelligent power management techniques deliver best-in-class energy efficient performance and mean that pollution, material utilization, and your electric bill are kept to a minimum.

Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) & Mobile Device Management (MDM) integration

Meraki Systems Manager natively integrates with the MR53E to offer automatic, context-aware security. You can use Systems Manager’s self-service enrollment to rapidly deploy MDM without installing additional equipment, and then dynamically tie firewall and traffic shaping policies to client posture.

Specifications:

Compare Access Points:

	MR52	MR53	MR53E
Usage	Highest performance 802.11ac Wave 2 for high density campus, enterprise, and MU-MIMO	Highest performance 802.11ac Wave 2 with Multigigabit for high density campus, enterprise, and MU-MIMO	Performance-critical wireless for high-density, challenging RF, or focused coverage scenarios
Radio specification	1 × 802.11b/g/n 1 × 802.11a/n/ac 1 × WIDS/WIPS 1 × Bluetooth 2.5 Gbit/sec max rate 4×4:4 MU-MIMO with beamforming	1 × 802.11b/g/n 1 × 802.11a/n/ac 1 × WIDS/WIPS 1 × Bluetooth 2.5 Gbit/sec max rate 4×4:4 MU-MIMO with beamforming	1 × 802.11b/g/n 1 × 802.11a/n/ac 1 × WIDS/WIPS 1 × Bluetooth 2.5 Gbit/sec max rate 4×4:4 MU-MIMO with beamforming
Interface	2 × Gigabit Ethernet port	1 × 2.5Gbps Multigigabit Ethernet port 1 × Gigabit Ethernet port	1 × 2.5 Gbps Multigigabit Ethernet port 1 × Gigabit Ethernet port
Power	802.3at PoE DC power adapter	802.3at PoE DC power adapter	802.3af PoE DC power adaptor
Performance features	4×4:4 MU-MIMO 160 MHz channels Priority Voice, Power Save (802.11e/WMM) Hardware-accelerated encryption Band steering	4×4:4 MU-MIMO 160 MHz channels Priority Voice, Power Save (802.11e/WMM) Hardware-accelerated encryption Band steering	4×4:4 MU-MIMO 160 MHz channels Priority Voice, Power Save (802.11e/WMM) Hardware-accelerated encryption Band steering Removable antennas

Documentation:

Download the Cisco Meraki MR53E Datasheet (PDF).