AIR-AP1852I-I-K9C Cisco Aironet 1852i Dual-band Access Point

AIR-AP1852I-I-K9C exact order identity

AIR-AP1852I-I-K9C is a 1852i indoor access point with integrated omnidirectional antennas in the Cisco Aironet 1850 Series. This exact SKU combines regulatory-domain token I with a single-unit configurable K9C order. The platform is a dual-band 802.11ac Wave 2 access point with four 5 GHz spatial streams in single-user operation and three in multiuser operation.

Antenna and environmental boundary

Cisco rates the internal antenna system at 3 dBi for 2.4 GHz and 5 dBi for 5 GHz, with 360-degree horizontal beamwidth. No external antenna is selected by this SKU. Preserve enclosure orientation, bracket, mounting height and post-install coverage because placement determines how the integrated pattern is used.

Order and controller boundary

Cisco lists K9C as a configurable controller-based order, and its lifecycle table describes affected K9C lines as Mobility Express products. Retain the final domain and software role on the quotation and received unit. Prove the intended controller or Mobility Express state instead of inferring it from the suffix alone.

I regulatory-domain evidence

Cisco lists this profile as 2.4 GHz channels 1-13 and the 5.180-5.320 GHz lower block. The I profile listed by Cisco is confined to the lower 5 GHz block. Designs that depend on middle or upper 5 GHz capacity need revision before this SKU can be approved. Commission with a lower-block-only channel plan and preserve the controller export. Recalculate co-channel reuse if the pre-purchase survey assumed additional 5 GHz spectrum.

Procurement inference: the lower-block-only 5 GHz plan places a tighter ceiling on channel diversity than profiles with middle or upper groups. Capacity approval should therefore show the client load, channel width and reuse plan that fit within this listed range. If the access point is a spare, verify that the protected population uses the same I-domain constraints before assigning it to emergency replacement stock.

Power and interface boundary

The 1852 provides a PoE Gigabit uplink and a Gigabit AUX port for link aggregation. Cisco states that 802.3af disables AUX and USB on both antenna forms and reduces the 1852e 2.4 GHz radio from 3x4 to 2x3. Record negotiated power before promising the complete interface and radio state.

Deployment evidence worksheet

Country approval retention

Save the Cisco compliance lookup result, lookup date, deployment country, approved regulatory token and reviewer. If the destination changes, stop and repeat the approval rather than moving the unit on the strength of an earlier purchase. Compare the controller country setting and available channels with the retained evidence. Regulatory eligibility is a deployment condition and cannot be inferred from connector fit, stock location or a similar-looking part number. Cisco explicitly makes the customer responsible for country approval; retain the lookup alongside the 1852's controller country and enabled-channel evidence.

Quotation substitution gate

Compare antenna form, regulatory token, configuration suffix, pack quantity and complete Cisco part number on the authorized quotation. Treat any changed token as a substitution that requires a new technical and regulatory review. Procurement should not accept a different access-point order merely because the family name matches. Preserve the approved line, received label and exception decision so the final asset can be traced to the exact order reviewed here. A K9, K9C, K910, K910C, antenna-form or regulatory-token change is a different 1852 procurement line and must not be accepted as a cosmetic substitution.

Software lifecycle file

Record the controller release approved for this unit, the source used to verify support, the last tested date and the owner for software advisories. Available hardware does not prove compatibility with a current or future controller train. Review Cisco support information before every expansion or replacement. The lifecycle file should also state when this Aironet generation must leave service and which surrounding dependencies need migration. Cisco ended 1850 Series software maintenance in 2023, so controller compatibility evidence is especially important for inventory purchased late in the lifecycle.

Controlled spare policy

If purchased as a spare, name the protected site population, compatible controller image, storage location, storage conditions and periodic power-on test. Confirm that regulatory token, antenna architecture and mounting parts match the population it protects. Set a final-use review date. A stored unit can become unsuitable while untouched because controller software, country approval, certificates or network architecture may change. A spare 1852 must be checked against the protected controller release, certificate behavior, regulatory domain, antenna form and 2027 support cutoff before assignment.

Authentication path test

Commission representative clients through association, authentication, address assignment, DNS and application reachability. Preserve the identity policy used, test client type, result and relevant controller logs. An access point that joins its controller has not yet demonstrated the user path. Repeat the test after any controller, certificate or authentication-service change and retain failures separately from RF or switch-port evidence. Test the complete user path after the 1852 joins; the controller relationship alone does not prove client authentication, DHCP, DNS or application reachability.

Roaming acceptance

Define the neighboring access points and client types used for roaming validation. Record handoff behavior, interruption observed, authentication result and controller events along the intended movement path. Compare the outcome with the site's design target rather than declaring success from static association. Where this unit replaces an older AP, test both entry and exit from its cell so a local improvement does not hide a boundary problem. When replacing a neighboring legacy AP, preserve roaming evidence in both directions and compare it with the 1852's installed radio and channel state.

Security baseline

Retain the approved controller policy, management authorization, certificate or trust workflow, client authentication test and logging destination. Confirm behavior on the deployed controller software instead of promising a protocol from the hardware family name. Remove temporary onboarding access and verify administrative reachability after handover. This keeps product identity separate from software-dependent security claims. Record the security behavior verified on the deployed controller release; do not turn a family data-sheet capability into an unconditional software claim.

Interference baseline

Preserve the pre-install and post-install noise, neighboring-radio and channel-occupancy observations for the selected location. Record any controller-driven channel change during acceptance. If the regulatory profile limits the channel choices, state how that constraint affected reuse and mitigation. This baseline gives future troubleshooting a reference point and prevents an unrelated interference change from being attributed to the hardware order. The 1852 domain table varies materially by token, so preserve interference observations against the exact enabled-channel list rather than a generic country template.

Lifecycle decision

Cisco ended sale of the Aironet 1850 Series on 1 May 2022, ended software maintenance on 1 May 2023 and lists 30 April 2027 as the last support date. Cisco identifies Catalyst 9115AX as the migration family. Available inventory does not extend those milestones.

Related Aironet 1852 order records

• AIR-AP1852E-I-K9 - compare antenna form and domain evidence.
• AIR-AP1852E-I-K9C - compare antenna form and domain evidence.
• AIR-AP1852I-IK910C - compare order form and domain evidence.

Official evidence: Cisco Aironet 1850 Series data sheet; Cisco Aironet 1850 hardware guide; Cisco Aironet 1850 lifecycle bulletin; and Cisco wireless compliance tool.