SonicPoint-N / Ni / Ne / NDR : Overview, Features and Specifications.

12/20/2019 1207 23802

DESCRIPTION:

This article aims to provide an overview of and guide to SonicWall SonicPoint models along with their specifications, difference between the models. This KB tries to address the question of which SonicPoint-N is ideal for ones wireless network.

SonicWall supports a range of SonicPoint devices to extend the local area network with a robust wireless solution.

At the time of this article, we can classify two major class of SonicPoints, such as:

• Early SonicPoint models (out-of-production, but still supported)
• Recent SonicPoint models (aka SonicPoint-N)
  

  TIP: For early SonicPoint overview, features specifications please refer to 170505335137917.

All 6 SonicPoint types support inline 802.3 PoE supply (picture below)


Recent SonicPoint models or SonicPoint N (all supporting IEEE802.11a/b/g/N protocol and dualband)

Please bear in mind that the SonicPoint models listed here are all referred as belonging to the category of SonicPoint-N (which includes SonicPoint-N model as well as its variants Ni, Ne and NDR models)

Features common to all SonicPoint-Ns:

• No support for Stand-Alone Mode (as an "autonomous" access point), meaning that they cannot be managed through a third party appliance functioning as classic or unmanaged access points. In this case the SonicPoint-N is not configurable without a SonicWall UTM appliance (see below).
• All SonicPoint-N models support Managed Mode (i.e. "light weight" access point), which means that the SonicPoint-N has to be connected to a SonicWall UTM appliance to be Discovered; Provisioned with firmware and with an IP address; and consequently to be configured and managed from the SonicWall UTM GUI.
• When in Managed Mode, the SonicPoint-N image is not embedded in the SonicOS Enhanced firmware of the SonicWall UTM appliance (as it is done in early SonicPoint models), due to which the SonicWall UTM appliance requires to be connected to the Internet in order to download the SonicPoint-N firmware image after the SonicPoint Discovery;

The following is a list of all currently supported SonicPoint-Ns:

SonicPoint-N

• SonicPoint-N belongs to the same category as Ni/Ne and N-DR.
• Has a larger dimension than a SonicPoint-Ni/Ne.
• Weighing more than a SonicPoint Ni/Ne.
• Powered-on only by 802.3af PoE injector (no AC power supply).
• Three external antennas.
• Dual-Band capabilities (2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz).
• Mono-Radio: SonicPoint-N exclusively broadcasts carrier on only one band at a time (2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz band).
• LED lights are bigger than in its Ni/Ne and N-DR.

SonicPoint-Ne (External Antennas)

• Smaller than a SonicPoint N/N-DR.
• Weighs less than a SonicPoint N/N-DR.
• Powered-on by 802.3af PoE injector or external AC power supply.
• Three external antennas.
• Dual-Band capabilities (2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz).
• Mono-Radio: the SonicPoint-Ne exclusively broadcasts carrier on only one band at a time (2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz band).
• LED lights are smaller than in a SonicPoint-N.

SonicPoint-Ni (Internal Antennas)

• Smaller than a SonicPoint N/N-DR.
• Weighs less than a SonicPoint N/N-DR.
• Powered-on by 802.3af PoE injector.
• Internal antennas.
• Dual-Band capabilities (2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz).
• Mono-Radio: the SonicPoint-Ne exclusively broadcasts carrier on only one band at a time (2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz band).
• LED lights are smaller than in a SonicPoint-N and can be disabled from the SonicWall UTM appliance.

SonicPoint N-DR (Dual Radio)

• Larger than a SonicPoint-Ni/Ne.
• Weighs more than a SonicPoint Ni/Ne.
• Powered-on by 802.3at PoE injector or external AC power supply.
• Six external antennas.
• Dual-Band capabilities (2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz).
• Dual-Radio: the SonicPoint N-DR can broadcasts carriers at the same time on 2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz band (i.e. can broadcast and enforce 802.11a and 802.11b/g or N protocols at the same time).
• LED lights are smaller than in a SonicPoint-N.

Below are reported details on specifications and comparison between models