Cisco DNA Software Advantage for Wireless
Deliver exceptional wireless performance for high-density environments
DNA Software Advantage for Wireless
Provides all functionality of Essentials, plus policy-based automation with software-defined access, monitoring, assurance, location analytics, and AI network analytics.
Cisco Digital Network Architecture (Cisco DNA) software delivers automation, security, predictive monitoring, and a policy-driven approach. Turn your vision of an intelligent network into reality. It delivers an unbound network on an open and extensible architecture to help you navigate the digital journey. Benefits include lower initial costs, investment protection, agility to respond more quickly to business needs, and better budget predictability.
Cisco DNA licenses are required for connecting any access points to Catalyst 9800 Series Controllers and/or Cisco DNA Center.
Unlock value with software
Cisco DNA Software subscriptions can help your IT team keep pace with your network's expanding demands. Purchase subscriptions individually or through the Cisco Enterprise Agreement.
Quickly detect and stop threats
Make network access easy without shortchanging security, even for remote access.
Enhance customer experience
Use intelligence from your wireless network and location analytics to personalize customer experiences.
Automate workflow in minutes
Eliminate manual provisioning with automated workflows across wired and wireless networks.
Gain useful insights
Identify and resolve issues through analytics that shed light on real-time user and application behavior.
See what you can do with Cisco DNA Software for Wireless
Learn how innovative software features paired with Cisco Catalyst access points and Cisco DNA Center help to make your workspaces more dynamic and agile.
- AI-Enhanced RRM
- AP Performance Advisories
- Wireless 3D Analyzer
Compare Cisco DNA Software licensing tiers
Cisco DNA Software
Essentials
Get networking essentials, including basic automation, monitoring, and easy management.
Features include:
- Basic automation
- Monitoring
- Centralized management
Cisco DNA Software
Advantage
Provides all functionality of Essentials, plus policy-based automation with software-defined access, monitoring, assurance, location analytics, and AI network analytics.
Includes all features of Essentials, plus:
- Policy-based automation with Cisco Software-Defined
- Access Assurance and AI network analytics
- Location analytics with Cisco Spaces
- Detection and mitigation of security threats
Optional add-on
Expansion Pack
Purchase the following add-on Cisco licenses, appliances, and services along with a Cisco DNA Essentials or Advantage license.
Available for:
- Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
- Secure Network Analytics (Stealthwatch)
- Cisco Spaces
- Cisco ThousandEyes
Network Essentials
- License type: Perpetual software, compatible with Cisco DNA Essentials subscription license
- Management options: CLI, Web UI
Network Advantage
- License type: Perpetual software compatible with Cisco DNA Advantage license
- Management options: CLI, Web UI
Cisco DNA Essentials
- License type: 3/5/7 year term subscription
- Management options: CLI, Web UI, Cisco DNA Center
Cisco DNA Advantage
- License type: Includes Cisco DNA Essentials, 3/5/7 year term subscription
- Management options: CLI, Web UI, Cisco DNA Center
FeatureHover over each feature for a description of the capabilities. |
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| Network Essentials | Network Advantage | Cisco DNA Essentials | Cisco DNA Advantage | |
| Essential wireless capabilities 802.1x authentications, Guest access, device onboarding, Infra and client IPv6, ACLs, QoS, Videostream, Smart defaults, RRM, Spectrum intelligence, TrustSec SXP, AP and client SSO, Dynamic QoS, Analytics, ADP, OpenDNS, mDNS, IPSec, Rogue Management and Detection on controller, Mobility. |
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| High availability AP and Client SSO. |
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| DevOps integration PnP Agent, NETCONF, Yang Data Models. |
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| Optimized radio frequency FRA, Client link, ClearAir Advanced, NG-HDX, Predictive/Proactive RRM. |
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| IoT optimized Identity PSK, Enhanced Device profilers |
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| Telemetry and visibility Model-driven telemetry lets you monitor your network by streaming data from network devices, continuously providing near-real-time access to operational statistics. |
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| Cisco trustworthy solutions Help ensure hardware and software authenticity for supply chain trust and strong mitigation against man-in-the-middle attacks that compromise software and firmware. |
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| Advanced high availability and resiliency (patching) features In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU), AP Device Pack (APDP), AP Service Pack (APSP), Rolling AP upgrades, Hot Patching, SMU. |
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| Flexible network segmentation VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN). |
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| Network Plug and Play (PnP) provisioning Zero-touch provisioning for new device installation allows off-the-shelf Cisco devices to be provisioned simply by connecting to the network, managed by Cisco DNA Center. |
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| Network Site Design and Device Provisioning Design your wireless network for proper coverage and maximize the throughput. Provision wireless network appliances with the proper setting to maximize perfomance. |
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| Software Image Management (SWIM) Automatically manage software upgrades and control the consistency of image versions and configurations across your network, managed by Cisco DNA Center. |
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| Full Flexible NetFlow This next generation in flow technology optimizes the network infrastructure, reducing operating costs and improving capacity planning and security incident detection. |
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| Cisco IOS Embedded Event Manager (EEM) EEM is a powerful and flexible subsystem that provides real-time network event detection and onboard automation. It gives you the ability to adapt the behavior of your network devices to align with your business needs. |
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| Wireless automation Automate configurations and deployment of networks with Cisco DNA Center |
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| Overall health dashboard Gives a high-level overview of the health of every network device/client on the network, wired and wireless, Cisco and Meraki, managed by Cisco DNA Center. |
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| Network health dashboard Provides operational status of every network device connected to Cisco DNA Center, with suggested remediation for any communication issues, managed by Cisco DNA Center. |
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| Client health dashboard Displays operational status of every client connected to Cisco DNA Center, with suggested remediation for any issues, managed by Cisco DNA Center. |
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| Application health dashboard Displays overall health of all applications on the network, with special section for business-relevant application issues and suggested remediation, managed by Cisco DNA Center. |
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| Wi-Fi 6/6E Dashboard Prepares your network for the new Wi-Fi 6 and 6E standards, verifying your hardware and configuration compatibility and checking your capacity readiness. After upgrading, advanced wireless analytics will indicate performance and capacity gains due to Wi-Fi 6/6E deployments. |
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| Wireless Sensor dashboard Shows overall tests, connectivity statistics, and top wireless issues discovered by Cisco Aironet Active Sensors. Tests include DHCP, DNS, host reachability, RADIUS, email, Microsoft Exchange Server, web, FTP, and a complete IP SLA for data throughput speed, latency, jitter, and packet loss. Provides guided remediation for any test failures. |
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| Base Security - Rogue A wireless security solution that uses Cisco Unified Access infrastructure to detect, classify, locate and contain wired and wireless rogue threats |
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| Cisco Prime Infrastructure License Provides a single integrated solution for comprehensive lifecycle management of the wired or wireless access, campus, and branch networks, and rich visibility into end-user connectivity and application performance assurance issues. |
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| Out of box reports Cisco DNA Center pre-built reports that can be consumed directly or exported to third party tools such as Tableau. |
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| SD-Access and Network Health insights Enables policy-based automation with secure segmentation, complete visibility, and delivery of new services quickly on SD-Access devices, managed by Cisco DNA Center. |
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| Wireless 3D Analyzer High-definition 3D simulations for AP placement, heatmaps, and predictions of wireless LAN performance for network admins to reduce design flaws and mitigate future performance issues. |
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| Cisco AI Endpoint Analytics Identify and check compliance of endpoints, and use AI/ML techniques to classify them into groups. |
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| AI-Enhanced RRM Leverage the power of Machine Learning to optimize your enterprise wireless configurations on the Catalyst 9800 controller automatically, be provided with complete visibility into the benefits through an aesthetic assurance dashboard, and much more. |
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| Group-Based Policy Analytics Get visual traffic flows between endpoint groups, so you can define the right segmentation policies |
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| Cisco User-Defined Network Allows IT to give end-users control of their very own wireless network partition. End-users can then remotely and securely deploy their devices on this network. |
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| Intelligent Capture A troubleshooting tool that allows you to capture packets view an AP’s surrounding RF spectrum, and both client and AP stats in live time |
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| Location Plug and Play Helps to automate the onboarding of new devices on the network by applying configuration settings without manual intervention. |
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| Automated ISE integration for guest Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) guest services enable you to provide secure network access to guests such as visitors, contractors, consultants, and customers. |
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| Third-party API integration A flexible framework is provided to integrate third-party application software |
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| Cisco AI Network Analytics AI and machine learning technologies are implemented on Cisco DNA Center and in the AI Network Analytics cloud to enhance the insight and remediation capabilities of Cisco DNA Assurance. |
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| Network Services Analytics Dashboard View AAA and DHCP services for wireless devices across Cisco and all third-party servers in a comprehensive view while also accessing Cisco’s AAA servers’ (Identity Services Engine, or ISE) AI-based root cause analysis. Leverage a snapshot of the overall health of these critical services all in one place, highlighting the worst-performing service server, site-level impact, and scope of end-user impact. |
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| Cisco Spaces See A powerful, end-to-end, indoor location services cloud platform that unlock insights and trends into customer, employee and asset behavior. |
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| Cisco Spaces Act (optional upgrade) A powerful, end-to-end, indoor location services cloud platform that translate network view of people and assets into business view |
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| Cisco Spaces Extend A powerful end-to-end, indoor location services cloud platform that extends platform capabilities via integrations and partner applications. Includes Cisco Spaces See. |
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| Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA) Detect malware within encrypted traffic. This is an optional feature of Cisco Stealthwatch (which can be purchased a-la-carte), managed by Cisco DNA Center. |
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| Adaptive Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (aWIPS) A wireless security solution that uses Cisco Unified Access infrastructure to detect threats based on aWIPS signatures. Cisco DNA Center allows you to customize the thresholds and capture packets for each signature. |
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| EasyQoS configuration With an end-to-end effective QoS configuration, each part of the QoS policy is cohesive and compatible achieving an end-to-end service level. |
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| EasyQoS dynamic monitoring Assign policies to applications based on business relevance and business-critical QoS priority for life-saving devices, for example. |
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| Policy-based automation Policies, in the form of rules, can be used to automate various services provided by Cisco for policy-based network management. |
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| Patch lifecycle management Intelligent device management for lifecycle patching, managed by Cisco DNA Center. |
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| Guided remediation Automates resolution to keep your network performing at an optimal level with less mundane troubleshooting work. |
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| Intel Connectivity, Apple, and Samsung Analytics Cisco’s exclusive ecosystem partnerships enable enhanced insights on Intel Connectivity, Apple, and Samsung device connectivity and health in Cisco DNA Center. These impactful insights make it possible to deliver optimal performance and resolve issues faster by getting the client’s point of view of the network — what access points it sees, the reasons for disconnections, and the current state of the user experience — all provided through Cisco DNA Assurance. |
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| Wide Area Bonjour This is a software-defined controller-based solution that enables devices to advertise and discover Bonjour services across Layer-2 domains, making it applicable to a wide variety of wired and wireless enterprise networks |
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| Compliance Compliance reports managed by Cisco DNA Center |
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| RCM (Randomized and Changing MAC) Solutions This solution allows Cisco DNA Center to properly track clients in the network that have a RCM and even provide a history of all macs for a specific client. An RCM icon will be placed next to any clients with such behavior, allowing you to gain full control of the users in your network. |
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| Proactive issue detection Aironet Active Sensor Tests, Intelligent capture, Client Location Heatmaps, Spectrum Analyzer. |
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| Application experience Tracks performance of predefined “critical business applications.” Shows user experience and performance metrics. Provides specialized rapid troubleshooting per application and client. Enables unparalleled visibility and performance control over the applications critical to your core business on a per-user basis. |
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| Application hosting IOx Applications can be deployed onto Cisco Catalyst APs, leveraging an RF USB dongle inserted into the AP’s USB to communicate with nearby IoT devices. This solution allows Cisco’s enterprise wireless solution to go beyond Wi-Fi and solve use cases with IoT, such as retail management with electronic shelf labels, asset management with environmental sensors and real-time location software, and much more. |
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| App 360, AP 360, WLC 360, and Client 360 Display devices and client connectivity from any angle or context, providing for very granular troubleshooting in seconds. |
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| Webex 360 Enhance Webex end-users experience by proactively identifying and troubleshooting Webex clients using Webex 360 to compare quality metrics across audio, video, and shared components. |
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| Support | Network Essentials | Network Advantage | Cisco DNA Essentials | Cisco DNA Advantage |
| SWSS Software Support Service in the subscription software stack and OS software on the AP (requires SNTC on the WLC), and includes 24-hour TAC support and software updates and upgrades in Cisco DNA Center. |
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| SNTC Smart Net Total Care, 24-hour hardware and network software stack support provided by TAC. |
Optional | Optional | ||
Cisco Networking
Cisco Networking is your team’s bridge to an intent-based network. It is an open, extensible, software-driven portfolio that helps accelerate and simplify your enterprise network operations while lowering costs and reducing your risk. Only Cisco provides a single-network fabric that is powered by deep intelligence and integrated security to delivery automation and assurance across your entire network organization at scale. Cisco Networking gives IT time back from time-consuming, repetitive network configuration tasks so you can focus on the innovations your business needs.
Cisco DNA Software subscriptions provide customers with four key benefits:
- Investment protection of software purchases through software services-enabled license portability
- Software suites that address typical customer use case scenarios at an attractive price
- Flexible licensing models to smoothly distribute customer’s software spending over time
- Access to new technology from Cisco
IT management challenges and Cisco DNA Software benefits
The outlines common IT management challenges and the ways that Cisco DNA Software helps customers to address them.
| IT management challenges | Cisco DNA Software benefits |
|---|---|
Shrinking IT budgets |
Deliver more value for your money Increase investment protection |
Infrastructure inflexibility |
Enhance business agility |
Lack of buying options |
Supplies flexible licensing models |
Implementation obstacles |
Reduce risk |
Excessive time and costs for maintenance |
Accelerate ROI and time-to-value |
Components of Cisco DNA Advantage offer
Cisco DNA Advantage for Wireless delivers policy-based automation with SD-Access, monitoring, and Cisco DNA Assurance. It also includes:
- Cisco DNA Essentials delivers base automation, monitoring, and management.
- Cisco Spaces is a single scalable, reliable location platform that digitizes spaces by centralizing location services for both people and things. This powerful location platform leverages existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to give you actionable insights, provide trigger notifications, and drive business outcomes.
- Cisco AI Network Analytics - AI and machine learning technologies are implemented on Cisco DNA Center and in the AI Network Analytics cloud to enhance the insight and remediation capabilities of Cisco DNA Assurance.
All Cisco DNA Subscription offers include embedded software support with the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC), knowledge base access, and software downloads. Additional services, such as Cisco Solution Support with Smart Net Total Care and Cisco Solution Support with Software Support Services, are available for purchase separately.
Cisco platforms supported by Cisco DNA Advantage subscription
The following access-point platforms are supported:
- All Wave 2 Cisco Aironet access points are fully supported.
- Wave 1 access points are supported with limited capabilities.
- All Catalyst 9100 access points are fully supported.
The following Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) platforms are supported:
- Cisco 3504, 5520, 8540, and 9800 WLCs are supported.
For a full list of features in Cisco DNA Advantage, Cisco DNA Essentials, as well as Network Advantage and Network Essentials, please refer to the Cisco DNA Software for Wireless feature matrix.