--- title: Cisco SIA Antennas description: There's some new self identifying antenna tech to help automatically tell the access point of the gain of an external antenna - Cisco SIA Antennas. image: https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Blogs/Cisco%20SIA%20Antennas/Cisco%20Self%20Identifying%20Antennas%20(Instagram).gif --- [![IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500 (1)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500%20(1).png?width=200&height=59&name=IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500%20(1).png "IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500 (1)")](https://iptel.com.au) - [Home](https://iptel.com.au/) - [Solutions](https://iptel.com.au/solutions) Technologies - [Cisco Access Manager](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-access-manager) - [Cisco Catalyst Centre](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-catalyst-center) - [Cisco Meraki](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-meraki) - [Cisco SDA Fabric](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-sda-fabric) - 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[DP World](https://blog.iptel.com.au/dp-world-case-study) - [Backup Assure](https://blog.iptel.com.au/backup-assure-a-disaster-recovery-case-study) - Home [Get in Touch](https://iptel.com.au/contact-us) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ## Cisco SIA Antennas July 24, 2026 In this blog we’re going to talk about Cisco’s new Self Identifying Antenna (SIA) technology as well as some value add on the signal polarisation and why you should mix horizontal and vertical polarisation! ![Cisco Self Identifying Antennas](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Cisco%20SIA%20Antennas/Cisco%20Self%20Identifying%20Antennas.gif?width=1967&height=1053&name=Cisco%20Self%20Identifying%20Antennas.gif) ## Why use SIA Antennas To kick off with, let’s start with why would you want to use the SIA antenna in the first place? [![Cisco 9124 Antenna Options (Instagram)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Cisco%209124%20Antenna%20Guide/Cisco%209124%20Antenna%20Options%20(Instagram).gif?width=229&height=229&name=Cisco%209124%20Antenna%20Options%20(Instagram).gif)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-9124-antenna-guide)The most obvious reason is that when you plug the antenna in, the gain is auto sensed. Without this, the controller will tend to assume that this is a 6dBi antenna – if you in fact have a higher gain antenna plugged in, you’ll have lost the extra gain as the WLC won’t know it’s there and won’t act accordingly. With the SIA antennas the AP will automatically detect the gain and adjust its TX power accordingly. Related reading - [Cisco 9124](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-9124) - [Wi-Fi 6](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wi-fi6-cio-briefing) - [Wi-Fi Design Technical Requirements](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wi-fi-design-technical-requirements) - [Wi-Fi Design Business Requirements](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wi-fi-design-business-requirements) --- ## Antenna Polarity Many antennas are capable of supporting horizontal and vertical polarisation on the radiated signal. Why would you need this? [![Stadium Wi-Fi (Instagram)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Stadium%20Wi-Fi/Stadium%20Wi-Fi%20(Instagram).png?width=233&height=233&name=Stadium%20Wi-Fi%20(Instagram).png)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/stadium-wi-fi)One way of improving your Wi-Fi coverage indoors is to take advantage of multipath. Signals bouncing off of objects allow you to receive those signals in locations where the AP may not be providing the strongest signal. For external installations though, this is unlikely to be the case – you’re dealing with free space, so mixing antenna polarity can really help. Essentially you have a bit of spatial diversity – you’re more likely to have better performance as you have a better spread of signal arriving at the receiving AP. This is also more likely to give better throughput, so it’s recommended to mix the use of horizontal and vertical polarisation if you can, especially in the outdoors environment. Related reading - [Effect of Trees on Wi-Fi](https://blog.iptel.com.au/effect-of-trees-on-wi-fi) - [Wi-Fi vs 5G](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-private-5g) --- ## Cisco’s Patch Antennas Let’s have a side note on the antenna ports. The Cisco AIR-ANT2588P3M-N is shown below. This is really a legacy antenna now and the photo below shows how this antenna looks. First up, of note is that there are three ports on the back of this antenna: ![AIR-ANT2588P3M-N](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Cisco%20SIA%20Antennas/AIR-ANT2588P3M-N.png?width=341&height=303&name=AIR-ANT2588P3M-N.png) The newer SIA antenna (AIR-ANT2588P4M-NS) – the ‘S’ at the end of the part code notates that this is a SIA antenna – has four ports: ![AIR-ANT2588P4M-NS](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Cisco%20SIA%20Antennas/AIR-ANT2588P4M-NS.png?width=278&height=250&name=AIR-ANT2588P4M-NS.png) Related reading - [ThousandEyes vs DNA Center](https://blog.iptel.com.au/thousandeyes-vs-dna-center) - [Wi-Fi 6 vs 5G: Complementary Technologies](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-private-5g) - [How to Fault find a Wi-Fi Network](https://blog.iptel.com.au/how-to-review-a-wifi-installation-part-1) --- ## Hot Tip: Console Cables If you’re installing APs in difficult to get to locations, do yourself a favour and run in the extra cable to connect to the console of the AP. This can be invaluable – if you ever need to flash the AP or debug something, you might be very glad that you installed that extra cable and didn’t need to get a cherry picker out to get all the way up to the AP. Related reading - [RF Design Surveys](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wifi-predictive-survey-wifi-heatmaps) - [Cheapest vs Best Value Design](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cheapest-vs-best-value-wifi-design) --- ## Cisco SIA Antennas: Summary In this blog we've taken a look at the basic concept of Self Identifying Antennas (SIA). These are the recommended option to use with the Cisco 9124 and newer APs, as you will not need to manually configure the antenna gain. Using the SIA antennas just means one less thing to worry about.  Mixing of horizontal and vertical polarisation is a good technique to help you achieve better coverage, which essentially means throughput. The final note in this blog was about console cables. We wouldn't recommend universally installing these for a typical internal installation - but if you're installing in a really hard to reach place, they could be worth their weight in gold if you ever have to debug the AP or reflash it - worth considering anyway.   #### Related Articles ###### [Cisco 9124AXE Antenna Options](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-9124axe-antenna-options) Sept 21, 2026 ###### [Cisco 9124 Antenna Guide](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-9124-antenna-guide) July 24, 2026 ###### [Cisco 9124](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-9124) July 24, 2026 Free tool ### How Many Wi-Fi Access Points Do You Need? Work out APs, PoE and switch ports floor by floor, using the same survey grades our Cisco wireless engineers design to. Takes under a minute. 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