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Built from the ground up for the intent-based network, Cisco® Catalyst® 9800 Series Wireless Controllers are Cisco IOS® XE based and integrate Cisco RF excellence to create the best-in-class wireless experience for your evolving and growing organization.
The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers are feature rich and enterprise ready to power your business-critical operations and transform end-customer experiences:
The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers are available in multiple form factors:
Table 1. Cisco wireless controller feature comparison
Network requirements for the digital organization |
Features |
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers |
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers |
Latest Cisco Wireless Controllers |
Benefits |
Cisco 2504, 5508, 7510, and 8510 |
Cisco 3504, 5520, and 8540 |
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series |
Always on |
High Availability and resiliency |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
Solid-state drives with no moving parts. Hardware redundancy for power supplies, drives, and fans. And a fast restart with enhanced uptime. |
Hot and cold patching |
No |
No |
✔ |
Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers allow seamless software updates without shutting down the entire network. |
|
Seamless multisite upgrades |
No |
No |
✔ |
Have a large network and don’t have the time to deploy an upgrade? The new controllers allow you to deploy in different parts of the network—without taking the entire network offline. |
Secure |
Encrypted Traffic Analytics |
No |
No |
✔ |
Wireless infrastructure becomes a stronger first line of defense by detecting threats inside encrypted traffic. |
Cisco Software-Defined Access (SD-Access) |
No |
✔ |
✔ |
SD-Access allows users to optimize, personalize, and secure their wireless network and streamline service operations. |
|
Built-in security with trustworthy solutions |
No |
✔ |
✔ |
Security is built into all infrastructure hardware and software through Cisco trustworthy solutions. |
Deploy anywhere |
||||
Cloud agnostic |
No |
No |
✔ |
Deploy the way you want. Whether it’s in a public or private cloud, it’s your choice. |
Multimode controller |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
Determine which mode you want to deploy your network on: Centralized mode, Cisco FlexConnect® mode, or Mesh mode. |
Open and programmable |
Open and programmable APIs |
No |
No |
✔ |
Leverage the power of Cisco IOS XE to consume insights and telemetry or automate your network operations. |
Streaming telemetry |
No |
✔ |
✔ |
Receive your network data quicker and easier. |
|
Native YANG models |
No |
No |
✔ |
Superior to SNMP, YANG allows you to map and structure your data in the precise way you want it. |
|
Cisco Catalyst Center |
No |
✔ |
✔ |
Simplifies network management by reducing risk and allows for automated device deployment. Plus it lowers costs. |
Scale and performance |
Greater throughput |
Up to 10 Gbps |
Up to 40 Gbps |
Up to 100 Gbps |
The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series controllers support today’s standard and are ready for tomorrow. This means they can handle your network now and later when the new standard is released. |
Application Visibility and Control |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
Cisco Application Visibility and Control is integrated, giving you more visibility into and control over your network. Cisco TrustSec® and access control lists are also integrated and provide the ability to segregate resources without physical segmentation or managing virtual LANs. |
|
I/O support |
Up to 10 GE |
Up to 10 GE |
Up to 100 GE |
The Cisco Catalyst controllers are able to support 1 GE, 10 GE, 25 GE, 40 GE, and 100 GE I/O interfaces. This gives you more flexibility when it comes to your connections. |
Cisco Services for wireless and mobility delivers unmatched expertise, networking insights, industry-leading best practices, and innovative tools to effectively migrate, adopt, accelerate deployment, and securely manage your Cisco Wireless Controllers. We help you transition to advanced wireless or mobility solutions by enhancing your network’s performance with a full lifecycle of advisory, implementation, optimization, technical, managed, and training services. Our team of experts identify architectural gaps to improve the reliability, security, and resiliency of your wireless network while reducing risks costs, complexity, and disruption for desired business outcomes.
Learn more about Cisco Services at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/wireless/service-listing.html.
Learn more about Cisco wireless solutions at https://www.cisco.com/go/wireless.