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Data Sheet

Cisco 8500 Series Wireless Controllers
The Cisco® 8500 Series Wireless Controllers are a highly scalable and flexible
platform that enables mission-critical wireless networking for enterprise and service
provider deployments.
Lower CapEx and OpEx
● Consolidate multiple controllers into one controller
with support for up to 6000 access points, and save
on rack space with a 1RU platform.
● Deploy fewer controllers in a data center by
consolidating many controllers into one controller
that supports centralized deployments and Cisco
FlexConnect™ and mesh access point deployments.
● Gain significant savings in operations by
configuring, managing, and troubleshooting up to
6000 access points and 64,000 clients with a single
point of touch.
Multilayer High Availability (HA)
● Service Set Identifier (SSID) HA with sub-second
access point and client failover.
● Dual-redundant power supplies installed.
● Dual-redundant 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.
Service Provider Wi-Fi
● Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint (Hotspot 2.0) for mobile
data offload.
● Network-based mobility management with Proxy
Mobile IPv6 Mobility Access Gateway (MAG)
support for integration with cellular data networks.

Designed for 802.11n performance and maximum scalability, the
8500 Series offers enhanced uptime for high-scale deployments
with support for:
●

6000 access points and 64,000 clients in a 1RU form factor

●

4096 VLANs for large-scale deployments

●

Sub-second access point and client failover for Service Set
Identifier (SSID) high availability

●

Dual-redundant power supplies installed (AC or DC)

●

Dual-redundant 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity

Figure 1. Cisco 8500 Series Wireless Controller

Features

Licensing Flexibility and Investment Protection
● Additional access point capacity licenses can be
added over time.
● Right-to-use licensing (with EULA acceptance) for
faster and easier license enablement.

The Cisco 8500 Series Wireless Controllers (Figure 1) provide

FlexConnect, Centralized, and Mesh Deployment
Flexibility in a Single Controller
● Intelligent RF control plane, centralized software
update, control and management, and
troubleshooting.
● Mesh access point support for deployments where
full Ethernet cabling is not available.
● Deploy Cisco FlexConnect in sites with up to 100
access points in up to 2000 groups.

controller: for example, centralized mode for campus, Cisco

Comprehensive Wired and Wireless Security
● Full access point-to-controller encryption via the
Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points
(CAPWAP) protocol.
● Supports rogue access point detection and
detection of denial-of-service attacks.
● Management frame protection detects malicious
users and alerts network administrators.
Secured Guest Access
● Deploy simple and secure guest access services
across 6000 sites.

centralized control, management, and troubleshooting for
enterprise and service provider deployments. The 8500 Series
offers flexibility to support multiple deployment modes in the same
FlexConnect™ mode for lean branches managed over the WAN,
and mesh (bridge) mode for deployments where full Ethernet
cabling is unavailable.
The Cisco 8500 Series Wireless Controllers support Cisco
Application Visibility and Control (AVC). Cisco AVC includes the
Network-Based Application Recognition 2 (NBAR-2) engine,
Cisco’s deep packet inspection (DPI) capability, which classifies
applications, applies quality of service (QoS) settings to either drop
or mark the traffic, and prioritizes business-critical applications in
the network. Cisco AVC uses NetFlow Version 9 to export the flows
to Cisco Prime™ Infrastructure or a third-party NetFlow collector.

© 2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.

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