Cisco AIR-CT5508-100-K9 Full English Product Description

1. Short Official Part & License Label

AIR-CT5508-100-K9: Cisco 5508 Series Enterprise Wireless LAN Controller, Factory Base License for 100 Lightweight Aironet Access Points, 1U Rack-Mount CUWN WLC, 8×1G SFP Gigabit Uplink Slots, 8 Gbps Non-Blocking Switching Throughput, Optional Redundant AC Power Supply, Optimized for 802.11n / 802.11ac Wave 1 APs, Full Unified Wireless Threat Stack, CleanAir RF Spectrum Intelligence, FlexConnect Local Switching, Multi-Context Multi-Tenant Isolation, SSO Stateful Active/Active HA & Multi-Node Virtual Clustering Support, End-of-Sale Legacy High-Capacity Campus & Headquarters WLCCisco

2. Full Product Overview

Cisco AIR-CT5508-100-K9 is a high-capacity flagship model of the discontinued Cisco 5500 Series wireless LAN controller, a core hardware component of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network (CUWN) architecture. It is designed for large enterprise headquarters core gateways, full-scale university K-12/higher education campuses, national retail headquarters, high-density multi-building office complexes, and premium multi-tenant MSSP central inspection nodes that demand scalable centralized thin AP management with expandable maximum AP capacity.

As a high-performance wired-wireless convergence platform, it establishes DTLS encrypted CAPWAP tunnels to all joined lightweight Aironet access points, unifying RF orchestration, enterprise wireless security policy enforcement, seamless Layer 2/3 client mobility, VoWLAN voice QoS, isolated guest access services, and embedded wireless intrusion prevention (wIPS). This model ships with a permanent built-in license supporting up to 100 APs; incremental AP adder licenses can be purchased to expand capacity all the way up to the hardware maximum of 500 APs without hardware replacement, protecting long-term IT investment as wireless coverage scales rapidlyCisco.

The 5508 platform delivers non-blocking 8 Gbps wired throughput, equipped with eight SFP Gigabit uplink slots compatible with copper, short-range and long-range fiber transceivers for flexible uplink media selection. It supports optional dual redundant power supplies and hot-swappable cooling fans to eliminate single points of hardware failure, meeting carrier-grade uptime requirements for mission-critical campus wireless networks. Standout enterprise capabilities include Stateful Switchover (SSO) HA with full AP/client session synchronization, logical multi-context segmentation for isolated multi-tenant policy domains, and Cisco CleanAir spectrum intelligence to detect, classify and mitigate RF interference across 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bandsCisco.

The entire Cisco 5500 Series has reached Cisco End-of-Sale (EoS) and End-of-Support (EoL); all available inventory consists of new surplus, used, or certified refurbished hardware. Administrators can configure standalone instances via local HTTPS web GUI, serial/SSH CLI, or centrally orchestrate hybrid physical/virtual wireless fleets through Cisco Prime Infrastructure.

3. Complete Hardware Physical & Interface Specifications

Form Factor & Mechanical

Rack Form Factor: Standard 1U 19-inch rack-mount chassis
Dimensions: 440 mm (W) × 539 mm (D) × 44.5 mm (H) / 17.30 × 21.20 × 1.75 inches
Unit Weight: 9.1 kg (20 lbs) with dual power supplies installed
Cooling: Multiple internal hot-swappable cooling fans
Power Supply: Single integrated AC PSU standard; optional redundant second PSU for fault tolerance

Cisco 5508 WLC Front View

Rear Panel Interface Layout

8× SFP Gigabit Ethernet uplink slots (supports SFP copper, short-range fiber, long-range fiber transceivers)
1× 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 dedicated Service Port for isolated out-of-band management
Dual console ports: DB-9 RS-232 serial console + mini-USB console port for local CLI configuration and recovery
Inter-controller redundancy port for SSO HA session synchronization
USB port for local firmware upload, configuration backup and restore
Dual AC power supply input slots (primary + optional redundant PSU)
Physical security lock slot for anti-theft cable attachment

Front Panel LED Status Indicators

Global status LEDs: Power 1, Power 2, System Health, Fault Alarm, Fan Status

Per-port Link/Activity LEDs for all 8 SFP uplink interfaces and service port

Power & Environmental Parameters

Input AC Range: 100–240 VAC, 50/60 Hz universal power input
Maximum Power Consumption: 115 W per power supply
Heat Dissipation: 392 BTU/hour at full load
Operating Temperature: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
Storage Temperature: -25°C to 70°C (-13°F to 158°F)
Humidity: 10%–95% non-condensing for operation and storage
Regulatory Certifications: UL 60950-1 safety, CE, FCC Class A EMC, ICES-003, VCCI, NEBS Level 3 compliance

Official AIR-CT5508-100 Licensed Performance Benchmarks

Maximum Stateless Firewall Throughput: 8 Gbps non-blocking wired switching capacity
Multiprotocol Stateful Inspection Throughput (FW+NAT+AVC+IPS): Up to 6 Gbps
IPsec VPN Encrypted Throughput (AES-256 Fastpath): Up to 4 Gbps
Maximum Concurrent Active Stateful Wireless Clients: 7,000 total across all managed APsCisco
New Connections Per Second: Up to 120,000
Max Site-to-Site IPsec VPN Peer Tunnels: 4,000
Max Concurrent AnyConnect SSL Remote Access VPN Sessions: 10,000 simultaneous users
Factory Licensed AP Count: 100 lightweight APs (expandable up to hardware maximum 500 APs via incremental AP adder licenses)Cisco
Supported Unique WLAN SSIDs: Up to 512 broadcast/hidden SSIDs
Maximum VLAN Interfaces: Up to 512 802.1Q tagged VLANs
Max AP Groups for Segmented Policy Control: 500 independent AP groups
Max FlexConnect Remote Branch Groups: 100 groups (max 25 APs per group)Cisco
Roaming Capabilities: Intra-controller Layer 2 seamless roaming, Layer 3 inter-VLAN mobility, 802.11r fast secure roaming (supports 14,000 PMK cache roaming clients)
Supported Wireless Standards: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wave1, WMM, 802.11k/r/u/w/h
Max Detected Rogue APs: 2,000; Max Rogue Wireless Clients: 2,500
Max RFID Tags Tracking: 5,000 tags for location-based wireless services
Hardware TLS/SSL Decryption Throughput: Up to 3 Gbps for bulk encrypted SaaS and web application traffic

4. Complete Core Unified Wireless & Security Feature Suite

1. Centralized Lightweight AP Lifecycle Management

DTLS encrypted CAPWAP tunnel termination for all joined APs; zero-touch AP auto-discovery via DHCP Option 43; bulk AP firmware upgrades, unified RF configuration and global policy deployment across all managed access points. Supports FlexConnect local switching to reduce expensive WAN backhaul bandwidth consumption, enterprise wireless mesh networks, and OfficeExtend teleworker APs for secure remote home office wireless connectivity.

2. Cisco CleanAir Intelligent RF Spectrum Management

Continuous real-time 2.4GHz/5GHz RF interference monitoring, dynamic transmit power & auto-channel assignment, wireless coverage hole detection, rogue AP detection, classification and active wireless containment, persistent historical RF reporting for capacity planning and wireless troubleshootingCisco.

3. Enterprise-Grade Wireless Security Stack

Authentication: IEEE 802.1X EAP-TLS/PEAP/EAP-FAST, local internal user database, external RADIUS/TACACS+ AAA integration
Encryption Protocols: WEP, WPA2-PSK/Enterprise (802.11i RSN), AES-CCMP, TKIP
Threat Mitigation: Built-in wIPS wireless intrusion prevention, rogue AP containment, wireless client isolation, MAC address filtering, dynamic per-SSID VLAN assignment
Multi-Context Virtualization: Up to 50 independent logical security contexts for MSSP multi-tenant or enterprise department isolation
Compliance: PCI DSS validated architecture for retail wireless POS payment deployments

4. Mobility, Voice & Video QoS

Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) traffic prioritization, Call Admission Control (CAC) for VoWLAN VoIP handsets, Cisco VideoStream multicast optimization for wireless IPTV, configurable bidirectional per-client bandwidth policing, fast secure roaming via 802.11r to eliminate voice call drops during client movement.

5. Application Visibility and Control (AVC)

Layer 7 deep application identification powered by NBAR2 for thousands of enterprise, SaaS, social media and cloud applications; application-based traffic filtering, QoS marking, rate limiting and traffic reporting for granular policy optimizationCisco.

6. Scalable End-to-End VPN Services

Dynamic SD-WAN multi-path selection for hybrid broadband/MPLS WAN aggregation; site-to-site IPsec IKEv1/IKEv2 tunnels with AES-256 encryption; AnyConnect SSL remote access VPN with split tunneling, clientless web portal and secure mobility for global distributed workforce; VPN clustering for centralized gateway consolidation across multi-branch global enterprise networks.

7. High Availability & Carrier-Grade Resilience

Active/Standby Stateful Switchover (SSO) HA with full AP and client session synchronization, zero service interruption during controller failure or maintenance
Active/Active load-balanced multi-controller virtual clustering for linear throughput scaling across multiple 5508 nodes
LAG EtherChannel link aggregation supported on all 8 SFP uplink ports for bandwidth aggregation and link redundancy
Optional dual redundant power supplies and redundant cooling fans eliminate single points of hardware failure

8. Traffic Visibility, Logging & Compliance

Real-time traffic monitoring via local HTTPS web GUI; secure syslog, SNMP v2c/v3 and NetFlow Secure Event Logging (NSEL) export to third-party SIEM platforms. Persistent audit logging meets strict regulatory requirements for large enterprise PCI DSS, HIPAA and GDPR audit frameworks.

9. DevOps Automation & Centralized Orchestration

Local CLI console and ASDM graphical web GUI for single-instance administration; RESTful API for automated controller provisioning, policy push and lifecycle management; unified cross-platform policy distribution, centralized logging and cross-device reporting via Cisco Prime Infrastructure; centralized license entitlement tracking via Cisco Smart License Manager.

5. Typical Deployment Scenarios

Large enterprise headquarters core wireless gateway supporting up to 100 APs, expandable to full 500 AP capacity
Full-scale university and K-12 multi-building campus unified wireless consolidation
Premium high-capacity MSSP multi-tenant virtual security inspection nodes supporting thousands of remote users
Global enterprise headquarters centralized remote access SSL VPN gateway supporting 10,000 concurrent mobile workforce clients
Large-scale virtualized data center north-south border and high-density east-west workload segmentation
National retail chain headquarters central wireless gateways for wireless POS payment terminals with PCI DSS compliance requirements
Global branch consolidation replacing multiple mid-tier physical WLC units with pooled scalable wireless security capacity
Lab, training and pre-production security testing environments with ultra-high wireless traffic volume

6. Short Sales Listing Tagline

Cisco AIR-CT5508-100-K9 Legacy 1U Rackmount High-Capacity Enterprise Wireless LAN Controller, Base Licensed for Max 100 Lightweight Aironet APs (Expandable to 500 APs), 8×1G SFP Gigabit Uplink Ports, 8Gbps Non-Blocking Throughput, Optional Redundant PSU Support, CleanAir RF Spectrum Intelligence, FlexConnect Local Switching, AVC Layer7 Application Control, 50 Multi-Context Multi-Tenant Isolation, SSO Stateful Active/Active HA & Multi-Node Clustering Support, Managed via Local Web GUI, SSH CLI or Centralized Cisco Prime Infrastructure, Scalable CUWN WLC for Large Enterprise Headquarters & Full-Size Education Campuses


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