Cisco AIR-CT3504-50-K9 Full English Product Description
1. Short Official Part & License Label
AIR-CT3504-50-K9: Cisco 3504 Series Mid-High Capacity Wireless LAN Controller, Factory Pre-Licensed for Max 50 Lightweight Aironet Access Points, Compact Desktop Chassis with Optional 1U Rack Mount Kit, 4× Multigigabit Ethernet Ports (2 Ports Support IEEE 802.3af PoE), 4 Gbps Total System Throughput, DNA-Ready CUWN WLC, Supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wave 2 APs, CleanAir RF Spectrum Intelligence, FlexConnect Local Switching, AVC Layer7 Application Control, Full AP+Client Stateful Switchover (SSO) HA, End-of-Sale Legacy Enterprise Branch & SMB Wireless Controller
2. Full Product Overview
The Cisco AIR-CT3504-50-K9 is the high-capacity model within the discontinued Cisco 3504 wireless LAN controller family, designed for large enterprise remote branches, multi-location retail chains, full K-12 satellite campuses, medium-density hospitality venues and dense SMB offices that require centralized CAPWAP lightweight AP management with larger scale than AIR-CT3504-8 (8 AP) and AIR-CT3504-25 (25 AP) base variants. As a core component of Cisco Unified Wireless Network (CUWN), it establishes DTLS encrypted CAPWAP tunnels to all joined thin Aironet access points to deliver unified RF orchestration, enterprise wireless security, seamless Layer 2/3 client mobility, VoWLAN QoS optimization, isolated guest access services, and built-in wireless intrusion prevention (wIPS).
This unit ships with a permanent built-in license supporting up to 50 lightweight APs; incremental AP adder licenses can expand capacity up to the hardware maximum of 150 APs without hardware replacement, enabling long-term wireless network expansion. It integrates four Multigigabit Ethernet ports, where ports 3 and 4 provide IEEE 802.3af PoE power output to directly power connected APs and eliminate external PoE injectors for on-site deployments. Its validated PCI DSS architecture makes it suitable for retail wireless POS payment environments.
The entire Cisco 3504 platform reached Cisco End-of-Sale (EoS) Jan 31, 2021 and End-of-Support (EoL) Jan 31, 2027; all available inventory consists of surplus, used or certified refurbished hardware. It fully interoperates with all Aironet 1700/1800/2700/2800/3700/3800 Wave 1/2 lightweight access points. Administrators can configure standalone instances via local HTTPS web GUI, serial/SSH CLI, or centrally orchestrate multi-controller fleets through Cisco Prime Infrastructure. A key upgrade over older 2504 WLCs: full Stateful Switchover (SSO) HA synchronizes both AP registration and active client sessions between redundant controllers for zero-drop failover without voice call interruptions.
3. Complete Hardware Physical & Interface Specifications
Form Factor & Mechanical
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Base Form Factor: Compact desktop chassis; optional rack mount kit (AIR-CT2504-RMNT=) converts to standard 1U 19-inch rack unit
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Dimensions: 43.94 mm (H) × 203.2 mm (W) × 271.5 mm (D) / 1.73 × 8.00 × 10.69 inches
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Unit Weight: 2.0 kg (4.4 lbs) with external AC power adapter
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Cooling: Single internal cooling fan for continuous stable operation
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Power Supply: External universal AC power brick (PWR-3504-AC=)
Rear Panel Interface Layout
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4× 10/100/1000/2.5G Multigigabit RJ45 ports (Ports 3 & 4 supply IEEE 802.3af PoE power output for lightweight APs)
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RJ45 RS-232 serial console port for out-of-band initial configuration and recovery
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Physical security lock slot for anti-theft cable attachment
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DC power input jack for external AC power brick
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USB port for local firmware upload, configuration backup and restore
Front Panel LED Indicators
Global status LEDs: Power, System Health, Critical Fault Alarm, Total Joined AP Count
Per-port Link/Activity LEDs for all four Multigigabit interfaces
Power & Environmental Parameters
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Input AC Range: 100–240 VAC, 50/60 Hz universal external power supply
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PoE Power Budget: Limited capacity to power up to two PoE-powered lightweight APs via ports 3 and 4
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Maximum Power Consumption: 98 W with PoE fully loaded
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Operating Temperature: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
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Storage Temperature: -20°C to 70°C (-4°F to 158°F)
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Humidity: 5%–95% non-condensing (operation & storage)
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Regulatory Certifications: UL 60950-1 safety, CE, FCC Class B EMC, ICES-003, VCCI
4. Official Capacity & Performance Benchmarks
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Factory Licensed AP Count: 50 lightweight APs (expandable up to hardware maximum 150 APs via incremental AP adder licenses)
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Maximum Concurrent Wireless Client Stations: Up to 3,000 total across all managed APs
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System-Wide Total Throughput Cap: 4 Gbps non-blocking Multigigabit switching capacity
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Supported Unique WLAN SSIDs: Up to 512 broadcast/hidden SSIDs
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Maximum VLAN Interfaces: Up to 4,096 802.1Q tagged VLANs
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Max AP Groups for Segmented Policy Control: 500 independent AP groups
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Max FlexConnect Remote Branch Groups: 100 groups (max 25 APs per group)
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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)
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Supported Wireless Standards: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wave 2, WMM, 802.11k/r/u/w/h
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Max Detected Rogue APs: 600; Max Rogue Wireless Clients: 1,500
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Max RFID Tags Tracking: 1,500 tags for location-based wireless services
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TLS/SSL Decryption Throughput: Up to 3 Gbps for bulk encrypted SaaS and web traffic
5. Core 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 control, auto-channel assignment, wireless coverage hole detection and persistent historical RF reporting for capacity planning and wireless troubleshooting. Includes rogue AP detection, classification and active wireless containment.
3. Enterprise-Grade Wireless Security Stack
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Authentication: IEEE 802.1X EAP-TLS/PEAP/EAP-FAST, local internal user database, external RADIUS/TACACS+ AAA integration
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Encryption Protocols: WEP, WPA2/WPA3-PSK/Enterprise (802.11i RSN), AES-CCMP, TKIP
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Threat Mitigation: Built-in wIPS wireless intrusion prevention, wireless client isolation, MAC address filtering, dynamic per-SSID VLAN assignment
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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 for thousands of enterprise, SaaS, social media and cloud applications; application-based traffic filtering, QoS marking, rate limiting and traffic reporting for granular policy optimization.
6. Guest Wireless Services
Isolated dedicated guest SSID segmentation, customizable web splash-page authentication, time-limited guest user access credentials, isolated guest VLANs to separate visitor traffic from internal corporate assets, guest anchor tunneling for multi-controller deployments.
7. High Availability & Link Aggregation
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Active/Standby Stateful Switchover (SSO) HA with full AP and client session synchronization, zero service interruption during controller failure or hardware maintenance
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N+1 controller redundancy supported for multi-controller load balancing
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LAG EtherChannel link aggregation supported on all four Multigigabit ports for bandwidth aggregation and link redundancy
8. Multi-Mode Device Management & Logging
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Local HTTPS web GUI for standalone monitoring and configuration
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Command-line access via SSH v2, Telnet or RJ45 serial console
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SNMP v1/v2c/v3 & RMON for third-party NMS monitoring integration
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Secure persistent syslog export for security audit and event tracking
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Centralized multi-controller orchestration via Cisco Prime Infrastructure
6. Typical Deployment Scenarios
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Large enterprise remote branch offices deploying up to 50 wireless access points
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Multi-location retail chains, full K-12 satellite school campuses and medium medical clinics
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Mid-sized hospitality venues, hotels and resorts with medium-to-high density wireless coverage
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SMB office wireless consolidation utilizing built-in PoE ports to eliminate external power injectors
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IT lab training environments, legacy CUWN network upgrade staging and medium-to-large scale temporary event wireless networks
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Distributed FlexConnect remote branch deployments leveraging local switching to reduce expensive WAN bandwidth consumption
7. Short Sales Listing Tagline
Cisco AIR-CT3504-50-K9 Legacy Compact Wireless LAN Controller, Factory Licensed for Max 50 Lightweight Aironet APs (Expandable to 150 APs), 4×Multigigabit Ethernet Ports with Dual 802.3af PoE, Desktop / Optional 1U Rack Mount, 4Gbps System Non-Blocking Throughput, CleanAir RF Spectrum Intelligence, FlexConnect Local Switching, AVC Layer7 Application Control, WPA2/WPA3 Enterprise Security, Full AP+Client SSO Stateful HA, Web GUI/SSH/SNMP/Cisco Prime Managed, EoS Mid-High Capacity CUWN WLC for Large Enterprise Branches & Multi-Location Retail Deployments
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