Cisco AIR-CT3504-100-K9 Full English Product Description

1. Short Official Part & License Label

AIR-CT3504-100-K9: Cisco 3504 Series High-Capacity Wireless LAN Controller, Factory Pre-Licensed for Max 100 Lightweight Aironet Access Points, Compact Desktop Chassis with Optional 1U Rack-Mount Kit, 5× Multigigabit Ethernet Ports (2 Ports Support IEEE 802.3af PoE), 4 Gbps Total System Throughput, CUWN Unified Wireless Architecture, DNA-Ready, 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 High-Scale Branch & SMB WLC

2. Full Product Overview

The Cisco AIR-CT3504-100-K9 is the maximum base licensed model within the discontinued Cisco 3504 wireless LAN controller lineup, designed for large multi-building enterprise branch offices, national retail chains, full K-12 school campuses, medium-density hospitality venues and large-scale SMB offices that require centralized CAPWAP lightweight AP management with far greater AP capacity than the 8 AP and 25 AP base SKUs. 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 policy enforcement, seamless Layer 2/3 client mobility, isolated guest access services, VoWLAN QoS optimization, and embedded wireless intrusion prevention (wIPS).

This unit ships with a permanent built-in license supporting up to 100 lightweight APs; incremental RTU AP adder licenses can expand capacity up to the hardware maximum of 150 APs without hardware replacement, supporting long-term wireless network expansion. It features five integrated Multigigabit Ethernet ports, two of which 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 environments running wireless POS payment terminals.

The entire Cisco 3504 platform reached Cisco End-of-Sale (EoS) on January 31, 2021, with End-of-Support (EoL) scheduled for January 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 enterprise advantage over older 2500 Series 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

Base Form Factor: Compact desktop chassis; optional rack mount kit (AIR-CT2504-RMNT=) converts to standard 1U 19-inch rack unit
Dimensions: 43.94 mm (H) × 203.2 mm (W) × 271.5 mm (D) / 1.73 × 8.00 × 10.69 inches
Unit Weight: 4.4 lbs (2.0 kg) with external AC power adapter
Cooling: Single internal cooling fan for continuous stable operation
Power Supply: External universal AC power brick (PWR-3504-AC=)

Rear Panel Interface Layout

5× Multigigabit Ethernet ports: 1× 5G/mGig port + 4× 10/100/1000 GE ports (Ports 4 & 5 support IEEE 802.3af PoE power output for lightweight APs)
RJ45 RS-232 serial console port for out-of-band initial configuration and recovery
Dedicated inter-controller redundancy port for SSO HA session synchronization
Isolated RJ45 out-of-band Service Port for management
USB 3.0 port for local firmware upload, config backup and restore
DC power input jack for external AC power brick
Physical security lock slot for anti-theft cable attachment

Front Panel LED Indicators

Global status LEDs: Power, System Health, Critical Fault Alarm, Total Joined AP Count

Per-port Link/Activity LEDs for all five Multigigabit interfaces, service port and redundancy port

Power & Environmental Parameters

Input AC Range: 100–240 VAC, 50/60 Hz universal external power supply
PoE Power Budget: Limited capacity to power up to two PoE-powered lightweight APs via ports 4 and 5
Maximum Power Consumption: 98 W with PoE fully loaded
Operating Temperature: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
Storage Temperature: -20°C to 70°C (-4°F to 158°F)
Humidity: 5%–95% non-condensing (operation & storage)
Regulatory Certifications: UL 60950-1 safety, CE, FCC Class B EMC, ICES-003, VCCI

4. Official Capacity & Performance Benchmarks

Factory Licensed AP Count: 100 lightweight APs (expandable up to hardware maximum 150 APs via incremental RTU AP adder licenses)
Maximum Concurrent Wireless Client Stations: Up to 3,000 total across all managed APs
System-Wide Total Throughput Cap: 4 Gbps non-blocking Multigigabit switching capacity
Supported Unique WLAN SSIDs: Up to 512 broadcast/hidden SSIDs
Maximum VLAN Interfaces: Up to 4,096 802.1Q 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)
Roaming Capabilities: Intra-controller Layer 2 seamless roaming; Layer 3 inter-VLAN mobility; fast secure 802.11r roaming (supports 14,000 PMK cache roaming clients)
Supported Wireless Standards: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wave 2, WMM, 802.11k/r/u/w/h
Max Detected Rogue APs: 600; Max Rogue Wireless Clients: 1,500
Max RFID Tags Tracking: 1,500 tags for location-based wireless services
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, rogue AP detection, classification and active wireless containment, persistent historical RF reporting for capacity planning and wireless troubleshooting.

3. Enterprise-Grade Wireless Security Stack

Authentication: IEEE 802.1X EAP-TLS/PEAP/PEAPv0/EAP-FAST, local internal user database, external RADIUS/TACACS+ AAA integration
Encryption Protocols: WEP, WPA2-PSK/Enterprise, WPA3, AES-CCMP, TKIP
Threat Mitigation: Built-in wIPS wireless intrusion prevention, rogue AP containment, wireless client isolation, MAC address filtering, dynamic VLAN assignment per SSID
Compliance: PCI DSS validated architecture for retail wireless 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 unified guest deployments.

7. High Availability & Link Aggregation

Active/Standby Stateful Switchover (SSO) HA with full AP and client session synchronization, zero service interruption during controller failure or hardware maintenance
N+1 controller redundancy supported for multi-controller load balancing
LAG EtherChannel link aggregation supported on all five Multigigabit ports for bandwidth aggregation and link redundancy

8. Multi-Mode Device Management & Logging

Local HTTPS web GUI for standalone monitoring and configuration
Command-line access via SSH v2, Telnet or RJ45 serial console
SNMP v1/v2c/v3 & RMON for third-party NMS monitoring integration
Secure persistent syslog export for security audit and event tracking
Centralized multi-controller orchestration via Cisco Prime Infrastructure

6. Typical Deployment Scenarios

Large enterprise remote branch offices deploying up to 100 wireless access points
Multi-location retail chains, full K-12 and higher education multi-building campuses
Mid-sized hospitality venues, hotels and resorts with medium-to-high density wireless coverage
Large-scale SMB office wireless consolidation utilizing built-in PoE ports to eliminate external power injectors
IT lab training environments, legacy CUWN network upgrade staging and large-scale temporary event wireless networks
Distributed FlexConnect remote branch deployments leveraging local switching to reduce expensive WAN bandwidth consumption

7. Short Sales Listing Tagline

Cisco AIR-CT3504-100-K9 Legacy Compact Wireless LAN Controller, Factory Licensed to Manage Max 100 Lightweight Aironet APs (Expandable to Hardware Max 150 APs), 5×Multigigabit Ethernet Ports with Dual 802.3af PoE Output, 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 & LAG Support, Web GUI/SSH/SNMP/Cisco Prime Managed, EoS High-Capacity CUWN WLC for Large Campus & Multi-Location Retail Headquarter Deployments


	© 2026 Kino Technology Limited. All Rights Reserved. \| Hong Kong Registered · Shenzhen Operation \| New & Genuine Used Network Equipment Supplier