Cisco Catalyst WS-C3850-48P-S Full English Product Description

1. Short Sales Title

2. Official Product Overview

Model Suffix Breakdown

• 3850: Next-gen stackable unified access multilayer switch platform with UADP ASIC, StackWise-480 stacking, hot-swappable power/fan/uplink modules, integrated full wireless mobility controller
• 48: Forty-eight front-panel standard Gigabit RJ45 downlink ports
• P: IEEE 802.3at PoE+ power architecture, maximum 30W per RJ45 port, total usable 435W PoE+ power budget
• S: IP Base IOS XE feature set (baseline Layer 3 dynamic routing, full unified wireless mobility controller, max 4000 VLANs, cross-stack HSRP/VRRP redundancy support)

Three IOS XE Feature Tier Comparison for Catalyst 3850

1. LAN Base (WS-C3850-48P-L): Pure Layer 2 only, limited static inter-VLAN routing, max 255 VLANs, lightweight limited CAPWAP AP termination only, all dynamic routing protocols disabled, no HSRP/VRRP gateway redundancy, restricted Flexible NetFlow Lite, maximum 50 APs per stackCisco.
2. IP Base (WS-C3850-48P-S): All LAN Base features + Static / RIP / EIGRP stub / PIM stub multicast routing, HSRP/VRRP gateway redundancy, full cross-stack wireless mobility controller, 4000 VLAN IDs, complete Flexible NetFlow Lite, IPv6 stub dynamic routing, cross-stack Layer 3 replication, support for up to 100 CAPWAP APs and 2000 concurrent wireless clients per stackCisco.
3. IP Services (WS-C3850-48P-E): All IP Base features + full multi-area OSPF, full EIGRP, BGPv4, full PIM sparse-dense multicast, complete end-to-end IPv6 dynamic routing, PBR, WCCP v2, VRF-Lite multi-tenancy, full Flexible NetFlow v9, WIDS/WIPS wireless intrusion prevention, TrustSec & MACsec link encryptionCisco.

Stacking Architecture

• StackWise-480 480Gbps full-duplex stacking bus: Up to nine identical Catalyst 3850 switches can be interconnected into a single logical stack under unified IP management plane, supporting distributed wire-speed Layer 2/Layer 3 forwarding, cross-stack EtherChannel link aggregation, cross-stack RSPAN port mirroring, cross-stack HSRP gateway redundancy, and cross-stack wireless AP mobility replication. StackWise-480 stacking cables sold separately as optional accessoriesCisco.
• Unified wireless stack domain: IP Base license supports full CAPWAP mobility, centralized AP licensing, full CleanAir RF spectrum monitoring, rogue AP detection, seamless cross-stack roaming, up to 100 APs and 2000 wireless clients per stack, maximum 40G wireless throughput per 48-port modelCisco.
• StackPower compatible: Enables power sharing across stacked switches when paired with StackPower cables and optional dual power supply tray kit for redundant PoE+ power distributionCisco.

Power & Port Hardware Design

3. Port & Hardware Specifications

• Front Downlink Ports: 48 × 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 auto-sensing Gigabit copper, auto MDI-X, IEEE 802.3at PoE+ (30W max per port)
• Rear Uplink Expansion Slot: 1 modular hot-swappable network module slot (supports 4×1G SFP, 2×10G SFP+, 4×10G SFP+, 8×10G SFP+, 2×40G QSFP+ uplink modules)
• Local Management Interfaces: RJ45 serial console, USB Type-B mini console, USB Type-A flash storage, dedicated out-of-band 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 management port
• Stack Interfaces: Dual StackWise-480 480Gbps stacking connectors
• Power Supply: Single modular 715W AC auto-ranging unit; optional second redundant 715W AC PSU for dual power redundancy; input 100–240V AC 50/60Hz; total usable PoE+ power budget 435W
• Front Panel LEDs: Per-port link/activity/speed/PoE+ indicators; global system fault, power, stack member ID, wireless status LEDs
• Mounting: Standard 19-inch 1RU rack-mount brackets included; wall-mount adapter optional, desktop rubber anti-slip feet supplied
• Thermal Envelope: Triple redundant hot-swappable variable-speed fan trays; operating temperature 0°C ~ +45°C, storage -40°C ~ +70°C, relative humidity 10–95% non-condensing
• Compliance Certifications: CE, FCC Class A, UL listed, VCCI Class A, RoHS compliant, NEBS Level 3 certified
• Physical Dimensions: 445 mm (W) × 44.5 mm (H, 1RU) × 488 mm (D) / 17.5 × 1.75 × 19.2 inches
• Unit Weight: 5.3 kg (11.7 lbs) with single 715W power supply
• Memory: 4 GB DRAM, 2 GB onboard flash memory for IOS XE universal images and configuration files
• Switching Fabric: 176 Gbps full-duplex non-blocking per-chassis capacity
• Forwarding Rate: 130.95 Mpps wire-speed Layer 2 / baseline Layer 3 forwarding for 64-byte packets
• MAC Address Table: Up to 32,000 unicast MAC entries
• VLAN Capacity: IP Base limit 4000 active IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs (VLAN ID range 1–4094)
• Multicast Groups: 4096 IPv4 CGMP snooping + PIM stub multicast routing groups
• Jumbo Frame Support: Up to 9198 bytes on all PoE+ Gigabit downlinks and uplink module ports
• Wireless Scale: Supports up to 100 CAPWAP wireless APs per standalone switch/stack, maximum 2000 concurrent wireless clients, 64 unique WLAN profiles, full RF monitoring, CleanAir spectrum analysis
• IPv4 Route Scale: Up to 24,000 IPv4 routed entries
• NetFlow Scale: 48,000 Flexible NetFlow Lite flow entries
• MTBF: 241,050 hours under standard office enterprise operating conditions
• Warranty: Cisco Enhanced Limited Lifetime Warranty (E-LLW)

4. Layer 2 + IP Base Baseline Layer 3 IOS XE Full Feature Set

Core Layer 2 Switching & Converged Wired-Wireless QoS Functions

• Up to 4000 IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs, VTPv3 dynamic VLAN synchronization, MSTP 802.1s multiple spanning tree
• Dual trunk encapsulation: Cisco ISL trunk + IEEE 802.1Q standard trunk on all Gigabit copper and SFP/SFP+/QSFP+ fiber ports
• Hierarchical IEEE 802.1p CoS / DSCP MQC QoS, 4 egress priority queues per port; Auto-QoS template optimized for VoIP, video conferencing and IPTV traffic prioritization
• Gigabit / 10G / 40G EtherChannel link aggregation (LACP / static PAgP), up to 8 bundled ports for uplink redundancy and cross-stack load balancing
• Rapid STP (802.1w), UplinkFast, BackboneFast, BPDU Guard, Root Guard, UDLD to eliminate Layer 2 switching loops
• Port security: Static MAC assignment, sticky dynamic MAC learning, configurable port shutdown violation actions
• Per-port broadcast/multicast/unicast storm control to mitigate flooding DoS attacks
• Local SPAN + cross-stack RSPAN port mirroring supported via StackWise-480 stacking
• CGMP (Cisco Group Management Protocol) to reduce redundant multicast flooding across unified wired/wireless domains
• Voice VLAN dedicated VoIP traffic segmentation, automated Auto QoS marking for PoE+ IP voice endpoints
• Cisco EnergyWise intelligent power management to lower idle chassis and PoE+ power consumption
• RMON Groups 1,2,3,9 real-time traffic statistics monitoring
• NTP time synchronization, CDP Cisco Discovery Protocol for end-to-end network device visibility
• Embedded web-based Device Manager, Cisco Network Assistant zero-touch stack-wide provisioning
• Full IPv6 dual-stack Layer 2 switching: IPv6 Snooping, IPv6 ACL, IPv6 QoS marking, IPv6 neighbor discovery
• Integrated Unified Wireless Controller: Mobility Agent & Mobility Controller dual modes, CAPWAP AP termination, unified wired/wireless ACL/QoS/policy enforcement, wireless rogue AP detection, 802.11r fast roaming support, baseline CleanAir RF spectrum management
• Full Flexible NetFlow Lite for granular wired/wireless traffic visibility (complete Flexible NetFlow v9 requires IP Services license upgrade)

Exclusive IP Base Baseline Layer 3 Routing Suite

• Hardware wire-speed IPv4 inter-VLAN routing via SVI switched virtual interfaces (maximum 1000 SVIs)
• Static default routing, static prefix routing, RIP v1 / RIP v2 interior gateway protocols
• Limited interior gateway support: EIGRP stub routing only (no full multi-area EIGRP)
• Multicast support: PIM stub multicast routing (no full PIM sparse-dense mode)
• First-hop redundancy protocols: HSRP, VRRP for IPv4 gateway redundancy, cross-stack HSRP fully supported
• Basic Layer 3 ingress/egress ACL for routed subnet traffic filtering
• Equal-cost multi-path (ECMP) static route load balancing across multiple fiber uplinks
• Limited IPv6 stub dynamic routing (OSPFv3/EIGRPv6 stub mode)

IP Base Routing Limitations vs IP Services

• No full multi-area OSPF, full EIGRP, BGP inter-domain core routing
• No full PIM sparse / dense / sparse-dense multicast routing
• No policy-based routing (PBR), no WCCP web cache redirection, no DVMRP multicast tunneling
• No fallback bridging for non-IP inter-VLAN traffic
• No VRF-Lite multi-tenancy segmentation

Enterprise Security Feature Suite

• IEEE 802.1X port-based NAC authentication with RADIUS/TACACS+ AAA remote access control (unified wired/wireless NAC enforcement)
• SSH v2 encrypted CLI management; SNMPv3 secure monitoring (fallback unencrypted Telnet/SNMPv1/v2c available)
• Combined Layer 2 + Layer 3 ingress access control lists for granular inbound traffic filtering
• Time-based ACL policy scheduling for restricted network access hours
• Private VLAN edge isolation to separate host communication within the same broadcast domain
• DHCP Snooping, Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI), IP Source Guard to block IP/MAC spoofing attacks
• Encrypted startup-config files, strong password encryption for local administrative credentials
• Wireless baseline security suite: WPA2/WPA3 enterprise, basic ISE identity services engine integration, rogue AP containment

5. Full Management Interfaces

1. Local Out-of-Band: RJ45 serial console port for offline configuration without network connectivity
2. Secure Remote CLI: SSH v2 encrypted command-line access; fallback unencrypted Telnet
3. In-Band Management: Embedded web GUI, SNMP v1/v2c/v3, CDP Cisco Discovery Protocol, NTP time synchronization
4. Auxiliary Interfaces: USB Type-A flash storage port for IOS XE image / config backup, dedicated out-of-band 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 management port
5. Stack & Wireless Management: Single unified IP management plane for entire StackWise-480 stack; centralized wireless AP licensing, RF and policy management across all stack members

6. Integrated Security Mitigation Suite

• Multi-level privilege CLI access with encrypted local user password storage
• IEEE 802.1X port authentication to validate wired/wireless endpoints before granting LAN access
• Port MAC address security to restrict unauthorized device connection
• STP BPDU guard and root guard to block rogue switches from altering spanning-tree topology
• Broadcast/multicast storm control to suppress flooding-based denial-of-service threats
• Private VLAN edge to isolate peer hosts on the same access VLAN
• DHCP Snooping + DAI ARP Inspection + IP Source Guard to eliminate address spoofing attacks
• SSHv2 and SNMPv3 encryption to secure remote switch management traffic over the LAN
• Manual permanent shutdown of unused RJ45/SFP/SFP+/QSFP+ ports to reduce unauthorized network attack vectors
• Dedicated management VLAN isolation to segregate switch control plane traffic from end-user data traffic
• Per-port PoE priority scheduling to protect critical voice/Wi-Fi devices during power budget shortages

7. Typical Deployment Scenarios

1. Small/Medium Enterprise Stackable Converged Wired-Wireless Routed Access Switch: 48 standard PoE+ Gigabit ports power office PoE IP phones, medium-density fiber-uplink Wi-Fi 6 APs and PoE surveillance cameras; modular uplink slot supports flexible 10G or 40G fiber aggregation to building distribution/core switches. IP Base baseline static/RIP/HSRP inter-VLAN routing eliminates small dedicated distribution routers for multi-VLAN unified wired-wireless campus segmentation, StackWise-480 stacking enables linear access-layer capacity expansion as endpoint count grows.
2. Small/Medium K-12 / Higher Education Campus Converged Network: PoE+ Gigabit ports link classroom VoIP stacks and student medium-density Wi-Fi APs; hot-swappable 10G/40G uplink modules connect to central school high-speed data center backbone for cross-campus distance learning video traffic. MSTP prevents broadcast loop failures across geographic VLAN domains, baseline multi-subnet routing meets entry-level campus convergence requirements without expensive IP Services advanced routing licenses.
3. Medium Regional Headquarters Wiring Closet Main Multilayer Switch: PoE+ Gigabit downlinks connect multi-department IP phone banks and conference room high-density Wi-Fi APs; long-distance single-mode 10G SFP+ uplink provides high-speed fiber backhaul to corporate core distribution layer. IP Base EIGRP stub + cross-stack HSRP redundancy satisfies enterprise branch multi-VLAN routing compliance without external dedicated aggregation routers.
4. Medium Retail / Hotel / Healthcare Access Pod: PoE+ Gigabit ports power lobby VoIP gateways, medium-concurrency guest Wi-Fi APs, backend POS servers and medical PoE cameras; four 10G uplinks support heavy wireless user bandwidth loads, integrated unified wireless controller removes standalone WLC hardware cost for medium AP density commercial venues.
5. Legacy Catalyst 3750 PoE+ Access Network Refresh Hardware: Drop-in stackable IP Base upgrade replacement for aging LAN Base WS-C3850-48P-L switches, fully compatible with existing enterprise fiber uplink infrastructure, unlocks baseline dynamic Layer 3 inter-VLAN routing and full unified wireless mobility control for gradual migration to Catalyst 9300 access platforms without intermediate core router upgrades.

8. Standard Package Contents

Short Commercial Version (For Quotation & Product Catalog)