Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller Data Sheet
The Cisco Catalyst 9800-L is a fix wireless controller for small and medium-sized businesses that includes automatic software updates. Built from the bottom up for intent-based networking, the Cisco Catalyst 9800-L combines Cisco IOS XE Software and Cisco RF quality to provide a best-in-class wireless experience for your growing organization. The Cisco Catalyst 9800-L is feature-rich and enterprise-ready to power your business-critical operations and transform end-user experiences.
- This option provides flexibility in your network.
- Hot and cold patching provides high availability and smooth software updates, ensuring clients and services remain operational during scheduled and unplanned events.
- The Cisco Catalyst 9800-L secures the air, IT devices, and people. Wireless communications, together with Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA) and Software-Defined Access (SD-Access), form the strongest first line of defence. The controller includes built-in security features such as Secure Boot, runtime defenses, image signing, integrity checking, and hardware authentication. Built on a modular operating system, the controller has open and customizable APIs that allow for the automation of day-0 to day-N network operations. Model-driven streaming telemetry delivers detailed information about your network and client health.
- Cisco DNA Center’s User Defined Network functionality provides end users with control over their own wireless network partition on a shared network. End users can then remotely and securely deploy their devices to this network. Cisco User Defined Network is ideal for university dormitories or extended hospital stays, as it provides both device security and control, allowing each user to determine who can connect to their network.
- Cisco DNA Center’s Assurance menu now includes a new Wi-Fi 6 readiness dashboard. It will scan the network’s inventory to ensure that all devices, and clients are compatible with the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard. After upgrading, comprehensive wireless analytics will show that the Wi-Fi 6 implementation resulted in improved performance and capacity. This is a fantastic tool that will assist your team in determining where and how the wireless network should be enhanced. It will also provide information on access point distribution by protocol (802.11 ac/n/bag), wireless airtime efficiency by protocol, and detailed performance data.
- Cisco’s Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) eliminates network downtime during software updates and upgrades. ISSU performs a comprehensive image upgrade and update while the network is still operational. The software image (or patch) is loaded onto the wireless controller while traffic forwarding remains unaffected. Throughout the update process, all access point and client sessions are preserved. With a single click, your network is instantly upgraded to the latest software.
Product Views
Feature | Description |
Maximum number of access points | 250, 500 (with Performance license) |
Maximum number of clients | 5000, 10,000 (with Performance license) |
Maximum throughput | 5 Gbps, 10 Gbps **(with Performance license) |
Maximum WLANs | 4096 |
Maximum VLANs | 4096 |
Fixed uplinks | 2x 10G/Multigigabit copper or 2x 10G/Multigigabit fiber |
Power supply | 110W, 12V DC, AC/DC adapter |
Maximum power consumption | 9800-L-C: 86.9W (with 4.5W USB load) 9800-L-F: 84.5W (assumes 2pc 2.5W SFP and with 4.5W USB load) |
Deployment modes | Centralized, Cisco Flex Connect, and fabric |
Form factor | 1RU; half-width chassis allows side-by-side installation in standard 19-in. rack |
License | Smart License enabled |
Software | Cisco IOS XE |
Management | Cisco DNA Center, Cisco Prime Infrastructure, and third party (open standards APIs) |
Interoperability | AireOS-based controllers |
Access points | Cisco Aironet 802.11ac Wave 1 and Wave 2 access points, Cisco Catalyst 9100 802.11ax access points |
Physical Dimensions
Dimension | Value |
Width | 8.5 in. (21.59 cm) |
Depth | 9.06 in. (23.01 cm) |
Height | 1.58 in. (4.02 cm) |
Weight | C9800-L-C: 3.95 lb. (1.79 kg) C9800-L-F: 4.01 lb. (1.82 kg) |
Front panel
Cisco Catalyst 9800-L-C front panel
Cisco Catalyst 9800-L-F front panel
Cisco Catalyst 9800-L -C front panel with components labeled
La bel | Description |
1 | Service port LED |
2 | Redundancy port LED |
3 | Service Port (SP) (RJ-45) for out-of-band management |
4 | Redundancy port |
5 | RJ-45 console port |
6 | Micro-B USB console |
7 | USB 3.0 port |
8 | 2x 10G/Multigigabit copper (Figure 4) 2x 10G/Multigigabit fiber (Figure 5) |
9-12 | Quad RJ-45 2.5G/1G Multigigabit Ethernet ports |
13 | Reset button |
14 | System LED |
15 | Alarm LED |
16 | High availability LED |
Ports
LED | Color | Function |
Power | Green | Green if all power rails are within spec |
System status | Green | On: Cisco IOS XE boot is complete Blinking: Cisco IOS boot in progress |
Red | On: System crash Blinking: Secure Boot failure Off: ROMMON boot | |
High Availability (HA) port | Green | On: HA active Slow blink: HA standby hot |
Amber | Slow blink: Booted with HA standby cold Fast blink: HA maintenance | |
Alarm | Green | On: ROMMON boot complete Blinking: System upgrade in progress |
Amber | On: ROMMON boot and SYSTEM bootup Blinking: Temperature error and Secure Boot failure | |
Network link LED Indicator | Green | Solid green: Link Flashing green: Activity LED off: Link down |
Label | Description |
1 | Power adapter |
2 | Kensington lock |
The Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller is powered by a single output 12V DC, 110W 120/240V AC adapter (C9800-AC-110W) that is shipped by default.
Type | Module supported |
SFP supported on the C9800-L-F-K9 Model | GLC-BX-D |
GLC-BX-U | |
GLC-SX-MMD | |
GLC-ZX-SMD | |
GLC-TE | |
FINISAR-LR | |
FINISAR-SR | |
SFP-10G-LR | |
SFP-10G-LR-S | |
SFP-10G-LRM | |
SFP-10G-LR-X | |
SFP-10G-SR | |
SFP-10G-SR-S | |
SFP-10G-SR-X | |
SFP-H10GB-CU1M | |
SFP-H10GB-CU1.5M | |
SFP-H10GB-CU2M | |
SFP-H10GB-CU2.5M | |
SFP-H10GB-CU3M | |
SFP-H10GB-CU5M | |
SFP-H10GB-ACU7M | |
SFP-H10GB-ACU10M | |
SFP supported on the C9800-L-C-K9 Model | GLC-BX-D |
| GLC-BX-U |
| GLC-LH-SMD |
| GLC-SX-MMD |
| GLC-T |
| GLC-TE |
| GLC-ZX-SMD |
Specifications
Item | Specification |
Wireless | IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11d, WMM/802.11e, 802.11h, 802.11n, 802.11k, 802.11r, 802.11u, 802.11w, 802.11ac Wave1 and Wave2, 802.11ax |
Wired, switching, and routing | IEEE 802.3 10BASE-T, IEEE 802.3u 100BASE-TX specification, 1000BASE-T, 1000BASE-SX, 1000-BASE-LH, IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging, IEEE 802.1AX Link Aggregation |
Data Requests For Comments (RFCs) | ● RFC 768 UDP ● RFC 791 IP ● RFC 2460 IPv6 ● RFC 792 ICMP ● RFC 793 TCP ● RFC 826 ARP ● RFC 1122 Requirements for Internet Hosts ● RFC 1519 CIDR ● RFC 1542 BOOTP ● RFC 2131 DHCP ● RFC 5415 CAPWAP Protocol Specification ● RFC 5416 CAPWAP Binding for 802.11 |
Security standards | ● Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) ● IEEE 802.11i (WPA2, RSN) ● Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) ● RFC 1321 MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm ● RFC 1851 ESP Triple DES Transform ● RFC 2104 HMAC: Keyed-Hashing for Message Authentication ● RFC 2246 TLS Protocol Version 1.0 ● RFC 2401 Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol ● RFC 2403 HMAC-MD5-96 within ESP and AH ● RFC 2404 HMAC-SHA-1-96 within ESP and AH ● RFC 2405 ESP DES-CBC Cipher Algorithm with Explicit IV ● RFC 2407 Interpretation for ISAKMP ● RFC 2408 ISAKMP ● RFC 2409 IKE ● RFC 2451 ESP CBC-Mode Cipher Algorithms ● RFC 3280 Internet X.509 PKI Certificate and CRL Profile ● RFC 4347 Datagram Transport Layer Security ● RFC 5246 TLS Protocol Version 1.2 |
Encryption | ● Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) RC4 40, 104 and 128 bits (both static and shared keys) ● Advanced Encryption Standard (AES): Cipher Block Chaining (CBC), Counter with CBC-MAC (CCM), Counter with Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol (CCMP) ● Data Encryption Standard (DES): DES-CBC, 3DES ● Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS): RC4 128-bit and RSA 1024- and 2048-bit ● DTLS: AES-CBC ● IPsec: DES-CBC, 3DES, AES-CBC ● 802.1AE MACsec encryption |
Security standards | ● Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) ● IEEE 802.11i (WPA2, RSN) ● Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) ● RFC 1321 MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm ● RFC 1851 ESP Triple DES Transform ● RFC 2104 HMAC: Keyed-Hashing for Message Authentication ● RFC 2246 TLS Protocol Version 1.0 ● RFC 2401 Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol ● RFC 2403 HMAC-MD5-96 within ESP and AH ● RFC 2404 HMAC-SHA-1-96 within ESP and AH ● RFC 2405 ESP DES-CBC Cipher Algorithm with Explicit IV ● RFC 2407 Interpretation for ISAKMP ● RFC 2408 ISAKMP ● RFC 2409 IKE ● RFC 2451 ESP CBC-Mode Cipher Algorithms ● RFC 3280 Internet X.509 PKI Certificate and CRL Profile ● RFC 4347 Datagram Transport Layer Security ● RFC 5246 TLS Protocol Version 1.2 |
Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) | ● IEEE 802.1X ● RFC 2548 Microsoft Vendor-Specific RADIUS Attributes ● RFC 2716 PPP EAP-TLS ● RFC 2865 RADIUS Authentication ● RFC 2866 RADIUS Accounting ● RFC 2867 RADIUS Tunnel Accounting ● RFC 2869 RADIUS Extensions ● RFC 3576 Dynamic Authorization Extensions to RADIUS ● RFC 5176 Dynamic Authorization Extensions to RADIUS ● RFC 3579 RADIUS Support for EAP ● RFC 3580 IEEE 802.1X RADIUS Guidelines ● RFC 3748 Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) ● Web-based authentication ● TACACS support for management users |
Management | ● Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) v1, v2c, v3 ● RFC 854 Telnet ● RFC 1155 Management Information for TCP/IP-Based Internets ● RFC 1156 MIB ● RFC 1157 SNMP ● RFC 1213 SNMP MIB II ● RFC 1350 TFTP ● RFC 1643 Ethernet MIB ● RFC 2030 SNTP ● RFC 2616 HTTP ● RFC 2665 Ethernet-Like Interface Types MIB ● RFC 2674 Definitions of Managed Objects for Bridges with Traffic Classes, Multicast Filtering, and Virtual Extensions ● RFC 2819 RMON MIB ● RFC 2863 Interfaces Group MIB ● RFC 3164 Syslog ● RFC 3414 User-Based Security Model (USM) for SNMPv3 ● RFC 3418 MIB for SNMP ● RFC 3636 Definitions of Managed Objects for IEEE 802.3 MAUs ● RFC 4741 Base NETCONF protocol ● RFC 4742 NETCONF over SSH ● RFC 6241 Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) ● RFC 6242 NETCONF over SSH ● RFC 5277 NETCONF event notifications ● RFC 5717 Partial Lock Remote Procedure Call ● RFC 6243 With-Defaults capability for NETCONF ● RFC 6020 YANG ● Cisco private MIBs |
Management interfaces | ● Web-based: HTTP/HTTPS ● Command-line interface: Telnet, Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol, serial port ● Cisco Prime Infrastructure |
Environmental conditions supported | Operating temperature: ● 32° to 104°F (0° to 40°C) Note: The maximum temperature is derated by 1.0°C for every 1000 ft (305 m) of altitude above sea level. Nonoperating temperature: ● –13° to 158°F (–25° to 70°C) Operating humidity: ● 5% to 95% noncondensing Nonoperating humidity: ● 0% to 95% noncondensing Altitude: ● Operating altitude: 0 to 3000 m (0 to 10,000 ft) ● Nonoperating altitude: 0 to 12,192 m (0 to 40,000 ft.) Electrical input: ● AC input frequency range: 47 to 63 Hz ● AC input range: 90 to 264 VAC Maximum power: ● 9800-L-C max measured power = 86.9W (with 4.5W USB load) ● 9800-L-F max measured power = 84.5W (assumes 2pc 2.5W SFP and with 4.5W USB load) Maximum heat dissipation: ● 9800-L-C: 296.4 Btu/hr (with 4.5W USB load) ● 9800-L-F: 288.2 Btu/hr (assumes 2pc 2.5W SFP and with 4.5W USB load) Sound power level measure: ● Normal: 40 dBA at 25C ● Maximum: 42.9 dBA at 40C Power adapter: ● Input power: 100 to 240 VAC; 50/60 Hz |