Cisco C9300-24S-A | Catalyst 9300 24-Port Gigabit SFP Switch, Modular Uplinks

Q: Does the C9300-24S-A support Power over Ethernet?
A: No, this model does not support PoE. It features 24x 1G SFP fiber ports only. For PoE capabilities with copper ports, consider the C9300-24P-A or C9300-24U-A models.

Q: What uplink modules are compatible with this switch?
A: The C9300-24S-A has one modular uplink slot that supports various network modules including C9300-NM-4G (4x 1G), C9300-NM-8X (8x 10G SFP+), C9300-NM-2Q (2x 40G QSFP+), and C9300-NM-2Y (2x 25G SFP28). It also supports Catalyst 3850 uplink modules for backward compatibility.

Q: Can I stack this switch with other Catalyst 9300 models?
A: Yes, the C9300-24S-A supports StackWise-480 stacking with up to 8 switches. It can be mixed-stacked with other C9300 and C9300X modular uplink models at StackWise-480 speeds. However, it cannot be stacked with fixed uplink C9300L models or Catalyst 3850/3650 switches.

Q: What is the difference between Network Essentials and Network Advantage licenses?
A: Network Advantage (included with -A models) provides full Layer 3 routing capabilities including BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, VRF-Lite, MPLS, and SD-Access fabric roles such as Control Plane and Border Node. Network Essentials (-E models) offers basic Layer 2/3 switching and can only function as a Fabric Edge node in SD-Access deployments.

Q: Is this switch suitable for fiber-to-the-desktop deployments?
A: Yes, the C9300-24S-A is ideal for fiber-to-the-desktop applications requiring electromagnetic interference-free connectivity, long-distance fiber links, or enhanced physical security. It is commonly deployed in sensitive environments such as healthcare facilities, industrial control rooms, and secure government installations where copper cabling is not suitable.