Cisco WS-C3850-12X48U-L | Catalyst 3850 48-Port UPOE Switch, 630W, 12x mGig 10G, Layer 3

Q: What are multigigabit ports and what speeds do they support?
A: The 12 multigigabit ports on this switch support auto-negotiation of multiple speeds: 100Mbps, 1Gbps, 2.5Gbps, 5Gbps, and 10Gbps over Cat5e or higher cabling. This Cisco Multigigabit technology is ideal for high-bandwidth devices like 802.11ac/ax wireless access points, allowing you to exceed 1Gbps speeds on existing cabling infrastructure without rewiring.

Q: What is the difference between UPOE and standard PoE+?
A: Cisco Universal PoE (UPOE) provides up to 60W per port compared to 30W for PoE+ (802.3at) and 15.4W for standard PoE (802.3af). UPOE is ideal for high-power devices such as video conferencing systems, thin clients, advanced wireless access points, and PoE-powered switches. This switch provides 630W total PoE budget across all 48 ports.

Q: Can this switch function as a wireless LAN controller?
A: Yes, the Catalyst 3850 series includes integrated wireless controller functionality supporting up to 100 access points and 2,000 wireless clients per switch or stack. This enables unified wired and wireless management on a single platform, eliminating the need for a separate wireless controller appliance in many deployments.

Q: What uplink options are available through the network module slot?
A: The single network module slot supports various uplink configurations including up to 4x 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ ports or 2x 40 Gigabit Ethernet QSFP+ ports, depending on the network module installed. This provides flexible high-speed uplink options for connection to distribution or core layers.

Q: Is stacking supported and how many switches can be stacked?
A: Yes, this switch supports Cisco StackWise-480 technology providing 480 Gbps of stacking bandwidth. You can stack up to 9 switches in a single logical unit, managed as a single entity. The switch also supports StackPower for power redundancy across stack members. Note that LAN Base switches can only stack with other Catalyst 3850 LAN Base switches.