Cisco 3504 Wireless Controller
End-of-Life — Migrate to Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series
End of Sale
End of Support
Cisco 3504 Wireless Controller – End-of-Life Notice
The Cisco 3504 Wireless Controller has reached its End of Sale (EOS) and is no longer available for new purchase from Cisco.
Cisco will continue limited support for existing deployments until the official End of Support (EOS) date defined in Cisco’s product lifecycle policy. Organizations planning long-term wireless infrastructure should begin migrating to Cisco’s modern Catalyst wireless platform.
Recommended Replacement
Cisco recommends upgrading to the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers, the next-generation wireless architecture designed for modern enterprise networks.
- Built for Wi-Fi 6 / Wi-Fi 6E high-density environments
- Enterprise-grade security and policy control
- IOS-XE based architecture with automation and programmability
- Scalable deployment for campus, branch, and cloud environments
If you currently operate Cisco 3504 controllers, our team can help plan a smooth migration path to the Catalyst 9800 platform.
Overview:
The Cisco 3504 Wireless Controller provides centralized control, management, and troubleshooting for small to medium-sized enterprises and branch offices. It offers flexibility to support multiple deployment modes in the same controller—a centralized mode for campus environments, Cisco FlexConnect® mode for lean branches managed over the WAN, and a mesh (bridge) mode for deployments in which full Ethernet cabling is unavailable. As a component of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, the 3504 controller provides real-time communications between Cisco Aironet® access points, Cisco Prime® Infrastructure, and the Cisco Mobility Services Engine, and is interoperable with the Cisco 5520 and 8540 Wireless Controllers.
The Cisco Digital Network Architecture (Cisco DNA) is an open and extensible, software-driven architecture that accelerates and simplifies your enterprise network operations. The programmable architecture frees your IT staff from time-consuming, repetitive network configuration tasks so they can focus instead on innovation that positively transforms your business. SD-Access, as part of Cisco DNA, enables policy-based automation from edge to cloud with foundational capabilities. Cisco DNA Assurance, also part of Cisco DNA, provides a single source to monitor, modify, and manage your network and application data.
The Cisco 3504 Wireless Controller with Cisco Multigigabit Ethernet technology is optimized for 802.11ac Wave 2 performance, high scale, and enhanced system uptime. It offers:
- Intent-driven programmability and streaming telemetry.
- Quiet operation, with a small form factor and compact design ideal for space-constrained deployments, providing flexibility without compromising on features.
- Cisco Multigigabit Ethernet technology to support next-generation 802.11ac Wave 2 deployments using existing cabling infrastructure.
- Subsecond access point and client failover for uninterrupted application availability.
- Extraordinary visibility into application traffic, using Cisco Application Visibility and Control (AVC), the technology that includes the Network-Based Application Recognition 2 (NBAR2) engine, with Cisco's Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) capability. This allows the 3504 to mark, prioritize, and block to conserve network bandwidth and enhance security. Customers can optionally export the flows to Cisco Prime Infrastructure or a third-party NetFlow collector.
- An embedded wireless Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policy classification engine that allows classification of client devices and application of user group policies.
- Guest access and Bonjour and Chromecast services in centralized deployments.
- Software-defined segmentation with Cisco TrustSec® technology, reducing Access Control List (ACL) maintenance, complexity, and overhead.
- Integrated Cisco CleanAir® technology, providing the industry’s only self-healing and self-optimizing wireless network.
- A simplified GUI wizard for quick setup and intuitive dashboards for monitoring and troubleshooting.
- Cisco DNA and SD-Access Wireless, as well as Cisco DNA Assurance.
Features & Benefits:
| Feature | Benefits |
|---|---|
| Cisco DNA SD-Access Wireless | SD-Access Wireless is Cisco’s next-generation architecture for enterprise networks. It is the industry’s first policy-based automation from the edge to the cloud. It enables network access in minutes for any user or device to any application without compromising on security. SD-Access Wireless enables policy-based automation for wired and wireless, automated provisioning of wired and wireless networks, group-based policy for users and connected devices, and a distributed wireless data plane for campus deployments. In addition, all client roams are treated as Layer 2 roams across the network for distributed traffic. |
| Cisco DNA Analytics and Assurance | Cisco DNA Analytics and Assurance offer comprehensive network visibility. It collects data from users, devices, and applications to proactively identify problems. Network analytics and automation help IT quickly resolve issues, so you can increase availability and deliver a better user experience. |
| Scalability and performance | Optimized to enable 802.11ac Wave 2 next-generation networks, supporting:
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| Flexibility and ease of deployment |
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| RF management |
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| Multimode with indoor/ outdoor mesh access points |
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| Comprehensive end-to-end security |
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| End-to-end voice |
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| Fault tolerance and high availability |
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| Cisco Enterprise Wireless Mesh |
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| WLAN express setup |
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| High-performance video |
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| Mobility, security, and management for IPv6 and dual-stack clients |
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| Energy efficiency |
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Technical Specifications:
| Item | Specifications |
|---|---|
| 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 Wave 1 and Wave 2 |
| 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 Request For Comments (RFC) |
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| Security standards |
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| Encryption | Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Temporal Key Integrity Protocol-Message Integrity Check (TKIP-MIC):
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| Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) |
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| Management |
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| Management interfaces |
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| Interfaces and indicators |
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| Physical and environmental | Dimensions: 1.73 x 9.5 x 8.5 in. (43.94 x 214.3 x 215.9 mm) Weight: 4.4lbs Temperature: Operating: 32 to 104 °F (0 to 40°C) Storage: -4 to 158 °F (-20 to 70°C) Humidity: Operating Humidity: 5% to 95% RH non-condensing Storage Humidity: 0% to 95% RH non-condensing Power adapter: Input power: 100 to 240 VAC; 50/60 Hz Heat dissipation(without PoE): 47W, 160BTU/hr Heat dissipation(with PoE): 98W, 335BTU/hr |
| Regulatory compliance | CE Markings per directives 2004/108/EC and 2006/95/EC Safety:
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Documentation:
Download the Cisco 3504 Wireless Controller Datasheet (PDF).