Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller
End-of-Life — Migrate to Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series
End of Sale
End of Support
Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller – End-of-Life Notice
The Cisco 8540 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 8540 controllers, our team can help plan a smooth migration path to the Catalyst 9800 platform.
Overview:
The Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller provides centralized control, management, and troubleshooting for high-scale deployments in service provider and large campus deployments. It offers flexibility to support multiple deployment modes in the same controller: for example, centralized mode for campus, Cisco FlexConnect™ mode for lean branches managed over the WAN, and mesh (bridge) mode for deployments where full Ethernet cabling is unavailable. As a component of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, this controller provides real-time communications between Cisco Aironet® access points, the Cisco Prime® Infrastructure, and the Cisco Mobility Services Engine, and is interoperable with other Cisco 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 8540 Wireless Controller, optimized for 802.11ac Wave2 performance, high scale, and enhanced system uptime, supports:
- Intent-driven programmability and streaming telemetry.
- 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, Cisco's Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) capability. This allows 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.
- Embedded wireless Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policy classification engine that allows classification of client devices and application of user group based policies.
- Deployment of 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.
- Wi-Fi Alliance Passpoint (Hotspot 2.0) for mobile data offload.
- Network-based mobility management with Proxy Mobile IPv6 Mobility Access Gateway (MAG) and eGRE support for integration with cellular data networks.
- 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 offers 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. Consolidate multiple controllers into one controller with support for up to 6000 access points and 64,000 clients with a single point of touch
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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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| Service provider Wi-Fi |
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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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| Environmentally responsible |
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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 Wave1 and Wave2 |
| Wired/switching/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 |
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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 dimensions |
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| Environmental conditions | Air temperature:
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| Regulatory compliance | CE Markings per directives 2004/108/EC and 2006/95/EC Safety:
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Documentation:
Download the Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller Datasheet (PDF).