Cisco Catalyst 9300 Switch vs. 3850 Switch

Cisco Catalyst 9300 switch series is one of the latest Catalyst series, and a subseries of Catalyst 9000 series. They were launched at 2017. As the second new series, will Catalyst 3850 be replaced by Catalyst 9300? Let’s compare them now!

Cisco Catalyst 9300 Overview

Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series, the best stackable access switch, is the next generation of the industry’s most widely deployed stackable switching platform. Built for security, IoT, Mobility and the cloud, these network switches form the foundation for Cisco’s Software-Defined Access, our leading enterprise architecture.

Cisco 9300 Switch delivers these features:

• Designed for the Internet of Things Features and benefits

The series delivers IoT convergence with industry-leading scale. You get up to 384 ports of 60W perpetual Cisco UPOE, PoE+, and PoE; trustworthy security; support for audio-visual bridging (AVB) and the IEEE 1588 standard; service discovery; and IoT classification.

• Cloud ready

Simplify, secure, and transform your cloud environment. Cisco delivers a digital-ready approach that starts at the edge and extends to where applications reside.

• Optimized for mobility

Catalyst 9300 Series access switches give you smart, simple, and highly secure unified access.

• Services for proactive network management

Solve problems faster, improve operational efficiency, and reduce the risk of downtime proactively.

The Catalyst 9300 Series is our top fixed-access enterprise network switch series, stacking to 480 Gbps.

Cisco Catalyst 3850 Overview

Stackable Catalyst 3850 Series multigigabit and 10Gb switches supports Cisco StackWise-480 Technology which allowed them stack with up to 9 switches and support 480 Gbps stackable bandwidth.

Cisco 3850 Switch delivers these features:

1. An integrated wireless controller
2. Up to 40 Gb of wireless capacity per switch
3. Support for up to 100 access points and 2000 wireless clients
4. Support for 802.11ac Wave2
5. Cisco StackWise-480 technology and StackPower technology
6. Dual redundant, modular power supplies and three modular fans.

Cisco Catalyst 9300 vs. 3850 and others

As the latest Catalyst series, 9300 series should be more powerful than old series.

Table 1. Benefits of the Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series compared to other switches

Specification: Cisco Catalyst 9300 Switch vs. 3850 Switch

Mapping Between Cisco Catalyst 3850 and 9300

However, we can’t say Catalyst 9300 can replace 3850. Catalyst 9300 switch can be an upgrade model for 3850.

Learn more:

1. Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Switches: Features, Models, Controllers and StackWise-480
2. Why Migrate to Cisco Catalyst 9300 Switches?