Cisco WS-C3548-XL-EN price question

gonzoflick

I have the oportunity to pick up a couple of WS-C3548-XL-EN for $40 each from a guy I know. I know thats a good price but would these switches be a good part of a lab for my ccna. I do not currently have any switches, just a 2611 and 2501 router.

thanks for the input

dtlokee

They're ok but they have a slightly different command set than the 2950/2960 which is what the CCNA is based on. If you can upgrade them to the latest IOS it will give the best chances of using them effectively, and some switches are better than none.

gonzoflick

What would prevent me from upgrading to the latest IOS?

dynamik

Memory requirements, and the IOS itself can be hard to find. Most of us are pretty much stuck with whatever the equipment comes with.

mgeorge

If you can stay away from the 3500XL's, their is ALOT of stuff that is totally different from the 2950's.

On the 3500XL's, you cannot do ssh, port group interfaces, etherchannel configuration is limited, port sec mac agiging, bpdu guard, multicast, rstp, mstp, those are just some things remember at the top of my head theirs alot more.

Their is alot of commands you'll find in the 3500XL that are there, but they simply just dont work. You'll type them in right even if you use the ? and they are correct, it will give you "invalid input detected"

hope this helps

gonzoflick

Yes it does thanks a lot. I think I will just save my money for 2950's. On a side note I just added a 2514 and 2501 router to my lab ( for frame relay stuff) for $25 shipped. !