Home-Lab: Sell 2970, buy 3548 ?!

lordy

Dear all,

I currently have two 2970 switches in my home lab that I got from our old datacenter. They are nice switches having 24 GigabitEthernet ports but they lack Multilayer-Support which I think would be important to have these days.

Now I checked eBay and saw that I could sell a 2970 at around 200 € and buy a 3548 for just 70 €. So I could basically get 3 3548 for the price of just 1 2970.

I know that the 3548 only have FastEthernet but that would be sufficient for a Home-Lab. Is there any other reason not to sell a 2970 and get some 3548's ?

Kind regards,
Lordy

ColbyG

Don't get any XL crap. Go with 3550s.

lordy

Thanks for the quick reply!

I see that 3550's are sold at around 150 € on eBay with 24 ports.

What's their advantage compared to a 3548-XL? Sorry, I'm pretty clueless about Cisco hardware details

ColbyG

Well, they don't meet your needs. The 3548 is L2. And they're old, crappy, etc. The 3550 is L3 and runs newer code.

alan2308

The 3500XL line is pretty much the same thing as the 2900XL line as far as IOS and features go. And over in the CCNA section, you'll find hundreds of threads discussing everything that the 2900XL's lacks even for the CCNA. If you're studying Cisco switching, you don't want these.

The only thing that the 3500XL's have going for them is that there are POE models that are very reasonably priced compared to other POE switches.

down77

Since this is for a CCNP home lab you may want to check the exam blueprints and verify against the features of the 2970/3500 series switches.

ColbyG nailed it on the head, go with 3550s or 3560s if you can (pricey) to provide the best fit for the material. FWIW I used my 3550s for Route/Switch and even plan to use them for portions of the BGP and CCIE studies.

lordy

Thanks for the input guys!

I will consider selling my two 2970s and get two 3550 instead. That would also put a few € in my pocket. I am not sure if I need to do this to get through the Switch Exam but they would be nice for Route, I guess.

I still have some 2501/2503 and a 2514 (I think) from when I first wanted to head for the CCNP (back in like 2006). Do you think they make sense to keep?

13713

If you are planning on doing anything past the NP I would look at 3560's although pricey they are the replacement for the 3550's as a standard. If this is for your CCNP and testing in general to learn as much as you can at home then the 3550 is an amazing switch and should be your target for adding a new toy or two into your lab.