3550 cat upgrade to EMI?

Hey ccvp experts,

I want to buy 2 3550 cat POE switches and I have some questions:

1. are all 3550 cat switches PoE and if not how to tell?
2. if I want to upgrade from SMI to EMI do I need anything else?
and how do I know it will fit just by the name on ebay? or will the
EMI image for sure fit?
3. with the upgrade from SMI to EMI,do I need to do anything else to my Cat 3550???
thanks

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shodown

itdaddy wrote: »

Hey ccvp experts,

I want to buy 2 3550 cat POE switches and I have some questions:

1. are all 3550 cat switches PoE and if not how to tell?
2. if I want to upgrade from SMI to EMI do I need anything else?
and how do I know it will fit just by the name on ebay? or will the
EMI image for sure fit?
3. with the upgrade from SMI to EMI,do I need to do anything else to my Cat 3550???
thanks

You really don't need a 3550 for CCVP. Its only tested on the CIPT exam and its pretty brief. If you plan on doing CCNP down the line I could see the investment. For QOS people have been getting by with 2950's and brick powered phones. I have 3924's that i've used to power my phones. Not to sure about the QOS functionality on them, but I think 3550's are overkill for CCVP and I'm over the half way point.

tiersten

itdaddy wrote: »

1. are all 3550 cat switches PoE and if not how to tell?

No. It'll have POE in the model number.

itdaddy wrote: »

2. if I want to upgrade from SMI to EMI do I need anything else?

The EMI file.

itdaddy wrote: »

and how do I know it will fit just by the name on ebay? or will the
EMI image for sure fit?

If it is a real 3550 then it will fit.

itdaddy wrote: »

3. with the upgrade from SMI to EMI,do I need to do anything else to my Cat 3550???

Plug it in and turn it on.

itdaddy

tiersten
thanks sir, you made me laugh with some of your matter of fact statements ahahaha ie turn it on! and go kind of statements
thanks so much for helping me out. I am building my WAN lab soon
and going to have Voip on it! or however you say it...got to play
before I can really understand stuff

thanks bud!

shodown

thanks wow what a detailed view thank so much for your help.
congrats on kicking butt on your exams..
and thanks for taking the time to help me

laidbackfreak

if your looking at 3550's on ebay they get advertised as poe or in line power depending on the advert.

itdaddy

laidbackfreak

thanks I have seen inline power i think..yeah I am thanks so much for your help. do you think 2 3550s is good enough for ccnp traiining?
I already have 2 2950s but would want 2 x 3550s for L3 stuff and Qos

ITdude

Also, on the upper right hand corner of the front panel next to where it says Catalyst 3500 series, it will indicate if it is a PWR Model, too.

itdaddy

IT Dude

like if it is a 3560 it will say PoE right? and if it doesnt say PoE then more than likely it is not..right..?

laidbackfreak

you got it daddy

and yeah 2 of them will be nice in NP lab

I'm after a poe switch for my vp lab and this is high on my list.

itdaddy

LBF,

if i see one for you, i will send you the link on ebay for it. i will try to
look on UK ebay!

to cut down on cost

-cheers dude!

pitviper

shodown wrote: »

You really don't need a 3550 for CCVP. Its only tested on the CIPT exam and its pretty brief. If you plan on doing CCNP down the line I could see the investment. For QOS people have been getting by with 2950's and brick powered phones. I have 3924's that i've used to power my phones. Not to sure about the QOS functionality on them, but I think 3550's are overkill for CCVP and I'm over the half way point.

You really need the EI or T models of the 2950s to do any of the QOS labs – Honesty for the price of the power bricks and 2950 EI you’re looking at only a few bucks less than a 3550-PWR.

laidbackfreak

cheers daddy

seen a couple of there in the uk for around £250, but will have to wait another month for that for the funds.

This month I've just booked my QoS exam (Aug 1st) and my CISSP exam (Oct 17th) so thats around £500 spent on training this month eek !

yeah I'm thinking along those line too viper

I've already got a 2950, 2960 and 3750 in my lab just want another L3 switch ideally with poe and im ready to rock n roll

ITdude

itdaddy wrote: »

IT Dude

like if it is a 3560 it will say PoE right? and if it doesnt say PoE then more than likely it is not..right..?

You got it, itdaddy, unless of course someone swapped a PoE faceplate onto a non-PoE 3550. Not likely, but always a possibility, especially on eBay.:)

tiersten

ITdude wrote: »

You got it, itdaddy, unless of course someone swapped a PoE faceplate onto a non-PoE 3550. Not likely, but always a possibility, especially on eBay.:)

Considering some less than scrupulous dealers will "accidentally" send you a 3500XL instead of a 3550/3560, I wouldn't doubt that somebody out there is swapping the faceplates.

The picture is usually of a 3500XL but the description is for a 3550 with a title of "Cisco Catalyst 3550 3560 3524XL!" and they'll say that it was an honest mistake...

itdaddy

You really need the EI or T models of the 2950s to do any of the QOS labs – Honesty for the price of the power bricks and 2950 EI you’re looking at only a few bucks less than a 3550-PWR.

wow pitviper thanks I didnt know that wow! yeah what a pwr 3550 with smi is going for min 300.00 USD on ebay that I can see much better than the old 500.00 USD for a 3550..They are coming down. If at all I am only getting 2 and putting the words "GOLD" and "FRAGILE" on them ahaha

itdaddy

£250,

laidback freak wow!

that is I think around 500.00 USD is that right wow! that sucks. Yeah
I haves seen them recently on US ebay 300 being the cheapest but 375.00 the middle value..for 3550..
but they get you in shipping tooo 28.00 to 35.00 in shipping huh?

itdaddy

You got it, itdaddy, unless of course someone swapped a PoE faceplate onto a non-PoE 3550. Not likely, but always a possibility, especially on eBay

IT DUDE will have to watch their value and make sure it is around 100%

thanks good to know I bet that can happen..will keep an eye out.

itdaddy

Considering some less than scrupulous dealers will "accidentally" send you a 3500XL instead of a 3550/3560, I wouldn't doubt that somebody out there is swapping the faceplates.

The picture is usually of a 3500XL but the description is for a 3550 with a title of "Cisco Catalyst 3550 3560 3524XL!" and they'll say that it was an honest mistake...

tiersten

you know I bet that is for teh 300.00 USD switches I bet
I will have to really watch then...I thought 300.00 usd was very low for a cat 3550 pwr switch.huh? will have to really watch thank you for all your help yu guys rock!

tiersten

itdaddy wrote: »

you know I bet that is for teh 300.00 USD switches I bet
I will have to really watch then...I thought 300.00 usd was very low for a cat 3550 pwr switch.

Not necessarily. I'm just saying that some sellers have tried dubious tricks like that before. The seller may really have no idea they're misrepresenting something but because they don't know the knowledge themselves, they just copy somebody elses auction which is wrong. The prices have dropped sharply a few times in the past due to businesses upgrading, something going EOL/EOS or it no longer being suitable for labs. ISDN simulators at one point were pretty expensive but once ISDN was dropped from Cisco certs, a whole bunch popped up on eBay for peanuts.

The golden rule about buying equipment is to do some research beforehand and know exactly what you're buying. The model numbers of Catalyst switches are just too similar for people who aren't clear on what is what. 3508, 3512, 3524, 3548, 3550 and 3560? Include the same numbers but with an XL tacked on the end or even a "3550XL" because somebody somewhere has made a typo...

<rant>This is a general rant and it doesn't apply to you but research doesn't mean refusing to read the FAQ and just posting a HALP! I NEED LAB SUGGESTION NAO! thread because its easier to just post than to work it out yourself. I've always found working out the answer myself more satisfying and useful than just asking for the answer.</rant>