Which Catalyst 9800 series controller would you recommend for a small branch and campus deployments up to 200 APs?

Question

Options

• ACatalyst 9800-SW
• BCatalyst 9800-CL
• CCatalyst 9800-40
• DCatalyst 9800-80

• A
  86% (30)
• B
  3% (1)
• C
  9% (3)
• D
  3% (1)

Explanation

Catalyst 9800-SW is the wireless controller software embedded directly into Catalyst 9000 series switches (9300/9400/9500), purpose-built for small branch and campus deployments supporting up to 200 APs - making it the right-sized, cost-effective choice that leverages existing switch hardware without a separate appliance.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• B (9800-CL) is a cloud-hosted virtual controller deployed in private or public cloud environments, not an on-premises branch solution.
• C (9800-40) is a dedicated hardware appliance scaled for up to 2,000 APs - significant overkill for a 200-AP deployment.
• D (9800-80) is the largest hardware appliance, supporting up to 6,000 APs, designed for large enterprise or multi-site aggregation.

Memory tip: Think SW = Switch + Small. The 9800-SW runs on a switch and serves small deployments. As AP counts scale up, you move to dedicated hardware (40 → 80) or the cloud (CL).

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