Interoperability Evaluation for Cisco Catalyst and WLAN with Extreme Switches

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Wireless LANs are an essential part of enterprises of all sizes and Wi-Fi 6 is the latest generation bringing enhanced performance and implementing 2.5GbE uplinks from AP to switch. To further enhance performance, Cisco Systems implements multiple 10GbE ports on its Catalyst WLAN controller. Extreme Networks provides high-performance switching ideal for serving as a network fabric for high-performance Wi-Fi 6 wireless networks.

Extreme Networks commissioned Tolly to evaluate the interoperability of its Extreme 5520-24X 10GbE and 5720-48MW series of LAN switches with the Cisco Systems WLAN and wired solutions as implemented in the Cisco Systems Catalyst 9800 WLAN Controller, Catalyst 9115 Series Wi-Fi 6 Access Point, and Catalyst 9200 48-port PoE switch.

The Extreme Networks LAN switches and the Cisco Systems Catalyst wireless WLAN solutions demonstrated interoperability across all functionality tests and illustrated interoperability with the 2.5GbE AP uplink, 10GbE WLAN controller, and the Cisco Systems Catalyst switch.