Cisco WS-C3850-48P-S Managed Switch

The Cisco WS-C3850-48P-S is a rack-mountable, managed network switch from the Cisco Catalyst 3850 series. It is designed for enterprise, campus, or large-office networks that need a reliable backbone with many PoE-capable ports and flexible configuration options. Cisco+2Router-Switch.com+2

⚙️ Key Technical Specifications

• Ports: 48 × Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps) RJ-45 ports — all with PoE+ support

• PoE Power Budget: 435 W total (enough to supply 30 W per port if distributed) in default configuration

• Switching Capacity: 176 Gbps total switching bandwidth

• Forwarding Performance: ~130.95 Mpps (million packets per second) under optimal conditions

• Stacking (scalability): Supports stacking up to 9 switches via StackWise-480, with stack bandwidth up to 480 Gbps — letting multiple physical switches behave as one logical switch.

• Management & Software: Fully managed—supports standard management methods (CLI, SNMP, SSH, etc.), VLANs, QoS, Layer 3 routing (with the built-in “IP Base” feature set), ACLs, multicast, IPv4/IPv6, and advanced network services

• Uplink / Expansion: Modular uplink support — you can install SFP/SFP+ uplink modules (e.g. for fiber or higher-speed links) for connecting to other network segments or core switches

• factor: 1U rack-mountable chassis — standard for server/network racks

🎯 What it’s Good For

The WS-C3850-48P-S is ideal when you need:

• A large number of Ethernet ports (48) with PoE support — great for powering devices like IP phones, access-points, security cameras, PoE-enabled IoT devices, etc.

• Scalability — thanks to stacking, you can expand your network easily by adding more identical switches and manage them as a single unit.

• Enterprise-grade performance and flexibility — support for Layer 2 and Layer 3 features, routing, VLANs, QoS, security and access controls, uplinks, modularity.

• Stable backbone in a medium-to-large network — e.g. corporate office floor, campus, data-center edge, or a larger shared workspace with many networked devices.

✅ Strengths — What This Switch Excels At

• High port density (48 ports) with PoE+ — helpful if you have many powered devices.

• Strong performance (176 Gbps switching capacity, ~131 Mpps forwarding).

• Modular uplinks — flexibility to adapt to fiber or high-speed uplink needs.

• Scalable via stacking — manage multiple switches as one, great for growing networks.

• Rich feature set — robust management, routing, security, VLANs, QoS, IPv6, multicast, and more.

⚠️ Considerations / What to Check Before Use

• PoE budget (435 W) means if many ports require maximum power simultaneously, you must ensure the total does not exceed budget — may limit how many devices can get full PoE.

• For maximum uplink/throughput or heavy network backbone roles, you may need proper uplink modules (SFP/SFP+) — these are optional, not always included.

• As an enterprise-grade switch, configuration and management are more complex than a simple “plug-and-play” unmanaged switch — requires network-management knowledge.