The current generation of routers typically incorporate Layer 2 switches, and many modern switches have Layer 3 routing functionality. Routers developed by Cisco, the source of the vast majority of the industry's routers, have improved dramatically in capability and speed and Cisco offers an extensive portfolio that includes routers designed to handle the needs of users ranging from individual telecommuters to nationwide ISPs.

The latest Integrated Services Routers released by Cisco offer the speed and integrated features to support IP voice and video as well as virtualization while at the same time offering high availability, remote administration, seamless scalability, and enhanced security and compliance. Cisco's ISR routers enable your company to establish a solid basis for an information network that can grow seamlessly as you hire more workers, establish new sites, activate additional capabilities, extend your network to customers and partners, and build an an increasingly mobile user base. Progent's Cisco CCIE network consultants can provide fast and affordable online expertise to help you to select, configure, manage, update, and support Cisco's latest router technology and can help you to support your older routers or move efficiently to Cisco's current router products.
Cisco Routers for Home Offices and Small Offices and Branch Offices
Cisco's routers for small companies and remote offices provide low-cost and dependable entry-level alternatives that allow limited sets of users to share secure connectivity to wide area networks. These single-configuration desktop routers feature at minimum four 10/100 Ethernet switches with Wi-Fi options plus integrated firewall for enhanced protection. Built for easy setup, administration, and troubleshooting, Cisco's small business and home routers reduce TCO by lowering acquisition and operational expenses. Progent's remote support specialists have in-depth backgrounds delivering fast and affordable IT help for small organizations to set up and maintain these routers, and Progent's CCIE-certified network engineers can assist your company to understand ways Cisco's entry-level routers can add to the business value of your IT network.
ISR 900 Series Integrated Services Routers
Cisco's ISR 900 Series routers are compact, fanless, set-configuration devices designed for small to medium-sized businesses, branches, and home offices. These entry-level routers have four GE LAN ports and offer Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connectivity. Cisco's ISR 900 router family provides triple the IPsec throughput of Cisco's ISR 800 Series routers. All ISR 900 Series routers offer Group Encrypted Transport VPN, DMVPN, Cisco FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN throughput is up to 250 Mbps. All versions allow up to 50 VLANs. Supported dynamic failover technology for high availability include Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, HSRP, and Multigroup HSRP. Setup and management can be done with Cisco Configuration Professional Express, Cisco DNA Center, and Cisco IOS Software. Cisco ISR 900 Series routers do not support Cisco's SD-WAN solution.
Cisco's ISR 921 router comes with dual GE WAN ports, Category 4 LTE, and a built-in power supply. VPN performance is 150 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 926 and ISR 927 routers use external power and support one GE WAN interface, LTE Cat 4, plus VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+. VPN throughput for both devices is 150 Mbps. The top-of-the-line Cisco ISR 931 supports dual GE WAN and includes an internal power supply. GE WAN VPN throughput is 250 Mbps.
Cisco Meraki MX Series SD-WAN Security Appliances
The Cisco Meraki MX series of desktop routers combine software-defined wide area networking and cloud-hosted unified threat management in one small-footprint device able to support 50 to 200 users. Each MX series appliance must be licensed to the Meraki cloud. For venues with several WAN network options (e.g., MPLS, broadband, cellular), SD-WAN technology allows admins to assign the WAN interface a given app uses or to create performance-based algorithms to determine the appropriate interface. Cisco Meraki MX fixed-configuration desktop security appliances share key capabilities that include:
Cisco 1000 and 1100 Family ISR Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 family Integrated Services Routers using Cisco IOS XE internetworking operating system are a selection of fanless appliances designed to deliver network connectivity, wireless access, and advanced cybersecurity for small and midsize businesses, enterprise branches, retail outlets, kiosks, and machine-to-machine environments. Parallel processing CPU cores and the ability to run Cisco IOS XE enable these routers to offer capabilities consistent with Cisco's complete line of modern Enterprise routers. 1000 and 1100 family ISR models are offered with 4 or 8 LAN ports and offer GE packet forwarding. Various models include PoE and PoE+, zero-touch provisioning, plus a selection of built-in or pluggable connections for LAN, WAN, WLAN, G.fast DSL, LTE Advanced wireless, 802.11ac wireless, and SFP. Cisco 1000 and 1100 family ISR models work with Cisco's SD-WAN services for transparent multi-cloud connectivity, advanced security, and cohesive monitoring and management across hybrid network models of any complexity.

Cisco's 1RU or desktop ISR 1100-4G router includes four built-in GE ports, integrated 3G/4G LTE with two LTE antenna sockets, and one micro-SIM plug-in slot. Encryption packet processing speed is 200 Mbps. The Cisco ISR 1100-6G router also includes two 1G SFP Fiber connections and delivers encryption throughput of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop 1101-4P ISR router has four integrated GE interfaces, offers 802.11ac Wi-Fi as well as 3G/4G LTE, and features encryption rates of 280 Mbps. The 1109-2P/4P ISR desktop routers have two or four integrated GE connections and two pluggable 3G/4G LTE wireless ports. Encryption packet processing throughput is 200 Mbps.
The Cisco rackmount or desktop ISR 111x-4P/8P routers come with four or eight integrated switched GE ports (two or four with Power over Ethernet) and support VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE, and SFP Fiber. Encryption throughput is 280 Mbps. Cisco's rackmount or desktop 1111X-8P ISR router includes eight built-in switched GE ports (four with POE) and a port for SFP. Encryption packet processing performance is 340 Mbps. The 112x-8P ISR router has eight integrated GE ports with PoE and supports SHDSL, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE, and SFP. Encryption rate is 340 Mbps. The Cisco ISR 1161X-8P router has eight built-in GE interfaces with PoE and provides 3G/4G LTE wireless and SFP. Encryption packet processing rate is 450 Mbps.
Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series Branch and WAN Edge Platforms for SD-WAN and Routing
Cisco's Catalyst 8000 Series routers are modular devices intended to operate at the enterprise branche and the WAN edge to support hybrid network environments that can incorporate multiple public and private clouds and SaaS applications. Catalyst 8000 devices use Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software and provide expandability, advanced cybersecurity, and 5G access. Throughput is optimized using custom silicon, a multicore architecture, high port density, and line-rate encryption. Cisco's subscription software suites offer continual access to current SD-WAN technology and enable unified management with enhanced cybersecurity, application-based policies, network segmentation, and cloud readiness.
Catalyst 8200 Series Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Catalyst 8200 Series routers are upgrades to Cisco's 4300 Series Integrated Services Routers, delivering higher IPsec throughput and scale, accelerated crypto, plus greater built-in WAN interface density. These one-rack unit routers are built to bring Cisco's SASE, Software-Defined WAN and 5G-connection technology to enterprise branch offices and the enterprise WAN edge. The Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T model features four CPU cores, enables 500 Mbps IPsec traffic, and permits 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. Cisco's Catalyst 8200L platform does not support container-based apps. Cisco's Catalyst C8200-1N-4T router includes eight CPU cores, delivers 1Gb IPsec performance, supports 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and allows edge computing with in-place container models. Both appliances include one NIM slot, a Pluggable Interface Module (PIM) slot, two 1G Ethernet WAN interfaces, and two 1 Gigabit Ethernet WAN Small-Form-Factor Pluggable ports. Four-port and eight-port 1 Gigabit Ethernet switch NIM modules are available for both 8200 models.
Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers are designed to supersede Cisco's 4400 line of ISR Routers, providing Cisco's secure SD-WAN solution to medium-sized and large company branches seeking high WAN IPSec throughput with integrated SD-WAN services. Enhanced features include 5G wireless support, built-in security, WAN MACSec, enhanced Layer 2 switching, and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) with application optimization. Cisco Catalyst 8300 WAN Edge routers enable edge computing for an in-place container environment for Cisco UCS-E modules offered on Cisco's 4000 family of ISR appliances. All versions in the Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series line support 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and include dual power supplies for improved availability.
The Cisco Catalyst 8300-1N1S-6T router is a 1RU appliance that includes 8 CPU cores and delivers 2G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec data rates of up to 1.9Gbps. The router includes one Service Module expansion slot, one NIM slot, and six built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Catalyst 8300-2N2S-6T appliance is a 2RU router that includes 8 CPU cores and supports 2G SD-WAN throughput and IPsec performance as high as 1.9Gbps. The appliance has two Service Module plug-in slots, two NIM slots, and six integrated 1G Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Cisco Catalyst C8300-1N1S-4T2X router model is a one-rack unit appliance that includes eight CPU cores and delivers 5G SD-WAN performance and IPsec performance up to 15Gbps. The router includes one one Service Module expansion slot, one Network Interface Module slot, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and four built-in 1G Ethernet WAN ports. The Cisco Catalyst C8300-2N2S-4T2X appliance is a 2RU model that includes 12 CPU cores and delivers 5G SD-WAN data rates and IPsec throughput as high as 18Gbps. The appliance has two SM expansion slots, two Network Interface Module slots, two integrated 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces, and four integrated 1G Ethernet WAN ports. LAN modules modules offered by Cisco range from a four-port 1G Ethernet switch Network Interface Module module to a 50-port Catalyst L2 switch Service Module.
Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Aggregation Edge Routers
The Cisco Catalyst 8500 Aggregation Edge routers are fixed form factor, 1RU aggregation appliances for SD-WAN and colocation deployments. Integrated features include route processor, embedded services processor (ESP), plus aggregation hardware for multiple interfaces and connectivity choices. IPsec throughput is double compared to Cisco's earlier generation ASR1001-X router. Flexible connectivity options include 1GE to 100 GE WAN ports. 8500 Series routers include redundant AC or DC power units for enhanced availability. Software subscription suites provide ongoing access to Cisco DNA Center Software for SD-WAN and routing and offer centralized management of security, application-based policies, network segmentation, and cloud support.
The Cisco Catalyst C8500L-8S4X router is designed to provide a similar key features as Cisco's ASR 1000 appliance. The C8500L-8S4X comes with four 1/10GE WAN ports and can deliver as high as 20 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate data rates. SD-WAN IPsec performance is up to 19Gbps. The Cisco Catalyst C8500-12X appliance has 12 integrated 1/10GE WAN interfaces and supports up to 120 Gbps aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 51 Gbps. The C8500-12X4QC model includes four built-in 1/10GE WAN ports and eight 1-Gigabit ports and delivers up to 200 Gbps aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec performance can reach 68 Gbps. The C8500-20X6C router comes with 20 built-in SFP+ interfaces and six x QSFP+ interfaces. The C8500-20X6C supports up to 500 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate performance.
Cisco Integrated Services G2 Routers
Cisco's Integrated Services Generation 2 routers are designed to provide satellite offices of enterprises with advanced video and voice applications, virtualization, protection, and dependable WAN access. Integrated Services Generation 2 routers introduce a design that preserves prior investments in modules for first-generation Integrated Services Routers and reduces future expenses by allowing easy upgrades to additional modules when they are developed. In comparison to previous Integrated Services Routers, Cisco's ISR Generation 2 routers feature 2-7 times higher throughput, far more, and easier maintenance. All Cisco ISR Generation 2 routers support Gbit switching and include multi-core CPUs and ultra-fast fabric for higher performance. ISR Generation 2 routers also support intelligent power control for better energy efficiency.
A key innovation with Integrated Services Generation 2 routers is the IOS Software Universal image which contains all of the Cisco IOS feature sets so that you can quickly license and activate extra services as required without having to download and transfer a new IOS Software image over to yourCisco router. Progent's group of CCIE-certified network consultants offer proven expertise to help your business to plan, implement, and support multi-site deployments of Cisco ISR G2 routers that enhance satellite office productivity and reduce the price of expansion and maintenance.
Cisco's ISR 800 Line of Routers
The 800 Series of ISR routers has been functionally replaced by the faster Cisco ISR 900 family but is still widely used. Cisco's extensive portfolio of 800 Series ISR routers consists of desktop, fanless devices designed and priced for small organizations, branch offices, retail shops, telecommuters, and clients of broadband service providers. A wealth of devices in the 800 product line have been released with various options over the course of many years. The 881 line of ISR routers exemplifies the vast array of options available within Cisco's 800 Series line of routers. Models in Cisco's 881 Series router portfolio can enable converged media networks by providing voice and video, wireless and data in a single integrated appliance. Advanced data protection can include encryption, VPN, firewall, and URL filtering. For survivability, available features for Cisco 881 ISR routers include duplicate wide area network connections or support for landline high-speed WAN connections such as DSL plus multiple different cellular 3G and 4G wireless WAN connections all built into one desktop appliance.

The baseline Cisco 881 router features a 4-port 10/100-Mbps managed switch that delivers 15 Mbps throughput, the ability to handle 20 users, 2-port integrated PoE, and IPv6 compatibility. The Cisco 881W ISR router includes 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. The 881 SRST router includes four FXS ports and 1 FXO port for PSTN failover with Cisco SRST. With a Cisco CUBE feature license, the Cisco 881 ISR router allows SIP trunking to replace outdated PRI lines or foreign exchange-office (FXO) voice connectivity to a PSTN service provider. CUBE-based SIP trunks also support offsite call agents in Cisco Call Center environments.
Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers
Cisco's 4000 Line of ISR Routers are modular and scalable routers designed for organizations with multiple branch offices and offsite workers who need direct access to private data centers and public clouds across VPNs and the Internet. Cisco's 4000 series provides the bandwidth required for distributed enterprise sites to support mobile workers, Cloud-based services, and HD video applications by using wide area network optimization, deep packet inspection, and traffic-management techniques. Models in Cisco's ISR 4000 family are powered by Cisco's powerful IOS XE operating system, come in a 1RU or 2RU package, are able to handle as much as 2 Gbps of throughput, and can include up to 3 interface slots, 2 service module slots, 4 built-in 10/100/1000 Ethernet switches, and 8 CPU core server modules. Cisco ISR 4000 models support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PR1, xDSL and other interfaces. To handle unified communications, the 400o ISR provides comprehensive edge support technology for policy-enhanced SBC, telephony survivability, and TDM gateways.

The major difference between the Cisco 4400 and 4300 Series Routers is the inclusion of dual power supply support in the 4400 Series, offering a higher degree of fault tolerance. Cisco's 4321 Integrated Services Router has a 1 RU desktop form factor and includes two network interface modules, offers up to 100 Mbps performance, and allows up to 240 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's 4331 model comes in a 1 RU form factor with two NIMs, provides as much as 300 Mbps throughput, and can handle 360 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The 4351 Integrated Services Router comes in a 2 RU form factor and includes three network interface modules, offers up to 400 Mbps throughput, and supports 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's dual power supply 4431 Integrated Services Router has a 2 RU package and includes three network interface modules, offers as much as 1 Gbps performance, and allows up to 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. The redundant-power 4431 Integrated Services Router has a 2 RU form factor and includes three network interface modules, provides as much as 2 Gbps performance, and can handle 1200 Digital Voice/Video Channels.
Cisco's Midrange WAN Aggregation Routers and Carrier-class Routers
Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier routers offer enterprises with high-performance, protected head ends to manage branch office and remote user traffic and to offer ISPs cost-optimized wide area network edge solutions. Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier router product line features the Cisco ASR 1000 routers and the 9000 Series Aggregation Services routers.

Progent's national group of CCIE certified network consultants have in-depth backgrounds helping global businesses and service providers to plan optimal deployments and smooth upgrades of Cisco's WAN edge routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance experts offer objective, third-party network security vulnerability assessments, penetration testing services and advanced SIEM solutions to help enterprises with Cisco's Aggregation Services Routers to comply with industry guidelines and statutory requirements for IT data protection and incident reporting. Progent also can provide expertise with Horizon3.ai's NodeZero platform for pentesting. NodeZero relies on AI technology to streamline the vulnerability assessment cycle of discovering cybersecurity gaps in network perimeters and inside the internal network, prioritizing repairs, fixing problems, and verifying successful repairs.
Cisco ASR 1000 Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco's ASR 1000 WAN Edge family of routers is designed to fill the middle of Cisco's midrange products that focus on acting as headends at the wide area network edge. Cisco's ASR 1000 routers provide a small footprint, single-product answer for enterprises looking for branch office service aggregation at multigigabit Ethernet speeds. Cisco's ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers incorporate an innovative architecture that mixes hardware acceleration with software flexibility in order to offer a rich set of simultaneous services without sacrificing dependable performance.
ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers feature Cisco's new QuantumFlow Processor composed of 40 purpose-built Packet Processing Engines (PPEs) that together can handle as many as 160 simultaneous threads. This multi-processing structure, in conjunction with hardware acceleration for all services, enables the top-of-the-line ASR 1006 Aggregation Services router to scale up to 128K hardware queues, 32,000 subscribers, 4K IP security VPN tunnels at 10,000 sessions per second, and 2M Netflow records. This processing power permits ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers to support a variety of advanced services concurrently in high volume while avoiding throughput decay that could threaten adherence to SLAs. Examples of these services include IOS Firewall, IPS, Network Address Translation, Flexible Packet Matching, and in-line deep packet inspection. The ASR 1000 also permits tiered traffic management for applying numerous levels of Quality of Service to a data packet in one pass, enhancing the user experience for high-bandwidth IP voice and video applications.
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers
Cisco's ASR 9000 Series Routers are designed as WAN-edge routers for carriers who need to deliver world-class data, voice and video services to home, commercial, and mobile users by providing always-on availability, high speed, and application-aware intelligence. All platforms in the ASR 9000 family of Aggregation Services Routers run the IOS XR, a self-healing, distributed OS built for non-stop availability. Throughput of Cisco's ASR 9000 portfolio of Aggregation Services Routers can scale to as high as 96 Tbps per system. the Cisco ASR 9000 Series of Routers support high-density Gigabit Ethernet, 10 GE, and 100 GE and feature redundant fabric and power modules, power entry modules, plus redundant control planes and switch fabric.
The ASR 9001 platform is a carrier-edge router in a 6 RU package with 120 Gbps of full-duplex fabric capacity. The ASR 9001 has two modular bays to accept adapters for 1 Gigabit, 10 Gigabit, and 40 Gigabit Ethernet. The chassis includes four 10 Gbit Ethernet SFP+ ports as well as ports for GPS clocking, building integrated timing supply (BITS), and management. The ASR 9904 Router has a 6 RU form factor and provides dense 10 GE and 100 GE connections in space-constrained environments. The 4-slot router can scale up to 4 Tbps of switching capacity in one box. The Cisco ASR 9912 Router has a 30 RU chassis and includes 12 slots slots that can provide up to 550 Gbps of throughput. The ASR 9912 incorporates 2 route CPUs as well as 6+1 Fabric Cards to provide N+1 redundancy.
Ways Progent Can Help Your Business to Support Cisco Router Products
Progent's Cisco certified engineers can assist your business to design, setup, and support a converged business network that can streamline processes, reduce expenses, and accelerate time to positive return on investment. By combining Cisco routers with Catalyst switches support and Catalyst and Meraki Wi-Fi wireless expertise, Progent can significantly enhance the strategic value of your information network. Progent can provide on-premises and remote help and can provide data center support throughout the U.S.
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