Cisco C9300-48U-A Switch

The Cisco Catalyst C9300-48U-A delivers Cisco UPOE at up to 60 W per port on all 48 Gigabit Ethernet access ports. With the default 1100 W power supply the PoE budget is 822 W, and dual power supplies raise it to 1800 W. Because 48 ports at 60 W would require 2880 W, the 1800 W ceiling powers about 30 ports at the full 60 W, so the budget rather than the port count sets how many devices draw maximum power. Most deployments mix lower-draw devices, so real port coverage is higher.

The C9300-48U-A has a modular uplink slot rather than fixed uplink ports. It accepts a Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series network module, with options spanning 4x 1G, 4x multigigabit, 8x 10G, 2x 25G, and 2x 40G; Catalyst 3850 network modules are also compatible. The network module is ordered separately. Specific transceiver compatibility should be verified against the manufacturer's transceiver compatibility matrix at tmgmatrix.cisco.com. Transceivers are sold separately.

The C9300-48U-A supports Cisco StackWise-480 data stacking of up to eight members at 480 Gbps of stack bandwidth, and Cisco StackPower for shared power and power redundancy across the stack. It stacks with other C9300 models, including mixed stacks with C9300X, and does not stack with C9300L, Catalyst 9200, or other series. StackWise and StackPower cables are ordered separately.

Both are 48-port UPOE modular-uplink switches at the Network Advantage tier that deliver up to 60 W per port, and they differ in port speed and PoE headroom. The 48U-A has standard Gigabit access ports and a dual-supply budget of 1800 W. The 48UXM-A has multigigabit ports (12 up to 10G and 36 up to 2.5G) and a dual 1900 W supply budget of 2880 W, enough for all 48 ports at 60 W. Choose the 48UXM for multigigabit endpoints and full per-port UPOE.

The two switches are identical hardware and differ only in license tier. The -E model ships with perpetual Network Essentials, which covers Layer 2 plus basic routed access such as static routing, RIP, EIGRP stub, OSPF for up to 1,000 routes, PBR, PIM stub multicast, and VRRP. The -A model ships with perpetual Network Advantage, which adds full OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, IS-IS, HSRP, VRF, VXLAN, LISP, and SGT segmentation. SD-Access is enabled by the term-based Cisco Catalyst subscription rather than the perpetual tier.

No. The switch runs on its included perpetual base license indefinitely. Under Cisco's ordering model, new switch orders include a term-based Cisco DNA or Cisco Catalyst software subscription of the same tier as the network license; that subscription unlocks Cisco Catalyst Center and cloud-managed features. When the subscription term ends, the switch continues operating on the perpetual base license capabilities after a reload.

Yes. Cisco's migration guidance positions the Catalyst 9300 as the successor to the end-of-sale Catalyst 3850. Migrating from a 3850 to the C9300-48U-A moves the access layer to Cisco IOS XE, StackWise-480 stacking, and StackPower, and existing Catalyst 3850 network modules remain compatible with the 9300.

Network Devices Inc. sells the C9300-48U-A as current, new, factory-sealed stock. Cisco publishes End-of-Sale and End-of-Life status for every Catalyst 9300 Series part number on its official End-of-Life and End-of-Sale Notices page for the series, which is the authoritative source for a specific SKU. Buyers standardizing on a platform for a multi-year refresh should confirm the current status there before ordering.

The C9300-48U-A is sold new and factory-sealed. It is covered by a Network Devices Inc. one-year warranty and a 30-day return policy.