Today's routers ordinarily include Layer 2 switches, and many modern switches include L3 routing functionality. Routers offered by Cisco, the supplier of 90% of the industry's routers, have advanced significantly in capability and speed and Cisco makes an extensive portfolio that includes routers built to handle the needs of users from households to the world's largest service providers.

The most recent ISR routers released by Cisco have the speed and built-in features to support data voice and video plus virtualization while at the same time offering fault tolerance, web-based management, easy expandability, and enhanced security and compliance. Cisco's ISR routers allow your company to build a solid foundation for an IT environment that can grow smoothly as you add new workers, open new sites, activate additional services, give access to your system to customers and vendors, and build an expanding mobile user base. Progent's Cisco qualified CCIE network engineers can provide fast and economical remote support to help your company to plan, deploy, administer, update, and support Cisco's latest routers and can assist you to support your older routers or migrate efficiently to Cisco's current router products.
Cisco Routers for Home and Small Offices and Branch Offices
Cisco's routers for small companies and remote offices offer low-cost and dependable entry-level solutions that enable limited groups of users to share safe access to wide area networks. These single-configuration desktop devices feature at least four switched Ethernet with wireless options plus integrated firewall to provide enhanced security. Built for easy installation, administration, and troubleshooting, Cisco's small business and home routers reduce ownership costs by lowering equipment and operational investments. Progent's online troubleshooting experts have extensive experience providing immediate and economical IT help for small organizations to configure and support these devices, and Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE network consultants can help your company to understand ways Cisco's small office routers can increase the business value of your information system.
Cisco ISR 900 Series Routers
The Cisco ISR 900 Series routers are small-footprint, quiet, set-configuration appliances designed for small to medium-sized businesses, branch offices, and home offices. These entry-level routers have four GE switch ports and offer Metro Ethernet, LTE, and DSL WAN connections. The ISR 900 router family provides three times the IPsec throughput of the ISR 800 Series family of routers. All ISR 900 Series routers offer GETVPN, DMVPN, Cisco FlexVPN, and firewall. VPN throughput is as high as 250 Mbps. All models support up to 50 VLANs. Supported dynamic failover technology for high availability and business continuity include Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), and Multigroup HSRP. Provisioning and management can be done with Cisco CP Express, Cisco DNA Center, and Cisco IOS. ISR 900 Series devices do not work with Cisco SD-WAN.
The Cisco ISR 921 router comes with dual GE WAN ports, LTE Cat 4, and a built-in power supply. GE WAN VPN performance is 150 Mbps. Cisco's ISR 926 and ISR 927 models include external power and support a single WAN interface, LTE Cat 4, VDSL2 and ADSL2/2+ high-speed broadband. GE WAN VPN throughput for both devices is 150 Mbps. The top-of-the-line ISR 931 router supports dual GE WAN ports and has an internal power supply. GE WAN VPN performance is 250 Mbps.
Cisco Meraki MX Series SD-WAN Security Appliances
The Cisco Meraki MX series of desktop routers combine SD-WAN and cloud-based unified threat management (UTM) in a single compact device able to support 50 to 200 users. Every MX series appliance needs to be licensed for the Meraki cloud. For venues having several WAN network connections (e.g., MPLS, fiber optic, cellular), SD-WAN technology allows admins to specify the WAN connection a given app uses or to create performance-based rules to determine the preferred connection. MX fixed-configuration desktop routers share important capabilities that include:
Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series ISR Branch Routers
Cisco 1000 family Integrated Services Routers powered by Cisco IOS XE internetworking operating system are a line of fanless appliances intended to deliver high-performance network connectivity, wireless support, and multilayer cybersecurity for small and midsize businesses, enterprise branches, retail outlets, kiosks, and machine-to-machine (M2M) venues. Parallel processing CPU cores and the ability to run Cisco IOS XE software allow these routers to offer features consistent with Cisco's entire family of Enterprise routers. 1000 family ISR routers are available with 4 or 8 LAN ports and offer Gigabit Ethernet (GE) packet forwarding. Various models include PoE and PoE+, auto provisioning, plus a range of built-in or pluggable options such as LAN, WAN, WLAN, SHDSL, 3G/4G wireless, 802.11 wireless, and SFP. Cisco 1000 and 1100 Series ISR routers work with Cisco's SD-WAN services for seamless multi-cloud access, advanced cybersecurity, and cohesive monitoring and management across hybrid networks.

Cisco's 1RU or desktop ISR 1100-4G router comes with four built-in GE ports, integrated 3G/4G LTE with two LTE SMA 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 ports and features encryption speed of 520 Mbps. Cisco's desktop ISR 1101-4P router has four integrated GE connections, supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi and 3G/4G LTE wireless, and delivers encryption rates of 280 Mbps. The ISR 1109-2P/4p desktop routers have two or four built-in GE connections and dual pluggable 3G/4G LTE wireless ports. Encryption performance is 200 Mbps.
The Cisco 1RU or desktop 111x-4P/8P ISR routers include four or eight integrated GE connections (two or four provide Power over Ethernet) and feature VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac, 3G/4G LTE wireless, and SFP. Encryption packet processing performance is 280 Mbps. Cisco's 1RU or desktop 1111X-8P ISR router has eight integrated switched GE ports (four with Power over Ethernet) and supports 1G SFP. Encryption packet processing rate is 340 Mbps. The 112x-8P ISR router has eight built-in switched GE connections with Power over Ethernet and features SHDSL, VDSL2/ADSL2+, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 3G/4G LTE, and SFP. Encryption rate is 340 Mbps. The ISR 1161X-8P router includes eight switched GE ports with Power over Ethernet and supports 3G/4G LTE wireless and 1G SFP. Encryption packet processing speed 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 in support of hybrid networks that can include multiple public and private clouds and cloud-hosted applications. Catalyst 8000 routers use Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software and provide expandability, intelligent cloud security, and 5G access. Performance is enhanced via custom silicon, a multicore design, high port density, and line-rate encryption. Cisco's subscription software suites offer ongoing access to the latest SD-WAN technology and enable unified management with enhanced security, application-optimized policies, network segmentation, and cloud readiness.
Cisco Catalyst 8200 Series Enterprise Branch Edge Routers
Catalyst 8200 Series routers are successors to Cisco's 4300 Series Integrated Services Routers, delivering higher IPsec throughput and scale, hardware-accelerated crypto, plus greater integrated WAN port density. These 1RU appliances are built to bring Cisco's Secure Access Service Edge, SD-WAN and 5G-interface technology to enterprise branch offices and the enterprise access edge. The Catalyst C8200L-1N-4T router includes four CPU cores, enables 500 Mbps IPsec performance, and permits 1,500 SD-WAN tunnels. Cisco's Catalyst 8200L router does not support container-based applications. The Catalyst C8200-1N-4T model includes eight CPU cores, provides 1Gb IPsec performance, supports 2,500 SD-WAN tunnels, and enables edge computing with existing container models. Both appliances include one NIM slot, one PIM slot, two 1G Ethernet WAN copper ports, and two 1G Ethernet WAN Small-Form-Factor Pluggable ports. Four-port and eight-port 1G Ethernet switch NIM modules are supported by both 8200 routers.
Catalyst 8300 Series Enterprise Edge Routers
Catalyst 8300 Series WAN Edge routers are designed to supersede Cisco's 4400 Series ISR Routers, providing Cisco's secure SD-WAN architecture to medium-sized and large enterprise branch offices looking for high WAN IPSec throughput combined with unified SD-WAN services. Advanced features include 5G wireless support, integrated security, WAN MACSec, enhanced Layer 2 switching, and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) with application-aware optimization. Cisco Catalyst 8300 routers enable edge computing for an existing container architecture for Cisco UCS-E modules offered on Cisco's 4000 line of ISR routers. All versions in the Catalyst 8300 family support 4,000 SD-WAN tunnels and include backup power supplies for improved uptime.
The Cisco Catalyst 8300-1N1S-6T router is a 1RU device that features 8 CPU cores and offers 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec performance of up to 1.9Gbps. The unit comes with one SM expansion slot, one NIM slot, and six built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports. The Catalyst 8300-2N2S-6T device is a two-rack unit router that includes 8 CPU cores and supports 2G SD-WAN performance and IPsec performance of up to 1.9Gbps. The unit includes two Service Module expansion slots, two NIM slots, and six built-in 1G Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Catalyst C8300-1N1S-4T2X router model is a one-rack unit appliance that has eight CPU cores and supports 5G SD-WAN performance and IPsec throughput as high as 15Gbps. The unit includes one a single SM expansion slot, a NIM slot, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and four built-in 1-Gigabit Ethernet WAN interfaces. The Cisco Catalyst C8300-2N2S-4T2X model is a 2RU router that includes 12 CPU cores and delivers 5G SD-WAN data rates and IPsec performance as high as 18Gbps. The unit includes two Service Module expansion slots, two NIM slots, two built-in 10-Gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and four fixed 1G Ethernet WAN interfaces. LAN expansion 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 Series Aggregation Edge routers are fixed form factor, one-rack unit aggregation appliances for SD-WAN and colocation deployments. Built-in features include route processor, embedded services processor (ESP), plus aggregation hardware for various connection choices. IPsec throughput is double compared to Cisco's earlier generation ASR1001-X router. Available connectivity alternatives include 1GE to 100 GE WAN ports. 8500 routers include redundant AC or DC power units for improved resilience. Software subscription suites allow continuing access to Cisco DNA Center Software for SD-WAN and routing and enable unified management of security, application-aware policies, network segmentation, and cloud connectivity optimization.
The Catalyst C8500L-8S4X router is designed to provide a similar basic functionality as Cisco's ASR 1000 router. The C8500L-8S4X has four 1/10GE WAN ports and delivers as high as 20 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec performance is up to 19Gbps. The Catalyst C8500-12X router features 12 built-in 1/10GE WAN ports and supports as high as 120 Gbps aggregate throughput. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 51 Gbps. The C8500-12X4QC aggregation router comes with four integrated 1/10GE WAN ports and eight 1GE interfaces and can support up to 200 Gbps aggregate performance. SD-WAN IPsec throughput is up to 68 Gbps. The C8500-20X6C router includes 20 built-in 1/10GE interfaces and 6 x QSFP+ interfaces. The Catalyst C8500-20X6C supports up to 500 Gbps Cisco Express Forwarding aggregate throughput.
Cisco ISR G2 Routers
Cisco's Integrated Services G2 routers are designed to offer satellite offices of enterprises with enhanced video and voice applications, virtualization, protection, and reliable WAN access. Integrated Services Generation 2 routers introduce an architecture that protects past investments in service modules for first-generation Integrated Services Routers and lowers future costs by permitting field installation of new modules when they become available. In comparison to previous Integrated Services Routers, Cisco's Integrated Services Generation 2 routers feature 2-7 times higher performance, far more, and easier support. All ISR G2 routers offer Gbit switching and include multi-core CPUs and ultra-fast fabric for higher performance. Integrated Services Generation 2 routers also support smart power management for better energy conservation.
A major innovation with ISR Generation 2 routers is the IOS Software Universal image which includes all of the Cisco IOS technology sets so that your company can rapidly authorize and deploy new functions as desired without needing to download and transfer a new IOS Software image over to yourCisco router. Progent's team of CCIE-certified network engineers can provide world-class skills to help your business to plan, implement, and support multi-location deployments of Cisco Integrated Services G2 routers that enhance satellite office efficiency and reduce the price of upgrades and maintenance.
Cisco's ISR 800 Series Routers
The 800 Series of ISR routers has been functionally replaced by the higher performance Cisco ISR 900 family but remains widely deployed. Cisco's comprehensive line of 800 Series ISR routers is made up of desktop devices intended for small organizations, branch locations, retail venues, telecommuters, and clients of ISPs. Many devices in Cisco's 800 family of routers have been released with many options over many years. The 881 Series of ISR routers suggests the wide selection of options offered within the Cisco 800 product family. Models in Cisco's 881 Series router catalog can enable converged media environments by providing IP voice and video, Wi-Fi and cellular wireless and data in a single integrated appliance. Advanced data protection can include encryption, VPN tunneling, firewall, and URL filtering. For business continuity, available features for 881 routers include redundant wide area network connections or support for wired high-speed WAN links such as DSL plus multiple different cellular 3G and 4G wireless connections all built into one appliance.

The basic Cisco 881 router includes a 4-port fast Ethernet managed switch that delivers 15 Mbps throughput, the ability to handle 20 users, two-port integrated PoE, and IPv6 compatibility. Cisco's 881W ISR router includes 802.11g/n Wi-Fi. The 881 SRST router includes four FXS ports and 1 FXO port for public-switched-telephone-network (PSTN) fallback with Cisco Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST). With a Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) license, the Cisco 881 ISR router supports SIP trunking as a replacement for legacy Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines or FXO voice connectivity to a PSTN carrier. CUBE-based SIP trunks can also support remote agents in Cisco Call Center deployments.
4000 Series Integrated Services Routers
The Cisco 4000 Line of Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) are compact modular and expandable routers designed for businesses with multiple branches and remote users requiring direct access to private data centers as well as public clouds via VPNs and the Internet. The 4000 series delivers the bandwidth needed for hybrid WAN environments to accommodate mobile users, Cloud-based services, and HD video applications by utilizing network optimization, deep packet inspection, and advanced traffic-management technology. Devices in the 4000 family are powered by Cisco's IOS XE operating system, come in a 1-rack-unit (RU) or 2RU package, can handle as much as 2 Gbps of traffic, and can have up to 3 network interface module slots, 2 service module slots, 4 integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet switches, and 8 CPU core integrated server modules. ISR 4000 models can support integrated Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1, T3/E3, PR1, xDSL and other interfaces. To manage unified communications, the 400o ISR provides comprehensive edge support for SBC, branch telephony survivability, and TDM gateways.

The primary difference between the Cisco 4400 and 4300 Series is the inclusion of dual power supply support in the 4400 ISR Series, offering a higher degree of availability. Cisco's 4321 Integrated Services Router comes in a 1 RU desktop package and includes two network interface modules (NIMs), provides as much as 100 Mbps throughput, and supports 240 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's 4331 router has a 1 RU package and includes two network interface modules, delivers up to 300 Mbps performance, and can handle 360 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's 4351 router has a 2 RU package and includes three network interface modules, provides as much as 400 Mbps performance, and can handle 720 Digital Voice and Video Channels. The power-redundant 4431 router comes in a 2 RU form factor and includes three NIMs, provides up to 1 Gbps throughput, and supports 720 Digital Voice/Video Channels. Cisco's fault-tolerant 4431 Integrated Services Router comes in a 2 RU form factor with three NIMs, offers as much as 2 Gbps performance, and supports 1200 Digital Voice/Video Channels.
Cisco's WAN Edge Routers and Service Provider Routers
Cisco's WAN aggregation and service provider routers can provide larger businesses with fast, protected headends to aggregate satellite office and off-site traffic and to provide carriers cost-optimized WAN edge routing. Cisco's WAN aggregation and carrier router portfolio includes the Cisco ASR 1000 routers and the 9000 Series Aggregation Services routers.

Progent's national team of Cisco CCIE certified network engineers have extensive experience working with enterprise businesses and service providers to plan optimal installations and smooth upgrades of Cisco's WAN edge routers. Progent's GIAC-certified information assurance experts can provide objective, independent security inventory assessments, penetration testing services and comprehensive Security information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to help companies that use Cisco's Aggregation Services Routers to meet business standards and statutory requirements for network data security and incident reporting. Progent also can provide expertise with Horizon3.ai's NodeZero platform for pentesting. NodeZero depends on AI technology to simplify the vulnerability assessment cycle of finding cybersecurity gaps in network perimeters and within the internal network, prioritizing repairs, fixing weaknesses, and verifying successful repairs.
Cisco ASR 1000 WAN Edge Routers
Cisco's ASR 1000 Series WAN Edge line of routers is positioned in the center of Cisco's midrange devices that focus on aggregating services at the wide area network edge. ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers provide a small form factor, single-product solution for large businesses requiring satellite office aggregation at supergigabit Ethernet performance. ASR 1000 WAN Edge routers introduce an innovative architecture that mixes on-board acceleration with programmable versatility to deliver a rich set of concurrent services while preserving dependable performance.
Cisco's ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services routers feature Cisco's proprietary QuantumFlow Processor incorporating 40 custom Packet Processing Engines (PPEs) that in combination can support up to 160 concurrent threads. This massive parallelism, in conjunction with hardware acceleration for every service, enables the high-end ASR 1006 router to expand up to 000 hardware queues, 32K clients, 4,000 IP security tunnels at 10K sessions/second, and 2M Netflow log records. This processing power permits Cisco's ASR 1000 Series routers to deliver a variety of advanced services concurrently in massive volume without suffering performance degradation that could violate adherence to service level agreements. Examples of these advanced services include Cisco IOS Firewall, IPS, NAT, FPM, and in-line deep packet inspection. The ASR 1000 also permits sophisticated traffic management for performing multiple levels of Quality of Service to a packet in one operation, improving responsiveness for high-bandwidth IP voice and video applications.
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Routers
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers are designed as edge routers for service providers who need to deliver the highest quality HD multimedia services to home, business, and mobile customers by providing non-stop availability, high speed, and application awareness. All models in the ASR 9000 line of Aggregation Services Routers are powered by Cisco's IOS XR operating system, a self-healing, distributed operating system designed for non-stop uptime. Throughput of the Cisco ASR 9000 Series of Routers can scale up to 96 Tbps per system. Cisco's ASR 9000 line of Aggregation Services Routers support high-density Gigabit Ethernet (GE), 10 GE, and 100 GE and have redundant fabric and power supply, power entry modules, and fan trays plus redundant control planes and switch fabric.
The ASR 9001 platform is a provider-edge router in a 6 RU form factor 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 base chassis incorporates four 10 GE enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) ports and ports for GPS clocking, BITS, and management. The Cisco ASR 9904 Router comes in a 6 RU chassis and offers line-rate 10 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet connections in space-limited sites. The 4-slot router can scale up to 4 Tbps of switching capacity in a single chassis. The ASR 9912 Router has a 30 RU chassis with 12 slots slots that can handle 550 Gbps of throughput. The Cisco ASR 9912 incorporates 2 route processors and 6+1 Fabric Cards to provide N+1 redundancy.
How Progent Can Assist You to Support Cisco Router Products
Progent's CCIE certified engineers can help you to plan, configure, and maintain an integrated network infrastructure that can streamline operations, reduce costs, and speed the path to positive return on investment. By combining Cisco routers with Cisco Catalyst switches expertise and Cisco Catalyst and Meraki Wi-Fi wireless expertise, Progent can dramatically increase the strategic value of your network infrastructure. Progent can provide on-premises and off-site help and can provide data center support throughout the U.S.
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