Q. Are there special SKUs for the Cisco® 8500 Series Wireless Controllers for service provider Wi-Fi deployments?
A. Yes. There are special Cisco 8500 Series SKUs for service-provider-specific requirements:
• Cisco 8500 Series with zero access points: the "SP" SKUs in Table 1.
• Adder licenses to add access points (100, 500, and 1000 access point counts).
• A new Right-To-Use (RTU) licensing scheme allows purchasing adder licenses in bulk and adding, deleting, or transferring across different Cisco 8500 Series Controllers, as network needs change. More details on RTU licensing are available in the RTU Q&A.
Q. What are the SP SKUs I can order?
A. Table 1 shows the service provider (SP) SKU.
Table 1. Service Provider SKUs
Q. What are the Cisco 8500 Series Enterprise SKUs?
A. For enterprise deployments, Cisco 8500 Series Enterprise SKUs similar to current SKUs, with preinstalled access point licenses available. The Enterprise SKUs are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Cisco 8500 Series Enterprise SKUs
Q. Can I order Cisco 8500 Series Enterprise SKUs for service provider deployments?
A. Yes, you can order these SKUs for service provider deployments. However, the base license installed on these controllers from the factory cannot be modified.
The controllers with "SP" in the SKU provide the maximum flexibility. The controller hardware can be ordered with zero access points installed and the adder licenses can be added via RTU based on network usage requirements that can change over time.