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Cisco 5520 and 8540 Wireless Controller Troubleshooting Guide
 
  Overview of the Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller
Overview of the Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller
The Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller provides centralized control, management, and troubleshooting for 
high-scale deployments in service provider and large campus deployments. It offers flexibility to support 
multiple deployment modes in the same controller: for example, centralized mode for campus, Cisco 
FlexConnect mode for lean branches managed over the WAN, and mesh (bridge) mode for deployments 
where full Ethernet cabling is unavailable. As a component of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, this 
controller provides real-time communications between Cisco Aironet access points, the Cisco Prime 
Infrastructure, and the Cisco Mobility Services Engine, and is inter-operable with other Cisco 
controllers.
Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller Rear Panel View
Port-n Link 
Activity
— 
Green blinking—Link activity
Service Port and 
Redundancy Port 
LED (present on 
the port)
Interface Port 
Speed (the left 
LED on the 
port)
Off—Link Speed = 10 Mbps
Amber On—Link Speed = 100 Mbps
Green On—Link Speed = 1 Gbps
Interface Port 
Status (the 
right LED on 
the port)
Off—No link
Green On—Link
Blinking—Traffic present
Table 1 Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller Rear Panel LEDs, Definitions of States
LED Name Function State
1 Two Type A 3.0 USB ports
2 CIMC port 10/100/1000 Base-T