ISR 890 Series Datasheet for Cisco Integrated Services Routers with 8-Port LAN Switch

Cisco 890 Series Integrated Services Routers are fixed-configuration branch routers that combine WAN access, routing, security, an integrated managed Ethernet switch, optional wireless LAN, and optional Power over Ethernet in a single customer-premises appliance. They are designed for enterprise small branch offices and service-provider managed Ethernet deployments.

Product role and deployment model

The Cisco 890 Series is intended for locations that require more than a standalone WAN router but do not need a modular chassis. The platform consolidates:

• Broadband, Metro Ethernet, xDSL, G.SHDSL, and fiber-facing WAN connectivity, depending on model
• An integrated managed LAN switch
• Optional 802.11a/g/n wireless access point functionality
• Optional 802.3af and Cisco-compliant inline PoE
• Stateful firewalling, VPN, IPS, and application inspection
• Routing, QoS, IPv4, IPv6, and WAN monitoring
• Console, auxiliary, USB, and remote management functions

The routers support centralized and remote administration through Cisco IOS Software, web-based management tools, Cisco Configuration Professional, Cisco Configuration Engine, Cisco AutoInstall, SNMPv3, SSH, RADIUS, TACACS+, and Cisco IP SLA.

The standard platform is sized for a recommended 50 users. That figure should be treated as a planning reference rather than a guaranteed concurrent-user capacity. Actual sizing depends on WAN bandwidth, encryption, firewall and IPS policies, QoS classification, application mix, wireless client density, and the number of simultaneously enabled services.

Selecting the hardware configuration

The primary selection criterion is the physical WAN handoff. Use the Ethernet-only models where the provider presents copper Gigabit Ethernet, fiber through an SFP, or another Ethernet demarcation. Use the VA models where the WAN is delivered over VDSL or ADSL. Use the 898EA for four-pair Ethernet in the first mile. The 891-24X is the switch-density option for sites requiring up to 24 integrated Ethernet access ports.

Wireless selection is separate from WAN selection. Wireless-capable variants are available in the 897VA and 891F families. The wireless option provides an integrated 802.11a/g/n access point that can operate in autonomous or unified mode. Cisco CleanAir technology is identified for the Cisco 897VA and Cisco 891F wireless hardware.

PoE must be specified deliberately. The Cisco 892FSP has no PoE support. The 896VA, 897VA, 898EA, and 891F provide four PoE-capable switch ports when equipped with the required 125W power supply arrangement. The 891-24X provides eight PoE-capable ports using its integrated power supply. The platform feature list identifies four-port 802.3af and Cisco-compliant PoE, but the datasheet does not provide a per-port wattage allocation or a maximum number of simultaneously powered devices. PoE load calculations should therefore use the approved power-supply configuration and the actual endpoint requirements.

Model and SKU matrix

The source identifies the 892FSP, 896VA, 897VA, 897VAB, 898EA, 891F, and 891-24X as data models capable of a DRAM increase from 512 MB to 1 GB. The applicable memory option is FL-8XX-512U1GB. Flash memory is 256 MB on all Cisco 890 Series models and is not upgradable.

WAN, LAN, and switching capabilities

The Ethernet and SFP interfaces allow the router to connect directly to copper or fiber provider handoffs. Supported SFP families include:

• GLC-LH-SM: 1000BASE-LX/LH for multimode and single-mode fiber
• GLC-SX-MM: 1000BASE-SX for multimode fiber
• GLC-ZX-SM: 1000BASE-ZX for single-mode fiber
• GLC-BX-D and GLC-BX-U: 1000BASE-BX over single-strand single-mode fiber
• GLC-T: 1000BASE-T
• GLC-GE-100FX: 100BASE-FX for multimode fiber
• GLC-FE-100LX: 100BASE-LX10 for single-mode fiber
• GLC-FE-100BX-U and GLC-FE-100BX-D: 100BASE-BX variants
• CWDM-SFP-1470=: 1470 nm CWDM Gigabit Ethernet and 1G/2G Fibre Channel
• GLC-LH-SMD, GLC-ZX-SMD, and GLC-EX-SMD

The datasheet states that GLC-LH-SMD, GLC-ZX-SMD, and GLC-EX-SMD are not supported on the Cisco 892F. SFP reach, optical budget, connector type, and provider compatibility must be validated against the specific optic and circuit design.

The standard branch models include an eight-port 10/100/1000 Mbps managed switch. The Cisco 891-24X increases this to 24 ports. Switching features include 25 802.1Q VLANs, MAC filtering, SPAN, storm control, Smartports, secure MAC addressing, IGMPv3 snooping, 802.1x, and automatic MDI-MDX operation.

Presales rules:

1. Select the switch-port count from the installed endpoint requirement, not merely the initial deployment count.
2. Reserve capacity for phones, access points, printers, security devices, and future growth.
3. Do not assume that every switch port supports PoE; verify the model and power option.
4. Treat the 25 VLAN figure as a platform limit for the listed switch feature set and include management, voice, wireless, guest, and endpoint VLANs in the design.
5. Use the 891-24X where a separate access switch would otherwise be required and where wireless is not a platform requirement.

Routing, WAN services, and high availability

The default Advanced IP Features Set supports RIPv1 and RIPv2, OSPF, BGP, EIGRP, VRF Lite, BFD, PfR, GRE, MGRE, L2TP, L2TPv3, NHRP, NAT, DHCP server, relay and client functions, DNS services, ACLs, IPv4 and IPv6 multicast, WCCP, and Cisco Express Forwarding.

High-availability functions include VRRP, HSRP, MHSRP, redundant WAN connections for failover and load balancing, and dial backup. The actual backup method depends on the model: supported options include ISDN S/T, ISDN BRI, a V.92 analog modem, or an external modem through the virtual auxiliary port.

For DSL deployments, the software feature set supports multimode VDSL2 and ADSL2+ over Annex A, B, J, and M, including traditional G.DMT and T1.413. Additional DSL capabilities include REIN and SHINE impulse-noise protection, extended INP delay, G.INP, physical-layer retransmission, SRA, Bitswap, VDSL2 PSD profiles up to 17a/b, spectral shaping, and VDSL2 vectoring. The platform also supports four-pair multimode G.SHDSL for ATM and EFM, TR069, CWMP, and remote DSL management.

Metro Ethernet functions include Ethernet Operations, Administration, and Maintenance, Ethernet Local Management Interface, and IP SLA for Ethernet. These capabilities are useful where the service provider must monitor circuit performance and verify service-level behavior from the customer premises.

Security architecture

The platform combines routing security, VPN, firewall, and intrusion prevention capabilities. Security functions include:

• SSL VPN for remote access
• Hardware-accelerated DES, 3DES, AES 128, AES 192, and AES 256
• PKI support
• Up to 50 IPsec tunnels
• Cisco Easy VPN client and server
• DMVPN
• Group Encrypted Transport VPN
• VRF-aware IPsec
• IPsec over IPv6
• NAT transparency
• SIP application-layer gateway
• Zone-Based Policy Firewall
• VRF-aware stateful inspection firewall
• Stateful transparent firewall
• Firewall stateful failover
• HTTPS, FTP, and Telnet Authentication Proxy
• Static and dynamic port security
• Cisco ScanSafe Connector
• IPS
• Control Plane Policing
• Flexible Packet Matching
• Network foundation protection

Security sizing should account for the number of VPN peers, encryption policies, inspection rules, IPS signatures, remote-access sessions, and WAN bandwidth. The published tunnel figure is a configuration capacity reference and does not define an encryption throughput value. No aggregate encrypted, firewall, IPS, or packet-forwarding throughput is provided in the datasheet; those values should not be inferred from interface speeds.

QoS, visibility, and operations

QoS functions include LLQ, WFQ, CBWFQ, class-based traffic shaping and policing, PBR, CoS-to-DSCP mapping, CBWRED, NBAR, LFI, RSVP, cRTP, DiffServ, QoS preclassify and prefragmentation, and HQoS.

A branch design should classify voice, interactive video, business-critical applications, transactional traffic, bulk transfers, and general internet traffic before selecting queueing and shaping policies. On DSL and other asymmetric services, shaping should be aligned with the provider’s actual upstream rate. IP SLA can be used to measure reachability, delay, jitter, and service behavior, while NBAR2, Flexible NetFlow, and Performance Agent provide application visibility.

Management options include CLI, HTTP, SSH, Telnet, SNMPv3, CiscoWorks, Cisco Security Manager, Cisco Configuration Professional, Cisco Configuration Express, Cisco Configuration Engine, Cisco AutoInstall, EEM, RADIUS, and TACACS+. The separate RJ-45 console and auxiliary ports support local and out-of-band administration. One USB 2.0 port is available on the listed 890 Series data models and supports USB flash memory. The USB port is not a general-purpose external-device interface.

Wireless capabilities

Wireless-capable configurations provide a dual-band 2.4 and 5 GHz 802.11a/g/n access point with 2 x 3 MIMO radio operation. The antenna specification is 2 dBi at 2.4 GHz and 5 dBi at 5 GHz. Supported functions include autonomous and unified access-point modes, local or central switching in HREAP mode, Cisco WCS monitoring, transparent roaming through mobility groups, radio roles for access point, root bridge, nonroot bridge, and workgroup bridge, WMM, TSPEC CAC, and UPSD.

The WLAN supports up to 16 SSIDs and 14 wireless VLANs, including encrypted and nonencrypted VLANs. Security options include 802.11i, WPA, WPA2 with AES, MAC authentication and filtering, RADIUS accounting, preshared keys, static and dynamic WEP, TKIP/SSN, and multiple EAP methods including LEAP, PEAP, EAP-TLS, EAP-FAST, EAP-SIM, EAP-MD5, and EAP-TTLS.

Published maximum aggregate transmit power is 15 dBm for 802.11a, 20 dBm for 802.11b, 17 dBm for 802.11g, and 16 dBm for 802.11n. The actual permitted power depends on channel and regional regulatory requirements. The stated radio rates are technology rates, not guaranteed application throughput.

Power, physical installation, and environmental limits

The standard external power supply accepts universal 100 to 240 VAC at 50 to 60 Hz, provides a maximum output power of 60W, and produces 12 VDC. External PoE output voltage is 48 VDC.

Power options are model-dependent:

• Cisco 891 and 892 ISR PoE configurations use a separate 80W PoE power supply.
• Cisco 896, 897, 898, and 891F configurations require a single 125W power supply for the router and PoE.
• Cisco 891-24X uses its internal power supply for PoE.
• The 800-IL-PM-4 with 125W PSU is the four-port 802.3af internal power module for Cisco 896, 897, 898, and 891F routers.
• Cisco 892FSP has no PoE support.

The Cisco 892FSP, 896VA, 897VA, 897VAB, 898EA, and 891F measure 1.82 x 12.71 x 9.78 inches with rubber feet, or 1.75 x 12.71 x 9.78 inches without them. Metric dimensions are 4.62 x 32.28 x 24.84 cm with feet and 4.45 x 32.28 x 24.84 cm without feet.

The Cisco 891-24X measures 1.75 x 17.25 x 12 inches. The corresponding metric dimensions are listed as 4.62 x 43.81 x 30.48 cm with rubber feet and 4.45 x 43.81 x 30.48 cm without feet. Maximum weight is 5.5 lb, or 2.5 kg.

Operating limits are:

• Temperature: 32 to 104 degrees F, or 0 to 40 degrees C
• Operating humidity: 10 to 85 percent relative humidity, noncondensing
• Operating altitude: 0 to 10,000 ft, or 0 to 3000 m
• Nonoperating temperature: -4 to 149 degrees F, or 0 to 65 degrees C
• Nonoperating humidity: 5 to 95 percent relative humidity, noncondensing
• Nonoperating altitude: 0 to 15,000 ft, or 0 to 4570 m

The datasheet does not specify MTBF, operating acoustic noise, fan noise, or a sound-power rating. These values must be obtained from the applicable hardware qualification documentation when the router is being proposed for a noise-sensitive office, workstation area, or acoustic-controlled room.

Rack installation is supported through ACS-890-RM-19 for all 890 models except the 891-24X, and ACS-2901-RM-19 for the 891-24X.

Software and service considerations

The universal router image is identified as C800-universalk9-mz for the listed data models. Wireless deployments use ap802-k9w7-tar for autonomous software and ap802-rcvk9w8-tar for LWAPP recovery.

Cisco SMARTnet technical support is available on a one-time or annual contract basis. Described support options range from help-desk assistance to proactive onsite consultation. The service includes access to major Cisco IOS Software updates covering protocol, security, bandwidth, and feature improvements; access to Cisco technical libraries; and continuous access to Cisco technical support staff.

The supplied material does not specify a standard product warranty duration, advance replacement terms, hardware replacement response time, or entitlement for unsupported configurations. Those items must be confirmed in the applicable purchase quotation and service contract.

A complete presales bill of materials should include the base router SKU, the correct regional wireless variant where required, the approved SFP, the DRAM upgrade if needed, the PoE power option, the rack kit, and the selected support contract.