Thank you for purchasing the Cisco 250 Series Switch. The Cisco 250 Series Switches are the next generation of affordable smart switches that combine powerful network performance and reliability with a complete suite of network features that you need for a solid business network. These expandable Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet switches, with Gigabit or 10-Gigabit uplinks, provide multiple management options, rich security capabilities, and Layer-3 static routing features far beyond those of an unmanaged or consumer-grade switch, at a lower cost than fully managed switches. With an easy-to-use web user interface, Smart Network Application, and Power over Ethernet Plus capability, you can deploy and configure a complete business network in minutes.

Before You Begin

Before you begin installing your device, ensure that the following items are available:

• RJ-45 Ethernet cables for connecting network devices. A category 6a and higher cable is required for 10G ports; a category 5e and higher cable is required for all other ports.

• Console cable for using the console port to manage your switch.

• Tools for installing the hardware.

  • The rack-mount kit packed with the switch contains four rubber feet for desktop placement, and two brackets and twelve screws for rackmounting.

  • If the supplied screws are lost, use replacement screws in the following size:

    • Diameter of the screw head: 6.9 mm

    • Length of face of screw head to base of screw: 5.9 mm

    • Shaft diameter: 3.94 mm

• Computer running on of the following browsers: Microsoft Edge or Firefox (version 74 or 73 or higher), or Chrome (version 80 or 79 or higher), or Safari over MAC (version 12.1 and higher) for using the web-based interface or the console port to manage your switch.

Warning

Suitable for installation in information Technology Rooms in accordance with Article 645 of the national Electric Code and NFPA 75.

The following components are found on the front panel of the device:

• USB Port—The USB port connects the switch to a USB device so that you can save and restore the configuration files, firmware images, and SYSLOG files through the connected USB device. The USB port supports the FAT32 file system.

• RJ-45 Ethernet Ports—The RJ-45 Ethernet ports connect network devices, such as computers, printers, and access points, to the switch.

• Multigigabit Ethernet Ports—Highlighted in blue, these ports support speeds of 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 2.5 Gbps, and 5 Gbps on Cat 5e cables. Some uplink ports also support MultiGiga speed. In this case, port speed can reach 10Gbps. Much of the cabling deployed worldwide is limited to 1 Gbps at 100 meters. Cisco Multigigabit Ethernet enables speeds up to 2.5 or 5 Gbps on the same infrastructure without replacing a cable.

• 60-Watt PoE Ports—Highlighted in yellow. The 60-Watt PoE ports double the PoE power to 60W. This is not found on the 250 devices nor on the SF350-48P device.

• SFP+ Port (if present)—The small form-factor pluggable plus (SFP+) are connection points for modules so that the switch can link to other switches. These ports are also commonly referred to as mini 10GigaBit Interface Converter ports. The term SFP+ is used in this guide.

  • The SFP+ ports are compatible with the following Cisco SFP 1G optical modules MGBSX1, MGBLH1, MGBT1, as well as other brands.

  • The Cisco SFP+ 10G optical modules that are supported in the Cisco switches are: SFP-10G-SR, SFP-10G-LR, SFP-10G-SR-S, and SFP-10G-LR-S.

  • The Cisco SFP+ Copper Cable modules that are supported in the Cisco switches are: SFP-H10GB-CU1M, SFP-H10GB-CU3M, and SFP-H10GB-CU5M.

  • The SFP+ port is a combination port, shared with one other RJ-45 port. When the SFP+ is active, the adjacent RJ-45 port is disabled.

  • The LEDs of the corresponding RJ-45 port flash green to respond to the SFP interface traffic.

• Some SFP interfaces are shared with one other RJ-45 port, called a combo port. When the SFP is active, the adjacent RJ-45 port is disabled.

• OOB Port (if present)—The Out of Band (OOB) port is a CPU Ethernet port that can be used only as a management interface. Bridging between the OOB port and the in-band Layer 2 interface is not supported. This does not appear on 250 devices.

The switch can be accessed and managed by two different methods; over your IP network using the web-based interface, or by using the switch’s command-line interface through the console port. Using the console port requires advanced user skills.

The following table shows the default settings used when configuring your switch for the first time.

The following are the available product models:

The navigation menu, located at the top right of each UI page, lists the device’s main features.You can access each feature’s UI pages using a series of cascading menus. To access an individual UI page, click the corresponding feature tab in the navigation menu to display a menu of subcategories. Select a subcategory and repeat this process until you see the desired page, and then select the page to display it in the main window.