The Cisco ISR 4000 Series is still a hot topic when users select a router to set up a better network.
How to find out the very right Cisco 4000 router for your branch office? Let’s read the main model comparison of Cisco ISR 4000 routers.
The 4000 Series contains five platforms: the 4451, 4431, 4351, 4331, and 4321 ISRs.
Model Comparison: ISR 4321 vs. 4331 vs. 4351 vs. 4431 vs. 4451 Router
| Feature | 4321 | 4331 | 4351 | 4431 | 4451 |
| Form factor | 1 rack unit (RU) Desktop | 1 RU | 2 RU | 1 RU | 2 RU |
| Integrated WAN ports | 1 GE / SFP 1 GE | 1 GE / SFP 1 GE 1 SFP | 2 PoE GE / SFP 1 GE/ SFP | 2 PoE GE / SFP 2 GE / SFP | 2 PoE GE / SFP 2 GE / SFP |
| Performance | 50 Mbps Upgradable to 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps Upgradable to 300 Mbps | 200 Mbps Upgradable to 400 Mbps | 500 Mbps Upgradeable to 1 Gbps | 1 Gbps Upgradable to 2 Gbps |
| Management port | 1 GE (Integrated Out of Band) | ||||
| Network Interface Modules (NIM) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Enhanced Services Module (SM-X) | N/A | 1 single-wide | 2 single- or 1 double-wide | N/A | 2 single- or 1 double-wide |
| Integrated Services Card (ISC) slots | 1 (PVDM 4) | 1 (PVDM 4) | 1 (PVDM 4) | 1 (PVDM 4) | 1 (PVDM 4) |
| USB ports (type A) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Default/max Flash | 4 GB / 8 GB | 4 GB / 16 GB | 4 GB / 16 GB | 8 GB / 32 GB | 8 GB / 32 GB |
| Default/max DRAM | 4 GB / 8 GB | 4 GB / 16 GB | 4 GB / 16 GB | 4 GB / 16 GB | 4 GB / 16 GB |
| Power supply type | External: AC, PoE | Internal: AC, PoE | Internal: AC, PoE or DC | Internal: AC, PoE or DC | Internal: AC, PoE or DC |
| Redundant power supply | No | No | No | Yes Internal RPS | Yes Internal RPS |
| Module online insertion and removal (OIR) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Server virtualization platform (UCS E-Series) | N/A | 2-core single-wide, 4-core single-wide | 2 core single-wide, 4 core single-wide, 4 core double-wide, 6 core double-wide, 8 core double-wide | N/A | 2-core single-wide, 4-core single-wide, 4-core double-wide, 6-core double-wide, 8-core double-wide |
| Advanced Security | 4321 | 4331 | 4351 | 4431 | 4451 |
| Zone-based firewall and NAT services | VRF-Aware Firewall and Network Address Translation (NAT) | ||||
| Hardware VPN acceleration (DES, 3DES, AES) | No | ||||
| IPSEC VPN services | FlexVPN, Easy VPN remote server, Enhanced Easy VPN, Dynamic Multipoint VPN (DMVPN), Group Encrypted Transport VPN (GET VPN), V3PN, MPLS VPN | ||||
| SSL VPN | No | ||||
| Intrusion prevention | Yes | ||||
| Network foundation protection | ACL, FPM, control plan protection, control plane policing (CoPP), QoS, role-based CLI access, source-based RTBH, uRPF, SSHv2 | ||||
| Cisco Cloud Web Security | Yes* | ||||
| Identity-based networking | No | No | No | No | No |
| Cisco TrustSec |
| ||||
| Unified Communications | 4321 | 4331 | 4351 | 4431 | 4451 |
| Local conferencing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Digital signal processor support | PVDM4 | PVDM4 | PVDM4 | PVDM4 | PVDM4 |
| Cisco Unified Survivable Remote Site Telephony support | Up to 50 | Up to 100 | Up to 750 | Up to 1200 | Up to 2000 |
| Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express support | Up to 50 | Up to 100 | Up to 250 | Up to 350 | Up to 450 |
| Cisco Unity Express (NM, SM, or ISM) | Use Cisco Unity Connection on UCSE | Use Cisco Unity Connection on UCSE | Use Cisco Unity Connection on UCSE | Use Cisco Unity Connection on UCSE | Use Cisco Unity Connection on UCSE |
| Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) (SIP/H.323 sessions) | 100 | 400 | 1000 | 3000 | 6000 |
| nano Cisco Unified Border Element (nanoCUBE) (sessions) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Digital voice and video (T1/E1 channels) | Up to 240 | Up to 360 | Up to 720 | Up to 720 | Up to 1200 |
| Analog/BRI voice | Up to 8 ports (FXS, FXO, E/M, BRi) | Up to 12 ports (FXS, FXO, E/M, BRi) | Up to 20 ports (FXS, FXO, E/M, BRi) | Up to 12 ports (FXS, FXO, E/M, BRi) | Up to 20 ports (FXS, FXO, E/M, BRi) |
| Routing and Multicast | 4321 | 4331 | 4351 | 4431 | 4451 |
| IPv4 routing protocols | RIP v1/v2, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, PBR, PfR | RIP v1/v2, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, PBR, PfR | RIP v1/v2, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, PBR, PfR | RIP v1/v2, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, PBR, PfR | RIP v1/v2, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, PBR, PfR |
| Multicast routing protocols | PIM-SM, mroute (static route), and MLD | PIM-SM, mroute (static route), and MLD | PIM-SM, mroute (static route), and MLD | PIM-SM, mroute (static route), and MLD | PIM-SM, mroute (static route), and MLD |
| IPv6 routing protocols | EIGRP, RIP, OSPFv3, IS-IS, BGP and PBR | EIGRP, RIP, OSPFv3, IS-IS, BGP and PBR | EIGRP, RIP, OSPFv3, IS-IS, BGP and PBR | EIGRP, RIP, OSPFv3, IS-IS, BGP and PBR | EIGRP, RIP, OSPFv3, IS-IS, BGP and PBR |
| Wireless LAN | 4321 | 4331 | 4351 | 4431 | 4451 |
| Integrated 802.11 b/g/n access point | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Integrated 802.11 a/b/g/n access point | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Unified and autonomous mode | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| RP-TNC connectors for field-replaceable optional high-gain antennas | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Diversity (dual antennas) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Wireless LAN controller module | Available on UCS E-Series | Available on UCS E-Series | Available on UCS E-Series | Available on UCS E-Series | Available on UCS E-Series |
| Wireless WAN | 4321 | 4331 | 4351 | 4431 | 4451 |
| 3G /4G LTE cellular | Yes* | ||||
| Outdoor antennas | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Integrated Switching | 4321 | 4331 | 4351 | 4431 | 4451 |
| Maximum switched Ethernet ports | N/A | 24 | 48 | N/A | 48 |
| Maximum switched Ethernet LAN ports with PoE | N/A | 24 | 48 | N/A | 48 |
| PoE support (wattage) without PoE boost | 120 W | 250 W | 500 W | 250 W (with optional power supply redundancy) | 500 W (with optional power supply redundancy) |
| PoE support (wattage) with PoE boost | 260 W | 530 W | 990 W | 500 W (no power supply redundancy) | 950 W (no power supply redundancy) |
| EtherSwitch Service Module type (width) | N/A | 1 single | 2 single or 1 double | N/A | 2 single or 1 double |
| Application Services | 4321 | 4331 | 4351 | 4431 | 4451 |
| Intelligent Path Control | PfR | PfR | PfR | PfR | PfR |
| Network Contention Control | QoS, HQoS | QoS, HQoS | QoS, HQoS | QoS, HQoS | QoS, HQoS |
| Application Visibility | NBAR v2 | NBAR v2 | NBAR v2 | NBAR v2 | NBAR v2 |
| WAN Optimization | ISR-WAAS | ISR-WAAS, vWAAS on UCS E-Series | ISR-WAAS, vWAAS on UCS E-Series | ISR-WAAS | ISR-WAAS, vWAAS on UCS E-Series |
| Akamai Connect | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure | Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) with Enterprise Module | ||||
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