Cisco Wireless Reviews

Central controlling of all APs.

It has enabled the organization to become cable-free.

Training support for clients is needed.

3 years -

Cisco Wlan Controller 5508

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

Excellent.

Middle.

No other solution was used.

Pretty Straightforward.

A vendor(Xiamen WisDom Net), They have 3 CCIE engineers in routing and switches but not in Wi-Fi, They quickly improvee their Wi-Fi skills and even I improved a lot.

High.

We invited 6 vendors that offered Cisco, Juniper, Aerohive brand Wi-Fi solutions to evaluate and compare products.

See my website article:

http://aweisoft.net/Knowledge/Cisco/OptimizeWiFi/OptimizeWiFi.aspx

• Scalability
• Enterprise Wireless Mesh
• Number of interfaces
• High Performance Video

In our company we have employees spread across multiple floors which requires more APs than we originally have. This new WLAN Controller accommodates us very well. It also has the great feature of grouping APs to specific VLANs which gives us a lot of flexibility.

Overall i haven't had any major complaints. I have noticed though when grouping interfaces, sometimes if you need to delete a previously created interface group there can be glitches. The GUI can be improved on.

This specific model (Cisco 5508 Wireless Controller ) - 1 year

Cisco WLAN controller in general - over 10 years

No. The setup was pretty simple and straight forward.

None encountered.

None encountered.

They do just fine.

Very good. On the 2 occasions that I had to contact support I got immediate assistance and the reps were very knowledgeable and able to resolve my issues in little to no time.

We have always used Cisco.

The intial setup was very straight forward. Like most of Cisco devices the initial setup asks you some questions and you can select what you want to use as default or change. I did the preliminary setup then everything else from the GUI.

Implementation was done in-house.

The increased productivity and low downtime from the wireless network is worth every cent spent. The different teams can roam the building while staying connected.....100%

The initial set-up cost including the device was approximately $7500. There is no day-to-day cost besides the power it uses since the device just about maintains itself. Unless adding new APs or subnets to the wireless network there is no need to touch the controller really.

No, we stuck we Cisco since that's what we have been using all these years.

No, we stuck we Cisco since that's what we have been using all these years.

The easy way to integrate it with the existing network. Also, at the implementation, the simple management of the access points in a centrally console.

Before the implementation in 2006, we had 20 stand-alone access points where the administration tasks were complicated; any change has to be made in each AP.

Since August 2006.

Not really.

Until now they are very stable, but in some cases in which we had a problem there was a fix to solve the problem.

No issues encountered.

Good, 9 out of 10

Good, 9 out of 10

No, this product is the only one I have used.

As in the majority of new implementations there is a lack of knowledge of the products, but with some time and a lot readings at the end was easily.

It was a mixed schema; the case study and the initial implementation was made by a vendor, then, the tune up was made by us.

No, it was the only one because all the network infrastructure is Cisco: Total compatibility.

Have clear ideas about the requirements or goals for the company before implementation and have a good case study.

No configuration required on access points and better monitoring.

We have been deploying in different companies and their wireless communication has improved.

Access Points are unable to handle huge traffic and if one user start downloading other user bandwidth speed is affected.

Multiple Times.

4402, 4404, 5508

Yes we did have issues. The start access points were unable to join the controller but we managed.

There was an issue with User Authentication with lDAP.

None encountered.

None encountered.

It was good.

It was good.

Our customer used Linksys access points and they had problems with their connection so they decided for WLAN.

Start the controller. The initial setup process will start the you need to configure multiple parameters, and the configuration is done.

I implemented myself for multiple companies.

No day-to-day cost.

Yes different WLAN Controller models.

Good product and good reliability

Unified management, reporting, stability, and most importantly seamless roaming

Network wide SSID’s and passkeys help the day to day function of the IT staff. Simple to have a guest network.

The cost could be improved.

2 Years

Deployment for the WLAN controllers is very simple with a proper plan of your organization’s requirements. I have deployed this across large university campuses, vpn tunnels, and small businesses.

I have had very few issues with appliances or access points dropping off.

This goes back to properly planning your deployment. The smaller WLAN controller’s don’t grow well.

10 out of 10

10 out of 10

I haven’t switched anyone but we do often deploy Ubiquiti Unifi equipment for our smaller clients

Like all things Cisco, this can be as simple or complex as you want it. Most implementations are very simple to start.

It is done in-house.

We evaluated Aruba, Ruckus, and Ubiquiti.

Do your research! Make sure this product fits your needs.

There are many valuable features including security, availability, scalability, integration With Cisco products, WEB Portal for guest users, and Cleanair.

The main improvement was the mobility of Notebooks, Tablets, SmartPhones and Warehouse functions.

Management, and Monitoring features need to be improved and the inclusion of a Cloud-based solution.

4 years

Remote APs cannot work without Main Controller when using 802.1x Authentication.

No issues encountered.

No issues were encountered.

It was OK! We had some problems and always checked them with the TAC.

We used MOTOROLA/SYMBOL. It is an solution with no innovation and less features than Cisco Wireless Solution.

No, It was simple.

I am an consultant and I implement for our clients.

Motorola and Aruba.

That is a good solution, pay attention on Compatibility Matrix with some APs.

My organization uses the solution for our hospitality industry customers.

The product enables mobility and centralized control. Embedded Wireless Controller and Software-Defined Networking are the best features of the product. The product has less maintenance cost.

The solution doesn't have much coverage area. The product should improve the licensing structure.

The solution should allow administrators to view and provide more access points to users through the mobile application.

I have been using the solution for seven to ten years.

The solution is scalable.

We always contact the support team. The team provides outstanding support.

The initial setup is an easy process for a trained engineer.

The deployment process depends on the use case. To deploy the product, we can configure the physical wireless controller and add all APs one by one. The deployment is time-consuming. We have certified engineers to deploy the product. Two to five engineers are needed to deploy the solution. We do not face any issues in maintaining the product.

The license structure is confusing.

I am using the latest version of the product. Overall, I rate the product a ten out of ten.

Our main customer of the Cisco wireless is in the retail sector, for example, Walmart.

The customer always feels confident with the solution because of its reliability. 

In the future, it would be great if the solution had a GPS feature that could have the ability through access points to locate cell phone users inside a local wireless network, for example in a stadium. 

I have been using the solution for approximately twenty years.

The stability is very good.

We have never had an issue with scalability with this product. Our customers are medium to large size organizations. We have found that small businesses discontinue using the solution more often than larger companies who tend to remains using it.

The support has been good for us.

The initial setup was easy, the documentation is good.

The deployment can take one day if the network is small but if it is a larger network it could take a while longer. When we have issues with security the process becomes more complex, taking more time.

The product could be priced better.

I would recommend before implementation, administrators must know the exact number of users.

I rate Cisco Wireless a ten out of ten.