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Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar vs Cisco Wireless comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess S...
Ranking in Wireless LAN
23rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
154
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar is 1.7%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 10.4%, down from 10.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Wireless10.4%
Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar1.7%
Other87.9%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Attila Gyalus - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at TeloNet
An Easily Deployable and User-Friendly Solution with Rapid Installation
The support of this solution is great. The timeliness of their responses is crucial for me. When I raise an issue, I can count on receiving a prompt reply, eliminating the need for extensive online searches or phone calls. This efficiency is paramount in saving time. In the rare instances where problems arise, they are usually swiftly addressed.
Tejas Jain - PeerSpot reviewer
Principle Cloud Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Improved mobile connectivity has supported seamless work while configuration complexity remains
Cisco Wireless does not integrate into network security and threat detection by itself. Integration with other tools is necessary for security functions. I do not think threat intel feeds can be ingested locally, and the platform must work with EDR or threat prevention tools. We handle security after the user is connected, with particular traffic landing on the wired network and passing through the firewall. We do not typically use native threat prevention capabilities because it becomes too cluttered and creates troubleshooting challenges when relying on the platform's primary functionality to provide wireless access while securing it simultaneously. The areas for improvement are not challenges for every single version. We faced several issues with a few versions, primarily involving hardware and software compatibility where upgrades became necessary. A couple of our locations have devices deployed years ago that have remained stable. Other locations required device refreshes because those devices reached end-of-sale and end-of-life status, necessitating several iterations before reaching a stable state.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The features aren't much different than those in Aruba, but deployment is easier to configure and the pricing is better."
"We needed a solution to provide internet access for the majority of 317,68 KM square site and assure authentication, authorization and accountability compliance of users, and OmniAccess has enabled us to do so."
"One feature that differentiates Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar from some other vendors is the fact that on-premise OmniVista licenses are perpetual."
"Configuring Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar is easier than Aruba HPE."
"There is a definite ROI with this product. This product creates a baseline of technology that will be a means to grow from five to ten years from now. By using this solution, it is an investment on the installation of that baseline."
"I have not seen any downtime in the tool."
"We are very satisfied with the performance."
"I have worked with different solutions in the past and switched to Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar because of its quick installation time. It requires no additional preparation. The product is highly stable. I rate it a nine out of ten. The support of this solution is great. The timeliness of their responses is crucial for me. When I raise an issue, I can count on receiving a prompt reply, eliminating the need for extensive online searches or phone calls."
"The stability is great. It's very reliable."
"This particular solution has been great thanks to the access technology provided."
"Our organization has improved using this product because it helps enhance user experience. We use video communication a lot, like Skype. We used to get a lot of interference before and had a lot of issues during wireless voice or video calls. We get greater speed and performance with wireless now. It is nearly the same as a wired network."
"Cisco Wireless is easy to configure."
"It allows us to reduce the cost of cabling and provides mobility of users within the organization."
"The ability to disable RRM or set hybrid RRM provides a more granular design of RF in the environment."
"It is a reliable and robust solution. Access and Mobility Groups are useful. We don't use anything very fancy."
"It integrates with Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)."
 

Cons

"Most customers are asking for an on-premises hardware architecture while it is available as a software-based architecture."
"If the customers plan to go on the cloud side, they need encryption and daily communications from a security perspective."
"I would prefer to have the integrated heat map feature provided by the basic controller in the Solution instead of purchasing an external one. Accessing this capability directly within the controller's access point would be convenient."
"Sometimes, we're not able to meet the complex requirement with Stellar."
"It is not possible to integrate Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar with third-party software like Opera, a property management system (PMS)."
"It needs to be faster in order to process and transmit bigger packets."
"Simplification of the configuration processes and improvement of the maintenance software OmniVista 3600."
"Yes, some issues are related to firmware bugs or firmware instability."
"To improve Cisco Wireless, the ports on the access points are all 100 Meg, not 1 gig."
"Because the Cisco architecture is quite complex, you may end up having to add more components and licenses. So, the cost could go up."
"Cisco Wireless needs to improve pricing. I understand that Cisco products are typically more expensive than other vendors. Therefore, I believe that adjusting the pricing could potentially be beneficial. Discounts may be available depending on the customer or type of purchase, which could help offset the higher costs."
"Installation and deployment of Cisco Wireless is usually not straightforward and can be complicated."
"Cisco is on the expensive side. I'd rate the product a three out of five in terms of affordability of the product."
"The pricing is a bit high. It could be less expensive."
"If needs to provide more visibility. It can detect and do it, but as technicians we don't have a lot of visibility into seeing exactly what's happening. It doesn't give us a lot of log information for us to troubleshoot. They probably have additional software you need to purchase to get that kind of information. But I think not all companies can afford additional software to see those kinds of details. So if the wireless controller already had, built-in, those types of things for the technician or wireless engineer, it would be more attractive for the end-user."
"The GUI could be made more user-friendly. There should also be a dashboard where it can showcase how many end-users are connected to a particular access point."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We find the price comparable to other products on the market."
"Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar is a mid-range solution with respect to pricing."
"At times, it appears that the solution's pricing is slightly higher. This makes it challenging to persuade customers who primarily focus on the price."
"It's pricey, but better than similar solutions."
"The price of this product is average and it is a one-time, perpetual license."
"The tool is cost-effective, according to our sales team's feedback."
"The price is in the range of other brands like Cisco, maybe a little cheaper but you get the same features, facilities, and security. Licensing is something Alcatel is making changes to. A few years ago you would buy a WLAN solution from Alcatel for half the price of Cisco, but you would spend the same amount on licensing. Today this is different and the licensing is cheaper."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"The solution does not come with a licensing fee."
"The product could be priced better."
"I think that the solution is expensive because the customer has to pay for a full year, at a minimum, in up-front costs."
"The licensing system is very rigid. I work for a school and we are just treated like big companies. At some point, there's a limit to what we can do about that."
"This solution is expensive, but you get value for your money."
"We have to pay for the hardware and support is extra and we do pay for the support."
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Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
President at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Mar 24, 2015
Cisco vs. Aruba Wireless Solutions
Cisco or Aruba Networks? If you are considering wireless access solutions, this is a common question that you are probably asking. You probably have sales people knocking at your door. How do you make sense of all the stories that you are presented with. If you have done any research, you are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
14%
Educational Organization
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business79
Midsize Enterprise40
Large Enterprise74
 

Questions from the Community

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Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...
Which is better - Ruckus Wireless or Cisco Wireless?
Ruckus Wireless offers users the benefit of being both easy to set up and get running as well as being very user friendly. This user-friendly quality also renders it easy to learn how to use and ma...
How does Cisco Wireless compare with Aruba Wireless?
On the most basic level, Cisco Wireless can offer a rather straightforward initial setup. In the span of about three hours, the basic framework can be set up. Step-by-step instructions are availabl...
 

Also Known As

Alcatel Lucent OmniAccess Stellar, OmniAccess Stellar
Cisco WLAN Controller
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mineola School District
Aegean Motorway, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Brunel University London, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Chartwell School, Children's Hospital Colorado, Cisco Live Milan, City of Biel, City of Mississauga, Dundee Precious Metals, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Erickson Living, Goldcorp, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS)
Find out what your peers are saying about Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess Stellar vs. Cisco Wireless and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,148 professionals have used our research since 2012.