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Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points vs SonicWall SonicWave Access Points comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 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

Cisco Wireless 9100 Access ...
Ranking in Wireless LAN
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall SonicWave Access ...
Ranking in Wireless LAN
25th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Julian Bendix - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Systems Engineer at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
Enterprise wireless has unified teams and has simplified global deployment and security
One thing I appreciate the most about Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points is that something absolutely stands out, especially about Cisco Wireless, which has made a huge impact on me personally, even though I have been a mentor in my company for a long time. The best thing about Cisco, which I experienced over 10 years, is that everybody knows it and everybody knows how to use it. If you look especially at the new series of Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points and their controllers, Cisco unified the GUI of the wireless controller with all their other GUIs that they have. They call it Magnetic UI, which they use nowadays on all their GUIs. Talent acquisition is just so easy because everybody in the IT networking field worked with any product of Cisco in their life, and all Cisco products fit so well together in an ecosystem and also have a very similar UI and are very easy to engage if you worked with anything from Cisco before. In my opinion, you save a lot on talent acquisition and also training people. Compared to other vendors I have worked with, you do not easily find people that have worked with their products or are experts in them. But especially with Cisco, there are so many people that have worked with it in the past, and you always have people that can implement, operate, and manage it. That is, in my case, the coolest thing about it. Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points has helped me to improve the interaction between my network, data center, and application teams. Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points can handle high-density environments with Wi-Fi 6, 6E, and 7. I have sold and operated Cisco Wireless in production areas and outdoor areas for automatic moving. I have a lot of high-ceiling models in use for logistics halls, for production environments with high ceilings and everything. Honestly, that is where they shine. They have some really cool models. The product variety is really great. For each and every use case, you can find a very specific model that does exactly what you want. I have a lot of the high-ceiling models in use which cover high-density areas where the clients are sometimes shielded, sometimes moving, sometimes moving very fast, and all those kinds of things. I am very happy with these environments with Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points.
Winsley De Oliveira - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at ANOC
An industry-leading security and wireless solution packaged in one box
We make our customers SonicWall clients. We have a solution package: If you have a contract to network with us, we will deliver SonicWall firewalls, access points, VPN clients, and all the other equipment with the SonicWall solution. We have been selling this solution for the past 30 years. We had a customer three months ago struggling with a Fortinet solution. We convinced them that the Fortinet solution would not work perfectly during renewal. We made a bet and delivered SonicWall equipment for free for one week, and if they had no more issues, they would buy it. That's precisely what happened. The customer ended up purchasing an $80,000 SonicWall solution. The SonicWall SonicWave Access Points are a good product compared to Cisco, Sophos, and Fortinet. In Brazil, Ruckus is taking market share in some key areas, such as hotels and hospitals. They are into big solutions with thousands of access points. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I like the most about Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points is that they're powerful."
"Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points have been very reliable and stable with no issues at all experienced with any of the access points."
"In terms of pricing, Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points are quite expensive, but they are worth the investment because once acquired from Cisco, the support and service are excellent."
"The features in Catalyst 9100 Access Points that I have found most valuable include that it's a complete solution; we go with Cisco because you have access points, you have a controller, you have Cisco ISE, and you have Cisco DNA Center."
"The biggest benefit from Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points for me and my clients is that it has many options for tuning the configuration and the radio profile for wireless."
"My experience with pricing, setup, and licensing is that pricing is more expensive, but it is worth it."
"From a functionality perspective, Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points are among the best, with a responsible vendor that promptly assists us in case of any issues through technical support."
"What I appreciate about Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points is the convenience to operate them and install them across locations remotely or on-premise."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability to provide cloud access to configure and manage devices."
"A good management tool that can be managed through the cloud or firewall."
"The security features of SonicWall are highly valued."
"I rate SonicWall a nine out of ten."
"This is a very good management option that can be managed through the cloud or firewall, is a very good solution for controlling or managing the device, and offers good integration with many capabilities."
"Unlike the Cisco solution that needs a dedicated wireless controller outside of a firewall, SonicWall has everything in one box. Fortinet is close to it."
 

Cons

"I do not see support for advanced wireless technologies like Wi-Fi 6 and IoT applications."
"The navigation tools of the GUI could be more user-intuitive in certain areas."
"Frankly, ease of use is one of the things that needs improvement, as the management interfaces have always been complex and not very intuitive."
"Cisco is always expensive. In terms of pricing, it is very tough because I have lost many RFPs because of the pricing where Ruckus is much less expensive."
"I have had some issues with some of the lower-end devices where I needed to do RMAs. For some reason, the devices either had an issue with the power supply or they got bricked after a firmware update."
"One thing I dislike about Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points is definitely the price."
"Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points could provide more automation instead of requiring manual work."
"Technical support from Cisco has been a bit degraded lately because the first support we get is challenging."
"Integrating with the firewall and management console was a little complex."
"The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration."
"The product's pricing is high and could be improved."
"We have a lot of overlapping wireless networks with a lot of cheap equipment that does not run on any rules or regulations. The best way to improve the wireless network, like in SonicWaves, is to defeat these networks by isolating, preventing them, or overcoming their wireless signal. We try to do that, but I live near an airport, and the AirPortRadar glitches my wireless network every nine seconds."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing of the SonicWave Access Points solution is different in the US and Brazil. In the US, the solution is priced more competitively than other vendors. In Brazil, the exchange rate is a problem. To address this, SonicWall managers in Brazil are running several sales promotions and improving the price of new units."
"The platform offers yearly licenses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
17%
Outsourcing Company
15%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise19
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Catalyst 9100 Access Points?
I want to diagnose and troubleshoot these issues with Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points, but in the end, I restart the AP and access point, and then the session timeout expires. The new user then c...
What is your primary use case for Catalyst 9100 Access Points?
My usual use cases for Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points include shutting down the respective AP, restarting it, and performing a hard restart. I use it for restarting, specifically to power on and...
What advice do you have for others considering Catalyst 9100 Access Points?
I use it as an end user. I like that, as a whole, the controller of Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points is performing much better, although there are connectivity issues at the AP end. Specific APs d...
What needs improvement with SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration.
What is your primary use case for SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
I am using the SonicWall SonicWave Access Point for our Proof of Concept (POC) to our customers.
What advice do you have for others considering SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
I rate SonicWall a nine out of ten. It should provide training to end users to enhance their knowledge.
 

Also Known As

Catalyst 9100 Access Points
SonicWave 200 Series, SonicWave 200 Series Access Points, SonicWave 400 Series, SonicWave 400 Series Access Points
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
St. Dominic's School for Girls
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points vs. SonicWall SonicWave Access Points and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.