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Cisco Wireless vs D-Link Wireless comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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
Ranking in Wireless LAN
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
154
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
D-Link Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 10.0%, down from 11.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of D-Link Wireless is 2.4%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Wireless10.0%
D-Link Wireless2.4%
Other87.6%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

EvansEsezobor - PeerSpot reviewer
Group IT Head at Euracare
Has enabled centralized user management and improved wireless access point aggregation
To improve Cisco Wireless, the ports on the access points are all 100 Meg, not 1 gig. We have not gotten a gigabyte interface of about 1,000, but the controller we have is just 1 gig. We would prefer if we could increase the controller to a 10 gig interface because we want to connect our controller to a 10 gig interface, which currently limits us to 1 gig. When we want to move higher capacity data via wireless, it limits us to 1 gig.
NadirShahzad - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Wireless projects run smoothly with more access point support and competitive pricing
D-Link Wireless offers more supported APs to the WLC with the default license compared to other brands like Cisco. With Cisco, only four to five APs are connected with the default license, but D-Link Wireless provides more flexibility. Local support in Pakistan is necessary for those with limited budgets, creating a reach in the market.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup is easy. It's fairly quick to deploy."
"Cisco Wireless is reliable and stable."
"Cisco Wireless is quite convenient for mobile and laptop access."
"It's very, very stable; we have hardly ever had any problems with it as far as rebooting itself or it not being able to handle the load it had, given how we initially sized it."
"I recommend this product because it is easy to implement, and it has good performance with utilities that are needed within the office."
"Cisco wireless is a pretty good product."
"Cisco Wireless technology allows us to logically segregate networks, to segregate the traffic between multiple types of endpoint devices, connected to the network. For example, corporate laptops are connected to one network, corporate iPhones will go through a different network."
"From my experience, I have found Cisco Wireless to be scalable."
"Overall, I rate D-Link Wireless nine out of ten as a solution."
"Technical support is quite good. We also have a local team and engineers trained by D-Link."
"It's scalable, user friendly, and easy to manage."
"D-Link is a good product that is quite affordable and I recommend it."
"We have 200 to 250 users and the solution can scale without any problem."
"This product is user-friendly and we can manage it as per the requirements of the user."
"The system simplifies network management."
"This is an affordable product that offers good performance, which is why it is popular with our customers, and it offers good speed and bandwidth."
 

Cons

"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 to use WLC, more than any other product."
"The pricing could be better. It could be cheaper."
"The stability could improve, there are some issues. We were told the version of the software we are using on all of the controllers is best for Cisco IOS, but we might need to update our software, this might fix the stability issues we are experiencing."
"The classic Cisco wireless interface is difficult for users to learn."
"Initial setup was, of course, challenging. For example, redundancy during controller failover was very challenging as the AP was taking a long time to join with the controller."
"The bad thing about Cisco is about price."
"Technical support takes too long and is something that should be improved."
"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."
"Its interface and support system need much improvement. Sometimes, when we use the interface to reset the password and configure SSIDs, or some other changes, the "Save" option does not show and we have to go to some internal setting and then we can "save" the setting. The “Save” option should be in front of or below of the settings."
"In future, it would also be good to have a switch within D Link that works as well as the Cisco 9200 Switch."
"D-Link Wireless’s stability needs improvement."
"The tool's technical support can get difficult sometimes. We got a technician only after complaining for 10-15 days. The tool's technicians need to be made available everywhere."
"The solution has been mostly stable; it sometimes fluctuates, however, largely, it is good."
"D-Link has some catching up to do in terms of advancing and improving its technology."
"The stability could be a bit better."
"The cloud managed solution needs improvement, and they should focus on the SD-WAN segment with regard to integration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is a little high. However, you get what you pay for. The quality of the product is high, you will find it is worth the money. There is some additional cost, for example, customer support."
"The license is a one-time purchase."
"I think it's affordable. Maybe there are little differences, but it's not very expensive. But with all Cisco products, you have to pay more for the power supply. You'll have to pay for the PoE converter."
"I rate the tool's pricing a nine out of ten."
"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."
"It might be around $100 for a license. The internal ones are far cheaper than that."
"I feel the product's pricing is a good value."
"The cost model is expensive."
"There is no licensing fee for the solution."
"D-Link Wireless is cheaper than Ruckus or Cisco."
"The cost can range from $100 to $400."
"D-Link pricing is very competitive when you consider other OEMs."
"D-Link Wireless' price is the same as Aruba's. You need to pay one-time costs for the product."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is very cheap and ten is very expensive, I rate the pricing an eight out of ten."
"The product is affordable."
"This solution is more affordable than others on the market."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
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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
Manufacturing Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
11%
University
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business79
Midsize Enterprise40
Large Enterprise74
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

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...
Which wireless solution would you choose - Huawei or D-Link?
Huawei wireless is a strong and solid product that has a lot of features - and for all that it offers, it happens to be very cost effective. As a wireless solution, it is simple and its user interf...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for D-Link Wireless?
D-Link Wireless is notably more affordable than Cisco and Juniper. It suits SMB needs without the financial burden of purchasing additional licenses for extended APs.
What needs improvement with D-Link Wireless?
D-Link Wireless should include the 'cleaner' feature similar to Cisco's APs. This feature reduces signal interference with access points. Working on this functionality for APs and WLC could be an i...
 

Also Known As

Cisco WLAN Controller
D-Link WLAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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)
Metropolitan Public Defender, Mission Motorcycles
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Wireless vs. D-Link Wireless and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,262 professionals have used our research since 2012.