Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Cisco Wireless vs D-Link Wireless comparison

 

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
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
155
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
D-Link Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
16th
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 March 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 9.2%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of D-Link Wireless is 2.1%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Wireless9.2%
D-Link Wireless2.1%
Other88.7%
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

"Cisco Wireless is scalable, and we have more than 10,000 people on-premises who are connected to the cloud using it."
"It is a stable solution. The performance was good."
"The most important thing for me is that all the access points are in one group and use one access code. So, when you move from one area to another, you don't disconnect and reconnect again. The device is also very easy to install and control."
"The deep knowledge of Cisco is its most valuable aspect, and the Wireless Cisco solution has been in development for many years, which gives users trust in the solution."
"It helps with the visibility on our network."
"The mobility that it provides is really helpful."
"The solution is easy to use and its stable."
"I recommend this product because it is easy to implement, and it has good performance with utilities that are needed within the office."
"The connectivity is good."
"This product is user-friendly and we can manage it as per the requirements of the user."
"D-Link comes with a complete solution including wireless, switching, and static wiring."
"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."
"The system simplifies network management."
"Technical support is quite good. We also have a local team and engineers trained by D-Link."
"The most valuable feature of D-Link Wireless is its durability."
"The initial setup is super straightforward; you just add them and in a few clicks, they are ready to go."
 

Cons

"There's a delay in equipment that comes to Columbia, to our country, and that lasts almost six months."
"The configuration interface could be easier. They should make roaming easier and should fix it so that when you cross a building you can keep the signal."
"The third-party integration capabilities could be better."
"There are some features I would like to have in Cisco Wireless, such as Telemetry and other IoT. However, they are available in the new version of the solution."
"Cisco Wireless could improve if they had some kind of social media integration."
"It requires a few tweaks in order to stabilize it. Its portal is complex. Cisco solutions are complex in general."
"The internet speed is high within environments. As you move further away from the access point, there is a decline in speed. Omada or Ruckus don’t have the speed degradation as you move away from the access point."
"The coverage area of Cisco Wireless could improve. Additionally, the reports when a problem arises could be better, such as how it is done in Aruba Wireless solutions."
"The only issue is with the controller visibility of the devices connecting to the network."
"It would definitely help if we had more advanced features for distributing bandwidth."
"The stability could be a bit better."
"The solution doesn't have hotspots. Users can't set it up so that visitors can log in via Facebook or social media as they can at, for example, airports. D-Link should include hotspots that offer integration with social media. That way, visitors don't need to be asking people for passwords. They can just use Facebook."
"It would definitely help if we had more advanced features for distributing bandwidth."
"The support offered by the product needs to be faster with better technical personnel."
"The solution's performance could be improved."
"Password restriction: Sometimes we set a password and it uses that password but, after some days/months, the password gets changed and a few laptops still use old the password while a few use the new password. The password restriction option needs to improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Expensive."
"The pricing is high. It could be cheaper."
"I feel the product's pricing is a good value."
"It is expensive, and there are some costs in addition to the standard licensing fee. Its licensing model and cost should be improved."
"Cisco is not a cheap solution. Their licensing cost is higher than that for others."
"There are annual subscriptions to use this solution. I have not been able to understand the licensing of Cisco. Some of the Cisco executives were not able to understand them either. When you first start out the price is zero but when it comes to a time of renewal you have to pay."
"The license structure is confusing."
"As far as I know Cisco is very competitive, price-wise. Talk to your third-party vendor. It all depends on the company size - how many employees, how big the building is. If it's wireless, and you have only 50 employees but you're using a large building floor, in that case you need many access points. But if you have 50 employees using two or three rooms, then you probably don't need it and it's going to be high density, so there is a different design. So you need to talk to a subject matter expert. Talk to them and design accordingly."
"D-Link Wireless' price is the same as Aruba's. You need to pay one-time costs for the product."
"There is no licensing fee for the solution."
"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."
"The cost can range from $100 to $400."
"D-Link Wireless is cheaper than Ruckus or Cisco."
"This solution is more affordable than others on the market."
"D-Link pricing is very competitive when you consider other OEMs."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
885,286 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Construction Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business78
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise73
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.
 

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: March 2026.
885,286 professionals have used our research since 2012.