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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 February 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 9.5%, 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 Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Wireless9.5%
D-Link Wireless2.1%
Other88.4%
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."
"Overall, Cisco was stable and worked well for all our needs until we started having more and more students and teachers using YouTube and Zoom — what with classes being isolated and everything — which put a lot of strain on our Wi-Fi network."
"The product’s stability is great."
"Security is an important feature for my customers, and I am able to offer this to them with our Cisco products."
"It helps with the visibility on our network."
"It integrates with Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)."
"I find the tool to be 99 percent stable."
"The technical support is excellent."
"D-Link is a good product that is quite affordable and I recommend it."
"The setup process is very easy."
"The most valuable feature of D-Link Wireless is its durability."
"I like the product's signal continuity and range. We can receive the signal up to 20-30 meters from the wireless antenna."
"Overall, I rate D-Link Wireless nine out of ten as a solution."
"The solution is extremely easy to install. You just add them and in a few clicks, they are ready to go."
"It's scalable, user friendly, and easy to manage."
"The connectivity is good."
 

Cons

"This solution is very expensive, which means we often have to go for cheaper options instead."
"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."
"Assurance capabilities must be improved."
"The solution could be cheaper and have a better web interface."
"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."
"The reporting tool in Cisco Wireless could improve. If I am trying to receive information about a client or user, it's cumbersome to retrieve the information on the controller system. If I'm trying to find out where a client's been, it's cumbersome. You need another tool for Historical logs, but it should be all in one."
"There are some areas of improvement needed in roaming and streaming."
"Improvements can be made to the telemetry. The licensing gets in the way here. It makes it impossible to record the different flows across the wireless network."
"The solution's performance could be improved."
"The performance offered by D-Link Wireless can be a bit problematic at times, owing to which it is an area that can be considered for improvement."
"The support offered by the product needs to be faster with better technical personnel."
"D-Link has some catching up to do in terms of advancing and improving its technology."
"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."
"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."
"Sometimes, the solution needs to be restarted."
"In future, it would also be good to have a switch within D Link that works as well as the Cisco 9200 Switch."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing is a bit on the high side compared to its competitors but we have to consider the support and usages of the solution. Licensing is now RTU and smart licensing. We need three types of licenses. One for each of the: APs, HA, controller."
"The solution is very costly."
"We have to pay for the hardware and support is extra and we do pay for the support."
"There is a need to renew the licenses for Cisco Wireless every three years. My company needs to pay around 25 percent of the budget meant for the tools we purchase towards the price of Cisco Wireless."
"The pricing is okay. I believe it is competitively priced. But it is not just the price by itself, it's the price and the technical features. The features also play a big role. It has to give me the relevant output."
"This is an expensive product."
"Cisco is not a cheap solution. Their licensing cost is higher than that for others."
"I am not a fan of Cisco's software pricing model. Their management software is far too expensive."
"There is no licensing fee for the solution."
"D-Link pricing is very competitive when you consider other OEMs."
"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."
"D-Link Wireless' price is the same as Aruba's. You need to pay one-time costs for the product."
"The cost can range from $100 to $400."
"D-Link Wireless is cheaper than Ruckus or Cisco."
"The product is affordable."
"This solution is more affordable than others on the market."
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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
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
6%
Construction Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
 

Company Size

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

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: December 2025.
881,515 professionals have used our research since 2012.