No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco Wireless vs D-Link Wireless comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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
2nd
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 November 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 10.4%, down from 10.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of D-Link Wireless is 2.3%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Wireless10.4%
D-Link Wireless2.3%
Other87.3%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

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.
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

"We have been satisfied with the technical support of Cisco Wireless."
"Cisco Wireless is obviously very stable, and there's no doubt about that."
"The Guest feature is pretty good."
"We were able to utilize the elements of the core and provide a solution to our customers similar to that of Cisco Meraki."
"The most valuable feature is the coverage."
"This is still a reliable and useful product but other vendors are catching up."
"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."
"The integration with Cisco ISE is good, and together we use them to provide services."
"Overall, I rate D-Link Wireless nine out of ten as a solution."
"I like the product's signal continuity and range. We can receive the signal up to 20-30 meters from the wireless antenna."
"The most valuable feature of D-Link Wireless is its durability."
"The initial setup process was easy."
"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."
"This product is user-friendly and we can manage it as per the requirements of the user."
"The initial setup is super straightforward; you just add them and in a few clicks, they are ready to go."
"D-Link is a good product that is quite affordable and I recommend it."
 

Cons

"The product is quite expensive, and it's making us reconsider staying with Cisco."
"Older versions used to be hard to deploy. The latest OS, however, has made things a lot easier. While deployment is much better, it could always be even easier."
"The solution should introduce natural language troubleshooting processes. It will identify possible problems or errors due to the symptoms."
"Because the Cisco architecture is quite complex, you may end up having to add more components and licenses. So, the cost could go up."
"As in the majority of new implementations there is a lack of knowledge of the products, but with some time and a lot readings at the end was easily."
"There should be an option for a wireless bridge that can be used to join two access points."
"There is room for improvement regarding HA issues and Radius integration."
"Cost. Also, it is slow to update configurations, with cloud access, no way to configure devices locally, network data information is hard to find."
"It would definitely help if we had more advanced features for distributing bandwidth."
"The solution's performance could be improved."
"D-Link Wireless should include the 'cleaner' feature similar to Cisco's APs. This feature reduces signal interference with access points."
"We've had issues with the 150MG and 300MB dongles. The 300MB works okay but the 150MB is not working well for us."
"The stability could be a bit better."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This product's pricing is good. It's not too expensive."
"They have simplified the licensing, now there is a single license that is required. Earlier, multiple licenses were required. Single licensing is good. As a customer, I don't need to keep an inventory of multiple licenses."
"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."
"Cisco is more on the expensive side, as compared to Aruba, but I must say Cisco's quality is unmatched, for sure."
"There are no subscription fees."
"From a pricing point of view, it's a little bit expensive compared to competitors like Aruba and others."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"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."
"This solution is more affordable than others on the market."
"The product is affordable."
"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."
"D-Link pricing is very competitive when you consider other OEMs."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
921,148 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
13%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
University
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
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: November 2026.
921,148 professionals have used our research since 2012.