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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
3rd
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 April 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 8.8%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of D-Link Wireless is 2.3%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Wireless8.8%
D-Link Wireless2.3%
Other88.9%
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 mobility that it provides is really helpful."
"Cisco technical support is excellent."
"There are many valuable features including security, availability, scalability, integration With Cisco products, WEB Portal for guest users, and Cleanair."
"The solution is scalable."
"The advantages of Cisco Wireless include helping me aggregate all the access points, managing one point connection for my users easily, controlling rogues, and addressing hotspots effectively."
"We were able to utilize the elements of the core and provide a solution to our customers similar to that of Cisco Meraki."
"Authentication has played a big role for us, and it has given us mobility."
"We were able to utilize the elements of the core and provide a solution to our customers similar to that of Cisco Meraki."
"The connectivity is good."
"It is a scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"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."
"D-Link comes with a complete solution including wireless, switching, and static wiring."
"The system simplifies network management."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"The initial setup is super straightforward; you just add them and in a few clicks, they are ready to go."
"Technical support is quite good. We also have a local team and engineers trained by D-Link."
 

Cons

"The classic Cisco wireless interface is difficult for users to learn."
"Because my wireless controller is not fully compatible with the latest AC and AX compatible devices, we have been experiencing some issues with the wireless controller as technology evolves."
"The licensing models need to be reviewed in some instances. Obviously Cisco's licensing models are quite challenging, and it can be costly."
"Overall, it's a pretty good solution; however, it's end-of-life, it will be end-of-support in the next two years. The APs are also end-of-life."
"There is a problem with the controller. When we have to restart the controller, it does not show the time."
"To improve Cisco Wireless, the ports on the access points are all 100 Meg, not 1 gig."
"It's end-of-life, it will be end-of-support in the next two years. The APs are also end-of-life."
"We've recently had hardware issues which have caused us some problems."
"The cloud managed solution needs improvement, and they should focus on the SD-WAN segment with regard to integration."
"In future releases, it can keep improving on countering the new patterns of security attacks."
"The only issue is with the controller visibility of the devices connecting to the network."
"D-Link Wireless should include the 'cleaner' feature similar to Cisco's APs. This feature reduces signal interference with access points."
"The support offered by the product needs to be faster with better technical personnel."
"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."
"It would definitely help if we had more advanced features for distributing bandwidth."
"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

"The product could be priced better."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"The cost model is expensive."
"Cost is one of the reasons why we are switching to Aruba. Aruba is significantly lower than Cisco in price. We do the licensing on a three-year basis. Cisco makes licensing very difficult."
"The price of Cisco Wireless equipment is expensive."
"Its cost is a little bit higher than other products. Fortinet and Huawei are cheaper. If we were not a bank, I would go for Huawei or Fortinet because they are cheap, and I don't need that much security. A financial institute, a university, or a medical institute would need security to protect the customer data. That's why we buy this high-end product that has integrated security features."
"Cisco is not a cheap solution. Their licensing cost is higher than that for others."
"However, when you integrate the access point and the controller with the DNAT across multiple sites, you need a DNAT cluster, which is a costly solution. Every site has a controller, and a DNAT cluster is not a good option in a global framework. It's okay for a small office or a few offices. But when you're talking about 500 offices, the cost becomes enormous."
"There is no licensing fee for the solution."
"The cost can range from $100 to $400."
"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."
"The product is affordable."
"D-Link Wireless is cheaper than Ruckus or Cisco."
"D-Link Wireless' price is the same as Aruba's. You need to pay one-time costs for the product."
"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
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

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.
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: April 2026.
891,869 professionals have used our research since 2012.