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Cisco Wireless vs Juniper WLC Series 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
4.9
Number of Reviews
154
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper WLC Series
Ranking in Wireless LAN
17th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 10.6%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper WLC Series is 1.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Wireless10.6%
Juniper WLC Series1.2%
Other88.2%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

EvansEsezobor - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Matilda Elwell - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers visibility and cost benefits
The tool has given us more visibility, but I'm not very technical, so I can't comment on specific features. However, the diagnostic tools for identifying system issues have greatly improved, which we appreciate. We still use Cisco ICE for authentication on the Juniper network, as we did before. We've seen cost benefits with the Juniper WLC Series, which was a key factor in our decision-making during the proof of concept. Besides cost improvements, we've also noticed better resolution of issues and faults in our help desk, thanks to the enhanced features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find the tool to be 99 percent stable."
"This increased mobility has helped our organization. We can talk to one another from different locations and stay in constant contact and with employees across the enterprise. Everyone has access to up-to-the-minute communications and all documents and applications on our network."
"The main features are that it's secure and it's easy to distribute the SSID and control it. I also like the controller."
"One of the main advantages of Cisco Wireless is its DNAT compatibility. When we have dynamic segmentation, or the DNAT enabled on the LAN, Cisco Access Point integrates with the DNAT architecture. Aruba Switches cannot integrate with the Cisco DNAT architecture."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is reliability."
"It's very easy to configure the access points."
"It's a reliable solution."
"It is good, and it works."
"The Artificial Intelligence on offer is very useful."
"The AI integration with Marvis is very valuable."
"Juniper WLC Series is a very high-performance device designed for indoor wireless deployment."
"The installation process is nice and easy."
"Juniper Wireless is reasonable, with a bit of complexity compared to Alibaba and SQL."
"It's easy to set up, and I feel it's very secure. I also prefer its reporting feature. The devices are quite good."
"There weren't any scalability issues, the product did what it had to do."
"It is a very stable solution."
 

Cons

"Its licensing has been very frustrating. There is also the complexity of managing the product. These are probably the two reasons why we're looking at Aruba. The way they license this product is not simple. There are some good features in the latest version, but there are additional license costs as well, which is frustrating for us. It is not really a feature issue for us. It really comes down to cost and licensing. They should make it a bit simpler to manage. We find the overall solution a little bit more complex than we would like to deal with. Its troubleshooting is a bit difficult, and it does require a high skill set. Comparatively, Aruba seems quite simple. One of the benefits of the Aruba product is that it is cloud-managed. We don't have to manage the management platform itself, whereas Cisco is on-premise. Its user interface could also be better."
"The new licensing model isn't as good as what they had before."
"Room for improvement wise, the wireless coverage of Cisco's equipment could be better for the price position. That is, I think that the radius for the coverage could be better to make it worth the price that we pay for it."
"Cisco Wireless could improve if they had some kind of social media integration. There is some limitation with social media integration and wireless interaction. They need to add some additional components to their wireless devices to complete the solution or requirements."
"The price of Cisco Wireless could be lower."
"The pricing of the solution is expensive if you compare it to other competitors."
"The pricing of Brazil is very expensive. When you look at other options, they are much cheaper."
"The biggest reason why we could no longer continue with Cisco Wireless was because of the high cost to upgrade everything. It was disappointing that Cisco treated us as just another big company, and did not offer any leeway on their pricing given that we are an educational institute. And although the system we had in place from Cisco Wireless was good enough over the last ten years, it started to show its age when pushed to its limit during the pandemic."
"The solution could offer more integration with other products."
"The support on offer to other vendors switching - like Aruba or Ruckus - could be improved."
"Juniper WLC Series has certain shortcomings in traffic monitoring."
"Juniper lacks a network access control agent similar to solutions like Alubakya Path and Cisco ISE."
"There could be a high level of security."
"In my region, access to the product is very difficult and presents a logistical nightmare. Also, pricing is a big problem and a barrier to entry when selling Juniper against competitors."
"In my region, access to the product is very difficult and presents a logistical nightmare."
"There could be more information from the controller, and it could be easier to work with the controller lights. It's not easy to bring up the upgrades."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive, and there are some costs in addition to the standard licensing fee. Its licensing model and cost should be improved."
"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."
"We are on an annual license. The license and the hardware are expensive."
"Expensive."
"I am not a fan of Cisco's software pricing model. Their management software is far too expensive."
"Cisco is more on the expensive side, as compared to Aruba, but I must say Cisco's quality is unmatched, for sure."
"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."
"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 product is relatively affordable for enterprise companies."
"Juniper WLC Series is a bit pricey but worth its cost."
"The solution's pricing is reasonable."
"The licensing cost is quite high, but considering it's an enterprise solution, the complexity justifies the price."
"There is a certain amount that needs to be paid towards the licensing charges associated with the product, but though I am not sure, I feel the licenses that we have in our company are for three years."
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Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
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
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business76
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise74
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise4
 

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...
What do you like most about Juniper WLC Series?
Juniper WLC Series is a very high-performance device designed for indoor wireless deployment.
What needs improvement with Juniper WLC Series?
Juniper lacks a network access control agent similar to solutions like Alubakya Path and Cisco ISE. There should be a network access control engine. Some customers find it challenging as they do no...
What is your primary use case for Juniper WLC Series?
I work with Juniper service provider solutions. I have a service provider customer and some enterprise customers in retail.
 

Also Known As

Cisco WLAN Controller
Juniper 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)
Apollo Hotel Papendrecht, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Bajaj Capital, Baloise Insurance, BAS Group, Borealis, Danish Crown, Deloitte Belgium, Jan Yperman Hospital, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, MercaSID, S.A., NHTV Breda University, Parklands College and Christopher Robin Pre-Primary, San Antonio Community Hospital, Sandia National Laboratories, Springfield Public Schools (SPS), St. Catherine University, TalkTalk, The Education Village, University of Copenhagen, University of the Highlands and Islands, University of the West of Scotland (UWS), Valdosta State University, Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), zulily
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Wireless vs. Juniper WLC Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,837 professionals have used our research since 2012.