Cisco Wireless WAN Reviews

I've been designing wireless solutions and have been a solutions provider for over 20 years. I spec the solution based on the client's requirements and use whichever vendor device is affordable, and fits the purpose of the company's requirements.

We mainly use the WLC 5000 series. We use other Cisco products, mainly geared to smaller markets. I use Cisco and Dell devices, but mostly Cisco, as in the switching arena. I'm most familiar with cloud management and wireless Cisco solutions such as the WMM. I'm not familiar with the Cisco CSR or Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000V. 

In terms of WLAN solutions, it all comes down to the business requirements and commercials. I would tend to use Cisco at the higher end if the commercial can afford it, but it also depends if it's fit for purpose on the NRL hive. I also use Ubiquiti and I've also started to look at Campion as well. But it really depends on the requirements. External, Ubiquiti, internal Cisco, and Aerohive.

The granularity of standardization and technical controls would be the big one in terms of valuable features. You can control everything, every technology within the wireless arena. It contrasts with Meraki which is very much macro-driven so you don't have the visibility of the complete engine. From an engineering and consultant perspective, I want full control. The Cisco WLC solution supplies that in the form they have at the moment, but I know that they changed the UI a couple of weeks ago. I haven't seen it but as it exists at the moment I'm on 8.5 or 8.6 of the code up, but they're using the code that they use on the WLCs and not what would be the new version, which I believe is different.

With the WMM there are a few bits and pieces missing that some of the other vendors have. Cisco has a bad habit, although they'd probably see it as a good habit, of not applying extras. I want more managing features. Cisco would love you to go and buy Cisco Prime, which is very expensive, especially if you want to get reports active for the SME market. They generally don't add to existing products and are actually outpricing themselves. Cisco needs to realize that if they want to reach a global market, there are many markets within that. They need a price point that allies a smaller market and sometimes a specific country. I work in Northern Ireland and Ireland, which is very much SMB, and Cisco has priced themselves out of that market. From a management perspective, if I want to get good reports and good troubleshooting capabilities, I have to go and buy an additional product, Prime or another product that they facilitate. Aerohive products and the like have that under the hood and are a cheaper product. Cisco needs to be paralleling what the other vendors' devices are doing and giving what could be other markets the ability to use the product. For now, they've priced themselves out in some locations.

In terms of additional features, they need to look at the market and need to look at whether or not it includes more management features under the hood and more layers to functional troubleshooting which other vendor devices do, that would be a big improvement. But they need to be built into the product that you buy, and you shouldn't have to go and pay thousands of pounds for an additional management platform. There should be a level of management solution purchased through the standard WLAN, Cisco's WLAN solution. There isn't enough.

I would want people to be aware that Cisco Wireless WAN is a top-end product and solution. Their portfolio is superb. They have major experience and maturity and are very much in tune with their field. I work in warehousing facilities. Like most things, though, there are pros and cons. Cisco is the top end, commercially. It's going to be double the price, and I mean double the price, of everything else. Other products that I use, and I have cross-referenced the price point with many solutions for the requirements of our enterprise customers, are half the price.

They are a good product. Do they warrant the extra expense? I would have to say no, but they do have great maturity and their product portfolio is not just the access points but their other add-ons; their antennas, maturity and the information out there, which is invaluable. You pay for these from an engineering and consultative perspective. I need to research issues and other people's experiences. Cisco obviously has the world's best engineers, consultants who have that and very nicely post their experiences. That is invaluable. But unfortunately some markets, again I'm talking about Ireland here, sometimes can't afford that. And there are other products that can do the job just as well.

Commercially they are quite flawed but in terms of technology, you can't really beat Cisco, to be honest. Commercially I would rate them as a 2 but technically they would be an 8 or 9 out of ten. I'm not a fan of the Meraki product so I'm taking it out of the equation. I'm talking about Cisco WLCs, and what would be the solution. Technically it's an excellent product.

Unfortunately, their validity into other commercial markets is flawed. Majorly flawed. And they have too much competition, and Cisco being Cisco will just go "Well, that's fine, we didn't want to do that."  Then we would not use their products. So that's unfortunate. Maybe that's just a bit of pretension on their part.

Mainly, our customers use this solution in industries, medical and hospitality industries. And also in educational institutes.

It's mostly the coverage. The coverage is very good. Nowadays, customers have their own security systems. In addition to Cisco, they will have a different firewall. Using that, they have a good security system in their company. So, the customer is happy with the Cisco product.

There is room for improvement in the pricing. If the product cost less, then probably there would be more customers.

In summary, the product could be slightly cheaper to attract more customers. 

I have been working with it for five years. 

I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. 

As far as scalability is concerned, there is no problem at all. We can bring it up to whatever scalability is required as per the customer's requirement. And it's easy to implement, maintain, monitor, and manage. 

That is another advantage of Cisco. Because Cisco is a product that everybody knows, and they are aware of Cisco configuration and monitoring.

Cisco Wireless for large networks is scalable. I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. 

The customer service and support are very good. 

Positive

We have different wireless products available with us, from different vendors. We supply different vendor products to different customers as per their requirements. Some customers are using Cisco Wireless products, and we support them for any requirement.  

The initial setup is easy. I would rate my experience with the initial setup a nine out of ten, with one being difficult, and ten being easy. 

The deployment doesn't take much time; it comes with one access point or number of units. So, for one access point, it takes around 30 minutes. 

We are the system integrator. 

There is a return on investment because it is a one-time investment for the customer. Once you implement it, we'll be continuously getting the system from customers. 

Basically, once a customer is working with Cisco, they will not go with any other vendor. So, if any additional requirements come up, they will come back to us only to implement more on Cisco Wi-Fi.

I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being very expensive. 

It is suitable for small and medium businesses. Not large. Large businesses are not willing to spend money. But small and medium businesses always look at the price, even though our product is world-class. They still want to get it cheap.

It's more stable, more easy to deploy, and easy to manage. Basically, everybody knows Cisco configurations. So it's very simple and easy. Anybody can manage it. Anybody can do the configuration.

Even those who don't have many technical skills, they use it because there are multiple documents available. And, generally, people are given training before they start with Cisco. So they're already used to Cisco even though they have not worked with the actual product. They have already worked with it virtually, with some training. So they are much aware of the product, so it is easy for them to deploy.

Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten.

I use it mainly to provide WAN connectivity to remote users.

Coverage for the access points is really good. This is a major drive for us to get strong signals using Cisco. 

I also find the security features of Cisco Wireless are effective. Basically, I like the integration with the other vendors and native security software tools. The management UI is good. 

The product can be more cost-effective. Only the cost could be more cost-effective. But, since it is more of an enterprise solution, it is not a cheap solution compared to other vendors.

I have been using it for five years. 

It is a stable product. I would rate the stability a nine out of ten.

It is a scalable solution. It is very good. I would rate it a ten out of ten. 

We have around a hundred in our company. We don't plan to increase the further usage for the time being.

The customer service and support are good.

Positive

We checked Aruba. We opted for Cisco because we had more knowledge about this product and liked its scalability. 

I didn't face any challenges with the initial setup. However, it takes bit of knowledge to setup. 

I would rate my experience with the initial setup a five out of ten, with one being difficult and ten being easy. Some effort is needed for all Cisco products. 

Documentation is very effective and there is also an active community. So, it was very good.

It is cost-effective, compared to other enterprise solutions. It has improved productivity and reduced operational costs.

Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

I would recommend to follow the documentation, deployment guides and validated designs. Designing the solution is very crucial. 

Cisco Wireless WAN is user-friendly.

If there's a problem, it's usually when Cisco pushes out updates. The users don't always push the updates to their computer, and it causes some issues. It's reliable as long as everyone is doing what they're supposed to.

We don't see many troubleshooting issues. Normally, it's a user error when it comes to the JSS or the VPN. Once they log into the system or they get on the internet, then they log directly into the JSS, so they can do their work. 

There isn't much that can go wrong with the system itself. Any instability is usually caused by internet service provider not providing enough bandwidth to do some of the functions.

We do tech support for a lot of stuff that goes wrong with these computers on a daily basis, but fortunately, the Cisco VPN's just not one of them that we have an issue with.

Cisco Wireless WAN is part of our imaging software. When we image the computers, it goes on there. When a new user comes and gets a computer, we show them how to log into the VPN or log onto the internet. Once you click the button, you're logged in. There's no complexity. It's really user-friendly.

I rate Cisco Wireless WAN nine out of 10. My only advice to future Cisco Wireless users is to keep your system updated. Don't delay updates because that's what usually causes problems. People don't accept the updates and put them off because they're doing other things.

We are using Cisco Wireless WAN for our branch WAN connectivity. We use it for wireless. It's the heart of the networking of our enterprise.

Cisco Wireless WAN's most valuable feature is it is robust.

The price of Cisco Wireless WAN could improve, it is expensive.

I have used Cisco Wireless WAN for approximately 10 years.

Cisco Wireless WAN is stable.

The scalability of Cisco Wireless WAN is good.

We have approximately 200,000 users using this solution. We have no plan to increase the number of users.

The technical support for Cisco Wireless WAN is good.

I have used other solutions previously.

The initial setup of Cisco Wireless WAN is straightforward.

The time it takes for the implementation of the solution depends on the solution you are deploying. The wireless controllers take a couple of hours, switches are fairly quick, and data center switches could take a few hours. With routers, it takes a few hours depending on the requirement, the location, and the type of connection, it varies between one hour to eight hours.

I used a consultant for the deployment of Cisco Wireless WAN.

We have approximately 20 engineers that support the solution.

The cost of Cisco Wireless WAN is expensive. There is an annual subscription to use the solution.

I rate Cisco Wireless WAN a nine out of ten.

I worked for a university in Florida that wanted a campus Wi-Fi. So, we chose Cisco and deployed it on the entire campus. It was part of a bigger project that included firewalls.

The performance of the solution is valuable. It works incredibly well.

The product must be made more user-friendly.

I have worked with the product for a year.

The tool is quite stable. We have the least amount of drops. The network latency is one to five milliseconds.

The tool is scalable. However, it is not as scalable as a cloud solution. We had around 2000 users.

We contacted Cisco for some escalations to troubleshoot via remote access. The process was pretty straightforward. We raised tickets and got hold of the technical support team. They did some hotfixes.

Fortinet is easy to use. Even if we do not have formal training, the learning curve is easy. We can figure it out by going through the interface. The Fortinet Cookbook is simple to understand. Fortinet products are easier to integrate. It is a lot more complex for Cisco. However, Cisco is more stable than Fortinet.

The deployment process was a bit complex. We took two months for planning and one month for staging. We simulated everything before the deployment. It was like a parallel system. We built a new infrastructure and switched everything to the new infrastructure. Building the new structure and testing took us three to four months.

We are system integrators. We deployed the solution with some help from Cisco. However, we did not use any professional services from Cisco. We are a Cisco Gold Partner. We do all the configurations.

I have seen an ROI on the product. We know Cisco lasts for quite a while. It's easy to get a hold of. I see good value in it. It is a good investment.

The tool is expensive.

Ruckus and Aruba are not as good as Cisco.

I will recommend the solution to others. If a company wants something stable that will last them longer, they should go with Cisco, even if it's more expensive. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Our primary use case of this solution is for streaming access to the personal devices of students and staff for guest wifi and connection. So we provide corporate access to devices. They use it for media streaming, for social networking, for learning solutions. Most people don't connect through land cable anymore - they all go for wireless options.

I like that it has integrated the cost of our network access. We see identity controls solutions so we make sure it's all part of the same management console. We have the same console and the same authentication, and we use a multi-high profile defendable wireless system, access ports, and wireless access IDs. So each access ID has different kinds of people, different kinds of networks, the VLAN. Cisco controllers are now the best in this field. We end segregation on the Wi-Fi side based on the access ID.

The solution is very expensive, and I think the price should be more competitive, like with Aruba, Meraki, and other products. The price model is very high but the manageability is simple. 

We have some glitches from time to time, but the support is fast and they support us very well. This doesn't happen very often, though.

The technical scalability is easy, but the license scalability is quite tricky. It's licensing costs incurred, but technically the solution is very scalable. A total of 5,000 users are using the 3000 access points, and 2,600 users are using 800 access points. I am the architect and the rest of the users are basically university students, faculties, administration staff, and support staff who mainly use for media, social net access, corporate file access, academic system access, and learning solution access. And it used for radio-audio frequency wireless tools.

The support is good and I will rate them a seven out of ten.

As a typical Cisco solution there is a slight complexity to the setup, but because most of the engineers at Cisco are certified, it is easy for them. The integrators used a professional space on the vendor site for the deployment.

This is a very expensive solution but there are no additional costs.

We compared it to Aruba Wireless. Aruba has its own strength in the latest technology, their architects are very different, and they are more advanced. So I think Cisco is one step behind Aruba.

My advice to others is to understand the use case properly before deploying any solution. If you don't have a complex use case and if you can't afford it, don't get Cisco. But if you have a complex use case with a high frequency, high bandwidth of data usage in a wireless network, Cisco is the right product for you. The licensing strategy and the pricing could be improved, but it is a good solution. I rate it a seven out of ten. 

The ease of management is the solution's most valuable feature.

The user interface is much better than older versions.

We're in the phase of deploying a new system, so I can't speak to what might be lacking in the solution just yet.

I'm curious to see how Wi-Fi 6 will function. You have access points supporting Wi-Fi 6, but no clients know about it really.

Pricing is very high with Cisco products. It's something that many people complain about. They should work to make it more affordable.

The older version was very stable; I'm hoping the newest version will also be stable.

The technical support is very good.

Deployment is easy. We're doing it in stages so as to not disrupt any service and are in the process now, so I can't speak to exactly how long it will ultimately be as a process.

Cisco pricing is very expensive.

Our clients are mostly enterprise-level companies.

Our first test of the solution will be to see how the new features are implemented in Wi-Fi 6. The new access point is smaller than the previous one, and I find it's very good, very pleasant, because the 3700, and especially the 3800 were very, very weak.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. If the pricing was better, I'd rate it ten out of ten.