Cisco Wireless WAN Reviews

I'm a solution architect and consultant in my company (a Cisco partner and system integrator) and our standard use case for Cisco Wireless LAN is providing WiFi coverage throughout our client organizations' buildings. These organizations include banks, airports, and universities. We also use other networking products from Cisco, including Cisco Meraki for cloud-based wireless networking in smaller environments.

I have seen that many people are using a lot of the features directly available on the wireless controller. Recently, the most valuable and in-demand feature that users are enjoying is WiFi 6 support on the access points. The other good thing about Cisco Wireless LAN is how easily it provides clean access to the WiFi network.

The coverage area on some of the low-end access points isn't the best. The high-end ones are fine, but we've had bad experiences on the other ones. Compared to some of the non-Cisco access points we use, the low-end access points from Cisco have shown to give only very minimal coverage.

I am currently wondering how Cisco is going to handle the connections between 5G and the WiFi 6. These new technologies have similar features and I would expect, in the future, that there will be some integration between them.

The stability is fine. Cisco Wireless solutions are generally more stable than others, there is no doubt about that in my mind. Even our customers have experienced the same thing. The only problem is the different models. The range of models of Cisco access points is very limited compared to other vendors. And there are some challenges on the antenna configuration.

It is scalable. Right now, it has only one series of controllers for all the numbers of access points, so in terms of scaling, we can always increase the controllers even if we have thousands of access points.

The tech support for Cisco Wireless is fine. It's not usually myself that deals with them, but rather our technical deployment and support engineers. If they can't resolve any issues on their own, they simply raise a technical ticket with Cisco support.

We are also selling Cisco Meraki products along with the standard Cisco portfolio. I don't have a lot of experience with Meraki, because we mainly recommend those products to small and medium environments, especially if the customer doesn't have a lot of networking staff and they simply want to bring WiFi services up quickly. 

It is easy to set up the access points. Regarding how many people are needed for deployments, it really depends on the size of the project. We will have different scenarios ranging from only 10 to 15 access points, all the way up to 1,000 access points. All of this requires staff to physically mount the access points, and then we'll have the cabling technicians who connect all the cabling.

After that, once they all connect back to the controller, all the integrations will be done on the controller. So the wireless engineer requirement is very minimal compared to how many people are needed for the physical installation. If you've got a two-person team, they should be able to install 10 to 20 access points per day.

If you have a two-person team doing the physical access point installations, they should be able to set up 10 to 20 access points per day. 

For the Cisco Wireless implementation, the most important advice I would like to give is regarding the planning of the access points. The planning is very important because if you do not do proper planning based on the requirements, then the project might well turn out to be a big mess. That's because once you install an access point in one location, it's very hard to move around. Keep this in mind from the beginning. 

I would rate Cisco Wireless LAN an eight out of ten. I won't say it's the best there is, but it is definitely a leading solution.

We have around nearly 150 access points. We use Cisco access points for our business core systems for the employees. All the users connect through this wirelessly.

Stability is one aspect that I find very valuable. The signal strength is also very strong.

The connectivity is reliable, and it doesn't have many issues.

The console interface is not very user-friendly. It's a bit complex and difficult to navigate. Even some integrations can be challenging. But we can manage eventually.

Therefore, for me, some areas of improvement include integration, pricing, and console. 

Scalability is easy, it is stable, and configuring certain things like Mac filtering is also simple. However, I feel the need to enhance the security aspect, especially for guest connectivity.

I've been using it for around five years.

Stability is really good in Cisco Wireless WAN. I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

There are no restrictions on scalability. It is a scalable product. We have 150 access points, and there are 350 employees.

The support is good. They have a vendor here currently, and their support is good.

Neutral

The initial setup is not difficult. It's easy because we have been using Cisco for a long time.

Moreover, very little maintenance is required. We just perform some checks and minor tasks. There isn't much maintenance required.

It is a bit expensive compared to others. So it's a little costly.

For us, this is an all-in-one product. It doesn't have separate licenses. When purchased, the product comes with a license. It's a one-time purchase.

We were migrating from the on-prem to the cloud version. We made a comparison analysis b/w different technologies.

Cisco wireless on-prem has moved to Cisco Meraki Access, and Cisco Meraki is the better. We can use the cloud solution. The only thing is the price is a little high. Other than that, all the features and security aspects are really good with Cisco.

Overall, I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. The overall rating is seven due to the higher price and the need for enhancements in the console and security features. The guest Wi-Fi and non-console options are lacking in the older version, although I believe the new version might address that.

We use the product as access points in our organization. 

I am impressed with the tool's packet tracing so that connection with the devices is always consistent. 

The tool's speed and IP address acquisition from the domain controller should be improved. 

I have been using the product for ten years. 

The tool is stable and I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

The product is scalable because we can create a mesh network using multiple devices. I would rate it a ten out of ten. 

I have contacted the tech support and have got the support that I needed. 

Positive

The product's setup is straightforward. It is just plug-and-play. The tool's deployment took ten minutes to complete. You would need one staff to manage the tool's deployment and maintenance. 

There is no technical staff required for the product's deployment. 

The product offers good ROI. 

The solution is not expensive. 

We deployed the solution to update our internal WiFi to a modern, flexible, and secure environment.

Coverage and throughput have both improved significantly over our previous solution.  Also, having advanced QoS capabilities has improved our VoIP performance over WiFi.  

The solution offers very good performance, for all devices.  

Another bonus is that it's really tightly integrated with Apple devices, and makes sure that no one phone or no one WiFi device can hog all of the wireless spectrum. The spectrum-sharing algorithms are proven in independent testing to be the best. Also, roaming is quick and excellent. The security capabilities are incredible, and it offers excellent secure access for guests as well.

The only thing I would like to see is better high availability if you're using the embedded wireless controller (the EWC).

The solution is extremely stable and reliable. I've experienced no recent bugs or glitches.

The solution can scale hugely if you are not using the embedded wireless controller, which is what I am using now. 

The support is the best in the world. It's a big reason why I go with Cisco. The real differentiator for me always is the quality and speed of support. Every manufacturer's products are going to have a bug or performance issues sometime. It's how they respond that makes them different and better. 

Positive

I have had previous experience with Meraki, Ruckus, various prosumer products as well as Aruba. My favorite is Cisco, and my second favorite is Cisco Meraki. The reasons are too many to list here.  

The ease of the initial setup depends on experience always. If you're an experienced WiFi person, it is easy very easy to configure. I'd rate the ease of installation nine out of ten. 

We implemented it in-house.

For enterprise-class WiFi, with best-in-the-world TAC support, the pricing is okay. I'd rate it seven out of ten. There are less expensive solutions, sure. But in this case, my experience over decades (since the very first WiFi APs were released, in fact), is that no one beats Cisco WiFi (for very long, at least), in either the capabilities, performance or support categories.  

This is super flexible, meets our needs, is ultra secure, and offers excellent support. I'd rate it nine out of ten. I'm very happy with the product.

We are using Cisco Wireless WAN for wireless access to university students.

The most valuable features of Cisco Wireless WAN are its security functionality. We have a lab environment and we have to provide different authentications to the users which are easy to manage. Additionally, there is a lot of useful automation embedded into the system.

There are limitations on the SSIDs that could improve. We cannot enable two ways of authenticating users on one SSID. For a number of places, we have to provide different modes of certification for the user which requires us to create another SSID for the broadcast.

We have to enable routing from different VLANs, we have to enable DSCP for some extensions. Without it, we cannot receive a dynamic IP address for our clients. We have had to find some workaround ourselves. The problems we have been having occur when we have multiple VLANs. We are using management on the APs which have different access levels than VLANs.

I have been using Cisco Wireless WAN for approximately two years.

The solution is highly stable.

I rate the stability of Cisco Wireless WAN a ten out of ten.

Cisco Wireless WAN is a scalable solution.

We have 50,000 students using the solution.  The solution is used often and we plan to increase our usage.

I rate the scalability of Cisco Wireless WAN a ten out of ten.

There is third-party support if needed.

I have not used other solutions other than Cisco Wireless WAN.

The initial setup of Cisco Wireless WAN was not simple. There were a lot of steps to do to complete the process. We had some challenges during the process. However, if I was going to do the initial setup again it would be simple. The full process of implementation took approximately three hours.

We install the systems in stages, our first stage was installing the switches, and the second was the APs. Additionally, we were working on the controller during the stages.

I rate the initial setup of Cisco Wireless WAN a three out of ten.

We did the implementation of the solution in-house by two at the controller level and a large team for the 700 APs in two different models we had to manage.

We have received a return on investment, it is worth the money we paid.

The price of the solution is expensive. The license is priced based on the number of APs and controllers used.

I rate the price of Cisco Wireless WAN a one out of ten.

I evaluated D-Link and TP-Link prior to choosing Cisco Wireless WAN.

We use ten network administrators for the maintenance of the solution.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Cisco Wireless WAN a ten out of ten.

We are satisfied with the product.

The access points and controllers are good and do not give us any issues. In addition, the individual access points are good.

They recently launched the virtual wireless controller and a new CTI. Unfortunately, it is not scalable, and the performance is not good. Sometimes it hangs, and it has a slow response. We don't have a good experience and are uncomfortable with these elements.

The network management system is not great. It is incapable of handling a large number of access points. They are working on it but have not been able to fix it yet.

We have been using this solution for about six years. We are using different models like the Wi-fi 5 model.

The technical support is good because we have a contract with them. They respond whenever we have an issue.

The pricing is okay compared to other products like Aruba and Huawei. However, to be more competitive, Cisco could lower its price.

We have a big infrastructure of about 15,000 to 20,000. So if it works fine for us, it will suit small companies with small networks. We use the controller, and it is fine. I rate this solution a five out of ten, mainly because of the network issues.

We use Cisco Wireless WAN for the network in our office. The solution is deployed on-premises.

There are currently 20 people who use this solution in my organization. They're technical staff and salespeople. 

I use Cisco because of its reliability.

The price could be improved. It can be complicated to configure the solution.

In the next release, it could be more user-friendly.

I have used this solution for 10 years.

It's very stable. I would rate the stability as nine out of ten.

It's scalable. I would rate the scalability as eight out of ten.

We previously used Linksys. We switched to Cisco because of its sustainability and expandability.

Normal installation isn't complex. Installation takes a couple of hours.

One person is needed for maintenance.

Implementation was done in-house.

The total cost of the solution was about $6,000.

I would rate this solution as eight out of ten. I wouldn't give it 10 out of 10 because the price is high and the solution can be complicated.

I would recommend it to those who are interested in using it. 

There's a lot of advice and information on the internet. Some of it may be incorrect, so you just have to try it and see.

Cisco Wireless WAN works well in an enterprise environment.

The most valuable features of Cisco Wireless WAN are the dashboards, security functionality, and Cisco DNA center. The way the solution has integrated within the fabric of the environment with automation is very good.

Cisco Wireless WAN could improve the wireless environment visibility. For example, the information regarding bandwidth use, conditions of the network, and application visibility.

I have been using Cisco Wireless WAN for approximately five years. 

The stability of Cisco Wireless WAN is good.

Cisco Wireless WAN is a scalable solution. You are able to purchase as many licenses as required.

I have worked with this solution in large environments. We have had clients with approximately 2,000 users.

The support from Cisco is good.

I have used Aruba Wireless.

The setup of Cisco Wireless WAN needs an expert. You need someone with experience to be able to work with Cisco Wireless solutions. It took approximately one to two weeks to implement the solution.

The implementation of Cisco Wireless WAN will need at least a field engineer to do the configuration of the appliance.

The license is not subscription-based.

I rate Cisco Wireless WAN a ten out of ten.

We just basically use it for wireless throughout our office space.

We never had any issues with it. I can't really say that I had any issues or didn't like the product.

It just gives you the ability to use it around the office without being tied up to an actual physical connection.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. 

I've found the solution to be very reliable. 

The solution can scale. 

Technical support is helpful.

The pricing is pretty reasonable. 

I cannot recall any areas of improvement. 

A lot of the time, for users, it comes down to pricing. Many would like to see it be a bit less costly. 

I've had zero issues with the stability of the product. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. 

It is scalable.

Cisco offers very responsive technical support. They are helpful. 

The product's initial setup is pretty straightforward. It's one of the things that you set up, and you don't really touch after. You set it up, and basically, you don't worry about it.

We but the equipment. There is no monthly or annual licensing. 

The pricing is okay. They offer pretty competitive pricing. 

We're currently a Cisco shop, and we were thinking about possibly looking into different firewall vendors next year to get an opinion on the different technologies on their next-generation firewalls, just to see what made the most sense as far as comparing different vendors.

We looked at one point, at Fortinet. It is a good platform. I would definitely try to switch to Fortinet if I can. The whole platform pricing standpoint from Fortinet is good. It's a possibility that on our end, we might be switching over to them. Apples to apples, Cisco and Fortinet are very similar and both are quite good. 

I'm a customer and end-user. 

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. I've never had any issues with the product. 

Our primary use case for this solution is setting up a wireless source for our clients to connect to the VPNs and our data centers.

We have found the ability to easily increase power valuable. The solution also allows us to increase the power when it's too low.

The firewall integration is not great and should be improved.

We have been using this solution for three years.

The solution is very stable.

The solution is scalable. There are approximately 70 people using it in our organization. 

We do not have experience with customer service and support because we have not had issues.

The initial setup was straightforward, and deployment took five hours.

We implemented the solution in-house, and approximately three people are required for implementation.

I rate this solution an eight out of ten. I recommend the solution to new users.