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Cisco Wireless WAN vs Ruckus Wireless WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Cisco Wireless WAN is reliable and cost-effective, offering strong ROI despite high costs, with significant productivity and efficiency gains.
Sentiment score
6.5
Ruckus Wireless WAN delivers strong ROI with extended lifespan and cost savings, especially valued in educational settings.
Cisco's licensing structure is more expensive than FortiNet, as it requires different tiers of licenses to access advanced features.
Consultant at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Cisco Wireless WAN support is praised for expertise and RMA services, though response times and engineer consistency vary.
Sentiment score
6.4
Ruckus Wireless WAN support is generally positive, but users desire more experienced staff and improved communication and contact options.
If an engineer's shift ends, I have to re-explain everything to a new engineer, which is challenging.
Consultant at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
I find the technical support by Cisco very supportive.
Network Security at Tech Mahindra Limited
When we seek support, the service we expect is not promptly delivered, which can be time-consuming.
CEO at Netsys Solutions (Pvt) Ltd
They would thoroughly troubleshoot issues.
IT Manager at Handi Quilter, Inc.
Response time could be better, mainly.
Networks Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Wireless WAN is scalable and adaptable, efficiently managing users across various sectors despite some licensing challenges.
Sentiment score
7.6
Ruckus Wireless WAN is scalable and adaptable, with cloud options improving scalability despite hardware and licensing limitations.
There isn't a limit to scalability, but for deployments exceeding five thousand equipment, it requires opening a case with Meraki support to increase capacity.
Consultant at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
I find the scalability quite good, with a rating of eight out of ten.
CEO at Netsys Solutions (Pvt) Ltd
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Wireless WAN is stable and reliable, with minor configuration issues and responsive support, rated 8-10 by users.
Sentiment score
8.2
Ruckus Wireless WAN is stable and reliable, performing well in high-density areas with mostly positive user feedback.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Wireless WAN needs enhanced compatibility, affordability, user-friendliness, and improved security, support, and management features.
Improvements needed in support, documentation, UI, integration, licensing, delivery, analytics, and global coverage for competitive alignment.
Walmart is interested in using electronic tags instead of paper labels for easier price changes on products.
Consultant at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
We are able to see the connectivity details, and we also see the Mbps at which they are connecting.
Network Security at Tech Mahindra Limited
Ruckus Wireless WAN could add a full stack to their product to make it more competitive, as they do not have security and they do not have their own cloud.
Networks Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
There seems to be no visible improvement in the Gartner positioning, which is crucial even as companies like Huawei are also entering the wireless sector.
CEO at Netsys Solutions (Pvt) Ltd
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Wireless WAN is seen as costly due to licensing, with some seeking cheaper alternatives like Aruba and Ruckus.
Ruckus Wireless offers competitive pricing with flexible licensing, seen as a worthwhile investment for performance and coverage benefits.
The cost is one of the higher in the industry.
Consultant at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
I think the pricing of Cisco Wireless WAN must be reasonable at present.
Network Security at Tech Mahindra Limited
The price is always on the higher side, which impacts the perception of return on investment.
CEO at Netsys Solutions (Pvt) Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Wireless WAN provides high-speed connectivity, strong security, scalability, and reliability with easy management and comprehensive integration features.
Ruckus Wireless WAN offers powerful performance, superior coverage, easy deployment, high user support, seamless roaming, and excellent IoT integration.
It is easy to integrate Cisco Wireless WAN with other Cisco products in the system.
Network Security at Tech Mahindra Limited
The main value of using Cisco Wireless WAN with Meraki is that the technology is cloud-based, making it more accessible for the customer to troubleshoot and implement changes remotely.
Consultant at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
The most valuable features are the advanced technologies like BeamFlex, which make a significant difference.
CEO at Netsys Solutions (Pvt) Ltd
Ruckus Wireless WAN appears to perform better in less than optimal situations.
Networks Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Wireless WAN
Ranking in Wireless WAN
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Ruckus Wireless WAN
Ranking in Wireless WAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Wireless WAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless WAN is 6.8%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ruckus Wireless WAN is 26.4%, down from 37.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless WAN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Ruckus Wireless WAN26.4%
Cisco Wireless WAN6.8%
Other66.80000000000001%
Wireless WAN
 

Featured Reviews

HassanBilal - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager IT Infrastructure & Helpdesk at LCI Pakistan
Solution supports extensive connectivity but faces occasional coverage challenges
Cisco Wireless WAN has room for improvement in WiFi coverage. Sometimes, their coverage is normally good, but at the same area where the access points are deployed, people face continuous disconnectivity issues. These kinds of issues come over time, and we need to do troubleshooting, but they get resolved. This is a performance-related issue, and I think they have to work on that.
NN
IT Manager at Handi Quilter, Inc.
Reliable Wi-Fi deployment handles extreme conditions and reduces maintenance
The only bad downside to Ruckus Wireless WAN is that the guest network is poorly conceived. This is a known issue. There are ways to make the guest network work reliably, but not as promised. That's the only downside to Ruckus Wireless WAN access points - they have a weak guest system and guest portal, but everything else is the best of the best. If I did not have access to Ruckus Wireless WAN support, I think I would have failed. One downside they have now is that you no longer have access to the support folks without a contract. That has changed over many years. That would be really unfortunate because I remember struggling. The company was very hungry at that point and they were very willing to help. Now support requires a contract. That comes with all growing companies.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
10%
Educational Organization
8%
Performing Arts
8%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise36
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Wireless WAN?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Wireless WAN?
I think the pricing of Cisco Wireless WAN must be reasonable at present.
What needs improvement with Cisco Wireless WAN?
Cisco Wireless WAN's interface could be simplified in the future. Simplification would make it more helpful to see how the user is connecting. We are able to see the connectivity details, and we al...
Is Ubiquiti Wireless better than Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ubiquiti Wireless is extremely easy to set up and is an excellent option for small businesses, offering enterprise features for a one-time fee and no ongoing licensing fees. Ubiquiti Wireless is ve...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ruckus Wireless WAN?
These are not cheap access points. If you want to go cheap, Ubiquiti is an option. I knew they were worth it because once deployed, they wouldn't require additional attention. They're not at Cisco ...
What needs improvement with Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ruckus Wireless WAN is overpriced. Compared to others at the moment, Ruckus Wireless WAN does not have many valuable features. Compared to everyone else, everyone else comes self-hosted, either wit...
 

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)
American University of Sharjah, Dordt College, Drew University, Lamar University, Raroa School
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Wireless WAN vs. Ruckus Wireless WAN and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.