Cisco Wireless vs Ubiquiti Wireless comparison

The compared Cisco and Ubiquiti Networks solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #4 in Wireless LAN , with an average rating of 8.6, and holds a 11.5% mindshare in the category. Ubiquiti Networks is ranked #1 in Wireless WAN , with an average rating of 7.9, and holds a 40.9% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 89% of Ubiquiti Networks users who would recommend it.

Cisco Wireless

Read 151 Cisco Wireless reviews

15,312 Views
14,009 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Ubiquiti Wireless

Read 74 Ubiquiti Wireless reviews

8,098 Views
3,106 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Cisco Wireless

Ubiquiti Wireless

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Wireless and Ubiquiti Wireless based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ruckus, Cisco and others in Wireless LAN.

To learn more, read our detailed Wireless LAN Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Wireless LAN

March 2025

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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

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

151

Ranking in other categories

Wireless LAN (4th)

Ubiquiti Wireless

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Wireless WAN (1st)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Wireless is designed for Wireless LAN and holds a mindshare of 11.5%, down 15.2% compared to last year.
Ubiquiti Wireless, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless WAN, holds 40.9% mindshare, up 39.9% since last year.

Wireless LAN

Wireless WAN

Featured Reviews

GulfrazAhmad

Division Head Enterprise Infrastructure (SVP) at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Integrates with ISE, and is secure, reliable, and easy to deploy

The main concern is the length and overlapping. We have to put on four to six access points on the same floor, and we face the issue of overlapping areas. If Cisco can extend the range of their indoor APs, we would need to install just one or two access points, and it would eliminate the problem of the overlapping area. They should provide built-in features for safe authentication. Right now, we integrate with ISE and FortiClient for this feature. We first check the NAC, and after the NAC and before the domain, a token password installed on their mobile or a physical token is required to join the network. If Cisco had built-in authentication, we would be able to eliminate one product from our network.

Read full review

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at Amrita

Simple to set up and good outdoor accessibility but does not penetrate rooms well indoors

Ubiquiti requires more improvement in wireless penetration. It has significantly less penetration in indoor devices. When it comes to indoor devices, Ubiquiti Wireless does not have penetration power, so when we deploy it in closed rooms, it fails to connect. This is one drawback that has to improve. When indoor access points failed to penetrate into rooms, we had to deploy single access points in each room, which seemed to be really costly. Still, when compared to Fortinet, it has an outdoor access point model also. The outdoor access point is relatively stable in comparison. The solution needs to offer more scalability. It does not have traffic shaping or traffic policies in its wireless requirements. We have to completely depend on an additional firewall for traffic shaping and policies.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco is one of the leading vendors and is at the top of many lists. The access software is robust, and the performance of the devices is excellent."

"Cisco Wireless technology allows us to logically segregate networks, to segregate the traffic between multiple types of endpoint devices, connected to the network. For example, corporate laptops are connected to one network, corporate iPhones will go through a different network."

"The support is very good. Technical support is very helpful."

"It is an extremely stable and scalable solution. Its documentation and support are also very good."

"The solution is highly scalable."

"It can provide support for real-time applications, such as VoIP and Video Conferencing over wireless infrastructure."

"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it can be integrated into other solutions in a particular environment, including where there are wired and wireless connections."

"It helps with the visibility on our network."

More Cisco Wireless pros

"The solution's software controller is very nice and provides good advantages."

"It is very stable and the equipment lasts quite a long time."

"The setup is quite simple."

"Ubiquiti devices are centrally managed, and you can log into the access points via SSH. If the GUI isn't working for some reason, you can intervene via SSH."

"Setting it up wasn't so complicated. It is reliable. Security-wise, we didn't have much trouble, but that could be due to our environment. We haven't had so many attacks, at least up till now."

"In general, the setup process is straightforward."

"The solution has an easy configuration."

"The most valuable aspect of Ubiquiti is the ease of setup. It's easy to set up, secure, and use. It works on an adoption basis. I can pull the system up, design a network, and pull 20 different Ubiquiti units into it."

More Ubiquiti Wireless pros

Cons

"The stability could improve, there are some issues. We were told the version of the software we are using on all of the controllers is best for Cisco IOS, but we might need to update our software, this might fix the stability issues we are experiencing."

"The product could improve the security system's alertness to detect and respond to intrusions more effectively."

"The solution should introduce natural language troubleshooting processes. It will identify possible problems or errors due to the symptoms."

"Installation is complex."

"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 configuration interface could be easier. They should make roaming easier and should fix it so that when you cross a building you can keep the signal."

"The solution could be cheaper and have a better web interface."

"Cisco Wireless does not have a dashboard that would make it easier for people to manage the solution, such as Cisco Meraki where you are able to monitor the network through the dashboard and everything is visible making it easier."

More Cisco Wireless cons

"One area of improvement could be the inclusion of conditional forwarding."

"There isn't any technical support."

"I would like to see this solution have any kind of captive portal on the tool or user accounting tool. This would be quite useful for companies."

"Its stability could be better."

"We have an issue with Ubiquiti Wireless every three to five months for one of the access points."

"Maybe our Ruckus access points are easier to deploy. When I want to deploy a Ubiquiti access point with the centralized appliance, we can't do all the configuration in our lab and send it to the shop. Ruckus seems easier to deploy for the moment."

"The production is not very stable in our experience."

"After upgrades to the interface, some features disappear."

More Ubiquiti Wireless cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"I am not a fan of Cisco's software pricing model. Their management software is far too expensive."

"I feel the product's pricing is a good value."

"We are on an annual license. The license and the hardware are expensive."

"Cisco licensing is usually provided on a yearly basis rather than monthly. You can get a hardware SLA or hardware and software SLA for a period of years. Longer terms influence the level of support that you get when it comes to Cisco SLA."

"The solution is a little expensive compared to other brands."

"The license structure is confusing."

"Its licensing is hard to understand."

More Cisco Wireless pricing and cost advice

"The most valuable aspect of Ubiquiti is the price. Compared to competing solutions like Cisco Aironet, HP Aruba, ExtremeWireless, or Ruckus, Ubiquiti is the cheapest by far. It's not even close. That's their biggest selling point."

"The product is around $300 or $400 depending on the device. It's a one-time fee. There aren't ongoing licensing costs."

"The price has been fair for what I have been using it for. There is no license for this solution."

"Once you purchase the solution the license is included."

"The price is reasonable and there's only a one-time payment. We have had this for a long time and I haven't seen any additional fee after paying for the installation."

"Its price is reasonable for a basic device."

"I like the fact that it offers enterprise features at a cheap price. If you compare it with Cisco, it has most of the features that Cisco has been offering but at a lesser price. I am satisfied with its price."

"From a pricing point of view, Ubiquiti is excellent."

More Ubiquiti Wireless pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user212721

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…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

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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...

See all answers

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...

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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...

See all answers

Which is better - Cambium or Ubiquiti Wireless?

For me, Ubiquiti was easy to install, configure, set up, and maintain, while also providing solid coverage and better handoffs between APs. This is especially relevant if you are using Apple produc...

See all answers

Which is better - Ubiquiti Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Ubiquiti Wireless offers a wide range of WLAN products. We tested their devices before ultimately choosing Cisco Meraki. Ubiquiti devices have good outdoor performance and the connection is very st...

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Wireless

Compared 31% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Wireless

Compared 26% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs Cisco Wireless

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Cisco Wireless

Compared 6% of the time

D-Link Wireless vs Cisco Wireless

Compared 1% of the time

More Cisco Wireless Competitors

Ruckus Wireless WAN vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 42% of the time

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 21% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 19% of the time

Cambium Networks Wireless WAN vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 7% of the time

Aruba Networks Wireless WAN vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 1% of the time

More Ubiquiti Wireless Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Wireless

March 2025

Download Cisco Wireless product report

Buyer's Guide

Ubiquiti Wireless

March 2025

Download Ubiquiti Wireless product report

Also Known As

Cisco WLAN Controller

No data available

Overview

Cisco Wireless is a comprehensive suite of wireless solutions designed to deliver secure, high-performance connectivity for enterprises of all sizes. Offering a range of access points, controllers, and advanced management tools, Cisco Wireless ensures seamless and reliable network access, enhancing mobility and productivity.

Cisco Wireless solutions provide robust, scalable wireless networks capable of supporting high-density environments and diverse applications. With features such as seamless roaming, advanced security protocols, and detailed analytics, Cisco Wireless addresses the needs of modern businesses. The solutions include the Cisco Catalyst and Aironet series access points, wireless LAN controllers, and the Cisco DNA Center for centralized management and automation.

What are the key features of Cisco Wireless?

High-Density Performance: Optimized for environments with a high number of devices, ensuring reliable connectivity and performance.
Advanced Security: Incorporates robust security measures such as WPA3, Secure Boot, and segmentation to protect data and devices.
Seamless Roaming: Enables uninterrupted connectivity as users move across different areas within the network.
Centralized Management: Cisco DNA Center provides a single pane of glass for managing and automating wireless networks, enhancing operational efficiency.
Flexible Deployment Options: Supports various deployment models, including on-premises, cloud-managed, and hybrid solutions.

What benefits should users look for in reviews when evaluating Cisco Wireless?

Improved Mobility and Productivity: Users often highlight how Cisco Wireless enhances user mobility and productivity through reliable and consistent connectivity.
Scalability: Reviews frequently mention the scalability of Cisco Wireless, making it suitable for growing businesses.
Ease of Management: Many users appreciate the centralized management capabilities, which simplify network administration and troubleshooting.
Enhanced Security: The advanced security features are often noted for providing peace of mind and compliance with industry standards.
User Experience: The overall user experience, including ease of use and seamless integration with other Cisco products, is a common point of praise.

Cisco Wireless solutions are implemented across various industries, including healthcare, education, retail, and manufacturing. In healthcare, they support critical applications like patient monitoring and electronic health records. Educational institutions use Cisco Wireless to provide reliable internet access for students and staff. Retailers benefit from enhanced customer experiences through in-store connectivity, while manufacturers use wireless networks to improve operational efficiency and automation.

Pricing and licensing for Cisco Wireless solutions are typically based on the scale of deployment and specific product selections. Cisco offers various support plans, including 24/7 customer service, technical support, and access to software updates and patches.

In summary, Cisco Wireless provides robust, scalable wireless networking solutions that enhance connectivity, security, and management for diverse enterprise environments.

Cisco

Ubiquiti Wireless refers to the wireless networking solutions provided by Ubiquiti Networks, a leading technology company specializing in networking and wireless communication products. Ubiquiti Wireless offers a range of innovative and cost-effective wireless networking solutions designed for various applications, including enterprise networks, service providers, small and medium-sized businesses, and home users.

Ubiquiti Wireless products are known for their reliability, performance, and ease of use. They encompass a wide range of devices and technologies, including wireless access points, wireless routers, antennas, bridges, mesh networks, and point-to-point or point-to-multipoint wireless links.

Ubiquiti Wireless Features:

Scalability: Ubiquiti Wireless products are designed to scale easily, allowing organizations to expand their wireless networks as needed without significant infrastructure changes.
Flexibility: Ubiquiti Wireless offers a range of products suitable for various deployment scenarios, including indoor and outdoor environments, long-range connectivity, and mesh networks.
Centralized Management: Ubiquiti provides a centralized management platform called the UniFi Controller, which allows administrators to configure, monitor, and manage their entire wireless network from a single interface.
Seamless Roaming: Ubiquiti Wireless solutions support seamless roaming, allowing wireless devices to maintain connectivity while moving across different access points within a network.
Advanced Security: Ubiquiti incorporates security features such as encryption, authentication, and firewall capabilities to protect wireless networks and data transmissions.
Cost-Effective: Ubiquiti Wireless products are known for their affordability without compromising performance, making them an attractive option for organizations with budget constraints.
Community Support: Ubiquiti has a vibrant community of users and enthusiasts who actively contribute to knowledge sharing, troubleshooting, and expanding the capabilities of Ubiquiti Wireless products.

Ubiquiti Wireless Components:

Ubiquiti Wireless encompasses a range of components that work together to provide reliable and scalable wireless networking solutions. Here are some key components commonly found in Ubiquiti Wireless deployments:

Wireless Access Points (APs) for providing wireless connectivity.
Wireless Routers as central network hubs for managing traffic.
Wireless Bridges for creating wireless connections between networks.
Antennas to enhance wireless range and coverage.
Mesh Networking Devices for seamless coverage across large areas.
Network Switches for wired connectivity within the network.
Management Software like the UniFi Controller for centralized management and monitoring.

Reviews from Real Users

George Ferns, Solution Architect - Networking and IoT at a wholesaler & distributor, states that Ubiquiti Wireless has "Attractive pricing and good for home use and small businesses, but it is not easily scalable and lacks security features".

Walter Shelver, Owner at CableWeb, writes that "The most valuable aspect of Ubiquiti is the ease of setup. It's easy to set up, secure, and use. It works on an adoption basis. I can pull the system up, design a network, and pull 20 different Ubiquiti units into it".

ThomasWilke, CEO at CITOM, says that “You can almost do everything with Cisco products for a much better price with a significantly lower learning curve”.

Ubiquiti Networks

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)

NASCAR Grand-AM, Maritime Parc, Outdoor Music Festival, British Armed Forces, Arcadia School District, Moscow - Enforta

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