Radek Skrivanek - PeerSpot reviewer
Department Leader: Project Leadership Production Compact at SKODA AUTO a.s.
Real User
Top 5
Scales well, good technical support, but stability could improve
Pros and Cons
  • "The technical support we have experienced has been good."
  • "The solution could be more stable."

What is our primary use case?

We have many computers that we have connected to this network device.

What needs improvement?

In the future, Cisco Wireless WAN could improve its ability to expand.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution could be more stable.

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Wireless WAN
June 2024
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have found the scalability to be good. We have approximately 200 people using the solution in my organization and we have plans to increase usage.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support we have experienced has been good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used Ubiquiti previously and this solution is more stable.

How was the initial setup?

The installation is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

Our IT department is approximately 50 people and we have a team of five technicians that do the implementation and maintenance of the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is a license that is needed for the use of this solution.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Cisco Wireless WAN a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Consultant - Smart Buildings at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Reseller
Reliable and simple solution that provides long-term stability
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco Wireless WAN's best features are simple management, the cloud base, dashboards, and reliability."
  • "There are some limitations with scaling the on-premises version - if you want to scale, you need to change the hardware and purchase a new wireless controller at an additional cost."

What is our primary use case?

Cisco Wireless WAN is mainly used in campus networks, hotels, and other enterprise customers to provide wireless internet connectivity.

What is most valuable?

Cisco Wireless WAN's best features are simple management, the cloud base, dashboards, and reliability.

What needs improvement?

Cisco Wireless WAN could be improved by introducing a low-power wireless access point that could be installed in an outside environment. I would also like them to add an option without any licensing controller so that the customer could just purchase access points, then plug and play. In the future, Cisco Wireless WAN should include cloud control, centralized management, and branch connectivity.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Cisco Wireless WAN for around ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Wireless WAN is perfectly stable. Some of our customers have been using it for eight to ten years without having to change the hardware as it continues to work perfectly.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are some limitations with scaling the on-premises version - if you want to scale, you need to change the hardware and purchase a new wireless controller at an additional cost.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco's technical support is very responsive, fast, and knowledgeable, with experienced and knowledgeable engineers.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy because so many engineers know the product, and Cisco makes a lot of technical documentation available via its online portal. I would rate the setup process as five out of five.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cisco's licensing model includes some mandatory licenses, making it more expensive than other vendors like HP, Aruba, and Ruckus.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Cisco Wireless WAN ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Wireless WAN
June 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Wireless WAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2024.
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Network Manager/Architect at a university with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Provides good visibility and is reliable and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "Reliability and visibility in the product are most valuable. We are able to see client performance, signal strength for clients, and things like that."
  • "The cost and support should be improved, and there should be support for the 6E standard."

What is our primary use case?

We're a higher ed campus. So, we have Cisco Wireless prevalent throughout all of our buildings for students, faculty, and staff to access the network.

We are using its latest version.

What is most valuable?

Reliability and visibility in the product are most valuable. We are able to see client performance, signal strength for clients, and things like that.

What needs improvement?

The cost and support should be improved, and there should be support for the 6E standard.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have about 25 years of experience. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Its stability is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Its scalability is good.

How are customer service and support?

It's hit and miss with tech support. If you get a good engineer, things go well. Oftentimes, you'll get a new engineer or a first-line engineer who is not so good.

How was the initial setup?

It was straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost of licensing should be improved.

What other advice do I have?

My advice would be to negotiate the price as much as you can. 

I would rate it an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Muhammad Alim Besari - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at Packet System Indonesia
Real User
Cisco Wireless LAN deliver the best wireless experience yet so easy to operate and manage.
Pros and Cons
  • "Provides good visibility and insights into what is happening."
  • "Improvements can be made in the wireless fabric."

What is our primary use case?

Most of my customers are demanding a wireless connectivity that seamless and  great mobility for their users. Because modern workplace now requires great collaboration and great collaboration comes from great mobility.

How has it helped my organization?

Cisco Wireless LAN has improved a lot of my customers organization. The best part of using wireless solution is the mobility, where my customers can work together like anywhere and anytime. They way they are working also changing after using wireless solution.

What is most valuable?

Cisco Wireless Solution comes with WiFi 6 capability that provide higher bandwidth and less usage of battery for endpoint. The visibility on the solution also comes in place when it is integrated with Cisco DNA Center. Day 2 operation is much easier because the solution provide wider visibility and analytics.

What needs improvement?

Apart from the features and benefits that Cisco Wireless LAN Solution has been given, some areas are still need to be improved. For example on part of onboarding the AP. For customer who has old version WLC (AireOS version) and want to migrate their AP to new WLC (IOS XE version) sometime requires extra effort because of DTLS certificate issue or no valid ap manager. 

For how long have I used the solution?

Working on Cisco Gold Partner as Systems Engineer give me more than 6 years already in delivering Cisco Wireless LAN Solution. From the era of Aironet untill now becoming era of Catalyst Wireless.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Wireless LAN Solution is stable if you choose the recommended version of firmware.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco Wireless LAN scalability is good. The smallest of WLC can handle up to 250 APs and the highest WLC can handle up to 6000 APs.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco TAC is helpful when assisting us during troubleshooting the issue, one thing that can be improved also from Cisco Wireless Solution is to auto capture the logs and everything that need to be analyzed during troubleshooting for particular user since troubleshooting wireless need to analyze on live session.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is less complex than it used to be and has definitely improved. There's still a way to go. Depending on the customer, deployment can take from two weeks to three months.

What about the implementation team?

We implement the solutions with our implementation team.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Licensing on Cisco Wireless Solution comes in 3 types of subscriptions, DNA Essential, DNA Advantage and DNA Premier. Those 3 types licensing actually has a component which perpetual based. But at first time of buying the solution, Cisco enforced the customers to buy initial license that come with minimum of 3 years subscriptions. After 3 years passed, customer can still use the network even the license is not being renewed because there is a part on the license that perpetual. Digging deeper on to the part of subscriptions license, actually most of the features are can only use if the customer has DNA Center. So if the customer doesn't have DNA Center then mostly those features is unable to use.

What other advice do I have?

Cisco Wireless LAN solutions is good enough to deliver the wireless experience for my customers, but sometimes we need to adjust or tune the configuration before get the best experience. Since Cisco is already has AI capability, I hope that in the future, the configuration will be adjusted with the baseline of customer environment. Suppose that there is learning curve process for 1 week, after that the solution will provide a report that configuration need to be fixed according to the customer environment and according to Cisco Best Practice. This report need to be evaluated by IT Admin and if it is approved, then schedule a downtime in the out of office hour for implementing the configuration.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Ahmed Hawana - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and Security Engineer at IDSC
Real User
Problem-free with good performance capabilities and a simple setup
Pros and Cons
  • "We have found that the product scales well."
  • "The solution could lower its pricing to make it more affordable."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for wireless access. It allows, for example, mobile users, to connect.

What is most valuable?

The solution has been very stable so far and the performance overall is quite good.

We have found that the product scales well.

The solution is easy to implement.

What needs improvement?

The solution could lower its pricing to make it more affordable. Cisco is expensive in general.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for three years at this point. We've used the product for a while. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. It offers very good performance. The reliability is excellent in that it doesn't crash or freeze and there are no bugs or glitches to deal with. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.

We have around 1,000 users on the solution currently.

How are customer service and support?

We've never had the need to contact technical support from Cisco. It's been issue-free. therefore, I can't speak to helpful or responsive they would be.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I did not switch from a different solution. We've always used Cisco.

How was the initial setup?

We had no issues setting up the solution. the implementation is easy and pretty straightforward. I wouldn't describe it as complex or difficult. Configuring and installation were issue-free. It doesn't take too much time.

You only need two technical people to set up and manage the product. It's not maintenance-intensive. 

What about the implementation team?

The installation was pretty fast. We didn't need any help from integrators or consultants.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This is a rather expensive product.

We pay a yearly fee for the license and support services. 

What other advice do I have?

We are using the latest version of the solution at this time. 

I would rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Technical Project Manager at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Good documentation, stable, and integrates easily
Pros and Cons
  • "This is the most stable product in the market."
  • "The reporting feature needs improvement, especially adding information with regards to availability uptime."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case for this solution is supplying Wi-Fi to public users.

We have been using this solution for 3D uploading and providing resources for users. Our goal is to offload traffic from mobile devices while people are at work.

We have been installing this solution in malls, the university, and other buildings. We have deployed this solution across the whole country.

What is most valuable?

This is the most stable product in the market.

The documentation is very good and it's available everywhere. If you use Google to search then you will get it all.

The integration is easy.

What needs improvement?

The reporting feature needs improvement, especially adding information with regards to availability uptime. Currently, we have to calculate this on our own by using a performance tool and then customize the reports to display it. This information is a major concern for us because we need to know how much uptime is available to our customers.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution since 2015.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution and we have not had any problems. We have not found any bugs.

The only problem that we have had is related to power failures, which has nothing to do with the product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have deployed this solution across the country, and anyone who is in the kingdom can use Wi-Fi for free for two hours. We have thousands of users.

We will be deploying more Cisco products because the integration is easy, and our core is already made up of Cisco.

How are customer service and technical support?

We are satisfied with the technical support from Cisco.

They are not only taking care of the Wi-Fi. Cisco has also deployed the IP MPLS network.

Whenever we have a problem and we explain it to them, they try their best to solve it.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we were using the Cisco 5500 series and the 8500 series.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of this solution is not complex because there is lots of documentation available and it is very good. Instead of being complex, it becomes easy for you.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are also using a solution by Aruba. Some of the features are better with Cisco, whereas different features are better in Aruba.

We also evaluated Nokia and we found it more difficult to integrate.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
PeerSpot user
Eduard Otto - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Consultant at PROMOS consult
Real User
Top 5
A very stable wireless LAN solution
Pros and Cons
  • "I like that it's a very stable solution."
  • "The price could be better."

What is our primary use case?

We use Cisco Wireless WAN to provide wireless WAN for our company.

What is most valuable?

I like that it's a very stable solution.

What needs improvement?

The price could be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Wireless WAN for more than four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Wireless WAN is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I think we used the smallest controller hardware solution, which was more than enough for us. But it's not scalable. It's okay because we don't have more access points.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. The initial deployment takes me about a day. We have to first set up the controller because it's a controller-based solution and then add access points from them. This will be determined automatically. The configuration is based on the controller and will be pushed to the access points automatically after they have been recognized.

What about the implementation team?

I implemented this solution. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price could be better, but it's been okay. You must pay license fees for each access point connected to the controller.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I prefer the solution offered by Fortinet better.

What other advice do I have?

I would tell potential users that it's a good solution if they plan to use more Cisco products. This is because it can be integrated into the entire network design.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Cisco Wireless WAN an eight.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Network Engineer at Adams and Reese LLP
Real User
It has a good GUI, and it's fast and easy to configure
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco wireless is stable, easy to use, and simple to configure. They have an outstanding GUI."
  • "You cannot go to different versions or different access points. 9115s cannot interact with 9120s, and 9130s can interact with 9115s. You can add or remove as many subordinates as you want."

What is our primary use case?

We use Cisco Wireless WAN 9115s and 9130s. Two are controllers, and the rest, subordinates.

What is most valuable?

Cisco wireless is stable, easy to use, and simple to configure. They have an outstanding GUI.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You cannot go to different versions or different access points. 9115s cannot interact with 9120s, and 9130s can interact with 9115s. You can add or remove as many subordinates as you want. It's not an issue. It's completely logical.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco support is fantastic. They're knowledgeable and responsive.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up Cisco Wireless is extremely easy. I'm doing one right now, and it usually takes between 15 and 20 minutes.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Cisco Wireless WAN nine out of 10. You need to read the documentation carefully when implementing it because you have to go through a step-by-step configuration. Upgrading can be done in two ways: HTTP from the desktop or TFTP. HTTP is extremely easy. You connect with a console cable and do it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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Updated: June 2024
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Download our free Cisco Wireless WAN Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.