Cisco Wireless WAN Reviews

What is most valuable?

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… more»

What needs improvement?

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… more»

What other advice do I have?

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… more»

What is most valuable?

Valuable features for me would be the friendly GUI. It's not a feature as such but it's the first thing I would point out because troubleshooting is very easy on it. I can literally point down to a… more»

How has it helped my organization?

Improvement to our organization would be in terms of IoT, I would say, because some buildings are fully covered by WiFi. We're talking about large buildings of 60 access points per building. Users… more»

What needs improvement?

Improvement could be made in the planning - WiFi survey and planning, and WiFi key mapping - should both be included in high-end devices. You would expect them to be included in such a product. When… more»

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

Prior to Cisco, we used Palo Alto. The switch was made to Cisco because we wanted to standardize the network throughout the company.

What other advice do I have?

We use dedicated wireless control for our campuses in a redundant topology, active/passive. We use both Flex connect and local, essentially switched networks. Our company uses physical machines, not… more»

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I wasn't involved in the decision-making process about alternative options before we went with the Wireless WAN.

What is most valuable?

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… more»

What needs improvement?

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.

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

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

What other advice do I have?

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… more»

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

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.

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… more»

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

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

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

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 is most valuable?

We acquired the Cisco Identity Service Engine (ISE), and what I found the most valuable, is the integration between Cisco wireless and the ISE. It is very useful.

What needs improvement?

The integration support technology should be improved. We have more sites to the technology itself and before we only had to connect the access points to a controller. Now we use most of the pieces of what the wireless as a concept can… more»

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

Cisco is more expensive than other solutions.

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

We have been working on Cisco for many years now, so we just upgraded to Cisco Wireless WAN.

What other advice do I have?

The reason why we chose Cisco over another solution, is that Cisco is very strong here in the Aruba and Ruckus region. We have a vendor specifically in Saudi Arabia. What I like about this solution, is that it is always available and it's… more»

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is that it is stable and the support is good.

What needs improvement?

The worst thing about the Cisco controllers is that they only have two ports. The design of having only two physical ports is very bad.

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

I also have experience with solutions from Aruba and Avaya XE. We removed the Avaya units after their merger and are sticking with solutions from Cisco and Aruba.

What other advice do I have?

Wireless solutions are not something that you need to change very often. We have older models installed and they are still working fine. Changing the entire environment involves a lot of money and a lot of effort. My advice to anybody who… more»

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Between Cisco and Aruba, I would say that the features are similar. Each of them is better at different features.

What is most valuable?

The ease of management is the solution's most valuable feature. The user interface is much better than older versions.

What needs improvement?

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… more»

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

Cisco pricing is very expensive.

What other advice do I have?

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… more»

What is most valuable?

I use this solution because I work for a Cisco partner. We use a lot of Cisco products and it makes it easy for us to position this wireless solution for most of our clients because they already have a Cisco base. It is very easy to propose it as an alternative.

What needs improvement?

The solution has all the features we need, but it is very expensive.

What other advice do I have?

If I were to give advice to others, I would say is this: I haven't had much experience with any other option. Or if you were asking me to recommend this solution over another one, I'll generally recommend the Cisco Wireless WAN, because that's the only one I know and have experience of. I would like to see better pricing. It would also be great if one of these wireless cards could support multiple… more»