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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller

    Score6.6 out of 10
    N/AThe Cisco 5520 Series Wireless LAN Controller is a highly scalable, service-rich, resilient, and flexible platform that is ideal for medium-sized to large enterprise and campus deployments.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    Editions & Modules
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    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    Free Trial
    No
    Free/Freemium Version
    No
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    No
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller has better high availability features compared to the others. Also Cisco has a worldwide service center and is located in nearly all countries to offer fast and reliable support in case of any hardware issue. Also Cisco offers more features, for …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    These Cisco 5520 Wireless Controllers were our choice at the time over Aruba's offerings. We went with them for ease of use and how they integrated nicely within our existing, mostly Cisco, network environment.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    Cisco Identity Services Engine is well integrated on Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller because the WLC supports a lot of authentication methods and security protocols (such as PEAP, EAP-TLS, Captive Portal redirect). They perform very well with ISE. Cisco ISE is able to manage …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    It is chosen mainly for the capacity of users, performance and stability of the equipment. It has the possibility of working in mobility group mode and has the option of redundant sources and high availability configuration.this makes it usable in medium and high density …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    The Cisco 5520 Wireless controller was the one that we were able to deploy the easiest between our qty of access points and the location these devices are located in.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    Cisco is the most stable company in switching parts including wireless, and it has the most powerful support team with a lot of online documents, community, and market share so when you get stuck, you can find support from anywhere. And usually, you won't need it as its product …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller is a high-performance platform, easy to implement, and robust like no other solution.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    We used standalone Cisco 3850 switches prior to implementing Cisco 5520s. While 3850s are individually a cheaper solution, the limitations [are that it is] only able to manage the access point directly connected to that particular device was too much of a limitation. We also …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    [The] best bet is the integration with ISE. Users use their active directory credentials to access the wireless and very simple guest portal to gain access to the Internet. We plan on integrating Cisco DNA Centre in the future that will give us more visibility and improved …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    80%
    Would buy again
    12 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    13 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    13 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    15 Answers
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    Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
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    Score9.1 out of 10
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    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    Likelihood to Recommend
    2.0
    (15 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    1.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    6.6
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    At this point the Cisco 5520 Wireless Controllers are end of life as a Cisco product, so I would not recommend them to anyone looking to purchase a wireless controller for an enterprise. However, many people are still using these, and they do work reliably, even if they are a bit long in the tooth now.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • It has the ability to manage all Cisco access points that we have, regardless of the model. The limit is 1500 pieces of equipment.
    • The WLC enables roaming functionality in the localities, this helps with collections, wireless IP phones, and access with notebooks.
    • The WLC manages the quality of the "air" and "signal" of the 2.4ghz frequency, avoiding noise and interference.
    • The WLC has an interesting feature of visibility of the traffic of the internal network.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Cisco
    • We have had some issues with access points losing their configurations and going offline. This is not a common issue and we are not entirely certain if it is a fault of the controller or the individual APs. That said, the controller does not appear to retain the knowledge of the offline AP which can be a management headache.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    This equipment from Cisco has been dependable and we are able to easily continue to add access points or make changes easily to the Wi-Fi password settings.
    We have been operating this equipment for a number of years and it does not give us any issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cisco
    Overall the usability is ok. The centralized management reduces complexibility and offers bulk features like adding access points to specific groups which automatically applies linked configurations.
    On the other hand the GUI is very outdated and some features are not displayed correctly on new browsers. Also automation possibilities are very limited compared to the new 9800 series controller.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    Cisco support is always ready to support and engage in any problem or issue. Starting from the implementation support, troubleshooting any software issue or hardware. Their engineers are engaging whenever we ask for support, keep following up with us, and troubleshoot any problem till we find a solution and be satisfied [with] the service.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    Just take your time when setting up the HA pairs as those can be tricky. Also take your time setting up AP groups and make sure they are on all the SSIDs you need to be on.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Cisco Identity Services Engine is well integrated on Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller because the WLC supports a lot of authentication methods and security protocols (such as PEAP, EAP-TLS, Captive Portal redirect). They perform very well with ISE. Cisco ISE is able to manage centrally the AAA sessions from all the WLCs keeping a central point of management for wireless infrastructure.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • [It provides] centralized management.
    • Implementing the [Cisco] 5520 [Wireless] Controllers offered us a huge improvement in administrative time over our previous Cisco 3850 deployment. Being able to see all of our APs on a single controller as well as centrally manage them is a great benefit. This also removed the need to deploy specific equipment in different IDFs throughout our Industrial locations and instead only requiring switches with Power Over Ethernet (POE) capability.
    • Wireless performance has improved with the deployment of our 5520s, which allows our plant operators to do their jobs more efficiently while on the move.
    • Having three Cisco 5520 Wireless Controllers provides tertiary redundancy for our wireless networks. The solution is elegantly simple. Preventing downtime is, obviously, a profound part of our supply chain capabilities.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots