The 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.
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Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
Score 9.5 out of 10
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The Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points includes the 9115 and 9117, and designed to meet high demand network access.
I consider that its implementation is recommended for configurations where the amount of access points exceeds 50 devices and the performance exceeds 4 Gbps. In environments where the access point density is less than 10 units, we can use the option of Express Mobility.
We have got Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points installed in our warehouse, office rooms, etc. - this works well. Also AP (maybe not AP itself but the WLC is well integrated with ISE product). The OfficeExtended AP is not available for the WLC9800.
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.
Management software has been spotty, such as DNA Center (early versions pre v2).
Software has been unreliable (mainly AirOS).
Not supporting older APs has been when moving to new versions has been painful and caused multiple business complications such as audit support and mass AP replacements.
The Cisco Catalyst 9120 Access Points have been a solid deployment for me. Using their interface is a mix of new and old. They run IOS, so if you know the CLI, you can easily navigate around them. You can join them to an older controller if it supports a certain version, you can join it to a new 9800 controller--very straight forward--and you can run the embedded wireless controller on them directly. I've found this to be very useful at smaller sites. The Cisco Catalyst 9120 Access Points are not limited to feature sets like the older generations' mobility express platform.
We have rolled out the [Cisco] Catalyst 9100 Access Points as our previous models have come end of life/end of sale. We are more than pleased with the performance that the [Cisco] Catalyst 9100 Access Points have provided our locations and have not run into any issues during or after deployment.
Cisco is always available if we need support. If they are unable to solve the problem right away, they will reach back to us in a timely manner and advise what we need to do. Their team provides additional guidance as well if we hit any stumbling blocks. Their service has been great.
Cisco has been very good at correcting early issues with their code. Their TAC support has been fantastic when I would open a case with issues I was facing. Even though the hardware was new, they were very familiar with the interfaces and issues I was having. In the past I've been concerned about adopting a new product right away because of support issues. That was not the case here. Once I had the deployment up and running, they have had a good run of reliability.
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 is very stable and reliable.
A global leader in Wi-Fi solutions, Cisco is frequently among the first to offer new solutions based on the wireless industry’s rapidly strengthening standards. Simple to use, it has a wide range of applications, and it’s versatile. The Cisco support team is always available if you need anything. Because of this, we can confidently recommend the Cisco Catalyst 9117 [Access Points series].
The Cisco solution is fully customizable. From a simple small site installation to a full-featured enterprise installation, [along] with the integration of other security solutions. Best to pair this with other Cisco solutions, but there are use cases available that have integrations to other industry networks and security products. The system can allow a different WiFi setup between departments, branches, or offices as required.
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.
