Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller vs FortiAP

Likelihood to Recommend

I consider that its implementation is recommended for configurations where the amount of access point 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.

Network Engineer

Cardon IVOil & Energy, 501-1000 employees

Any rollout is well suited for a FortiAP - from small office networks, to large warehouse deployments. Adding additional APs to your network is simple and easy. Monitoring is simple with Forticloud monitoring. Configuring the devices can be as complex or as simple as you need. Adding additional Fortinet devices (I have switches and firewalls) makes the network even more secure and easy to manage - all devices working in tandem make monitoring much easier

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Nathan Venno

IT Manager

VistaFood Exchange IncWholesale, 51-200 employees

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Pros

Centralized management has been the greatest factor in our preference for the 5520 controllers.
The web portal administration site is intuitive and granular. We have enjoyed the ease of administration on through the portals.
We have been very pleased with the effectiveness of Dynamic Channel Assignment (DCA) and Transmit Power Control (TPC) Algorithms. These feature settings (out of the box) have worked nearly flawlessly for us.

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Aaron Oberman

Network Systems Administrator

Foremost Farms USADairy, 1001-5000 employees

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Built sturdy for harsh environments.
They perform and/or surpass performance levels shown on their data sheets.

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Verified User

Engineer in Engineering

Information Technology and Services Company, 51-200 employees

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Cons

Can improve on the possiblilty of using the physical controllers with the virtual one
Can improve on the possibility of having site to site failover capabilities - controllers at production goes down and controllers at our DR site takes over
The possibility of an app in your phone for alerts and minor configuration of the controllers

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Verified User

Team Lead in Information Technology

Financial Services Company, 501-1000 employees

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Deploying your first AP is a little confusing - you need to register it with Fortinet, and then deploy it. I am a master now, but this took me call to support to understand how to roll these out.
Adding them in to the correct folders on Forticloud took a little bit of figuring out, but again, once I had it it was simple.

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Nathan Venno

IT Manager

VistaFood Exchange IncWholesale, 51-200 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller 9.1

Based on 1 answer

It works grear and will definately renew.

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Verified User

Team Lead in Information Technology

Financial Services Company, 501-1000 employees

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FortiAP 10.0

Based on 1 answer

This is an excellent product for an SMB - cost isn't outrageous and deploy is simple. I can monitor my network without breaking the bank.

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Nathan Venno

IT Manager

VistaFood Exchange IncWholesale, 51-200 employees

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Support Rating

Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller 9.7

Based on 10 answers

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. As well there team provides additional guidance if we hit any stumbling blocks. There service has been great.

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Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology

Retail Company, 201-500 employees

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FortiAP 10.0

Based on 2 answers

Fortinet support is outstanding! They are second to none. They pay attention to details and the needs of the customer.

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Verified User

Engineer in Engineering

Information Technology and Services Company, 51-200 employees

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Alternatives Considered

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.

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Girgis Hady

IT Network Manager

WadiDeglaSports, 1001-5000 employees

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FortiAP does not fall short compared to other vendors. They have all the features other vendors offer at a much more competitive price-point, which makes purchasing FortiAP a lot more attractive.

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Verified User

Engineer in Engineering

Information Technology and Services Company, 51-200 employees

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Return on Investment

The controller redundancy and coverage area is exceptional.
Quality of service and high level of performance and stability is essential for the organization to deploy it globally.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Printing Company, 10,001+ employees

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Increased overall coverage of wireless for my users - no more calls about dropped wireless (our cell service is very spotty).
Easy to roll out - no issues here.
Expensive - you are paying for a business, not a home use devices - sticker shock might happen initially.

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Nathan Venno

IT Manager

VistaFood Exchange IncWholesale, 51-200 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No