Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
Score 6.6 out of 10
N/A
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.N/A
WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
The vendor says WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud is where you take your access points to unlock their full potential. With a Secure Wi-Fi license, you get patented WIPS security, compliance reporting including PCI, Wi-Fi vulnerability assessment reporting, and every enterprise-grade WLAN feature you’ll need to take your access points into the toughest environments – with features like live floorplan views, hotspot 2.0, application firewall, and role-based access with 802.1x. WatchGuard Wi-Fi Cloud has…N/A
Pricing
Cisco 5520 Wireless ControllerWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
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Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco 5520 Wireless ControllerWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco 5520 Wireless ControllerWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Considered Both Products
Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
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 …
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.
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 …
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 …
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.
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 …
Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller is a high-performance platform, easy to implement, and robust like no other solution.
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 …
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 …
Chose Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers, Cisco VoIP PBX, Cisco Unified Contact Center, Cisco UCS C-Series, Cisco TelePresence Collaboration Room Endpoints, Cisco Small Business 500 Series Wireless Access Points, Cisco Nexus and Cisco Ethernet Switches
WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Chose WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud offers the cloud management solution unlike Ubiquiti which needs a controller that you need to setup, configure, update, and maintain. Also Security is offered with Secure Wi-Fi cloud.
Chose WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
WatchGuard Secure versus the Mojo Networks is the same being that they both use the same platform.
Versus the Fortinet solution- it has a stronger security suite, but as far as functionality, they are about equal.
Versus the Meraki solution- it has a stronger security suite, …
Best Alternatives
Cisco 5520 Wireless ControllerWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Small Businesses
WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Score 9.1 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
Score 8.5 out of 10
Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
Score 8.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
Score 9.2 out of 10
Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco 5520 Wireless ControllerWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
2.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco 5520 Wireless ControllerWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
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In private complex building where no other wireless network are present or interferencing. In this case is it easy to define policy and to monitor environment. In consumer home or flat office is it hard to have high security on wireless access due the massive presence of adiacent wireless network. It's very easy to create access block on other network.
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Pros
  • 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.
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  • enable wireless access on watchguard-based networks
  • ensure reliable performances
  • allow fast wireless data transfer operations
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Cons
  • [It] can improve on the possibility of using the physical controllers with the virtual one.
  • [It] can improve on the possibility of having site-to-site failover capabilities, [like in the case of] controllers at production go down and controllers at our DR site take over.
  • The possibility of an app on your phone for alerts and minor configuration of the controllers.
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  • Better Access Points from WG
  • Map Feature
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Likelihood to Renew
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.
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Usability
In the dailies activities it's simple to manage a wireless network and also to perform changes: the GUI is well known and intuitive for engineers that know how to operate on Cisco WLC. It has High Throughput and consolidated features such as CleanAir, Roaming supporting natively Cisco ISE authentication methods and DNA Center. It's recommended for Wi-Fi 5 wireless infrastructures.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
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.
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The support team is great! I have never had an issue getting the support I needed. They make it a point to stick with the issue until it's resolved to the customer's satisfaction. They do not make you feel like you need to hurry up and close the ticket. They make sure the solution is working as designed.
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Implementation Rating
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.
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Alternatives Considered
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 example AVC, CleanAir and TrustSec which the compotitiors don't. And we could use some of our als Cisco APs with the Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller and didn't need to buy that much new APs.
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WatchGuard Secure versus the Mojo Networks is the same being that they both use the same platform. Versus the Fortinet solution- it has a stronger security suite, but as far as functionality, they are about equal. Versus the Meraki solution- it has a stronger security suite, and costs less, but about the same when it comes to cloud-based management.
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Return on Investment
  • [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.
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  • It is not the cheapest one by price but with all the features it is it worth
  • They follow costs after buying are not so high because of the centralized and easy deployment and managemet
  • To see where we have a bottleneck is so easy in the WatchGuard Cloud
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ScreenShots

WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud Screenshots

Screenshot of WatchGuard Wi-Fi DiscoverScreenshot of WatchGuard Wi-Fi AnalyzeScreenshot of WatchGuard Wi-Fi EngageScreenshot of WatchGuard Wi-Fi Manage