Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller vs Fortinet Wireless LAN

Likelihood to Recommend

[Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller's] software quality has been shed in recent years. The only problem I have with it is its inability to work with older Cisco Access Points. However, that's to be expected for any deployment. While the controller's UI works well, some areas could be improved. API integrations lack flexibility. [I feel] it's time for policy redesign. It can be a little difficult to determine coding quality.

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Nilufa Hossain

IT Specialist

Lamda I-TECHInformation Technology & Services, 11-50 employees

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Fortinet offers great Security features and is one of the leaders on that, and integrating Wireless LAN infrastructure with Access points proved to work rather seamlessly. Ease of management, single platform and ability to customize licensing as per needs were elements in favor of adding the Wireless LAN solution from Fortinet to our security portfolio.

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Verified User

Account Manager in Sales

Internet Company, 11-50 employees

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Pros

The GUI on the Cisco 8540 WLC is much better designed than other Cisco products. Its easy to navigate between the different settings to find what is needed.
The AP groups allows touching multiple APs at one time.
It also allows us to create standard SSIDs that can be used at all sites that connect back to it, this saves a lot of time instead of hitting each site with a local controller.

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Richard Dean

Senior Network Engineer

EatonMachinery, 10,001+ employees

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Really easy to configure
Really easy to manage
Great value for price

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Verified User

Account Manager in Sales

Information Technology & Services Company, 51-200 employees

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Cons

Code quality is a bit hit and miss. This will be great for a while, then things will be bad for a while, then we'll do it again. The UI of the controller works, but could do with a refresh, and I would like to see some improvement on layout and organization.
The constant code/firmware upgrades and the QA of new code could be better.
Maybe the compatibility with old Cisco Access Points could be improved, but it's normal in all kinds of deployments.

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Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Information Technology & Services Company, 51-200 employees

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In the web portal, it would be nice if you could create a customer, assign that customer all the devices in the solution, and have a single pane glass to manage them all. Right now you need to access different web links to manage the devices.
The security feature set could be a bit more sophistication, like an Arista AP which polices the air.

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Luis Lozada

Engineering Team Lead

TREXTEL LLCInformation Technology and Services, 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

Starting Price

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General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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Usability

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller 8.2

Based on 1 answer

Very well made product. Very stable. We have had no issues administering the 8540.

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Richard Dean

Senior Network Engineer

EatonMachinery, 10,001+ employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Support Rating

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller 9.0

Based on 2 answers

It is a better product. The evolution is positive.

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Carlos Zacarias Hernandez

Gerente de Noc and support

EVCON GROUPComputer & Network Security, 51-200 employees

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Fortinet Wireless LAN 10.0

Based on 2 answers

Fortinet offers excellent support. They will work with you until the solution is doing what it is designed to do, within its capabilities. They also do an excellent to follow-up with the end-user prior to closing the ticket.

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Luis Lozada

Engineering Team Lead

TREXTEL LLCInformation Technology and Services, 51-200 employees

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Alternatives Considered

We have [done] some work before with the Cisco 3504 product, but the more recent Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller provides a wider range of capabilities for managing the wireless network and each individual device [and] also being able to handle more users. Unfortunately, we didn't test and deploy equivalent products from other concurrent companies.

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João Almeida

Researcher

Instituto de TelecomunicaçõesTelecommunications, 501-1000 employees

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as a stand-alone product, the Fortinet wireless LAN solution isn't the most powerful, nor compelling out there. Others, like Cisco Meraki, offer great products, with added wifi features at a similar price point, but where Forti shines, is when integrated into a network with firewall enablement such as FortiGate. Overall, it stacks up well with others and is a solution that needs to be evaluated in a purchasing project.

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Verified User

Account Manager in Sales

Internet Company, 11-50 employees

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Return on Investment

Network engineers find it easier to [manage] high-stress levels since they're more reliable and robust.
Their initial cost is very high compared to other router providers, such as Juniper.
Their hardware dependability can be a big drawback if you run on a budget.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Information Technology & Services Company, 1-10 employees

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Less management cost
Less expensive to buy

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Verified User

Account Manager in Sales

Information Technology & Services Company, 51-200 employees

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Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller vs Fortinet Wireless LAN