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Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued) vs. Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)

    Score10 out of 10
    N/ACurrently supported by Cisco, but no longer sold, Cisco recommends migration to the Cisco Catalyst 9100 Family of Access Points, which offer greater performance and flexibility.N/A

    Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AThe Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller on Catalyst Access Points (EWC-AP) is a next-generation Wi-Fi solution, combining an advanced controller – the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers – with a Wi-Fi 6 access point – the Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points – to create a wireless experience for evolving and growing organization.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller
    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 Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    83%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    80%
    Delivers good value for the price
    4 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller
    Small Businesses
    WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
    Score9.1 out of 10
    WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.3
    (13 ratings)
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    Cisco Aironet 1550 Series Access Points is very useful for outdoor locations that are more exposed to the wilderness or the weather, which provides uninterrupted wifi access during high winds and bad weather. It also is useful for hazardous locations that are prone to danger or wildlife. Unfortunately, it would not be appropriate to get a Cisco Aironet 1550 Series Access Point if it is only needed for basic wifi use, or indoor use, as the extra features and price would not be necessary.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Overall I could see myself recommending these to others if they have the right set of circumstances at their place of business. Those would be like ours, if they had a location that couldnt be served by a WLC. Once setup they are easy to manage and self healing as in they wont go down when one is offline.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • Outdoor mesh bridging of access points brings significant cost savings to many of our production facilities. Deploying mesh APs is a significant cost reduction over trenching conduit to connect remote areas via fiber.
    • Cisco APs are extremely resilient, with a failure rate of below 5% in some of our harshest environments.
    • Cisco APs have the intelligence to identify wireless interference sources with Clean Air technology
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • Offers enterprise-class security that keeps the network protected
    • Cost-effective connectivity
    • Deploying WiFi 6 network without complexity or added expense
    • Controlling access points and clients
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • In the facilities where we operate, we had to put a reinforcement on the ceiling to avoid problems due to the weight of the access point.
    • On the appearance, it could be smaller and lighter.
    • As for the hardware, I think it's incredible, I don't see any points to improve.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • Some bugs in the interface.
    • Issues with licensing and Cisco DNA integration.
    • Frequent software patches needed,
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    There is no other better option than this. It's the line between the commercial Cisco grade AP's and industrial ones.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    Everything clear and easy to use
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Giving this rating as i have recommended and configured EWC for many customer where they don't needed much AP and on-prem controller was also not needed. most of features available on 9800 WLC is also available on EWC
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    The Cisco Aironet 1560 Series Access Points served their function well. They were reliable, provided decent speeds, resisted the elements, and provided a good investment. The only downsides were mostly appearance which doesn't matter that much. However, I believe that the tech in the access point is not future proof which is why I did not give it a nine or ten star rating.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Initially I had a problem with the regulatory and channel selection, it was a bug on the AP as it was fairly new, solved by TAC on engineering release, and since then it has been performing flawlessly.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    Making the decision to use Aironet is more related to the type of scenario that you have. We chose Aironet because we mainly manage all the network internally and already have Cisco products to integrate with Meraki which is a good option if you are starting from scratch.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Cisco EWC is better to all its competitor as it provide same robust solution which is available to its hardware based controller, Customer experiences are similar to what other 9800 hardware based devices provides.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Discontinued Products
    The software of the Cisco Aironet 1560 is highly scalable, the software is very powerful so that the APs can be customized to the maximum and achieve the best performance of the network at the wifi level. The use of it is very easy for people with low knowledge.
    Read full review
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • With only a few DOA's or failing devices, the AP's are of very high quality.
    • We expect them to run stable for many years, which is why our initial investment will be an intelligent choice compared to installing a cheaper product.
    • Although the AP's from Cisco is cutting-edge technology, the 802.11ac standard will be considered legacy in a few years, meaning that its a balance to purchase a well-designed product that won't outlast the tech that it provides. Imagine having an investment in a large fleet of high-quality 802.11b AP's 20 years ago. Although they would still be working flawlessly due to their good quality, the bandwidth would probably be unacceptable to most modern consumers.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • Makes having remote sites less problematic when it comes to managing AP's
    • Saved money on managed AP's as they're found cheaper
    • Takes more time to manage additional controllers versus a WLC
    Incentivized
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