Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points vs. SonicWall SonicWave Series

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
The Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points includes the 9115 and 9117, and designed to meet high demand network access.N/A
SonicWave Series
Score 6.6 out of 10
N/A
SonicWall offers the SonicWave series of WiFi access points. The SonicWave is available in the SonicWave 200 and SonicWave 400 series.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access PointsSonicWall SonicWave Series
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access PointsSonicWave Series
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 Catalyst 9100 Access PointsSonicWall SonicWave Series
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Best Alternatives
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access PointsSonicWall SonicWave Series
Small Businesses
Ubiquiti WLAN
Ubiquiti WLAN
Score 9.0 out of 10
Ubiquiti WLAN
Ubiquiti WLAN
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Score 9.4 out of 10
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Score 9.4 out of 10
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Score 9.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access PointsSonicWall SonicWave Series
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(64 ratings)
6.2
(5 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.9
(57 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.5
(57 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access PointsSonicWall SonicWave Series
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Well suited in the sense that we use wireless on wheels devices a lot, having devices to monitor the patient's room to room. So this is a very useful, actually, it helps us to transmit the data through the wireless infrastructure. And I don't see, it's less because the WIFI is everywhere, it's very vital part of our life, so I can't say any shortcoming, so it's less useful
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SonicWall
Helps ensure a better user experience by designing a wireless network optimized for your environment. The wireless network's safety and satisfaction are improved for the company. Even more important is the need to protect the information that travels over it and that is where SonicWALL wireless network security, in a nutshell, provides a solution with true excellence.
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Pros
Cisco
  • It's good for high density deployments that we have. In areas where they have a lot of users and they all want to be on WIFI, so people could have two phones, their laptop and they all want to be in a congregated area, it's really good for handling that traffic compared to our older APs.
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SonicWall
  • The problem we are addressing with SonicWall SonicWave Series is security over our network. We handle information and have to keep everything confidential. So we use SonicWall SonicWave Series to keep our network safe from intrusion and anybody who may want to try to get into our system to do harm
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Cons
Cisco
  • Firmware distribution between access points
  • Replace web auth certificate without reloading WLC controllers
  • The issue with expired MIC certificate - but this is not an issue with 9100
  • New AP with new hardware revision works only with the new WLC firmware
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SonicWall
  • Detailed setup instructions
  • Auto Setup Feature for mesh
  • Provide filters without a yearly subscription
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Usability
Cisco
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.
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SonicWall
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco
Using Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points you can expect good performance, if not excellent. Coupled with other tools and managment systems you can easily gain good insight and ease of management. Flexible deployment variations help you adopt the equipment to work for most any required scenario you could think of. It's a well designed and evolved product.
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SonicWall
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
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.
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SonicWall
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
We are migrating from Aironet platform to Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points. That's more flexible, and we do it to sync switching, SDWAN, and wifi under one family.
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SonicWall
We evaluated Aruba and then evaluated SonicWall. SonicWall had fewer features, but it was cost-effective and suitable for our budget. Aruba, on other hand, was a dedicated WiFi solution and it was way costlier than SonicWall firewall and access point together, hence we selected SonicWall Sonicwave for our branch offices and Aruba for our head office where user count is more, and even management users are present in head office.
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Scalability
Cisco
These access points offer flexibility in deployment scenarios, supporting both standalone and controller-based architectures. Organisations can choose the model that best suits their current needs and scale as their requirements grow. Cisco Aironet Access Points are compatible with Cisco's Wireless LAN controllers, allowing for centralized management and monitoring of a large number of access points across the network. With the recent changes, it will even support cloud base controllers.
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SonicWall
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Cisco was able to provide a product that met specific business requirements because they have offered a wide range of devices with various feature sets.
  • 9100s have a 3rd radio that allows for a lot of additional security features
  • 9100s have the same level of reliability and performance as the previous generation and continue to impress.
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SonicWall
  • SonicWall has an intuitive user interface that allows you to manage all the sound waves in a piece from a single pane of glass.
  • In addition, it is easy to register and onboard access points with SonicWall.
  • As simple as scanning the QR code, the API is automatically added to the network infrastructure once you have registered your new access points and the SonicWALL Wi-Fi Planner tool.
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