Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
Score 9.2 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
WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Score 8.9 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 Catalyst 9100 Access PointsWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access PointsWatchGuard 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 Catalyst 9100 Access PointsWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Best Alternatives
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access PointsWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
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 Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
Score 9.8 out of 10
Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
Score 9.2 out of 10
Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access PointsWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(68 ratings)
8.0
(5 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.8
(61 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.5
(61 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 PointsWatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points are well suited for dense Client solutions. We have used these in areas where we have a large number of guests that need top-notch connectivity without ever losing connection. The one area where we do have difficulty is in outdoor deployment, where large areas need to be covered, but we do not have physical connectivity in order to get the access points connected. This is not an access point issue but more of a physical connectivity limitation.
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WatchGuard Technologies
The WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud works well in any scenario. With the number of AP model options, this solution can work at a coffee shop all the way up to a multi-tenant facility with thousands of users.
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Pros
Cisco
  • So this product actually helps in healthcare facilities where we have a wireless, we call this WOW monitors. It's Wireless On Wheels. So we use those monitors to the patient's room to room. So in that case, rather than connecting it to wire, so it really helps us to connect through the WIFI and access the patients whenever we be needed.
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WatchGuard Technologies
  • enable wireless access on watchguard-based networks
  • ensure reliable performances
  • allow fast wireless data transfer operations
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Cons
Cisco
  • They could definitely download their code faster. When we first get them out of the box and join them on the network, it takes probably 20, 30 minutes per access point to download the new code from the wireless controller and then reboot itself and then come back online.
  • When you're configuring it on the controller, if you want to switch access point groups, we have them broken out per site. Every time you add it to one of those groups, it also has to reboot. That's like downtime for us. That could be improved, I think.
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WatchGuard Technologies
  • Better Access Points from WG
  • Map Feature
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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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WatchGuard Technologies
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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WatchGuard Technologies
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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WatchGuard Technologies
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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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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WatchGuard Technologies
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.
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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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WatchGuard Technologies
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • problem with delivery time for the product - 12 months
  • we extended our WiFi network - is easy with Cisco AP
  • Connection new area\sites with AP is easy, we have got same location with only WiFi access - no wired cables
  • increase secutity
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WatchGuard Technologies
  • 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