Cisco Catalyst 9120 Access Point vs Cisco Small Business 100 Series Wireless Access Points

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco Switches are most suited to larger organizations. Small networks would not really benefit from the large cost outlay and would be better off with a switch from a lower tier of Cisco's product line, or something from another manufacturer. For the 9120 range of Access Points, I would say that if you are an organization that has hardware that supports the latest WiFi 6 or the 802.11AX standards, then it is definitely worth considering getting these.

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Muhammad Mulla

Systems Administrator, Core Infrastructure & Microsoft Systems

Cancer Research UKNon-Profit Organization Management, 1001-5000 employees

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Because of the unique setup on our campus, these provide great coverage for our dorms, office areas, and smaller classrooms. However, in areas were the load was much higher, the devices could become overtaxed after about 25 users depending on the strength of the devices.

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Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 501-1000 employees

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Pros

First off, the overall physical design. Slim, light, and can be mounted anywhere. Blends into ceilings/walls and is easy to mount. (Clients are very picky with overall look sometimes).
Easy to deploy and configure, making the setup very quick, minimizing any potential downtime during installation and/or maintenance upgrades.
Fast and reliable at a decent price point for the clients.

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NAKIA EPLEY

Network Field Technician

Z Networks Computer Services CorporationComputer Networking, 11-50 employees

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Encryption/Security
Coverage
Scalability
UI/UX simplicity

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Matthew Gardner

Director of Customer Success

RouteThisComputer Software, 11-50 employees

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Cons

The Cisco Catalyst 9120 Access Point is very different from traditional AireOS devices so there is a higher learning curve.
Bugs in some of the codes.
Getting it to join a legacy Wireless LAN Controller is harder.

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Mining & Metals Company, 501-1000 employees

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Quality control of available updates could use a tweak or two.
Functionality in legacy networks are not always the best.

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Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 501-1000 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Small Business 100 Series Wireless Access Points 10.0

Based on 1 answer

Overall, we have been very happy with the results.

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Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 501-1000 employees

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Usability

Cisco Catalyst 9120 Access Point 10.0

Based on 1 answer

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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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Mining & Metals Company, 501-1000 employees

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No score

No answers yet

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Support Rating

Cisco Catalyst 9120 Access Point 10.0

Based on 1 answer

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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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Mining & Metals Company, 501-1000 employees

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No score

No answers yet

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Alternatives Considered

I have briefly evaluated the Brocade range of switches, and although they are very good value, I found that they didn't have the same range of compatibility and available expertise from other vendors in order to be able to troubleshoot issues.

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Muhammad Mulla

Systems Administrator, Core Infrastructure & Microsoft Systems

Cancer Research UKNon-Profit Organization Management, 1001-5000 employees

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We ended up actually moving from Cisco WAPs into a full Ubiquiti stack, as our IT people preferred the coverage and more "enterprise" IT-focused features and the flexibility of a setup not necessarily marketed and designed for small businesses. I'd say at 40-50 people, you may outgrow this setup as well.

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Matthew Gardner

Director of Customer Success

RouteThisComputer Software, 11-50 employees

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Return on Investment

Solid connectivity for clients and their vendors.
Ability to grant guest access for several different client scenarios.
High level of security.

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NAKIA EPLEY

Network Field Technician

Z Networks Computer Services CorporationComputer Networking, 11-50 employees

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Uptime was 100%
No complaints from employees when it was used

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Matthew Gardner

Director of Customer Success

RouteThisComputer Software, 11-50 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

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No