Likelihood to Recommend If we are thinking about replacing old Cisco AireOS controllers with a new technology, we can only choose Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers. Configuration based on Profiles and SiteTag is convenient and easier compared to the previous configuration. You can see that the entire controller has been designed from scratch. Support for new AccessPoints in Wifi 6 offers great possibilities.
Read full review Ubiquiti is well suited to not just indoor WLAN access, but also outdoors. In fact, the range of the outdoor applications, while maintaining throughput is astonishing. I would say this is not a solution for a 1-5 person small office, due to the costs.
Read full review Pros Easily manages a large number of APs. It can push out settings or a new OS to a large group of APs at once. The GUI is very intuitive, and follows the model Cisco has created for many of their products. It integrates well with our ISE environment for handling RADIUS requests. Read full review The access points are rock solid for uptime. Once configured, they don't skip a beat and you'll forget they're there. Excellent range and signal strength. Very comprehensive configuration and administration via the UniFi Controller software. The Ubiquiti access points look great! Whether wall or ceiling mounted, they are discrete and neutral enough to just blend in with the building. Being powered via PoE, it's easier to place the access points where they're most useful. Read full review Cons add more sub-genres to the main menu make the product easier for people to use, that aren't working with it all day make the initial setup menu, where policies can be attached to Tags etc. more accessible When selecting APs from the Landing Page, make it possible to rename them immediately without having to switch to "Configuration" -> "Access Points" Read full review Management of devices has become much simpler with the UNMS application, but personally, I would like to see some AirMax-like devices from their Unifi line where everything could be managed from an Unifi controller. Most Ubiquiti devices are 24V PoE, which is the bane of my existence. I have had several devices fried when staff plugged into standard 48V PoE. They generally don't fail catastrophically, either. You just get strange issues that are difficult to diagnose and eventually need to replace them. Devices seem to have trouble with many patch cables/switches. Make sure you certify any patch cables you make and don't over crimp. Sending devices from the factory with same 192.168.1.20 IP instead of DHCP makes it a pain to bulk-setup devices. Read full review Usability Ubiquiti makes great Access points at various tiers provided far better coverage and throughput than consumer-grade wireless repeaters and routers. We have not had any performance complaints from guests or from the administration who use the wifi on a daily basis.
Read full review Reliability and Availability The availability of the cisco 9800 wireless lan controller depends on several factors including deloyment mode of the controllers itself, network size and architecture and the maitenance and support factor. It is designed to meet the needs of a large enterprise and together with a cisco support contract any outages will be covered
Read full review Performance Fully robust and well-built solution. The solution fully is able to support a full campus WiFi environment without having any issues. There is no slowness to setting up a WiFi solution or any delays when changes are made. The product [can handle] beyond the listed specifications, but Cisco has kept performance and throughput to allow for a robust and smooth experience.
Read full review Support Rating Great contact to Wireless Innovate Program Team and TAC to solve our problems.
Read full review Ubiquiti's support is basically non-existent by design. However, their forums are a great resource if you are willing to do the research and ask questions. Keep in mind Ubiquiti sells hardware, not support so the responses will be from the community of professionals also using Ubiquiti just like you.
Read full review Alternatives Considered We original worked with a Linksys based wireless system. Cisco improved our network reliability and speed which were the key reasons we upgraded our hardware in the first place. It appears that Cisco is better suited in a Business environment than its competitors are. I look forward to completing the network and to see it fully functional.
Read full review We have used products from Netgear, ZyXEL, Cloudmesh,
Datto , Mereki, and EnGenius previously often choosing products based on a specific situation, since starting with Ubiquiti [WLAN] we have pretty much stopped [usage] of all other vendors in the networking field and standardized which better allows us to stock spare equipment. Best part is if you need to replace equipment it is easy to swap it out quickly as the controller also acts as a live configuration backup.
Read full review Return on Investment We did replace several WLCs in our site with a redundant [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] and saved the cost [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] with IOS-XE enable us to manage APs in our branches easily, easier than AireOS ISSU enable us to do firmware upgrade with minimum downtime, a site with 24/7 activity will not be interrupted anymore Read full review Initial ROI was positive - but now we need to replace them We were able to deploy rapidly - configuration is easy if not consistent Upgrades are easy to apply when they don't take the radios offline - which happens more often then not Read full review ScreenShots