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 The Extreme access point solution has been used in the cooperative scenario with VLANs for employees in access through 802.1x authentication and also for guests through the captive portal that allows access of people for a limited time and prior registration. The equipment has great performance and connection speed and supports a high density of users connected at the same time without lag and crashes. The management of this equipment is being carried out through software with cloud management and is accessed by our infrastructure team to configure and monitor alerts.
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 Extremely easy to provision new devices, once the profiles are set up, due to centralized management Very quick provisioning of new devices, due to centralized management and predefined profiles 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 In my experience, licensing has become a nightmare. Licensing must be tied to a device, they also won't let you activate used units from other companies if they are donated or purchased third-party. Customer service is outsourced overseas. In my experience, technicians are incentivized to close tickets quickly - whether the issue has been fixed or not - which can be frustrating to work with. Read full review Usability It has worked for us as advertised with little technical issues. The system has been stable with no major downtime.
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 Support was always responsive and willing to help, but at times did not know when to call it and send a replacement to stop the bleeding. I respect that fact that they wanted to get the solution working, and the wanting to learn more and understand, but at times you cant do that at the expense of the customer.
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 The Aerohive wireless devices are comparable to Cisco's wireless solution, in regard to performance, features, and management. But the cost of utilizing Cisco Wireless Access Points versus using the Aerohive access points is staggering. Since our wireless access points do not maintain a constant heavy load, we chose a more cost effective solution and have not had many issues with them.
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 Less downtime to our business units that use Aerohive Radios are very compatible with most wireless devices out today I spend less time managing Aerohive than any other wireless product Read full review ScreenShots