Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued) vs. Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)
Score 5.0 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Mobility Express was a controllerless wi-fi solution, used by businesses to quickly deploy a wireless network without requiring substantial IT resources. The product is discontinued.N/A
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Cisco offers wireless LAN.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
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 Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Best Alternatives
Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
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 Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(5 ratings)
9.9
(72 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(8 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(5 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Performance
7.9
(5 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
As it provides virtual WLC functionality, it has incredibly amazing built-in features that perfectly suit small to medium companies. It has the capability to manage the entire organization network seamlessly. It might be possible that it won't work smoothly and elegantly for large firms where there is a bulk amount of data bandwidth used.
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Cisco
I believe that Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers are well suited for the enterprise environment for medium sized to very large companies. While there are smaller WLC appliances for smaller sized businesses, a case can be made for simpler or more cost effective wireless licensing solutions (e.g. Cisco Meraki). Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers are extremely well suited for dense deployments like stadiums, arenas, hospitals, theaters, and large offices because of their ability to support a large number of APs with a very diverse technology feature set.
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Pros
Cisco
  • Easy to setup
  • Less maintenance
  • Less disconnection
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Cisco
  • The cisco wireless controller allows for very granular access to internal and external systems.
  • The system allows for allowing special needs uses (medical, security, guest) very easy.
  • The system allows for various levels of bandwidth to a variety of users.
  • The security, flexibility and ease of use is phenomenal.
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Cons
Cisco
  • Honestly, I haven't found very many issues since we started using it, and I'm glad for that!
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Cisco
  • Configuring wireless settings is very confusing because various settings are scattered all over the interface in different tabs
  • Lots of settings use Cisco's technical verbiage rather than common phrasing, so it's confusing what a lot of settings will do and requires researching the meaning before modifying the setting
  • The interface could be easier to use to do simple tasks such as reboot an access point
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Although it is a very good product, support is easy and can manage by Level 1 support persons and downtime is too much less but still there is a cost factor matters which is consider by each organization. Furthermore, organizations also compare with other competitors so it is hard to pursue and defend the high prices.
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Usability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
As I said before, the only thing we miss in our old model is the fact that the management interface never received an improvement in design. It has the same look and feels since it was launched. It's not that it's hard to use. It's just the case of could be modernized.
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Reliability and Availability
Cisco
We are using it 24x7 and it never hangs or create problems in connectivity.
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Cisco
Downtime fear is the first fear which IT persons look and want to eliminate as much as they can but eventually you have to face it as nothing is perfect. Cisco Wireless Lan controller are feasible to use and easy to manage and other than this their issue reported are pretty low so you can get the best up time. now it also depends on scenario as well as environment.
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Performance
Cisco
After initial configuration and fixing minor issues with the firmware, the system worked really well, without any downtime. We were also satisfied with the throughput and range.
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Cisco
Cisco Wireless Lan controller are feasible to use and easy to manage and other than this their issue reported are pretty low so you get the better uptime. if your get the uptime then it means its a stable product in your environment. Product performance also depends on the product management and Cisco Wireless Lan controller management is easy so you can get the great output.
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Support Rating
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
As usual, the support from Cisco's TAC (Technical Assistance Center) is lacking. Granted, they always get the job done, but the amount of lead time on a non-emergency is enough to make you just handle it yourself. The good news is that if you ask for Cisco's assistance and forget about it, they'll jump on by the time you've forgotten where you were in troubleshooting it and have it fixed for you.
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Implementation Rating
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Originally, when we deployed our first controller it was on a very limited basis. We only deployed it to our administration building and our High School. It was pretty straight forward. Because this was new to us we leaned heavily on our Cisco partner to assist us. With our last upgrade, we upgraded the controllers, added redundancy and expanded the building count along with new SSID's and restrictions. It went much easier, but again, we did rely on Cisco TAC and our partner to clarify and assist as needed. Having already been familiar with the product help tremendously.
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Alternatives Considered
Cisco
Cisco Mobility Express is far better than other products. It is a renowned brand in network products, and they are reliable and efficient as compared to other products that I have used so far. It is highly recommended.
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Cisco
The Aironet access points are used for employee WiFi access, and they integrate well with Meraki. They would offer a separate guest network, too, but the decision was made to physically separate the guest network, so even if a bad actor would gain access to the ethernet port of the AP, they'd still not see any company traffic.
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Scalability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Cisco is a brand name and people trust on it. if any one thing about the networking then Cisco is among those brand which is count as trusted brand and people rely on it. Also it support is good so people can use it. Cisco Wireless Lan controller are easy to use and manage so it requires less effort.
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Return on Investment
Cisco
  • It has given our IT team time back from not having to fix issues everyday with the network.
  • It makes it easy for visibility of the network and allows those who are new to it to learn it quickly.
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Cisco
  • We have had our [Cisco Wireless LAN Controller] 5508s for a very long time now and although they are getting dated, they have earned us our money's worth with consistency, stability, and ease of use. Users have minimal wireless complaints and when they do seldom are they WLC-related.
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