Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers vs. Ubiquiti Wireless WAN

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Cisco offers wireless LAN.N/A
Ubiquiti Wireless WAN
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Ubiquiti Networks offers wireless WAN.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersUbiquiti Wireless WAN
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersUbiquiti Wireless WAN
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 Wireless LAN ControllersUbiquiti Wireless WAN
Considered Both Products
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Chose Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
D-Link Wireless network solution is a good solution for small businesses. It has all the features of an enterprise-class wireless solution. However, it does not perform well with a high number of users and devices. Cisco Wireless [LAN Controllers] Solution, on the other hand, …
Ubiquiti Wireless WAN

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersUbiquiti Wireless WAN
Small Businesses
Ubiquiti WLAN
Ubiquiti WLAN
Score 9.3 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Score 9.8 out of 10
Cisco Meraki MG
Cisco Meraki MG
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Score 9.8 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersUbiquiti Wireless WAN
Likelihood to Recommend
9.5
(66 ratings)
9.2
(12 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.4
(2 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(4 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersUbiquiti Wireless WAN
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
In a corporate environment that requires strong security and the ability to block / allow a large variety of users, the Cisco Wireless platform excels. The system is extremely robust and can provide literally a blanket of coverage, with very good performance. They also offer external/out doors access points which provide excellent performance. Because the system is well built and designed, you often go through the lifetime of the product (you really need to apply updates) with very little issues. However, when you reach the end of the support life on the box, it is not cheap at all to upgrade/replace. You really need to keep an eye on the current life cycle and plan accordingly for a replacement date and fund.
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Ubiquiti Networks
I love the equipment for small-scale commercial solutions and quality without the price tag. I might not recommend their products for a large organization with multiple locations and servers. However, the GUI interface will allow remote access and setup across the network. I think this is a great solution for small businesses and families or home office solutions, provided there is some IT knowledge for setup and maintenance.
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Pros
Cisco
  • It's Cisco and like all our other Cisco products, chiefly switches, once you get it set up to your liking, it just runs itself after that. The reliability factor has been huge for us.
  • Ease in deploying new APs has been nice. We have a DNS record (and DHCP Option 43 as a fallback) that helps new AP find the WLC. The WLC takes it from there.
  • Good monitoring of connections, kicking people off, [and] blocking certain MACs are all useful features.
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Ubiquiti Networks
  • Automatically load balances based on band. Makes it simple to spread out users.
  • Updates can be set to automatic or manual. Automatic uses rolling updates, happens every time we update the controller.
  • Continually add new features and improvements with their FREE software upgrades
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Cons
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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Ubiquiti Networks
  • Supply can be a problem, especially for new products. We have had to sometimes wait for months for supply to come in.
  • No phone support. Only email/chat. can be frustrating sometimes just texting someone, but have not had to contact them very often.
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Likelihood to Renew
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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Ubiquiti Networks
No answers on this topic
Usability
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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Ubiquiti Networks
The combination of performance, range, low-power use, and manageability made it ideal for us.
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Reliability and Availability
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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Ubiquiti Networks
No answers on this topic
Performance
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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Ubiquiti Networks
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
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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Ubiquiti Networks
We have not needed to contact support, except to replace one device that was damaged in shipping. The company immediately issued an RMA without delay, and we had our replacement product within a week
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Implementation Rating
Cisco
That was a great experience of having a new project and working on it. Although we got some hurdles and challenges but we overcome all the things and try to work efficiently for this. in this time Cisco support team also helps a lot an give pro tips which help us.
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Ubiquiti Networks
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
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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Ubiquiti Networks
Prior to this, we used Cisco Meraki wireless access points, which did not allow for centralized control, therefore several access points shared the same SSID. Because the client's movement from one device to another was not as seamless and reliable as it is with the current Ubiquiti solution, this shift cost both time and stability during configuration.
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Scalability
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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Ubiquiti Networks
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Positive impact 1. Our employees are able to move around anywhere in our 12-story building and have access to our corporate network. Employees are not tied down to an office and can easily move around to meetings and stay connected.
  • Because the equipment is so reliable, we do not have any unscheduled outages. Employees come in the building and connect without issues and have a sense that the wireless network "Just Simply Works."
  • When performing network maintenance, I usually have to block out several ours for our maintenance window. Upgrades sometimes do not go as smoothly as planned. This can be frustrating for the engineer.
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Ubiquiti Networks
  • The cost of the equipment vs. my uptime is streets ahead of typical consumer equipment.
  • Adding additional AP's is extremely easy and little to no downtime for setup.
  • Transition between Unifi and Edge equipment can be a little clunky but it works.
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