Name: Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller
Rating: 7.8 (48 reviews)
Author: Cisco

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Facility Management

Meeting Management

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Enterprise

Accounting

Finance and Accounting

Applicant Tracking

Corporate Learning Management

Employee Onboarding

HR Management

On-Demand Payment

Payroll

Talent Intelligence

Talent Management

Vendor Management Systems (VMS)

Workforce Analytics

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Asset Tokenization

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Continuous Delivery

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Master Data Management (MDM)

Message Oriented Middleware

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SQL Server Performance Monitoring

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Software-Defined WAN

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Web Scraping

Information Technology

A/B Testing

Ad Serving & Retargeting

All-in-One Marketing

Blogging

Content Management

Contest Management

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Social Media Management

Survey & Forms Building

Video Streaming

Web Analytics

Marketing

Job Site Management

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Waste Management

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Customer Communication Management

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Clinical Data Management

Equation Editors

Healthcare Learning Management

Vertical-Specific

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Comprehensive Integration: Users have appreciated the system's comprehensive integration with Radius, stating it enhances network management efficiency.

Scalability and Flexibility: Reviewers have highlighted the system's scalability in supporting over 1000 access points and its flexible configuration options for adapting to changing requirements.

Reliable Performance: The system is praised for its reliable performance, faster network speed, and strong connectivity to cloud resources by multiple users.

Efficient Network Management: Users value the efficient management of multiple access points, ease of pushing out WAP code updates, and seamless deployment of new SSIDs.

Cost-Effectiveness: Customers appreciate the economical pricing compared to modern alternatives without compromising on features or performance.

Code Upgrades in Redundancy Mode: Some users have found dealing with code upgrades while in redundancy mode to be cumbersome, affecting their overall experience with the product. This issue adds complexity and inconvenience to their network management tasks.

Discontinuation of Support for Older Access Points: Several reviewers are dissatisfied with the discontinuation of support for older access points, leading to frustrations and limitations in their network setup. The lack of support for these devices hinders their ability to fully utilize existing equipment.

Configuration Challenges Between Primary and Secondary Controllers: Users commonly struggle with maintaining configurations between primary and secondary controllers, causing issues in managing their network effectively. This difficulty results in inefficiencies and potential disruptions in network operations.

The Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller is a highly scalable, service-rich, resilient, and flexible platform. It provides centralized control, management, and troubleshooting for high-scale deployments in service provide, enterprise, and large campus deployments.

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

Wireless LANs (WLANs) provide flexible network connectivity by using radio waves and allowing devices to access a network without physical cables. Modern WLANs leverage Wi-Fi standards like Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E to deliver high-speed, low-latency performance. They're essential for mobility and scalability in enterprise, public, and home environments. Explore our user reviews and comparisons to find the best Wireless LAN solution for your infrastructure.

Wireless LAN

Likelihood to Recommend

Usability

Support Rating

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) enables people to make powerful connections-whether in business, education, philanthropy, or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible-providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time.Cisco was founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Since the company's inception, Cisco engineers have been leaders in the development of Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. Today, with more than 65,225 employees worldwide, this tradition of innovation continues with industry-leading products and solutions in the company's core development areas of routing and switching, as well as in advanced technologies.

Zero-Touch Provisioning

Additional access points can be added to a network with little to no configuration necessary.

WLAN Performance Monitoring

Dashboards, analytics, and other visualizations that show performance metrics for the network.

Topology Maps

Trees, lists, and other visualizations that show which specific devices are connected through the network.

Layer 7 Visibility

The product’s ability to show and interact with network operations at the application level. For example, it may monitor or restrict bandwidth consumed by specific web applications or websites.

Power over Ethernet Support

The product’s support for power over ethernet (PoE) connections instead of standalone power cables.

Wireless Security

The product’s security features. This may include support for standards like WPA, built-in security features such as traffic isolation, and alerts for suspicious activity.

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Researcher

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TrustRadius is a technology and business research firm based in Austin, Texas. The company is known as a review platform for verified B2B technology and software reviews through a proprietary algorithm and human verification.

TrustRadius

Cost is high

Required to use

Third party

Firmware upgrades

Not very clear

Old fashioned

Bit overwhelming

Boot up

Small and mid

Wait times

Access points

Wireless controller

Wireless network

Network security

Full control

Easy to configure

Access point

Reliable connection

Security features

Connectivity issues

Home

Wireless LAN Tools

We use our Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller to implement a fully ubiquitous wireless network on our Main Campus, and multiple branch offices. The controller allows us to broadcast our corporate (private) network, secure guest network access, along with numerous other networks that allow separation of network traffic. We also use our controller to provide a more private method of access for field engineers in certain locations (as opposed to using hot spots or cellular connectivity).

AP management (SSIDs)
Device management (updates, power levels, etc.)
Security (traffic separation, VLAN implementation, etc.)

GUI -> CLI issues (specific command translations)
Maintenance (needs reboots/updates occasionally)
Power Modes (PoE requirements)

We have a N + 1 deployment of Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller. We have over 8000 Cisco Access Points that are connected to the controller.

Comprehensive Radius integration
Scalable Deployments
Flexible Configuration

Code upgrades while in redundancy mode is cumbersome
Support of older access points is discontinued
Keeping configurations between primary and secondary controllers is difficult

The Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller allows you to reduce your hardware footprint of wireless controllers deployed in your environment. Instead of having a controller per site deployed, you can have a couple of 8540 controllers in your data center that can handle up 6000 Access Points.
Some of the savings on hardware cost is offset by the cost of redundant WAN circuits. The access points will continue to function when connectivity to the Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller is unreachable, but it will not allow any new connections in that wireless environment.

Plixer Scrutinizer, Cisco Prime LAN Management Solution, VMware SD-WAN, SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset, Ubiquity

Since its beginnings, the Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller has served as our router for wireless connectivity to the company's networks. We use it throughout the organization and have solved spare capacity and cloud connectivity concerns for critical components, such as servers and databases. Cisco [8540] Wireless Controller is the most comprehensive and it’s what I’ve been using. As compared with other manufacturer's products, it offers advanced functionality and integration. It comes with excellent documentation and is easy to understand. Even the oldest controllers can still support the latest APs. It works thanks to the Cisco infrastructure. It can deliver high performance when the Wi-Fi tuning is done correctly.

The installation and maintenance of the wireless network are straightforward and reliable.
It can handle more than a thousand APs simultaneously without compromising network performance. Additionally, it allows us to have full control and flexibility over all access points.
Many cloud connectivity issues have been addressed, including multi-protocol compatibility with security features.

Wireless range should be extended and pricing should [possibly] be reconsidered for some organizations.
Some complex configurations can be hard to get and set up without professional assistance.
The location of the device can have a significant effect on the wireless signal. Some VPN solutions may be available by default.

It distributes system ports, security features, and support for multiple protocols.
[It provides an] AP-manager interface with high bandwidth availability for all APs, even during peak times.
[The] dynamic interfaces are unquestionably present.

This device has allowed for time and cost savings for the organization since its installation.
It's a simple enhancement to an existing network that provides security protection, which can have a significant impact on any business.
It helps reduce staff costs and works well in conjunction with other Cisco products.

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The [Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller]s are being implemented and are used across
our organization. It has solved our problem of weak and slow internet. After
using Cisco Router, we are having fun with the fast speed network access [now that] it has become easy for us to perform our tasks. In short, it is a
perfect solution to address all the network-related business problems like
security.

We can prioritize the traffic that is beneficial for us and limit unwanted traffic.
The network [is] pretty reliable and, above all, the most secure.
The routing protocols are easily managed and supported using Cisco.

Documentation
Pricing
Prolonged installation time

We can easily manage the router protocols.
Reliability of the network [is an important feature].
The way we can control and limit network traffic [is an important feature].

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

Overview

What is Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller?