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Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

Overview

What is Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers?

The Cisco Catalyst 9800-80 is a modular wireless controller with optional 100 Gigabit Ethernet (G) modular uplinks boasting seamless software updates for large enterprises and campuses, and security with ETA and SD-Access.

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Recent Reviews

Great WLC

10 out of 10
June 29, 2023
Incentivized
We moved to two 9800 controllers about two years ago, replacing two 5520 WLCs. We are currently running two C9800s in high availability, …
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Awards

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Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Video Reviews

1 video

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers Review
04:42
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Product Details

What is Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers?

The vendor presents their solution as built from the ground up for intent-based networking and Cisco DNA, and state the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers are Cisco IOS XE based and integrate the RF excellence of Cisco Aironet access points, creating a best-in-class wireless experience for your evolving and growing organization. The 9800 Series is built on an open and programmable architecture with built-in security, streaming telemetry, and rich analytics.

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers Competitors

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers Downloadables

Frequently Asked Questions

The Cisco Catalyst 9800-80 is a modular wireless controller with optional 100 Gigabit Ethernet (G) modular uplinks boasting seamless software updates for large enterprises and campuses, and security with ETA and SD-Access.

Ubiquiti WLAN and Fortinet Wireless LAN are common alternatives for Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers.

Reviewers rate Availability highest, with a score of 8.

The most common users of Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(73)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 26)
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Sebastian Kozankiewicz | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Compared to the previous Cisco 5520 and 5505 controller, 5508. The new Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers has been redesigned from scratch, Tag-based configuration is effective and transparent.​
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers perform very well and allow all infrastructure to be local instead of cloud hosted. This is an important feature, especially when different regions of the world use different clouds, creating disparate configuration locations.
Sergiu Campian | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
the cisco catalyst 9800 wireless lan controller series is much more structured than the aruba solution and it can easier manage a larger number of devices. it's quite easy to add a new location, a new access point or to change and manage policies across the wireless network of the enterprise
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Compared to older Cisco WLC, Catalyst 9800s are easier to manage and SSO HA is more reliable. Compared to Aruba IAP, the number of features is greater. Meraki is easier to set up but having a central controller gives greater control.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
In this case, we are a Cisco partner and we have to offer our customers the newest products. The Cisco 5520 controller is already from an old family and that is why we decided to go with the Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 Wireless Controller.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
In old Cisco-fashion, the product is very reliable, and once setup just works. While it might not have all the bells and whistles in the WebUI, like other products may have, you have complete freedom of configuration on the CLI. Overall a great improvement from older generation WLAN controllers, and all in all a well suited successor
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
With Cisco Catalyst 9800-80 Wireless Controller, there is easy configuration, control, and management of access points and wireless networks. However, the cost is relatively high.
David Peck | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Ubiquiti has plenty of great features, and I would even recommend them for small sites. However, I don't think they don't scale as well when you start talking about enterprise scale. You would need to hire a couple of people and keep them on staff just to manage the same size or smaller Cisco deployments. Going with Cisco was a no-brainer for me.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Cisco [Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] is the premium WiFi solution with full options for the control of the WiFi network. The initial cost is high, but the cost comes with the most features of any other enterprise-grade WiFi solution. Cisco is a leader in this space. Going with Cisco will help to guarantee support for many years of service and even beyond the manufacturer's support dates.
Michael Nugent | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
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.
December 11, 2020

The Controller with NoS

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
There is no room of comparison with the older AirOS. The 9800 series is built over a complete new architecture, the whole point of this HW is to learn from the AirOS mistakes and never do them again. With new technology comes new challenges, which in my opinion, is licensing. I chose this platform because Cisco are moving there.
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