Item: Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controllers are being used in our organization to tie in all our wireless Cisco gear and our many different wireless networks into an easy-to-manage, and easy-to-use centralized management system. It solves the problem of having several separate systems to manage directly.

Pros and Cons

Nicely made hardware
Large but strong rails that can keep up with the weight
Redundant power supplies and fans for great backup

Still trying to get the hang of Cisco Smart Licensing
Could be easier to configure the initial controller setup (a better wizard?)
Not sure its going to be in everyone's network budget

Return on Investment

Positive impact: Time savings for staff setting up new access points
Positive impact: Not having to worry about devices just going down for no reason
Negative impact: If you're budget is small you're going to have a tough sell on these

Key Insights

Do you think Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller again?

Yes

Other Software Used

NetApp Cloud Sync, ZENworks Patch Management (formerly Novell ZENworks Patch Management), Microsoft Access

Likelihood to Recommend

Its a pretty easy sell if you're already using Cisco APs and having to manage them separately. In fact its your only real choice if you have existing Aironet devices. Managing them on another vendor's controller is only asking for issues. If someone asked, I would push them toward both Cisco APs and controllers to make their life easy, if they can swing it.

Not a lot of products will give you this level of usability and solid build quality

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller