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Great coverage and faster wireless connection within the campus
December 17, 2020

Great coverage and faster wireless connection within the campus

Christopher J Evans | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
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Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points

Cisco 2800 Series
We use the Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points to expand our wireless coverage across our company grounds. These devices are reliable with their WiFi 5 standards. Compared to newer models, the Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points are not expensive because they have less time until the end of life. Our logistics department use lots of handheld inventory check devices, IoT barcode scanners, and storage area environment sensors connected to our wireless network. It causes a significant increase in the number of wireless clients, which requires stable and reliable wireless access points for continuous operation. The Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points's\ dual 5 GHz support enables us to connect our devices with faster communication while serving hundreds of devices. Lastly, it supports Cisco DNA Center integration, which makes it better. Easily manageable and configurable via Cisco DNA Center, configuring all the Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points from one dashboard saves time.
  • Cisco DNA support. It is easy to integrate, configure, and manage.
  • Extended wireless coverage while providing amreliable connection.
  • No speed loss thanks to dual 5 GHz radio. It applies on the same elevation level; different floors require enabling 2.4 GHz for better performance.
  • It has been five years since the release of the Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points, so end of life is close.
  • Time saving
  • Extended wireless coverage with less cost
Overall, the Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points are a proper solution with relatively new technology support. Physically, they serve very well on a fast and reliable wireless coverage extension. However, it has been four years since their first release. New wireless and near-field technologies are emerging, and malicious people keep finding new vulnerabilities of these older devices. Their lifetime is good physically without any electronic problems. But on the security side, you need to stay updated.
The Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points have been highly scalable, in particular with Cisco-rich environments. This is due to Cisco's DNA Center. Normally, it would take more time to deploy and configure multiple new APs on a network. Cisco DNA Center integration costs less time to configure all newly added APs to the network.
If we do not count physical installation of devices, deployment, and configuration, it only took around one full day.
Our network architecture has been mostly designed on Cisco devices. If you have a similar case, definitely go with the Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points. Consistency in the architecture has been a problem since last decade. Recently, vendors put in effort to increase their integration capability. Cisco is one of the best among its peers on integration to different vendors' network products. If your network architecture investment budget allows you to go with a better one, try the 3800 series.

Evaluating Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points and Competitors

Yes - We switched from the 1800 series due to campus extension, which required cost-effective but stronger devices.
I would go with upper models such as third generation.