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Cisco wireless solution is quite effective, but there is no real innovation (yet)
Updated September 20, 2019

Cisco wireless solution is quite effective, but there is no real innovation (yet)

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Aironet and Catalyst 2800 Series Access Points

We use Cisco Access points (APs) in every site (almost 100) and mostly to connect users' laptops and smartphones. In several sites we also use Cisco APs to connect barcode readers for production, and Cisco wireless phones.
  • Cisco Clean Air feature (with WLC).
  • Roaming is really smooth and users are quite happy about that.
  • Flexconnect feature.
  • Sometimes it's quite hard to get the AP connected to the right WLC.
  • If the APs lose connection to the WLC, then sometimes it will be automatically moved in shutdown state.
  • Configuration via GUI is a really long process, while with CLI it takes a lot of effort.
  • You can save money, since cabling is quite expensive.
  • We use APs in a couple of sites for barcode readers and we had in the past some major outage, but most probably not completely due to the APs.
  • Compare to other vendors, Cisco is in the average/high price level.
I tested Aerohive in my previous company and I think the killer feature was the cloud controller and also that every AP can work independently from the controller. At the end we didn't change the vendor. Then I just evaluated Meraki, that it's really plug and play, but with no real possibility for customization.
They work quite well in offices or in meeting rooms. The number of devices per AP is rather good. I would not use wireless in general for really critical production environments.

Using Cisco Aironet and Catalyst 2800 Series Access Points

Lately we had less issues. Most probably because we reduced the number of Wireless LAN controllers. So less trouble for upgrades as well.
We don't have any access point in stand alone mode. It's something I don't suggest, unless it's just for a small office and not for a larger company with different sites.
ProsCons
Like to use
Technical support not required
Consistent
Convenient
Lots to learn
  • Wireless LAN controller for Access points
  • Plung and play
  • Cisco cleanAir
  • Software upgrade
  • In our environment sometimes the APs after being rebooted they lose the vlans in FlexConnect mode
  • Configuration in CLI is pretty powerful, but it's completely different from Cisco IOS and sometimes pretty hard to understand
  • Region setting sometimes is a pain, since the AP doesn't work
Yes, but I don't use it