Cisco Still Does APs Pretty Well
April 02, 2019
Cisco Still Does APs Pretty Well
Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Aironet and Catalyst Access Points
- Cisco 2800 Series
- Cisco 3800 Series
We use Cisco APs across the entire organization, and even our remote sites, in order to be able to effectively manage all of our SSIDs and devices from one location. We have all the Cisco APs connect back to our WLCs which makes management much nicer than autonomous APs that all require individual configuration.
- Cisco APs are managed very easily from a Cisco WLC controller.
- Cisco APs provide lots of enterprise-grade options such as rogue detection and automatic power configuration.
- Cisco APs have many different mounting options, which makes them very versatile in a healthcare environment.
- Cisco APs cost can be high compared to other similar solutions.
- Cisco APs can require very specific configuration settings to work well with certain medical devices.
- Cisco APs are a beast to manage autonomously and really only shine when a WLC is in play.
- Cisco APs save time when paired with a WLC controller and that frees up IT resources.
- Cisco APs have a good life span and perform well in harsher environments, hence saving money on replacements.
We do leverage CleanAir and Rogue Detection in our environment as these tend to automate otherwise tedious tasks. These features help maintain a high level of quality and service level in our locations and make managing these APs much easier than a traditional AP without these enhanced features.
We have not used any of the modular component add-ons as of yet, but are interested in the RFID tracking that is available. I will update this review if we ever go down that route with our Cisco APs.
- Aruba Networks Wireless LAN (WLAN)
Cisco offers much better client support and management than Aruba. We have not used Aruba in over 8 years though, so they likely have improved their management interface.