Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller: the one that you will love
November 01, 2021

Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller: the one that you will love

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

Modules Used

  • Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

We use it as regional WLC for the Cisco Access Points. All the access points across the region will be managed by these WLCs through flex connect mode. Before, we [had] 2 WLCs per site to control the APs; it was very hard to manage since we have a lot of sites. With [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller], we can manage it easily with a tag system and really friendly IOS web UI.
  • Tag system in iOS XE make it easier to use than AireOS
  • ISSU feature made upgrade to minimize downtime when upgrade
  • Flex connect mode to control access point remotely and switch the traffic in branch locally
  • Easy integration with other Cisco service like Umbrella
  • We had small issue with zero touch provisioning in version 17.3.3
  • I think there is a room to improve HA mechanism
  • I would like to see Cisco DNA space to be integral part of WLC, not an add on

Do you think Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers again?

Yes

  • We did replace several WLCs in our site with a redundant [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] and saved the cost
  • [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] with IOS-XE enable us to manage APs in our branches easily, easier than AireOS
  • ISSU enable us to do firmware upgrade with minimum downtime, a site with 24/7 activity will not be interrupted anymore
We are using Cisco Catalyst 9000 series switch along with Cisco ISE for policy enforcement. It was very easy to understand IOS-XE in [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] since its using the same IOS system as the Catalyst 9000 switch, and it's very easy to integrate with other Cisco products since it's in the same ecosystem.
[Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] is very versatile and reliable, we have never had significant complaints regarding wireless so far. We use HA for redundancy and we can do upgrade activity with minimal downtime because of ISSU.
We haven't experienced any issue with [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] so far.
[Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] is a very easy to use tagging system in WLC9800-L, there was a learning curve to learn it for the first time, but once you get the concept, you can tag any WLAN profiles, policies, flex profiles, sites to each AP / AP group to suit your company's preference. The system is very scalable, so you can easily add a new AP and configure it as you like by just tagging.
If you have 50 - 250 access points distributed in branch offices, it's very easy to set up and customize every specific scenario/policy with a tag system in IOS-XE in [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller]. But if you have a smaller number of AP, I would suggest you use embedded WLC in catalyst 9000 series switch or embedded WLC in AP 9100 AP to save the cost.