Item: Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

For us as a medium-sized company with a lot of smaller branches, it was very important to find a solution that could provide wireless connectivity both for the employees and our guests in all of our locations. It would have to be easy to implement and relatively cheap; however, it would need to provide the required level of security. And we have found Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers that fully met our needs and have been a very stable solution for some time already. We have implemented them in every branch without any issues and they can now be centrally managed, which saves a lot of time for us. By implementing Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers we provided freedom of movement to our employees as well as made it possible for them to serve our customers in much more effective way.

Pros and Cons

Stability and reliability on a top level, as they have never needed a reboot
Easy to implement as you just install them and have centralized control
Security on a top level, with the AI functionality from Cisco and management panel where you will immediately see any threats

Interface UX is a bit complicated
No mobile applications for configuration on site
Licensing is bit complicated

Return on Investment

We got absolutely great ROI as with a small investment we have provided connectivity everywhere
A lot of happy customers
Saved a lot of IT resources thanks to the automation

Alternatives Considered

Aruba Networks Wireless LAN (WLAN)

We don't have an experience with another vendors in this segment; however, from the marketing materials and the demo we have seen, Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers were the best for our needs, as they provide a relatively easy deployment process and management process afterwards, which was very important for us as a small IT organization.

Key Insights

Do you think Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers again?

Yes

Other Software Used

FortiNAC, Fortinet FortiExtender, F5 Advanced Web Application Firewall

Likelihood to Recommend

Good for a wide branch network with a big number of presence points where you have to have a centralized point of management and a console where you can get a full overview of events and threats. However it does not always provide 100% accurate information, as there might be a delay with some parts of the statistics, which might make troubleshooting much harder.

Wireless connectivity for a wide branch network

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers