Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller vs. Cisco Aironet 3800 Series Access Points (discontinued)

I consider that its implementation is recommended for configurations where the amount of access points exceeds 50 devices and the performance exceeds 4 Gbps. In environments where the access point density is less than 10 units, we can use the option of Express Mobility.

Incentivized

These Cisco 3802 models are very well suited for interior deployments, whether small medium or large. The range and speed make for a very nice compliment to any wired LAN design. Compliment that with the management functionality that comes with a Cisco controller, and overall the 3802 is a perfect addition to any network.

Incentivized

• It has the ability to manage all Cisco access points that we have, regardless of the model. The limit is 1500 pieces of equipment.
• The WLC enables roaming functionality in the localities, this helps with collections, wireless IP phones, and access with notebooks.
• The WLC manages the quality of the "air" and "signal" of the 2.4ghz frequency, avoiding noise and interference.
• The WLC has an interesting feature of visibility of the traffic of the internal network.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• [It] can improve on the possibility of using the physical controllers with the virtual one.
• [It] can improve on the possibility of having site-to-site failover capabilities, [like in the case of] controllers at production go down and controllers at our DR site take over.
• The possibility of an app on your phone for alerts and minor configuration of the controllers.

Incentivized

• Outdoor capabilities. We have actually blown up a few outdoor units. Water got inside the outdoor units and had visible rust
• Costs compared to other AP’s in the market. Ruckus and EnGenius work out a bit cheaper
• Mounting options are limited

This equipment from Cisco has been dependable and we are able to easily continue to add access points or make changes easily to the Wi-Fi password settings.

We have been operating this equipment for a number of years and it does not give us any issues.

Incentivized

They work well for us and [we] have not found a better solution.

Incentivized

In the dailies activities it's simple to manage a wireless network and also to perform changes: the GUI is well known and intuitive for engineers that know how to operate on Cisco WLC. It has High Throughput and consolidated features such as CleanAir, Roaming supporting natively Cisco ISE authentication methods and DNA Center. It's recommended for Wi-Fi 5 wireless infrastructures.

Incentivized

The performances of the Cisco Aironet 3800 are quite good. This is an reliable and robust access point. It is "wave 2" compatible and has a m-Gig port. It is also possible to configure 2* 5 GHz antennas instead of 1* 2.4 GHz and 1* 5 GHz so we can use the access point at the maximum of its capacity and reduce the interferences we can have with the 2.4 Ghz frequencies

Incentivized

Cisco support is always ready to support and engage in any problem or issue. Starting from the implementation support, troubleshooting any software issue or hardware. Their engineers are engaging whenever we ask for support, keep following up with us, and troubleshoot any problem till we find a solution and be satisfied [with] the service.

Incentivized

Just take your time when setting up the HA pairs as those can be tricky. Also take your time setting up AP groups and make sure they are on all the SSIDs you need to be on.

Incentivized

Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller has better high availability features compared to the others. Also Cisco has a worldwide service center and is located in nearly all countries to offer fast and reliable support in case of any hardware issue. Also Cisco offers more features, for example AVC, CleanAir and TrustSec which the compotitiors don't. And we could use some of our als Cisco APs with the Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller and didn't need to buy that much new APs.

Incentivized

Compare to the Cisco Aironet 2800 serie there is not a really big difference. The 3800 is more powerful.

Regarding the Meraki access points the solution is really different than the Cisco Aironet 3800.

Both are good but are maybe better in some situations.

For office only or when there are a lot a small sites with not technical contact, I would recommand Cisco Meraki.

For bigger sites or more complex environement, I would prefer a more customizable solution like Aironet which is more powerful.

For sure, it is really better to have only one solution and not a mix so a choice may be done.

Incentivized

Upgrading and maintaining the Cisco 3802 is very straightforward and easy. When centrally managed by a Cisco Wirless LAN Controller (WLC), IOS upgrades are painless. Based on how you configure the 3802 on the controller, software and IOS upgrades may be performed either by an individual or group basis.

Incentivized

• [It provides] centralized management.
• Implementing the [Cisco] 5520 [Wireless] Controllers offered us a huge improvement in administrative time over our previous Cisco 3850 deployment. Being able to see all of our APs on a single controller as well as centrally manage them is a great benefit. This also removed the need to deploy specific equipment in different IDFs throughout our Industrial locations and instead only requiring switches with Power Over Ethernet (POE) capability.
• Wireless performance has improved with the deployment of our 5520s, which allows our plant operators to do their jobs more efficiently while on the move.
• Having three Cisco 5520 Wireless Controllers provides tertiary redundancy for our wireless networks. The solution is elegantly simple. Preventing downtime is, obviously, a profound part of our supply chain capabilities.

Incentivized

• Users are able to carry on with their work while moving, changing seats, rooms or having an ad-hoc Skype meeting on the way to lunch. It is always hard to justify the value of connectivity but be assured, when it is not working the business impact is immediate.

Incentivized