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Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (discontinued) vs. Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (discontinued)

    Score7.4 out of 10
    N/ACurrently supported by Cisco, but no longer sold, Cisco recommends migration to the Cisco Catalyst 9100 Family of Access Points, which offer greater performance and flexibility.N/A

    Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers

    Score9.9 out of 10
    N/ACisco offers wireless LAN.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    Chose Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Cisco Aironet Access Points and Wireless LAN Controllers provide more advanced functions, more security options and better interoperability with other Cisco products than Aruba IAPs.
    Incentivized
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
    The integration with Cisco solutions are excellet, with WLC 9800 plus Cisco DNAC the troubleshoot are made easy, if you have 3D maps on DNAC, you can navigate on the place were the problem is marked and see how the signal are near it. All connections are stable and trustfull.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
    D-Link Wireless network solution is a good solution for small businesses. It has all the features of an enterprise-class wireless solution. However, it does not perform well with a high number of users and devices. Cisco Wireless [LAN Controllers] Solution, on the other hand, …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    83%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    94%
    Would buy again
    46 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    41 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    47 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    42 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    44 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
    Small Businesses
    WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
    Score9.5 out of 10
    WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (28 ratings)
    9.4
    (66 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    6.6
    (3 ratings)
    6.4
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (11 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.8
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (11 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points is very well suited for large enterprises and high-density environments. It is not well suited for high ceiling buildings like warehouses and storage places because of low antenna gain. In our main office, it is working very well. For around thirty or so wireless devices this access point works very well and after forty or so wireless devices it starts to suffer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    I believe that Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers are well suited for the enterprise environment for medium sized to very large companies. While there are smaller WLC appliances for smaller sized businesses, a case can be made for simpler or more cost effective wireless licensing solutions (e.g. Cisco Meraki). Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers are extremely well suited for dense deployments like stadiums, arenas, hospitals, theaters, and large offices because of their ability to support a large number of APs with a very diverse technology feature set.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • They are rock solid in terms of reliability (we rarely have to replace them).
    • They are easily managed from the controller. It's easy to push new settings out, like RF profiles, etc...
    • They are fairly easy to install using the included mounting brackets.
    • They seem to be compatible with pretty much everything, although occasionally we will have roaming issues with Apple devices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • The cisco wireless controller allows for very granular access to internal and external systems.
    • The system allows for allowing special needs uses (medical, security, guest) very easy.
    • The system allows for various levels of bandwidth to a variety of users.
    • The security, flexibility and ease of use is phenomenal.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • CleanAir - Put this technology into all the APs.
    • GPS Tracker - I can't understand why only the Cisco 1570 has this option as well as larger Cisco 3800 APs. Why can't this be in all APs so they can be easily mapped in Google for positioning and later plotted for the coverage zone.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • Configuring wireless settings is very confusing because various settings are scattered all over the interface in different tabs
    • Lots of settings use Cisco's technical verbiage rather than common phrasing, so it's confusing what a lot of settings will do and requires researching the meaning before modifying the setting
    • The interface could be easier to use to do simple tasks such as reboot an access point
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    Because until now I haven't had any issues or cases where I needed to create a ticket with Tac from Cisco related to their performance or availability. They have a small size that permits or allows you to install it in each place that you need to mount it, their design is small and appropriate for every kind of office.
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Although it is a very good product, support is easy and can manage by Level 1 support persons and downtime is too much less but still there is a cost factor matters which is consider by each organization. Furthermore, organizations also compare with other competitors so it is hard to pursue and defend the high prices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    As I said before, the only thing we miss in our old model is the fact that the management interface never received an improvement in design. It has the same look and feels since it was launched. It's not that it's hard to use. It's just the case of could be modernized.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Discontinued Products
    This access point does not usually randomly shut off. It can't happen but it's generally due to a power over ethernet failures which would could be considered a user error.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Downtime fear is the first fear which IT persons look and want to eliminate as much as they can but eventually you have to face it as nothing is perfect. Cisco Wireless Lan controller are feasible to use and easy to manage and other than this their issue reported are pretty low so you can get the best up time. now it also depends on scenario as well as environment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    Performance wise [Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points] are among of the best pieces of technology we have on premise. I don't say that lightly, we have a lot of cool tech. But if you consider how many users are connecting to these day in and day out without a single blip when they're downloading large files, roaming to new AP's or needing a boosted signal at a far end of the range then these are unmatched.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Cisco Wireless Lan controller are feasible to use and easy to manage and other than this their issue reported are pretty low so you get the better uptime. if your get the uptime then it means its a stable product in your environment. Product performance also depends on the product management and Cisco Wireless Lan controller management is easy so you can get the great output.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    I believe that there is always room for improvement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    As usual, the support from Cisco's TAC (Technical Assistance Center) is lacking. Granted, they always get the job done, but the amount of lead time on a non-emergency is enough to make you just handle it yourself. The good news is that if you ask for Cisco's assistance and forget about it, they'll jump on by the time you've forgotten where you were in troubleshooting it and have it fixed for you.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Make sure to get a professional wireless assessment before purchasing AP's. That way you will only purchase what you need and know where the wiring infrastructure will need to be to streamline the installation and tuning process.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Originally, when we deployed our first controller it was on a very limited basis. We only deployed it to our administration building and our High School. It was pretty straight forward. Because this was new to us we leaned heavily on our Cisco partner to assist us. With our last upgrade, we upgraded the controllers, added redundancy and expanded the building count along with new SSID's and restrictions. It went much easier, but again, we did rely on Cisco TAC and our partner to clarify and assist as needed. Having already been familiar with the product help tremendously.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    D-Link Wireless network solution was being used previously in [a] few areas of our plant and it was working well with [a] low number of users but as the company grew, and user base started to grow we started seeing hanging, disconnection, and very low-performance issues in our wireless network. We replaced the entire network with Cisco Aironet Access Points and since then the issues have been resolved and [the] wireless network is working with great performance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    The Aironet access points are used for employee WiFi access, and they integrate well with Meraki. They would offer a separate guest network, too, but the decision was made to physically separate the guest network, so even if a bad actor would gain access to the ethernet port of the AP, they'd still not see any company traffic.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Discontinued Products
    When it comes to deploying the Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points in locations around the school district it has become easier as you get used to putting 4 screws in the mounting plate to the bracket and then slide the access point onto the bracket.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Cisco is a brand name and people trust on it. if any one thing about the networking then Cisco is among those brand which is count as trusted brand and people rely on it. Also it support is good so people can use it. Cisco Wireless Lan controller are easy to use and manage so it requires less effort.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • There are cost savings in buying a separate WLAN network controller because the 1850 Access Point already has this integrated feature.
    • It allows for remote management and saves time on administration.
    • The return on investment is achieved in a short period of time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • We have had our [Cisco Wireless LAN Controller] 5508s for a very long time now and although they are getting dated, they have earned us our money's worth with consistency, stability, and ease of use. Users have minimal wireless complaints and when they do seldom are they WLC-related.
    Incentivized
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