Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller

Score8.7 out of 10

68 Reviews and Ratings

What is Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller?

The Cisco 5520 Series Wireless LAN Controller is a highly scalable, service-rich, resilient, and flexible platform that is ideal for medium-sized to large enterprise and campus deployments.

Categories & Use Cases

Wireless LAN

Verified User

Technician in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are just finally migrating off the Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller after over a decade of using it as our main controller for all of our wireless access points at our main campus and remote locations as well.

Pros

Lots of configuration options
Performance is reliable

Cons

Could have used a better interface
Too many menus can make it hard to find what you're looking for

Return on Investment

The Cisco 5520 Wireless Controllers have paid for themselves over the years. We've had no real issues with them and the ROI would come in the stability that they provided our wireless network.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

HPE Aruba Networks Wireless WAN

Other Software Used

Cisco Catalyst Center

Verified User

Strategist in Information Technology (5001-10,000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We don't use the Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller anymore because it is end of Vulnerability/Security Support since January 2025. The replacement product is the Cisco Catalyst 9800 family.
In the past we used the Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller to manage and configure our 500 Access points worldwide. Also for monitoring and troubleshooting purpose the controller was used.

Pros

good performance (supports up to 1500 Access points)
easy to setup and install
high availability feature works great

Cons

end of sale and end of vulnerability / security support
GUI is very outdated
FlexConnect limitations

Return on Investment

reduced downtime due to high availability
high capacity to add new APs on the existing controller (up to 1500)
centralized management reduced operational overhead

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Extreme Networks Wireless AP 5010 and HPE Aruba Networks Wireless WAN

Other Software Used

Cisco Catalyst Center, Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers, Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use the Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller to manage all of our wireless access points throughout all of our buildings. They are both indoor and outdoor setup access points. The system is used throughout the entire organization. It addressed both managing access points independently as well as creating a guest WiFi that does not interfere with our business data flowing over the Wifi for our business applications.

Pros

Ease of setup for each new access point
Managing updates for existing access points

Cons

Ability out of the box to handle over 100 AP's would be great
A full featured dashboard

Return on Investment

Reduced AP management
Require less travel to repair AP's which in the past were failing

Usability

Verified User

Consultant in Information Technology (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

This WLC has good software stability even in industrial environment and it's able to handle a lot of APs with good bandwidth: several features are available and high-availability works fine. The ugly thing is the AIR-OS that is now replaced with IOS-XE software used on new WLC9800 so I don't think it's still a good point selling this type of WLC.

Pros

High Availability
RADIUS authentication
Managing a lot of APs
FlexConnect

Cons

Stable GUI interface
API interface
CLI configuration

Return on Investment

Good ROI
Good AP compatibility

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)

Other Software Used

Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points, Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

Miguel Sanchez View profile

Ingeniero de soporte a redes in Professional Services at MONARCH MEXICO (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We implemented this family of controllers in medium-capacity stadiums with approximately 15,000 clients, since it allows up to 20,000 and allows working with high availability and groups of controllers, expanding the number of users.the stability of the driver in these environments is quite good along with the performance and performance of the equipment. In addition, the support you have with the brand has no competition.

Pros

interface groups
ap groups
web authentications

Cons

information search filters are complicated tu use
using multiple captive portals natively on the controller
It does not have a packet capture option to natively allow an over-the-air review of a problem.

Most Important Features

number of users supported
manufacturer support
dedicated to high-density use

Return on Investment

allows remote equipment and thus lower the cost of additional equipment and maintenance
ntegration with applications such as cmx and cisco prime that allows you to monitor and analyze network usage

Alternatives Considered

Cisco 3504 WLAN Controller and Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

Other Software Used

Cisco CMX, Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series Switches, Cisco 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (ASR 1000)