Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller vs. HPE Juniper Access Points

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

In a high-density K-12 Deployment, Juniper outperforms most vendors. Hardware is superior in terms of durability, appearance, and functionality. The AI Cloud Controller is 2nd to none in monitoring performance and self-diagnostics. AP tools enable easy identification, testing, and troubleshooting of APs. Overall, when switching from a Cisco Meraki to Juniper, there is no comparison. We immediately saw a performance and reliability improvement.

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

• Mist APs are really good at self-adjusting power and channels.
• Mist APs provide quality bandwidth to all users.
• Mist Radius meets my authentication needs for production users.

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

• I wish there was a mobile app that allows configuration and health status checks
• The MIST UI could use some improvements - some things take more than 1 click to access
• Marvis doesn't impress me. I ask it questions and sometimes it doesn't respond or understand

Incentivized

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

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

It is a well rounded AP that is easy to connect, has great insights in to who is connecting or why did they disconnect or fail to connect. I like being able to see the switch and port number an AP is connected to. This is helpful especially when they are connected to other brands of switches

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

I've used a variety of other APs and WLAN systems. Juniper provides an outstanding product and their support is top notch. The Mist portal is intuitive for most admins that have an intermediate understanding of WLANs. The product is very reliable, and they provide value in line with the cost of the product and service. Ultimately, it really depends on what you need. Want something low cost, but don't require 24/7 support? Unifi probably suits you. Have a small team, need something beginner friendly? Meraki is the way to go. Do you have unique deployment needs, and are already in the Juniper ecosystem? Juniper APs make sense for you.

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

• With the lower cost of the aps we have been able to have more dcoverage
• We have a better overall view of wireless performance

Incentivized