Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued) vs. Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)
Score 5.0 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Mobility Express was a controllerless wi-fi solution, used by businesses to quickly deploy a wireless network without requiring substantial IT resources. The product is discontinued.N/A
Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Cisco offers wireless LAN.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Mobility Express (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 Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
User Ratings
Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.4
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.9
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers
Likelihood to Recommend
Honestly, I think it is well suited in any environment. May it be work, campus, universities, malls. It is a reliable, controller-less solution, simple and easy to use, and easy to maintain. It doesn't require much support from professionals. You install it easily. It provides an uninterrupted connection, and you can easily connect to it.
Read full review
Setup is very quick as it is designed for smaller organizations. Of course, this comes with its own limitations, but it's really the question of what you need. If you can cover your office space with 3 to 4 access points, you got a pretty good alternative to the more enterprise-level of Cisco Wireless products, but you still get excellent throughput and signal strength.
Read full review
Pros
  • Interference mitigation
  • New update provides bandwidth control at all levels
  • Radius integration
Read full review
  • The WLC are very reliable. In the 10+ years the company has had them installed, we have not had any hardware or component failures.
  • No need for reboots. The CISCO WLC is not like a router you may have at home which you may have to reboot every few weeks or months. It can run for months without needing a reboot.
  • The Cisco WLC gives you a quick Network Summary when you first log into the system. This is very helpful to get a quick rundown on the status of your wireless network.
Read full review
Cons
  • There were some minor issues, but were solved with a firmware update.
Read full review
  • 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
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Usability
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
To be honest, I have not faced any sort of application error or unplanned outages till now. [In my experience], I had faced a reduction in internet speed, which was later identified [to be the fault of] the internet service provider.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Performance
It provides a seamless connection, but sometimes it kicks me out, and [I] need to reconnect. Luckily it will connect you to the next one available if kicked out.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Support Rating
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Cisco Mobility Express is far better than other products. It is a renowned brand in network products, and they are reliable and efficient as compared to other products that I have used so far. It is highly recommended.
Read full review
Not sure why "Ruckus WLAN controllers" is not listed above but that is another major WLAN controller solution I've used in the past. Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers provide the most flexibility when it comes to designing a large WLAN deployment. They also have some of the best reliability and TAC support out of all of the other vendors.
Read full review
Scalability
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • It has given our IT team time back from not having to fix issues everyday with the network.
  • It makes it easy for visibility of the network and allows those who are new to it to learn it quickly.
Read full review
  • 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.
Read full review
ScreenShots