Cisco Wi-Fi controllers simplify the administration of Wi-Fi environments by unifying the configuration and control of wireless access points, optimizing Wi-Fi throughput by reducing the impact of RF congestion, enhancing Wi-Fi uptime with fast auto-failover, and tightening security by detecting threats and filtering content based on user type and location.

Cisco wireless controllers integrate with Cisco's Prime Infrastructure and DNA Center (DNAC) network management tools and can support up to 6,000 Wi-Fi APs and 64,000 users. Cisco's family of Wi-Fi controllers are available at price points and with feature sets suitable for networks ranging from branch offices to service provider networks, multi-site enterprises, and large campus environments. Cisco's 802.11ax and 802.11ac controllers and wireless access points are engineered to deliver the high level of protection, speed and reliability that users expect from their wired environments. Cisco's technology incorporates integrated mobility support like Voice over IP, HD video, and protected guest access. Cisco's Prime Infrastructure and DNAC architecture make it possible for organizations to implement environments that combine wired and Wi-Fi networks into a centrally managed solution that ensures a seamless and productive user experience.

Progent's seasoned wireless experts can assist your organization to assess the business benefits of installing Cisco wireless controllers to administer WiFi environments of any scale. Progent can assist your business to support and troubleshoot your current Cisco-based wireless solution or help you to plan and carry out a smooth transition from earlier generation Wi-Fi controllers to modern products to get improved performance and protection and to streamline administration.

Progent's Cisco-certified network consultants offer affordable online consulting and support expertise throughout the U.S. and Canada to help businesses to create and enhance Wi-Fi networks. Progent also offers onsite consulting in major metropolitan areas across the United States and in Toronto, Canada. In addition, Progent offers remote predictive and onsite Wi-Fi Site Surveys to help your company to design a Wi-Fi network with wireless access points located and configured efficiently for your particular office environment, traffic volume, and client density.

Cisco 9800 Series Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wi-Fi 6-compatible wireless LAN controller appliances help you automate and manage modern wireless environments that support 802.11ax APs. 802.11ax, popularly known as Wi-Fi 6, builds on previous generation 802.11ac (referred to as Wi-Fi 5) appliances by providing lower latency and more reliable performance, supporting higher client density, offering enhanced protection, conserving energy for battery-powered handheld devices, and offering more flexibility for handling the latest kinds of Internet-of-Things endpoints. Catalyst 9800 family wireless controllers feature always-on availability with seamless software updates, hot fixes, and the ability to connect additional Wi-Fi access points with zero downtime. Enhanced security features include Cisco Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS), secure boot, and Cisco Software-Defined Access (SD-Access). Streaming telemetry permits you to monitor and understand network and endpoint health. All controllers in the Catalyst 9800 family are based on Cisco's IOS XE Software and operate with Cisco's DNA Center (DNAC) or with Cisco Prime Infrastructure network management tools. Cisco's Catalyst 9800 wireless network controllers can manage Cisco Aironet 802.11ac Wave 1 and Wave 2 wireless APs as well as Cisco Catalyst 9100 802.11ax APs.

Cisco Catalyst Wi-Fi 6 Controller Experts

Cisco Wi-Fi 6 wireless controller appliances deliver greater scale than embedded wireless controllers

Cisco Catalyst 9800-L 802.11ax Wi-Fi Controller ExpertsThe Cisco 9800-L 802.11ax Controller is a value-priced appliance with a half-width 1RU chassis that allows dual mounting in a 19-in rack. Designed for small and medium-sized wireless networks, the 9800-L controller offers enhanced speed and scale for customers with a Performance license option. The 9800-L can handle 250 APs and 5,000 clients (500 Wi-Fi access points and 10,00 users if you have Cisco's Performance license). The 9800-L controller delivers 5 Gbps data rates (10 Gbps with a Performance license), and supports 4,096 VLANs. Deployment options include Centralized, Cisco FlexConnect for branch office installations, and fabric. Fixed uplinks include four 2.5G/1G ports and either two 10G/Multigigabit copper (Catalyst 9800-L-C) or two 10G/Multigigabit fiber ports (Catalyst 9800-L-F). Other interfaces include an RJ-45 console interface and a Micro USB console port for management, a USB 3.0 interface for plugging in external RAM, an RJ-45 management interface, and an RJ-45 high-availability redundancy interface for SSO.

Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 Controller ConsultantsThe Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 802.11ax Wireless Controller, offered in a 1 rack unit (RU) form factor, is designed for midsize campus environments. The 9800-40 supports 2,000 Wi-Fi access points and 32,000 clients. The 9800-40 delivers 40 Gbps data rates and supports 4,096 VLANs. Deployment options include Centralized, Cisco FlexConnect, and Fabric Wireless (SD-Access). Integrated ports include four GE SFP/10 GE SFP+ or SFP ports and an SFP Gigabit Ethernet redundancy interface. Other integrated interfaces include RJ-45 and USB 3.0 console interfaces, an RJ-45 service interface, an RJ-45 redundancy port for stateful switchover (SSO), and two USB 3.0 ports for plugging in external memory.

Catalyst 9800-80 Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Controller ConsultantsCisco's Catalyst 9800-80 802.11ax Wireless Controller, available in a 2 rack unit (RU) package, is a modular, high-end Wi-Fi controller designed to manage large campus and service provider deployments. The 9800-80 supports 60,00 Wi-Fi access points and 64,000 client users. The 9800-80 delivers a maximum of 80 Gbps throughput and supports up to 4,096 VLANs. Deployment options include Centralized, FlexConnect, and Fabric Wireless (SD-Access). Integrated uplink interfaces include eight 10G SFP+ ports or six 10G interfaces plus two 1G ports. Supported hot swappable uplink modules can add 18 1GE interfaces, 10 10GE interfaces, a 40GE port, two 40GE interfaces, or one 100GE port. Additional fixed ports include RJ-45 and USB 3.0 console ports, an RJ-45 management interface, an SFP Gigabit Ethernet redundancy port used for stateful switchover, an RJ-45 redundancy interface used for stateful switchover (SSO), and two USB 3.0 ports for adding external RAM.

Cisco Wave 2 802.11ac Wi-Fi 5 Network Controllers
Cisco Wave 2 Wi-Fi 5 controllers allow fast data exchange, provisioning, control, analysis and troubleshooting for Cisco wireless devices and software services. Cisco has developed both physical and software-based Wi-Fi controllers for unified administration of WiFi environments, but WLANs with a large number of wireless APs typically require hardware-based Wi-Fi controllers. Wave 2 Wi-Fi controller devices from Cisco deliver major benefits in comparison to Wave 1 and older products including higher throughput, concurrent support for both 1G and 10G interfaces, improved application visibility and control, and advanced, integrated security.

Cisco WiFi Controller Experts

Cisco's Wave 2 wireless controllers can support Wi-Fi 5 access points

Cisco 3504 Wireless Controller Integration ConsultantsThe Cisco 3504 WiFi Controller is a value-priced device available in a desktop form factor and designed for smaller organizations. You can use the 3504 model in a centralized network architecture such as in small branch and home-based offices administered across the wide-area network via Cisco FlexConnect, or in mesh installations where wiring is limited. The 3504 Wi-Fi controller supports up to 150 WiFi access points and 3,000 clients, offers 4 Gbps performance, and supports 4,096 VLANs. Cisco's 3504 wireless controller features a multi-gigabit Ethernet port and four 1-Gigabit Ethernet connections. Access points can be attached to the controller through two PoE ports. The 3504 Wi-Fi controller offers subsecond failover for access points and users, which provides uninterrupted availability for apps. Like other current Wave 2 Wi-Fi controllers from Cisco, the 3504 device has the integrated capability to work with Cisco Prime Infrastructure, Cisco Mobility Services, and Cisco 5520 and 8540 WiFi controllers.

Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller Configuration ConsultingThe Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller, offered in a 1 rack unit (RU) enclosure, is intended for midsize to large organizations and campus networks and can be run in centralized, distributed, and mesh deployments. The 5520 wireless controller can handle up to 1,500 APs and 20,000 client users, offers 20 Gbps throughput, and supports 4,096 VLANs. The 5520 wireless controller features two 10 GE ports and features solid-state storage, backup fans, optional redundant power supplies, and subsecond failover for high availability.

Cisco 8540 Wi-Fi Controller Setup and Troubleshooting ConsultingThe Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller, offered in a 2RU package, is a high-end wireless controller designed to support large enterprises, service providers, and large campuses. The 8540 WiFi controller can be used in centralized, distributed, and mesh architectures and supports up to 6,000 APs and 64,000 client users. The 8540 WiFi controller offers data rates up to 40 Gbps and supports up to 4,096 VLANs. The 8340 comes with four 1-GB or 10GE interfaces and features SSD storage, redundant power supplies, redundant fans, and rapid failover.

Wave 1 Cisco Wireless Network Controllers
Wireless Network Controllers Configuration and Support ConsultingCisco wireless controllers reduce the effort and cost needed to deploy, manage, and troubleshoot Wi-Fi networks by offering single-point control of tasks like setting up wireless access points, applying consistent policies throughout wired/wireless networks, supporting enterprise-wide Quality of Service (QoS) for voice and HD video, tracking and optimizing system performance, implementing wireless intrusion prevention system (wIPS) tools to defend against unauthorized access and Distributed Denial of Service attacks, and managing IPv6 clients. Cisco has developed wireless LAN controllers for businesses of any size and offers desktop or rackmount controllers, modular plug-in wireless controllers for Cisco ISR routers and switches, and switches with built-in wireless network controllers.

Cisco Wireless Network Controller Module Online Consulting ServicesCisco's Wave 1 WiFi network controllers include Cisco CleanAir technology to avoid RF interference and produce self-healing and self-optimizing wireless networks for maximum 802.11n and 802.11ac throughput and security. Built-in Bonjour Gateways allow discovery, advertisement and policy across WLAN, LAN and WAN for Apple applications. For high availability, Cisco wireless LAN controllers allow AP and client stateful failover by permitting a backup high-availability wireless controller to synch with a primary wireless controller for AP license tabulation, CAPWAP state and roaming keys, and access point CAPWAP state. In case the main wireless controller stops working, thousands of APs and wireless clients can switchover in less than a second to the backup controller.

Cisco's Wireless Module for ISR Routers with UCS-E provides entry-level 802.11n and 802.11ac support for 2900 and 3900 Series routers deployed by small to medium-sized organizations and branch offices. This value-priced and scalable solution can support from five to 200 access points and as many as 6000 clients. (To find out about Progent's remote and on-premises consulting support for Cisco routers, refer to Cisco router deployment and troubleshooting services.)

Cisco Legacy Wireless LAN Controllers
Cisco Catalyst 3650 Series are 1RU form-factor switches intended for SMBs and satellite offices and come with an integrated wireless LAN controller with the ability to handle 40 Gb of wireless throughput for each switch and up to 25 APs and 1000 clients per switch or stack. Catalyst 3850 Series are 1RU rackmount switches designed for midsize businesses and large enterprises and feature a built-in wireless controller supporting 40 Gb of wireless capacity per switch and support for 50 APs and up to 2000 wireless clients. The WiSM2 is an add-in blade for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches that include a built-in wireless LAN controller designed for mid-to-large size businesses and capable of 20 Gbps performance and able to handle 1000 wireless access points and 15,000 clients. (To learn concerning Progent's online and onsite consulting support for Catalyst switches, refer to Cisco switches deployment and management consulting.)

Cisco 2500 Series Wireless Controllers are economical desktop devices that streamline the deployment and management of wireless LANs for small and midsize businesses and branches. The 2500 Series wireless LAN controller can manage from five to 75 access points and up to 1000 wireless clients and offers sustained performance of up to 1 Gbps.

Cisco Wireless Network Controllers Online ConsultingCisco's 5500 Series Wireless Controller is a scalable 1RU appliance intended for mid-to-large sized organizations and campus environments and can support up to 500 wireless access points and 7,000 clients while delivering 8 Gbps performance. Cisco's 5760 Wireless Controller is a 1RU device designed for mid-to-large campuses with support for up to 1000 wireless access points and 12,000 clients and offering throughput of 60 Gbps to handle high client densities and high amounts of media-rich applications.

The Cisco Flex 7500 Series Wireless Controller is intended to manage massive collections of wireless branches from a single datacenter, avoiding the need for a Wi-Fi controller at each branch. The 1RU rackmount Flex 7500 allows you to build a private cloud to deploy, monitor, maintain, and repair up to 6000 wireless access points and 64,000 wireless clients while supporting 1 Gbps performance. Cisco's 8500 Series Wireless Controller is a 1RU appliance designed to manage Wi-Fi networks for large campuses or for service providers and can scale to support 6000 wireless points and 64,000 clients while offering 10 Gbps throughput.

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