January 22, 2012 by 18 Comments

Update to WLAN Vendor Tiers

Two years ago I posted a list of what I thought were the current state of Wireless LAN Vendors into three tiers. It received quite a few comments, and I thought it high time to revisit this list. (plus a little nudge from Zaib over at http://www.wlanbook.com.

This is not some ‘Gartner Magic Quadrant’ type thing. No hard data, like from a Dell’Oro Group report. This is just my personal opinion of where these fall. Not a ranking by quality, or by technology… just a ‘gut feel’ from what I see out in the marketplace. They are just random inside the Tiers. I was not about to try and rank these within tiers… that would take more research and numbers… then this wouldn’t be a ‘gut feel’ but measured.

I would love to hear what you think. Did I miss any major vendor? Any of these placed in the wrong Tier?

Tier One

  • Cisco
  • Aruba
  • Motorola

Tier Two

  • Ruckus
  • Aerohive
  • Meraki
  • Ubiquiti
  • Hewlett Packard
  • Xirrus
  • D-Link
  • Meru
  • Enterasys/Siemens
  • Trapeze

Tier Three

  • Senao/Engenius
  • Mikrotik
  • Bluesocket
  • 3Com
  • LANCOM
  • Extricom
  • Proxim Wireless
  • Belkin
  • Linksys
  • Netgear
  • Fon
  • SMC
  • RealTek
  • TrendNet
  • ZyXEL

There are other Vendors who work in more Niche space like FireTide and Belair that I haven’t added to any of these tiers. Or those like Extreme that just OEM someone else’s product lines.

This is purely one man’s opinion… what are your opinions? Who should be moved between tiers, who should be added or removed? What WLAN vendors do you see in your space?

Categories : WLAN Pros
  • André

    It’s a pretty good list, I do think a couple off the Tier2 could be bumped up to T1 and others T3.

    Any thoughts on Avaya?

    • Frank Sweetser

       I’ve played around with their new 8100 gear in the lab a bit, and while it’s got a lot of promise, it’s still a version 1.x product.  For example, there are currently quite a few AP config changes that require a full reboot of the AP to take affect.  I’d say give it another year or two for spit and polish and working in a few differentiating features, and it could definitely be a contender.

  • André

    It’s a pretty good list, I do think a couple off the Tier2 could be bumped up to T1 and others T3.

    Any thoughts on Avaya?

    • Frank Sweetser

       I’ve played around with their new 8100 gear in the lab a bit, and while it’s got a lot of promise, it’s still a version 1.x product.  For example, there are currently quite a few AP config changes that require a full reboot of the AP to take affect.  I’d say give it another year or two for spit and polish and working in a few differentiating features, and it could definitely be a contender.

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  • Frank Sweetser

    We’re a pretty happy Trapeze (now Juniper, actually) customer, with around 550 APs installed, and from my perspective it feels like a tier 1.  Any particular reason you put them in tier 2?  I’ve only played with aruba a bit, and haven’t touched Cisco gear since it was airespace, but they feel on the same par to me.

  • Frank Sweetser

    We’re a pretty happy Trapeze (now Juniper, actually) customer, with around 550 APs installed, and from my perspective it feels like a tier 1.  Any particular reason you put them in tier 2?  I’ve only played with aruba a bit, and haven’t touched Cisco gear since it was airespace, but they feel on the same par to me.

  • Duro

    you should merge 3com and HP and if some name missing into Tier1 than it is HP (but this is you list) 
    also Trapeze should be branded as juniper to reflect reality
    Blusocket acquired by ADTRAN 
    Tropos is one of the vendor which ins`t mention at all  

  • Duro

    you should merge 3com and HP and if some name missing into Tier1 than it is HP (but this is you list) 
    also Trapeze should be branded as juniper to reflect reality
    Blusocket acquired by ADTRAN 
    Tropos is one of the vendor which ins`t mention at all  

  • AgentEd

    I think this list is pretty accurate in reflecting the current state of wifi. 

    I don’t think it as clear-cut as to what technologies belong where, but as to who is on what slot in the “market” is seems pretty good. Cisco and Aruba are definitely right if you’re showing who is really making headway in the market.

  • AgentEd

    I think this list is pretty accurate in reflecting the current state of wifi. 

    I don’t think it as clear-cut as to what technologies belong where, but as to who is on what slot in the “market” is seems pretty good. Cisco and Aruba are definitely right if you’re showing who is really making headway in the market.

  • Geoff

    I’m curious what you see/don’t see in Trapeze (now Juniper) as compared to Aruba and the other tier 1s?

  • Geoff

    I’m curious what you see/don’t see in Trapeze (now Juniper) as compared to Aruba and the other tier 1s?

  • Melvin Fleiser

    Keith, I’d would love to see another update of this list (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) as I suspect a one or two vendors my have moved up a tier.

    *Is there any chance this comment on a year old post will even be read? :) *

  • Melvin Fleiser

    Keith, I’d would love to see another update of this list (and I’m sure I’m not the only one) as I suspect a one or two vendors my have moved up a tier.

    *Is there any chance this comment on a year old post will even be read? :) *