Asserting its dominance once again, Cisco snared the gold award in wireless LAN systems with its Unified Wireless Network, a system designed to keep business operations continuously running so workers and visitors can all have a successful and secure experience on an enterprise's network.

Cisco states that its wireless network solution is the only one that will cost-effectively address wireless security, deployment, management and control issues. The Unified Wireless Network solution claims to support next-generation wireless networking by offering simplified migration to pervasive wireless networks, guest access, device tracking and location-based security, advanced security and intrusion prevention, voice-ready wireless, and radio frequency solutions. Featured products within the solution include Aironet access points, the Cisco Wireless Control System, the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance, and wireless LAN controllers.

As with any enterprise network, security is a major concern. The Cisco Unified Wireless Network satisfied our Product Leadership survey respondents, however, earning a nearly 85% rating of good or excellent when it came to the solution's security. One user commented that it is "a safe and trusted platform."

Just under 80% of respondents called the scalability and performance of the Unified Wireless Network solution good or excellent. For any size of business, matters of scalability, as well as continued performance, are typically of high importance when selecting a product. One user commented: "The performance of our Cisco products has been outstanding."

In the reliability criterion, the Unified Wireless Network solution also proved itself a high-quality product, pulling in a very strong rating of 83% good or excellent. Survey respondents offered such comments as, "It's reliable and easy to use," and "Great, reliable product."

Overall, the Cisco Unified Wireless Network solution achieved a user rating of 77% good or excellent. The system's weakest showings were in cost and manageability. The comment, "It's a great system, but expensive," was made more than once. One user noted that the system "requires constant hand-holding to get adequate usage from it." Echoing that remark, another respondent said that his company "enjoys the great features, but we're not using it to its fullest potential."

Kate Dostart, Associate Editor