Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs ExtremeWireless comparison

Cisco and Extreme are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Extreme is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.3. Cisco holds a 13.0% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to Extreme’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Extreme users who would recommend it.

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Read 118 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN reviews

16,460 Views
13,308 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

ExtremeWireless

Read 29 ExtremeWireless reviews

1,852 Views
1,617 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

ExtremeWireless

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

ExtremeWireless and Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN compete in the wireless LAN market. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN stands out due to its advanced features like integrated security and cloud management, while ExtremeWireless is favored for its competitive pricing and strong customer support.

Features: ExtremeWireless offers robust connectivity, customizable configurations, and flexibility, making it appealing for enterprises seeking adaptive solutions. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN features integrated network security, centralized cloud-based management, and high in-depth visibility of network activities, providing a comprehensive solution.

Room for Improvement: ExtremeWireless could benefit from faster deployment options, enhanced integration with cloud-based systems, and broader support for diverse environments. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN might improve by reducing the initial cost, offering more personalization in support services, and expanding customization capabilities for advanced users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers streamlined deployment with centralized cloud management, simplifying oversight. ExtremeWireless needs manual configuration, which can extend setup time, but compensates with more personalized and responsive customer support.

Pricing and ROI: ExtremeWireless is known for competitive pricing and a favorable return on investment, appealing to budget-conscious enterprises. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN has higher initial costs, but robust features and efficient management tools provide significant long-term value, justifying the investment despite a larger upfront cost.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. ExtremeWireless Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. ExtremeWireless

March 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Ranking in Wireless LAN

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

118

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

ExtremeWireless

Ranking in Wireless LAN

16th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 13.0%, up from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeWireless is 1.6%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

Mageshwaran S

Solution Architect at Bharti Airtel ·

Enables organizations to control many sites globally with a lean IT team and provides visibility into the user activities

The solution can handle only medium and small businesses. We face a bottleneck on the gateway while using the solution for large enterprises. The solution must be able to expand to larger enterprises. Currently, the MX device can support only up to 10,000 users. It would be good if it can go beyond 1 lakh users. Catalyst 9300 is coming on the Meraki Dashboard. The vendor must also bring in the 9400 and 9600 Catalyst series. It will be very helpful. We will not have any choke on the gateway. There is no active-active concept. It will be very helpful if the solution provides active-active. Now, we are doing an active-passive setup, which is a warm spare. If it is an active-active setup, the gateway bottleneck issue can be resolved. I would be able to segment the Wireless LAN IPs. It will help support 20,000 devices at a go. Meraki does not have a single dashboard. I need to port an on-premise controller. There is a bottleneck while scaling the product. I need to consider a lot of things.

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Seungho Yang

Network Engineer at KOREAN AIR

Enhanced employee access with effective wireless monitoring and seamless roaming

Our use case for ExtremeWireless is to allow our employees to access the company systems The monitoring systems in ExtremeWireless have been very effective, and they are cheaper than other products. It provides better monitoring logs and detailed logs compared to Cisco Wireless. The most…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It enables quick deployment within all branches for the users."

"Allows for cloud-based management of your Wi-Fi network."

"It has good security with its Layer 7 protections."

"We can deploy it and check in on our customers without having an on-site connection or an on-site infrastructure for elderly customers."

"I like the status page Cisco added that shows you the health of the wireless connection."

"Its flexibility, ease of management via the portal, and the variety of access points are the most valuable features."

"It's a stable product."

"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

"The product's price is competitive. It is an impressive and reliable product."

"ExtremeWireless is a powerful solution with good integration. It works perfectly for us."

"ExtremeWireless is known for its strong security engine, Air Defense, which provides necessary wireless security assistance to many of my customers."

"The initial setup process is simple."

"The most valuable feature is the cloud-managed aspect."

"In terms of the most valuable features, I like the integration with the fabric. The network fabric completely integrates with wireless as well."

"The central control is valuable."

"The most useful feature is how the product integrates with the Microsoft directory in the cloud."

More ExtremeWireless pros

Cons

"I'd like better integration with security providers."

"The Meraki platform needs better on-premises management options."

"They should introduce a grace period of 60 days after license expiry because as it is now, it automatically goes down and there is no grace period."

"The most important improvement needed is to eliminate the limitation of uplinks."

"Currently, with Meraki, a controller is required to direct guest and user traffic to the internet. Improvement is needed in the portal for enhanced visibility into activities. Additionally, addressing multiple bugs, especially those arising with new releases, is crucial to ensure system stability."

"They're great. If there's anything that they need to change, it is just simplifying the site to which you go to make changes on the admin side."

"It is expensive. Juniper seems to have a lot more to offer for future expansion. Juniper has some features that are not there in this solution."

"Its price could be improved."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

"The main area for improvement is the company's local visibility."

"Many companies prefer Aruba over ExtremeWireless, possibly due to Aruba's broader range of products or their thorough approach to understanding customer needs."

"The product must be provided at a cheaper price."

"The solution should offer better support."

"It is a subscription model, so it is maybe a bit pricey."

"The solution must include integrated IoT solutions on their wireless APs."

"They should develop more troubleshooting tools for system management."

"The ability to integrate with network devices from other vendors would be helpful."

More ExtremeWireless cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the product could be cheaper."

"The cost is not so much for Wireless LAN, but when you have to get the security license, it costs a lot."

"It is expensive, but it is a good product."

"You have to renew your contract every year, or for three or for five years. If you do not pay right away they will suspend your subscription."

"The solution is pretty expensive."

"We do a three-year or five-year license and support. Its price could be better, but overall, we get competitive prices. A lot of times, Cisco puts itself out of range, especially with Meraki. I've dealt with a lot of business development from Cisco, and they have always been accommodating, especially in dealing with hospitals or government. There is also a right time to buy it. July is when they are eager to sell a lot of things because that is the end of their calendar year."

"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is not a reasonably priced product for home use. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is a reasonably priced product for enterprise-sized businesses."

"The price of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN could be improved, it is too expensive. We pay for the solution on an annual basis."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

"There are both paid and free licenses of the cloud environment, with only basic functionality in the free version."

"The license cost per AP is about $150 USD."

"Extreme isn't the most expensive, but it's not a low-cost solution, and because there are no big volumes, you don't receive significant discounts, making the final price higher."

"ExtremeWireless is subscription-based for both cloud and on-prem solutions, and it's quite expensive."

"ExtremeWireless isn't budget-friendly. The hardware costs around 20,000 Indian rupees. We're still using an older controller, so it doesn't require a license, unlike the newest versions of the ExtremeWireless controller."

"Our access points device is at its end of life. I can buy one more and then I must buy a new device, but if it is a new device it will not support the old virtual appliance. I would need to upgrade our virtual appliance to the next version or build a new virtual appliance with new devices, and it's not good for us. The overall licensing subscription could be better."

"The solution is priced well and we currently are only paying for a license for maintenance."

"It's not as expensive as some and is scalable to our needs."

More ExtremeWireless pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Government

11%

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?

Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...

See all answers

Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...

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How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...

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What do you like most about ExtremeWireless?

The initial setup process is simple.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ExtremeWireless?

There is some delay in firmware upgrades for access points. When there is a problem with the firmware of one access point, the correction might be too late.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ExtremeWireless?

We work with some end customers, and we use ExtremeCloud IQ ( /products/extremecloud-iq-reviews ) for the administration of the wireless platform. We use Wi-Fi 6 E for many users.

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 32% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 16% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 11% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Ekahau Site Survey vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 1% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Ruckus Wireless vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 39% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 20% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 8% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 4% of the time

ExtremeCloud IQ vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 4% of the time

More ExtremeWireless Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

March 2025

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeWireless

March 2025

Download ExtremeWireless product report

Also Known As

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN

No data available

Overview

Cisco Meraki access points are built from the highest grade components and carefully optimized for a seamless user experience. The outcome: faster connections, greater user capacity, more coverage, and fewer support calls. The Cisco Meraki dashboard gives visibility into the network users, their devices, and their applications. Armed with rich analytics, administrators can quickly create access control and application usage policies, optimizing both the end-user experience and network security.

Cisco

Extreme ExtremeWireless Access Points deliver wired-like performance, at scale for high-density in every environment. Smart Access Points are equally adept for both distributed and centralized deployment models. ExtremeWireless Controllers provide advanced functionality to allow organizations to define how wireless voice/video/data traffic is processed without architectural constraints and in accordance with business needs.

Extreme

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins

St. Xavier High School, Americatel, Diamond Light Source

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. ExtremeWireless

March 2025

Free Report: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. ExtremeWireless

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