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Cisco Wireless WAN vs Fortinet FortiExtender comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Wireless WAN
Ranking in Wireless WAN
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiExtender
Ranking in Wireless WAN
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Wireless WAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless WAN is 2.8%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiExtender is 1.3%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless WAN
 

Featured Reviews

LalanChowdhury - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhances network reliability, offers device longevity and offers open authentication
The device longevity is a factor. enhances network reliability. Specifically, the handoff feature for WAN, when a customer moves from one access point to another in a building or office, is much easier and more reliable if it's controller-based. So, in those cases, we recommend the traditional controller-based solution. Cisco is adding AI features; they've already started in SD-WAN. But in Bangladesh, people are still new to AI. Cisco is including AI capabilities in their devices, so people are gradually adopting them. If they need AI-driven devices for industrial purposes, they can use them. So, Cisco is forward-thinking with these features. Even though they're not being used extensively now, they may be used in the future for things like RFID or automation. That's why Cisco's solution is logical and adaptable.
Mohammad Al-Zard - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless with excellent integration capabilities and flexibility
What most of my clients are telling me is the price is a problem. That would be the best thing to start with. They agree on the value, and we have a very solid argument with the clients that proper service and value comes at a proper price. However, we hope to have more flexible pricing. That would be the first point to be mentioned. The product management team has asked to have a Multi-SIM device. We've had this for one year. Covid just drove everything towards working from home regarding teleworking and all of that stuff. The product is mature enough. Mainly, that would be the price. If they could therefore have some more, let's say, enhancements on it, then we can make more of a financial case. One feature that was discussed with the product management team of Fortinet FortiExtender was to have the ability to have the possibility to upload our own drivers. For example, the Extender itself could be dealing with the SIM card directly, where you install it, and then you're ready to go. Or, you may install a USB dongle into the Extender itself. Some mobile carriers here in Jordan do not allow users to relocate the SIM card from within their biscuit or USB dongle and install it in their own modem or their own Extender. However, with particular scenarios, we would appreciate having the possibility to upload a third-party driver for simplicity, integrating whatever sales provider facility we have into the Fortinet technology.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Mobile anchoring and graphic user interface are helpful features."
"The program is very stable."
"The most valuable features are user and handling capacity, indoor and outdoor access points and antennas, and the inbuilt intrusion prevention system."
"It is also reasonably priced. The tool is scalable."
"Cisco Wireless WAN's best feature is the integration with other Cisco products."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."
"Cisco Wireless WAN is stable and scalable, and the support received is good."
"Reliability and visibility in the product are most valuable. We are able to see client performance, signal strength for clients, and things like that."
"For me, the best feature of Fortinet FortiExtender is its integration with an external solution such as a 5G LTE broadband modem, wired modem, and cellular network. I also like that the product can be integrated into one device or a unified device, and that is one of its best features because it allows you to manage and centralize the control of every device."
"You don't need to have two different vendors to interoperate and get into comparability issues or inter-operability issues."
"We appreciate that this solution can be used as an active secondary link as well as a backup."
"The most valuable feature will be that it works."
"The solution is extremely user-friendly."
"The product is easy to use and easy to integrate."
"The initial setup was was just beautiful. It was straightforward."
"Management can be carried out from a central point."
 

Cons

"The coverage area on some of the low-end access points isn't the best. The high-end ones are fine, but we've had bad experiences on the other ones."
"The setup of Cisco Wireless WAN needs an expert. You need someone with experience to be able to work with Cisco Wireless solutions. It took approximately one to two weeks to implement the solution."
"We did have issues with the product that made us concerned about the overall stability."
"I hope Cisco can improve the capacity to service a high density of users in a small area, as currently we have difficulties with this."
"Documentation is an area that needs review. It should be more dynamic and it should be easier."
"The CLI type is not very user-friendly."
"There are some limitations with scaling the on-premises version - if you want to scale, you need to change the hardware and purchase a new wireless controller at an additional cost."
"It is expensive."
"Though Fortinet FortiExtender has some security features, the product could still be improved by adding features similar to those in FortiGuard, such as antivirus, intrusion, prevention, and detection, as well as web filtering features. The product is also not as user-friendly, so that's another area for improvement. In the FortiGate UTM solution of Fortinet, there's software-defined or SD-WAN, and in the next release of Fortinet FortiExtender, I'd like to see SD-WAN embedded in the product. Most of the communication in Fortinet FortiExtender is related to WAN and Edge, so having an SD-WAN function in the product would be useful for integrating and controlling WAN communication."
"The solution would be a lot better if it was a little bit more intuitive. Additionally, the help menu would be a lot better if it was easier to identify the items that I was looking for. I find the graphical interface a little bit difficult to navigate. And I find the font that is used on the HTML interface not conducive to being able to be read in low light situations."
"There is a huge downside because we need to remove and insert the SIM to get it working."
"We would like to see some improvement in the price for 5G models, as they are currently very expensive."
"What most of my clients are telling me is the price is a problem."
"The support could be faster and more responsive."
"I would like to see them make it smaller in the next release so that it has a smaller footprint for mobile clients."
"The engineering of the solution has some negative points, especially in terms of troubleshooting. It's difficult to troubleshoot when we have a problem. It's not like other products like Cisco or Palo Alto which make troubleshooting much easier."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is expensive."
"On the low end, the solution costs probably around $1200 to $1300 for five years. It's an expensive product."
"The price of Cisco Wireless WAN could improve upon pricing, it is expensive. We purchased the hardware through a vendor that Cisco used and we received approximately 75 percent off."
"The tool is expensive."
"Cisco is much more expensive than the other vendor solutions."
"If you have a two-person team doing the physical access point installations, they should be able to set up 10 to 20 access points per day."
"Cisco's licensing model includes some mandatory licenses, making it more expensive than other vendors like HP, Aruba, and Ruckus."
"The license is not subscription-based."
"I've only used the open-source version of Fortinet FortiExtender, but I know that it has some features that require you to pay for a license."
"The solution is not that expensive."
"I'm not sure what the cost is. However, I anticipate that the purchase price will range between $2,500 and $5,000."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
93%
Real Estate/Law Firm
1%
Manufacturing Company
1%
Educational Organization
1%
Computer Software Company
27%
Insurance Company
10%
Government
9%
Media Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Wireless WAN?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Wireless WAN?
The price point is the main challenge as it seems complicated and unclear. We pay a premium for features we do not use.
What needs improvement with Cisco Wireless WAN?
The price point is contentious as the licensing model seems complicated and unclear. We pay a premium for features we do not use.
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiExtender?
The product is easy to use and easy to integrate.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiExtender?
The solution is not that expensive. I rate pricing a six out of ten. The product has a yearly subscription. The clients must pay only for the license. They need not pay any additional costs.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiExtender?
The support could be faster and more responsive.
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Brunel University London, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Chartwell School, Children's Hospital Colorado, Cisco Live Milan, City of Biel, City of Mississauga, Dundee Precious Metals, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Erickson Living, Goldcorp, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS)
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Wireless WAN vs. Fortinet FortiExtender and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.