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Cisco Wireless vs ExtremeWireless comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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
Ranking in Wireless LAN
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
151
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ExtremeWireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 11.8%, down from 16.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeWireless is 1.7%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Michael Lees - PeerSpot reviewer
Affordable, resilient, and performs better than other solutions in the market
Assurance capabilities must be improved. There should be more Assurance features on the Wireless LAN Controller. A lot of it is bundled into the DNA Center. Having a little more Assurance regarding what the RF Spectrum looks like will be good. Juniper Mist has a lot of analytical data on the dashboard. The customers would be compelled to look at DNA Center as a longer-term and more comprehensive solution if Cisco were to give them an insight into some of the Assurance capabilities that might be available in DNA Center. The tool must provide something like RF Neighbor. It must enable organizations to receive signal strength and signal-to-noise ratio and see how clients perform in their wireless network. It must have a cap. If we want additional functionality to see our entire network, that's where DNA Center fits in.
Seungho Yang - PeerSpot reviewer
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…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the coverage."
"The integration with Cisco ISE is good, and together we use them to provide services."
"The ability to deploy wireless access points with templates."
"The technical support is excellent."
"Device profiling allows us to have different policies applied by ISE to wireless clients."
"It can provide support for real-time applications, such as VoIP and Video Conferencing over wireless infrastructure."
"Identity PSK helps save SSIDs."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"The most useful feature is how the product integrates with the Microsoft directory in the cloud."
"The wireless security solution is the most valuable feature of ExtremeWireless."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability of its access points to adapt and self-heal."
"The cloud-based solution allows for easy management and monitoring of traffic and congestion."
"It provides seamless connectivity if you move around."
"I like Cloud IQ, ExtremeWireless' cloud controller and analytics platform. It's full of information, easy to use, and provides excellent visibility into my network."
"ExtremeWireless is known for its strong security engine, Air Defense, which provides necessary wireless security assistance to many of my customers."
"ExtremeWireless provides us with enterprise-level authentication methods at an excellent cost. It supports all the latest authentication methods. Another advantage is the built-in DHCP server. We don't need third-party DHCP servers to get the IPF."
 

Cons

"Cisco won't work with any other vendors. That is a significant problem with Cisco."
"The coverage area of Cisco Wireless could improve. Additionally, the reports when a problem arises could be better, such as how it is done in Aruba Wireless solutions. In the Aruba wireless solutions, there are reports that are provided regarding uploads, downloads, and other internet activity that are useful. If this feature was added to Cisco that would be a benefit."
"The installation is very tiring and painful, the process could be easier."
"In the future, it would be great if the solution had a GPS feature that could have the ability through access points to locate cell phone users inside a local wireless network, for example in a stadium."
"The main concern is the length and overlapping. We have to put on four to six access points on the same floor, and we face the issue of overlapping areas. If Cisco can extend the range of their indoor APs, we would need to install just one or two access points, and it would eliminate the problem of the overlapping area."
"The security must be improved."
"The product could improve the security system's alertness to detect and respond to intrusions more effectively."
"Sometimes it requires three to five years, and it depends on the subscription. I sometimes face issues with clients regarding this."
"The APs have quite a low signal compared to other brands."
"The ExtremeWireless WiNG Access Point on-premise is not as good as the cloud and many of my customers are switching. It is easier for my clients to manage everything from the cloud. I currently use a model of the controller that does not support any cloud functionality."
"The user interface of ExtremeWireless could be better. It is not user-friendly."
"The product must be provided at a cheaper price."
"It is a subscription model, so it is maybe a bit pricey."
"The main area for improvement is the company's local visibility."
"The solution needs to improve its portfolio."
"The solution must include integrated IoT solutions on their wireless APs."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco WiFi 1572 is very expensive locally and our budget for this year is used."
"Cisco Wireless solutions should have a price reduction for educations centers. Education centers are there to help people grow and there are not large budgets. The solution tends to be expensive and it can cause difficulties when purchasing them here in Africa."
"As far as I know Cisco is very competitive, price-wise. Talk to your third-party vendor. It all depends on the company size - how many employees, how big the building is. If it's wireless, and you have only 50 employees but you're using a large building floor, in that case you need many access points. But if you have 50 employees using two or three rooms, then you probably don't need it and it's going to be high density, so there is a different design. So you need to talk to a subject matter expert. Talk to them and design accordingly."
"The cost model is expensive."
"Pricing is a bit on the high side compared to its competitors but we have to consider the support and usages of the solution. Licensing is now RTU and smart licensing. We need three types of licenses. One for each of the: APs, HA, controller."
"It's a bit expensive but it's professional and works properly."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"The price of the solution overall is expensive. Additionally, the controller and license are expensive. We pay for an annual subscription."
"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."
"I rate the product's pricing a three or four out of ten."
"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."
"I rate the price of Extreme Wireless a three out of five."
"It's not as expensive as some and is scalable to our needs."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The solution has a yearly subscription, and we have to pay additional costs for technical support."
report
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Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 24, 2015
Cisco vs. Aruba Wireless Solutions
Cisco or Aruba Networks? If you are considering wireless access solutions, this is a common question that you are probably asking. You probably have sales people knocking at your door. How do you make sense of all the stories that you are presented with. If you have done any research, you are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
11%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
Which is better - Ruckus Wireless or Cisco Wireless?
Ruckus Wireless offers users the benefit of being both easy to set up and get running as well as being very user friendly. This user-friendly quality also renders it easy to learn how to use and ma...
How does Cisco Wireless compare with Aruba Wireless?
On the most basic level, Cisco Wireless can offer a rather straightforward initial setup. In the span of about three hours, the basic framework can be set up. Step-by-step instructions are availabl...
What needs improvement with ExtremeWireless?
The performance of the access points could be improved. ExtremeWireless coverage and signal stability could be enhanced to match the level of Ruckus Wireless and other vendors.
What is your primary use case for ExtremeWireless?
The primary use case is for cloud-based access management, as ExtremeWireless is pioneering in this area. Additionally, they have a robust security engine called Air Defense, which provides profess...
 

Also Known As

Cisco WLAN Controller
No data available
 

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)
St. Xavier High School, Americatel, Diamond Light Source
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Wireless vs. ExtremeWireless and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
830,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.