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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
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 11.7%, down from 15.8% 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

GulfrazAhmad - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrates with ISE, and is secure, reliable, and easy to deploy
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. They should provide built-in features for safe authentication. Right now, we integrate with ISE and FortiClient for this feature. We first check the NAC, and after the NAC and before the domain, a token password installed on their mobile or a physical token is required to join the network. If Cisco had built-in authentication, we would be able to eliminate one product from our network.
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

"Cisco's support team is the best in the industry."
"For me, there are two important features: 1) WLAN grouping – Allows us to have different groups and, within those groups, specific WLANs, so there is no overlapping. 2) FlexConnect – Enables us to have remote offices at different locations. We can have a central WLC to control all the locations."
"The product is compatible with a lot of mobile devices."
"Wireless access has enabled users to be mobile and as a result, more productive."
"Cisco Wireless is quite convenient for mobile and laptop access."
"It's a reliable solution."
"Good manageability, and stability."
"Its stability is most valuable."
"The most valuable feature is stability."
"It provides seamless connectivity if you move around."
"In terms of the most valuable features, I like the integration with the fabric. The network fabric completely integrates with wireless as well."
"ExtremeWireless is known for its strong security engine, Air Defense, which provides necessary wireless security assistance to many of my customers."
"The security is very good."
"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."
"The wireless security solution is the most valuable feature of ExtremeWireless."
"The stability of the solution has been fine."
 

Cons

"The price could be better. The configuration is also complex. It would be better if there's an NEC solution. That's one of the things we really want to have. It should also be as fast as possible."
"For all products on the market, the availability of the products may not be ideal. We're waiting on a lot of products simply due to the fact that there's a material shortage. We've ordered products and have had to wait three or four months for anything to get delivered. This is not just Cisco. It's a problem on the market for all components which include semiconductors."
"The biggest reason why we could no longer continue with Cisco Wireless was because of the high cost to upgrade everything. It was disappointing that Cisco treated us as just another big company, and did not offer any leeway on their pricing given that we are an educational institute. And although the system we had in place from Cisco Wireless was good enough over the last ten years, it started to show its age when pushed to its limit during the pandemic."
"We use a Cisco product called Room Kit for meetings. It would be nice if Cisco could improve that. I would also like a cloud solution."
"It would be great if it is compatible with other products."
"The solution could be more stable."
"In the next release, I would like to have support for Wi-Fi 6."
"The reporting tool in Cisco Wireless could improve. If I am trying to receive information about a client or user, it's cumbersome to retrieve the information on the controller system. If I'm trying to find out where a client's been, it's cumbersome. You need another tool for Historical logs, but it should be all in one."
"The user interface of ExtremeWireless could be better. It is not user-friendly."
"The APs have quite a low signal compared to other brands."
"The product must be provided at a cheaper price."
"The solution should offer better support."
"The reports could prove in ExtremeWireless. However, we are in the early stages of use and we might be able to configure them better."
"The management portal is in need of improvement."
"The troubleshooting feature for the cloud version is challenging."
"The cost is a little high."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are on an annual license. The license and the hardware are expensive."
"Its licensing is not simple. There are additional license costs for features, which is frustrating for us. There are some features that are included for free in the base Aruba product, but they are available at additional costs in this solution."
"We have to pay for the hardware and support is extra and we do pay for the support."
"I rate the tool's pricing a ten out of ten. It is expensive compared to Aruba and Juniper."
"It is an expensive product. I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The pricing is a bit high."
"This is an expensive product."
"The solution is priced well and we currently are only paying for a license for maintenance."
"The license cost per AP is about $150 USD."
"I rate the product's pricing a three or four out of ten."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"ExtremeWireless is subscription-based for both cloud and on-prem solutions, and it's quite expensive."
"The solution has a yearly subscription, and we have to pay additional costs for technical support."
"We pay approximately $30,000 per year."
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
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
11%
Educational Organization
7%
 

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?
They should develop more troubleshooting tools for system management. Additional troubleshooting tools should be created by the engineers.
 

Also Known As

Cisco WLAN Controller
No data available
 

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: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.