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ExtremeWireless vs Fortinet FortiAP 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

ExtremeWireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiAP
Ranking in Wireless LAN
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of ExtremeWireless is 1.7%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAP is 3.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

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…
Yati Gharat - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrates well with Fortinet products, but there are signal issues in the outdoor environment
FortiAP is very good in an indoor environment, but we are struggling with the outdoor environment. That is where we are having certain issues. We are not 100% happy with it. With the indoor environment, we are okay, but we are facing some issues when certain voice-related calls go from wireless points. There are certain drops, and we have faced these issues on an ongoing basis. We also have other vendors such as Aruba and Meraki, and we do not face any issues when there is a Teams or Zoom meeting going on. It could be that FortiAP is okay, but that particular device or appliance is not capable of handling that much load of voice and video. This might be the issue. RF Spectrum Analysis helps to understand what is the coverage and hotspots related to a particular access point, but then when we bought it, we did heat mapping through different vendors. If there are any rogue APs, we can identify them with RF Spectrum Analysis. We can see what the coverage area is, but there are some issues with that. Some of the offices have thick glasses, or the cabins are different, so in the RF coverage, what is shown is not what we get on the practical grounds. There are some issues with signal performance. It has the basic functionality that is mostly used, but there are certain devices that are not able to interconnect. When there is any issue or problem, if the administrator can get some information about that, that will be good. With Meraki and Aruba, we get certain beautiful things. If those can be integrated into this solution, it will be more beneficial, but we understand that being a security company, Fortinet's focus is on security.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's reliable and works well. It's pretty stable."
"The most valuable feature is stability."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability of its access points to adapt and self-heal."
"ExtremeWireless is a powerful solution with good integration. It works perfectly for us."
"It's cloud-based and very easy to deploy."
"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 offers profiles, policies, and tags."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy, especially with FortiGate or your FortiManager in place."
"The pricing is reasonable for what it offers."
"We really don't need to call technical support. Any time we have had to call, they've been great."
"The solution supports recent security components like encryption or hashing algorithms. We can control the APs from FortiGate Firewalls and integrate those APs into FortiGate. You don't have to purchase a separate controller for it."
"If we have FortiClient installed on multiple devices, it is seamless to connect with FortiAP. It supports passwordless authentication as well. That is a great thing about it."
"The setup was straightforward."
"I like FortiAP's performance and stability. The reporting is also quite good."
"The most valuable aspect of Fortinet FortiAP is the support."
 

Cons

"The performance of the access points could be improved."
"They should develop more troubleshooting tools for system management. Additional troubleshooting tools should be created by the engineers."
"The management portal is in need of improvement."
"The APs have quite a low signal compared to other brands."
"They should develop more troubleshooting tools for system management."
"Wireless products, in general, have room for improvement compared to wired ones, which are more stable."
"One area that could be improved is the accuracy of tracking tags."
"The current product line is very high-level and is well suited for enterprise-level organizations, but they need a more cost-effective solution for smaller businesses."
"The product fails to offer default access points to deal with the areas revolving around configurations."
"There is room for improvement in the product by expanding the number of SSIDs that can be broadcast."
"The security integration between the network and firewall has room for improvement."
"I would like to have automation capabilities that would help us reduce the configuration steps."
"The support offered by the solution has certain shortcomings, making it in areas where improvements are required."
"FortiAP is very good in an indoor environment, but we are struggling with the outdoor environment."
"Technical support is a pain. Fortinet has to get its act together. If you don't pay for premium service, you will have issues."
"The improvement factor could be in APs. Also, it could have a control, like MAC address."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is priced well and we currently are only paying for a license for maintenance."
"The purchase of 350 access points cost approximately $250,000 USD."
"We pay approximately $30,000 per year."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"I rate the price of Extreme Wireless a three out of five."
"The product is available at a very comfortable price for my company compared to the other products available in the market. The prices of products from Meraki and Aruba are high compared to those of Fortinet."
"FortiAP is more expensive than some other options."
"If I compare it with the other enterprise products, the price is good."
"We purchased perpetual licensing, and additional costs may vary depending on the services acquired from Fortinet."
"The devices under Fortinet are not expensive. The solution's licensing part is expensive."
"On a scale of one to ten with ten being the most expensive, I would rate FortiAP a six."
"Fortinet FortiAP offers a more cost-effective solution compared to Palo Alto and Check Point."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about FortiAP?
If we have FortiClient installed on multiple devices, it is seamless to connect with FortiAP. It supports passwordless authentication as well. That is a great thing about it.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiAP?
The pricing for Fortinet FortiAP is good compared to other competitive vendors.
What needs improvement with FortiAP?
The radio band support could be improved, especially for legacy devices. We have faced issues where older devices are not able to connect to the access point, often receiving messages that the pass...
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

St. Xavier High School, Americatel, Diamond Light Source
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about ExtremeWireless vs. Fortinet FortiAP and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,071 professionals have used our research since 2012.