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ExtremeWireless vs Fortinet FortiWLM 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 FortiWLM
Ranking in Wireless LAN
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
24
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 FortiWLM is 2.0%, down from 2.2% 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…
Zachary Wheeler - PeerSpot reviewer
Impressive manufacturing quality, highly durable, and very easy to deploy
They need to do more with their marketing. That's what's wrong with them. Nobody knows they do all this other stuff. I love the product. For an enterprise-level system, you never have to explain why you're recommending Fortinet, whereas you might have to do that if you want to use the Ubiquiti Professional or the new Netgear line, but you don't have to explain Fortinet. It has been remarkable to work with. It would be nice if they had some smaller switches or hubs. They should offer two-port, three-port, or four-port devices so that you don't have to buy an eight-port switch, and you don't have to use an unmanaged element, but their product line is very complete, and I can't say enough about it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"Based on my experience, I would recommend ExtremeWireless to others."
"The central control is valuable."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability of its access points to adapt and self-heal."
"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."
"The product's price is competitive. It is an impressive and reliable product."
"ExtremeWireless is known for its strong security engine, Air Defense, which provides necessary wireless security assistance to many of my customers."
"ExtremeWireless is a flexible solution."
"At the moment, particularly with the COVID-19 situation, the most valuable feature is probably the IPsec VPN, which is easy to implement with Fortinet."
"It's a solid product."
"Security is the feature we like most from Fortinet. In general, their security architecture is really great, because it involves everything: firewalls, wireless LANs, the user. Everything is really secure."
"We're using SD-WAN at all of our locations now, which helps increase and aggregate and lower response time and improve application performance."
"Fortinet FortiWLM is good for tracking assets, monitoring, and overall management."
"The most valuable features are the roaming profile, the mesh, and the performance."
"Seamless roaming by leveraging Virtual Cell is a major advantage which reduces roam times and issues related to roaming. Code stability has been excellent and the hardware quality is second to none."
"For me, the ease of setup and the rugged nature in harsh environments are most valuable. So, durability and ease of use have been its best features."
 

Cons

"The management portal is in need of improvement."
"The troubleshooting feature for the cloud version is challenging."
"The product must be provided at a cheaper price."
"The performance of the access points could be improved."
"The ability to integrate with network devices from other vendors would be helpful."
"They could provide different product models. Additionally, there could be a feature to manage devices."
"One area that could be improved is the accuracy of tracking tags."
"The reports could prove in ExtremeWireless. However, we are in the early stages of use and we might be able to configure them better."
"Technical support is very poor. We are not satisfied with the technical support because there is not any direct person from Fortinet for any troubleshooting, which we expected."
"I cannot emphasize enough that I would always wish pricing would be a little better."
"Documentation could be improved."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement."
"I have used Cisco previously and I don't see any specific differences from Fortinet FortiWLM or other vendors."
"The interface could certainly do with some improvement. We have other customers with WiFi networks, and they always use Ubiquiti. With Ubiquiti, it's a much better user interface, and it is much easier to configure."
"The guest management features need to be improved by adding automation."
"The pricing model can be improved to encourage use by small business and individuals and the hardware could stand to be redesigned."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution overall is expensive. Additionally, the controller and license are expensive. We pay for an annual subscription."
"I rate the product's pricing a three or four out of ten."
"ExtremeWireless is subscription-based for both cloud and on-prem solutions, and it's quite expensive."
"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."
"We pay approximately $30,000 per year."
"It's not as expensive as some and is scalable to our needs."
"The solution has a yearly subscription, and we have to pay additional costs for technical support."
"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."
"The product is highly expensive. I rate the pricing a ten."
"Licensing costs are reasonable. There are so many different types of licenses with Fortinet, but the licensing and the 24/7/365 support are so reasonable that I automatically include it with every transaction. I never line item it without it. There are no additional costs."
"There is a perpetual license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."
"Support contracts typically cost approximately $100.00 per year."
"The price of Fortinet FortiWLM is reasonable compared to the other vendors. We are using a five-year license."
"In the last few years, due in part to the impact of COVID on the market, Fortinet has increased its prices by 35 percent."
"The solution is fairly priced."
"To save yourself from increased setup and maintenance costs, I highly recommend undertaking a proper site survey from the beginning."
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Top Industries

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

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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
FortiWLM, FortiAP, Fortinet AP/OAP, Meru Wireless LAN
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

St. Xavier High School, Americatel, Diamond Light Source
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about ExtremeWireless vs. Fortinet FortiWLM and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.