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ExtremeWireless vs Meraki MS Switches 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
8.5
ExtremeWireless provides cost-effective scalability, significant ROI and time savings, easy deployment, excellent support, and optimal value over three years.
Sentiment score
7.6
Meraki MS Switches offer ROI in 2-3 years, improving manageability, scalability, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency for small businesses.
The monitoring access and excellent support provide significant value.
The best ROI is achieved over a three-year term.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.3
ExtremeWireless customer service is praised for reliability but criticized for response speed, global coverage, and inconsistent support availability.
Sentiment score
8.6
Meraki MS Switches are praised for customer service and support, with 24/7 availability and varied response times noted.
I rate their support as a nine because they are very helpful when we need assistance and they strive to help, even if not the fastest.
The technical support sometimes closes cases without resolution.
I would rate the customer service as a ten.
The support is excellent and rated ten out of ten.
If the devices are licensed, the support team will assist you depending on the severity level of the case.
Cisco's tech support is pretty good, and I would rate it an eight out of ten.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
ExtremeWireless is highly scalable and flexible, effectively supporting organizations of all sizes with seamless expansion and high-density management.
Sentiment score
7.7
Meraki MS Switches are ideal for small to medium businesses with easy configuration, but may lack enterprise-level scalability.
The Extreme access points handle high-density connectivity needs very well, managing lots of traffic efficiently.
The scalability of ExtremeWireless is average.
ExtremeWireless is quite scalable.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
ExtremeWireless is lauded for its stability and reliability, though firmware updates occasionally require physical restarts for resolution.
Sentiment score
8.6
Meraki MS Switches are stable, reliable, with minor bugs, high ratings, effective performance, and appreciated automatic updates.
They work well without failures.
I experienced issues during firmware upgrades, as some devices required a physical restart, which affects system stability.
If something happens to the device or hardware, Cisco will automatically change the device by the next business day.
We faced issues following firmware updates, which we now handle by performing updates outside of working hours.
 

Room For Improvement

ExtremeWireless must enhance usability, security, and signal stability while optimizing costs, integration, and market visibility for smaller businesses.
Meraki MS Switches are criticized for high costs, limited features, and reliance on cloud connectivity for management.
I wish for ExtremeWireless to optimize the roaming capability between access points, especially for IoT devices.
They should develop more troubleshooting tools for system management.
There is some delay in firmware upgrades for access points.
Meraki should also consider improvements in stacking features, particularly in the lower-end models like NS130, where stacking isn't supported, unlike with Cisco traditional switching.
There are compatibility issues with certain Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices, which we would like to see resolved.
Most people are familiar with the Cisco commands, and it would be beneficial if the switch could be accessed by GUI configuration and by normally accessing the console.
 

Setup Cost

ExtremeWireless provides reliable solutions with annual subscriptions, though pricing and additional fees can make it costly.
Meraki MS Switches are costly but highly valued for features and support, with savings available through long-term contracts.
Each customer typically buys around 100 APs, which makes it quite expensive.
The pricing is a weak point for Extreme; it is very high.
The pricing is favorable due to its flexible licensing model.
Meraki MS Switches, including their licensing, are somewhat expensive, particularly when compared with competitor solutions like HP.
Pricing is affordable, and licenses for the cloud need to be purchased every three to five years.
Meraki pricing is a little premium compared to other vendor products.
 

Valuable Features

ExtremeWireless excels in cloud management, security, performance, integration, scalability, flexibility, and offers user-friendly tools for multi-site organizations.
Meraki MS Switches offer cloud management, user-friendly setup, security, and integration, praised for stability, scalability, and support.
A single license can be used for on-premises, hybrid, or cloud, allowing for easy transition between solutions without losing investment.
The support from Extreme is very good and helpful.
The most valuable features of ExtremeWireless include the management through the one dashboard management with ActionCloud IQ, integrated with Site Engine.
The control plane is in the cloud, and the data plane is local, allowing manageability from anywhere.
The most valuable feature is the ability to access devices from anywhere in the world through the cloud.
One of the most valuable features of Meraki MS Switches is its precise traffic analytics capabilities, allowing us to query the system for any place at any time.
 

Categories and Ranking

ExtremeWireless
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (14th)
Meraki MS Switches
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. ExtremeWireless is designed for Wireless LAN and holds a mindshare of 1.7%, up 1.5% compared to last year.
Meraki MS Switches, on the other hand, focuses on Ethernet Switches, holds 3.9% mindshare, down 4.0% since last year.
Wireless LAN
Ethernet Switches
 

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…
MajidKhan - PeerSpot reviewer
Remote access enhances troubleshooting with potential for more intuitive interface
We are working with Citrix and router, but in Cisco for Cisco vendor only. We are taking from them since 2015.  The main use case involves some small business customers needing one router, one switch, and two to three access points. It is easy to handle the devices with just a small knowledge of…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ExtremeWireless?
There is some delay in firmware upgrades for access points. When there is a problem with the firmware of one access point, the correction might be too late.
What is your primary use case for ExtremeWireless?
We work with some end customers, and we use ExtremeCloud IQ ( /products/extremecloud-iq-reviews ) for the administration of the wireless platform. We use Wi-Fi 6 E for many users.
What do you like most about Meraki MS Switches?
The most valuable features of Meraki MS Switches are their reliability and simplicity.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki MS Switches?
Meraki MS Switches, including their licensing, are somewhat expensive, particularly when compared with competitor solutions like HP.
What needs improvement with Meraki MS Switches?
The prices are a little higher than other vendors. However, within the Cisco customer segment, customers mostly recommend it because they are existing users, and they are satisfied with their curre...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS220, MS320, MS420
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

St. Xavier High School, Americatel, Diamond Light Source
Cisco Live Milan, Hyatt
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ruckus, Cisco and others in Wireless LAN. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.