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Fortinet FortiExtender vs Ruckus Wireless WAN comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Fortinet FortiExtender
Ranking in Wireless WAN
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Ruckus Wireless WAN
Ranking in Wireless WAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
58
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Wireless WAN category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiExtender is 8.1%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ruckus Wireless WAN is 15.7%, down from 33.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless WAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Ruckus Wireless WAN15.7%
Fortinet FortiExtender8.1%
Other76.2%
Wireless WAN
 

Featured Reviews

SyedQuadri - PeerSpot reviewer
IT director at Sajaya Medical Care Services
Has supported multi-branch connectivity effectively and still has potential for deeper feature utilization
Centralized management via FortiManager for my organization is very useful and a must-have. I have used Sophos Central as a manager and Fortinet manager as well. I believe Fortinet Manager has more in-depth features compared to Sophos or some other manager. The threat intelligence integration in Fortinet FortiExtender helps me to meet my industry's compliance standards. Fortinet FortiExtender brought many benefits to my organization. It was a very useful solution for us to have such a service.
DT
Networks Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Has struggled to justify the investment but performs well in challenging installation environments
I work more extensively with some other wireless products. I am partners with Ruckus Wireless WAN and have some partnership with them. I do not work with SmartMesh technology within the product. I use only on-premise management options. Real-time insights and predictive analytics do not help to manage my network more efficiently. The intelligence is very low. I do not prefer cloud deployment as you have to provide your own host for cloud deployment. I would recommend looking at something else if you are considering purchasing Ruckus Wireless WAN. I do not have data points or metrics to share. I am a Networks Manager in the company and prefer to stay anonymous. My overall review rating for Ruckus Wireless WAN is five out of ten.

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 will be that it works."
"The ease of the setup and integration into the entire Fortinet solution is seamless."
"With Fortinet, it's cheaper and we don't sacrifice quality."
"The product is easy to use and easy to integrate."
"The solution is extremely user-friendly."
"We appreciate that this solution can be used as an active secondary link as well as a backup."
"The overall stability deserves a perfect rating."
"The most valuable feature is that management can be carried out from a central point, as a result, the Fortinet Firewall's management is centralized, making things easier."
"The performance is very nice, the throughput is better than any other product, and it's reliable."
"The analytic solution is good and should be improving further."
"They have achieved very high speed, stability, and reliability with the Ruckus deployment."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of adding an access point."
"The most valuable solution is its simplicity. The solution is simple and easy to use."
"Tech support is good."
"Ruckus Wireless WAN is very stable - once it's deployed, it takes care of itself."
"The solution is very stable, and in all the time that we've used it, we've had no issues at all with it."
 

Cons

"The engineering of the solution has some negative points, especially in terms of troubleshooting. It's difficult to troubleshoot when we have a problem. It's not like other products like Cisco or Palo Alto which make troubleshooting much easier."
"Though Fortinet FortiExtender has some security features, the product could still be improved by adding features similar to those in FortiGuard, such as antivirus, intrusion, prevention, and detection, as well as web filtering features. The product is also not as user-friendly, so that's another area for improvement. In the FortiGate UTM solution of Fortinet, there's software-defined or SD-WAN, and in the next release of Fortinet FortiExtender, I'd like to see SD-WAN embedded in the product. Most of the communication in Fortinet FortiExtender is related to WAN and Edge, so having an SD-WAN function in the product would be useful for integrating and controlling WAN communication."
"What most of my clients are telling me is the price is a problem."
"In future updates of Fortinet FortiExtender, I would definitely want to see AI. They are working on the AI feature, but so far it is a great, amazing product."
"We would like to see some improvement in the price for 5G models, as they are currently very expensive."
"The product is also not as user-friendly, so that's another area for improvement."
"The Fortinet FortiExtender should be more suitable for outdoor use. Currently, the vehicle model can be used outdoors, but there are no dedicated outdoor devices."
"The support could be faster and more responsive."
"Physically, Ruckus Wireless WAN is easy to set up, but when it comes to the configuration and the top, it's quite challenging."
"Of course, we'd always like it to be cheaper, but that's for every product."
"Ruckus Unleashed App has areas with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"Pricing is an area for improvement. The devices are relatively expensive."
"I also found the cloud solution not partner-friendly, so that could also be improved."
"In my region, I want to increase its distribution channel. We have one sole distributor here in our region. To have multiple distributors here would be very helpful to improve the supply chain. We need better access to stock."
"It would be nice to some analytical features built into this solution."
"This product needs a point-to-point, bridge solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not that expensive."
"I'm not sure what the cost is. However, I anticipate that the purchase price will range between $2,500 and $5,000."
"I've only used the open-source version of Fortinet FortiExtender, but I know that it has some features that require you to pay for a license."
"The cost of licensing varies."
"We have to pay annually for the cloud licenses, so I think it'll be about 5,000 pounds a year moving forwards."
"Compared with Cisco Wireless WAN, the pricing for Ruckus Wireless WAN is two out of five. Ruckus Wireless WAN is twice the price of Cisco Wireless WAN."
"This solution offers a yearly subscription. The price is not high, other solutions are much higher than Ruckus."
"It's expensive but you get more coverage."
"Sometimes they sell it for Rs.20,000, and other times, they sell it for Rs.30,000. Then, suddenly, they ask for Rs.70,000. There should be a tiered pricing structure based on the quantity. We understand that if you buy more, the price should be lower, and if you buy less, it may be higher."
"In terms of the license of Ruckus Wireless WAN being cheap or expensive, it would differ based on your country. As I'm living in Turkey, it's expensive, so far. There is a big challenge about the chip crisis or the silicon crisis lately, and all vendors are fighting, so not enough equipment could be sold and the vendors must earn money, so it's very fair for vendors to push software and licensing to keep working and earning, so it's hard to answer a question on how cheap or expensive the license is for the solution."
"Compared to big brands, the tool is quite competitively priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Government
6%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiExtender?
The price for Fortinet FortiExtender deserves the highest rating.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiExtender?
In future updates of Fortinet FortiExtender, I would definitely want to see AI. They are working on the AI feature, but so far it is a great, amazing product.
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiExtender?
Since I was having FortiManager and everything, Fortinet FortiExtender was suggested by the vendor. I went through it and appreciated the product. There are plenty of things we are using Fortinet F...
Is Ubiquiti Wireless better than Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ubiquiti Wireless is extremely easy to set up and is an excellent option for small businesses, offering enterprise features for a one-time fee and no ongoing licensing fees. Ubiquiti Wireless is ve...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ruckus Wireless WAN?
These are not cheap access points. If you want to go cheap, Ubiquiti is an option. I knew they were worth it because once deployed, they wouldn't require additional attention. They're not at Cisco ...
What needs improvement with Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ruckus Wireless WAN is overpriced. Compared to others at the moment, Ruckus Wireless WAN does not have many valuable features. Compared to everyone else, everyone else comes self-hosted, either wit...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
American University of Sharjah, Dordt College, Drew University, Lamar University, Raroa School
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiExtender vs. Ruckus Wireless WAN and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
911,839 professionals have used our research since 2012.