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Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers vs. Extreme Wireless Access Points

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ACisco offers wireless LAN.N/A

    Extreme Wireless Access Points

    Score9.6 out of 10
    N/AExtreme Networks' Wireless Access Points (or ExtremeWireless) are designed to provide performance in the most demanding environments with the latest Wi-Fi technologies including 6 GHz, OFDMA, MU-MIMO, and software-defined dual 6 GHz radios.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersExtreme Wireless Access Points
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersExtreme Wireless Access Points
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersExtreme Wireless Access Points
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Extreme Networks
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    64 Answers
    83%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    56 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    65 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    57 Answers
    80%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    58 Answers
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersExtreme Wireless Access Points
    Small Businesses
    WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
    Score9.1 out of 10
    WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersExtreme Wireless Access Points
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (89 ratings)
    9.5
    (11 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.4
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.9
    (26 ratings)
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Wireless LAN ControllersExtreme Wireless Access Points
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    I believe that Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers are well suited for the enterprise environment for medium sized to very large companies. While there are smaller WLC appliances for smaller sized businesses, a case can be made for simpler or more cost effective wireless licensing solutions (e.g. Cisco Meraki). Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers are extremely well suited for dense deployments like stadiums, arenas, hospitals, theaters, and large offices because of their ability to support a large number of APs with a very diverse technology feature set.
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    The Extreme access point solution has been used in the cooperative scenario with VLANs for employees in access through 802.1x authentication and also for guests through the captive portal that allows access of people for a limited time and prior registration. The equipment has great performance and connection speed and supports a high density of users connected at the same time without lag and crashes. The management of this equipment is being carried out through software with cloud management and is accessed by our infrastructure team to configure and monitor alerts.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • The cisco wireless controller allows for very granular access to internal and external systems.
    • The system allows for allowing special needs uses (medical, security, guest) very easy.
    • The system allows for various levels of bandwidth to a variety of users.
    • The security, flexibility and ease of use is phenomenal.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Extreme Networks
    • Ease of use and Management. The process of implementing APs is straight forward and managing the wireless infrastructure is quite simple and efficient.
    • Coverage: we are very happy with the distance each AP coverages in our warehouses without having any drop issues or over implementing APs.
    • Cost competitive versus other cloud managed wi-fi solutions such as Cisco, Aruba or Mist.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • Configuring wireless settings is very confusing because various settings are scattered all over the interface in different tabs
    • Lots of settings use Cisco's technical verbiage rather than common phrasing, so it's confusing what a lot of settings will do and requires researching the meaning before modifying the setting
    • The interface could be easier to use to do simple tasks such as reboot an access point
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    • In my experience, licensing has become a nightmare. Licensing must be tied to a device, they also won't let you activate used units from other companies if they are donated or purchased third-party.
    • Customer service is outsourced overseas.
    • In my experience, technicians are incentivized to close tickets quickly - whether the issue has been fixed or not - which can be frustrating to work with.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    Although it is a very good product, support is easy and can manage by Level 1 support persons and downtime is too much less but still there is a cost factor matters which is consider by each organization. Furthermore, organizations also compare with other competitors so it is hard to pursue and defend the high prices.
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cisco
    As I said before, the only thing we miss in our old model is the fact that the management interface never received an improvement in design. It has the same look and feels since it was launched. It's not that it's hard to use. It's just the case of could be modernized.
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    Extreme Wireless Access Points are easy to manage. They are easy to deploy and install. The hardware and firmware are reliable. There a number of things to be improved since we are still using the WiNG platform, but all of those things will be much better when we migrate to CloudIQ.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    Downtime fear is the first fear which IT persons look and want to eliminate as much as they can but eventually you have to face it as nothing is perfect. Cisco Wireless Lan controller are feasible to use and easy to manage and other than this their issue reported are pretty low so you can get the best up time. now it also depends on scenario as well as environment.
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Cisco
    Cisco Wireless Lan controller are feasible to use and easy to manage and other than this their issue reported are pretty low so you get the better uptime. if your get the uptime then it means its a stable product in your environment. Product performance also depends on the product management and Cisco Wireless Lan controller management is easy so you can get the great output.
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    Extreme Wireless Access Points can support all our devices, even in high capacity areas. They are easy to manage and get basic information. There was a time back around 2017-2018 where people's devices needed to make sure they were using the latest wireless drivers; otherwise, people were having connection issues. Other than that time period, we were able to have fewer complaints from end users.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    As usual, the support from Cisco's TAC (Technical Assistance Center) is lacking. Granted, they always get the job done, but the amount of lead time on a non-emergency is enough to make you just handle it yourself. The good news is that if you ask for Cisco's assistance and forget about it, they'll jump on by the time you've forgotten where you were in troubleshooting it and have it fixed for you.
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    Support was always responsive and willing to help, but at times did not know when to call it and send a replacement to stop the bleeding. I respect that fact that they wanted to get the solution working, and the wanting to learn more and understand, but at times you cant do that at the expense of the customer.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    Originally, when we deployed our first controller it was on a very limited basis. We only deployed it to our administration building and our High School. It was pretty straight forward. Because this was new to us we leaned heavily on our Cisco partner to assist us. With our last upgrade, we upgraded the controllers, added redundancy and expanded the building count along with new SSID's and restrictions. It went much easier, but again, we did rely on Cisco TAC and our partner to clarify and assist as needed. Having already been familiar with the product help tremendously.
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    The Aironet access points are used for employee WiFi access, and they integrate well with Meraki. They would offer a separate guest network, too, but the decision was made to physically separate the guest network, so even if a bad actor would gain access to the ethernet port of the AP, they'd still not see any company traffic.
    Read full review
    Extreme Networks
    I've used both Aruba and Cisco (traditional, not Meraki) for wireless, and each have their own strengths. Aruba offers a lot of feature functionality, though the interface is difficult and confusing to use (this was ~4 years ago). Cisco wireless is fairly straightforward to set up and expand, though features are more limited. Aerohive's benefit is the easy+speed of deployment. I've also used the Citrix NetScaler SSL VPN soft client and that works fairly well, though it doesn't compare like-for-like due to the fact that it's software vs. Aerohive, which is hardware.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    Cisco is a brand name and people trust on it. if any one thing about the networking then Cisco is among those brand which is count as trusted brand and people rely on it. Also it support is good so people can use it. Cisco Wireless Lan controller are easy to use and manage so it requires less effort.
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • We have had our [Cisco Wireless LAN Controller] 5508s for a very long time now and although they are getting dated, they have earned us our money's worth with consistency, stability, and ease of use. Users have minimal wireless complaints and when they do seldom are they WLC-related.
    Incentivized
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    Extreme Networks
    • Linking APs to AD, via NPS, and gaining the password reset policy; helped us move past some issues that we were held up on with SOC
    • Segregating corporate wifi and guest wifi, plus forcing guest wifi to agree to the Acceptable Use Policy, was needed to pass a compliance audit of the network.
    • Being able to locate which users are connected to which individual wifi AP, has been a asset with troubleshooting
    • APs sharing connections allows for us to overlap the wifi zones and create redundancy if an AP were to go offline for any reason.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Extreme Wireless Access Points Screenshots

    Screenshot of AP5020Screenshot of AP5010Screenshot of AP3000/XScreenshot of AP4000Screenshot of AP5050U/D