No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Cisco Enterprise Routers vs ExtremeRouting comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

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

Cisco Enterprise Routers
Ranking in Routers
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
111
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ExtremeRouting
Ranking in Routers
9th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Routers is 14.2%, down from 20.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeRouting is 4.0%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Routers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Enterprise Routers14.2%
ExtremeRouting4.0%
Other81.8%
Routers
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2759889 - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre-Sales Technical Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Has supported robust enterprise deployments and management while pricing and market reach for advanced features need attention
I'm not sure what improvements could be made on the configuration scale since I'm not involved in complete configuration. Currently, it works effectively and they are incorporating AI adoption. Commercially and financially, the pricing is too high. Customers feel that Cisco Enterprise Routers will not offer the most competitive prices. If they can work on pricing, it would be easier for customers who are considering local products. In India, the government has implemented the Make in India initiative, and Cisco has established a manufacturing unit there. Regarding security products, they need to improve market reach, marketing, and training. While Cisco Enterprise Routers are user-friendly for network and wireless platforms, security product configuration and integration are considered complex compared to FortiGate, Check Point, Sophos, and Palo Alto. They have introduced solutions such as Cloud Defense Orchestrator and Firewall Manager (FMC), but the reach of Cisco security products in India needs improvement.
Imran Taiyeb Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solutions Specialist at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
A scalable tool that needs to improve its support, software resiliency, and software stability
The support team is not technically that strong. The previous company that owned the product, Nortel, went bankrupt, after which the transition phase of the product didn't go smoothly. Avaya did not do well with the product's design and engineering after taking the product over from Nortel, after which Avaya decided to outsource the tool to my company, meaning we have worked as a vendor with third-party access to the tool in the name of Avaya. The support was very bad initially, but my company could fix the problems of the customers on time since we had better communication skills than technical-solving skills due to our limitations related to the area of device engineering. When it comes to a feature of the product, my company could enable it for the customers or users of the product. If, by any chance, my company found a bug in the tool, then it was a hectic task for our support team to deal with it since it took months to fix it. Currently, Extreme Networks takes care of the support part, and it might have improved. I rate the technical support a four 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

"If a company decides to go with a Cisco router, they are making a wise decision."
"Cisco Enterprise Routers are simple, everything is in a proper manner, you don't need to upgrade or do other things on a daily basis because Cisco sends you the updates and they are automatically updated."
"This is the Enterprise Class solution for Routing, all technologies needed for now and for the future are supported."
"The solution is flexible."
"The most valuable feature is the flexibility of the devices. Also, from a feature perspective, Cisco Enterprise Routers are complete."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Enterprise Routers are the routing tables, and backup solutions available for local sites, and you can use it as a router gateway or simple IPS. They have simple firewalls, that we can use rules to filter traffic."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that the product's overall look and feel is good, making it a user-friendly tool."
"Overall, this is a good product that I recommend it."
"Overall, ExtremeRouting requires less technical depth in order to implement the infrastructure than Cisco, for example."
"The routing protocol is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"Technical support is very good, especially when you compare it to other vendors we have here."
"We evaluated Cisco routers as well, but we chose ExtremeRouting because it was more user-friendly, budget-friendly, cheap compared to Cisco, and has an easy configuration process."
"Looking at the robustness, I do not know whether it would be carrier grade – let's say for hundreds of thousands of users – but it certainly doesn't balk at 10,000 users or less."
"It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The routing protocol is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"What I like about Extreme Routing is its impressive performance."
 

Cons

"The installation process should be simplified, since it is quite complex in a new version."
"As we are expanding, we require more coverage."
"I would like to see better reporting and also integration with other products."
"Compared to equipment by other vendors, such as Check Point, the physical size of the units is bigger."
"Cisco Enterprise Router's price could improve, they are expensive."
"The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required to be made by making it cheaper."
"Cisco is not granular if we compare it to Juniper."
"The price is very high here in Egypt. Cisco devices are the most expensive."
"We have not had a very good experience with customer service and support."
"My advice for those looking into ExtremeRouting is: right now all switch manufacturers are backed up for months."
"The support, software resiliency, and software stability are areas of concern where improvements are required."
"It's not evolving as quickly as we would like it to."
"Some of the latest protocols are unavailable."
"My advice for those looking into ExtremeRouting is: right now all switch manufacturers are backed up for months. If you're looking to implement quickly, I would say shop around a bit because it might be difficult."
"The solution is far too unstable. It's completely unreliable."
"We are concerned with how the solution will evolve to the next generation of Contact Center. It's not evolving as quickly as we would like it to."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is reasonable."
"It's quite expensive for small businesses."
"Cisco is way too expensive for small and medium businesses. They must lower their prices in the lower range equipment."
"The licensing policy can sometimes be very complicated."
"The solution is costly for small businesses."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution."
"Cisco Switches are an expensive product in India. Linksys products are cheaper than Cisco Switches."
"It's not probably the best solution if you have a very limited budget, as it can become very expensive to have robust equipment."
"We have no issues with the price."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Routers solutions are best for your needs.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Marketing Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise44
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How do Cisco Enterprise routers compare with Mikrotik routers and switches?
Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is ve...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Enterprise Routers?
It is expensive, but I am not the person purchasing the products; I just handle the configuration.
What needs improvement with Cisco Enterprise Routers?
We do not have any impact for Cisco exactly in protecting sensitive information. The only concern we have across all of the products is the price. Additionally, because it is not integrated with so...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

No data available
Avaya Enterprise Routers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Boingo, Chartwell School, Children's Hospital of Orange County , Department of Justice, Explorer Pipeline, Linz AG, National Rugby League, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Telecom Italia, Transwestern
Breakthrough Urban Ministries, Black Oak Casino, Glamorgan County Cricket Club, University of San Carlos, Holland Hall School, South Euclid Lyndhurst Schools, Prairie View Networking Academy, City of Troy, Ryerson University, Linamar, City of Redondo Beach, York Region District School Board
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Enterprise Routers vs. ExtremeRouting and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.