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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
112
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 August 2026, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Routers is 15.6%, down from 19.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeRouting is 4.1%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Routers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Enterprise Routers15.6%
ExtremeRouting4.1%
Other80.3%
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

"The operating system is good and well-made."
"The solution is easy to use, stable and scalable."
"We can easily comply with the industry standards, their hardware is quite robust, and there are a lot of trained resources available in the market to hire."
"It has provided us a more secure environment, especially the firewall. We've had multiple attempts of network intrusion which have been defeated due to the firewall rules in place."
"If you want an easy solution to keep your network running in a very short time, Cisco Enterprise Routers is a good option."
"The most valuable features are that it is easy to use, it is easy to configure, and manage."
"We appreciate that this solution performs well, regardless of the volume of traffic being fed through it."
"The value of Cisco Enterprise Routers isn't about features, it's about stability. The features are comparable across products such as Huawei, as they compete in similar ways. However, regarding stability, Cisco Enterprise Routers performs much better."
"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."
"Overall, ExtremeRouting requires less technical depth in order to implement the infrastructure than Cisco, for example."
"It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"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."
"The routing protocol is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"It is very easy to set up."
"Technical support is very good, especially when you compare it to other vendors we have here."
"What I like about Extreme Routing is its impressive performance."
 

Cons

"It can be very expensive, sometimes, to do the jump to the next router for your needs."
"While the commands are easy to understand, and you will find a mixture, if you put a question mark on them then it will create problems."
"The process of procuring Cisco Enterprise Routers equipment through channel partners needs improvement. The partners are limited compared to other products."
"They are pretty expensive devices."
"If Cisco can give you one license and allow you to use all the features, that would be the best thing."
"I have found the price to be expensive for the solution. Other products are coming to the market that are not as expensive, Cisco should reduce their price to be more comparable."
"We would like to see the security improved."
"Cost is very expensive, it needs to be reviewed for affordability by SMEs."
"The support, software resiliency, and software stability are areas of concern where improvements are required."
"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."
"One area for improvement with Extreme Routing is the need for more accessible and comprehensive training."
"Some of the latest protocols are unavailable."
"It's not evolving as quickly as we would like it to."
"We have not had a very good experience with customer service and support."
"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 product is very expensive and does not provide the expected performance for the cost."
"Cisco's prices could be cheaper."
"Cisco routers are an expensive product."
"If it could be cheaper that would be good, but I would rate it as a four out of five for price, with one being very expensive and five being very affordable."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution."
"Cisco routers are very pricey."
"The pricing of Cisco routers is reasonable at times. But, here in my country, it is expensive because we get the product from outside our country, which involves a lot of processes...Only owing to the features it provides, it is reasonable."
"The price of Cisco Enterprise Routers is good for the service that you get."
"We have no issues with the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
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?
I think Cisco can make better improvements for routers in terms of the selling bit, when it comes to discounts. If you are a partner and you're not up there, your discount is not that good. So you'...
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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: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.