Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs ExtremeWireless comparison

Cisco and Extreme are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.4, while Extreme is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.3. Cisco holds a 12.7% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to Extreme’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Extreme users who would recommend it.

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Read 119 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN reviews

14,622 Views
11,932 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

ExtremeWireless

Read 30 ExtremeWireless reviews

1,692 Views
1,468 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

ExtremeWireless

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

ExtremeWireless and Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN compete in the wireless LAN market. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN stands out due to its advanced features like integrated security and cloud management, while ExtremeWireless is favored for its competitive pricing and strong customer support.

Features: ExtremeWireless offers robust connectivity, customizable configurations, and flexibility, making it appealing for enterprises seeking adaptive solutions. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN features integrated network security, centralized cloud-based management, and high in-depth visibility of network activities, providing a comprehensive solution.

Room for Improvement: ExtremeWireless could benefit from faster deployment options, enhanced integration with cloud-based systems, and broader support for diverse environments. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN might improve by reducing the initial cost, offering more personalization in support services, and expanding customization capabilities for advanced users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers streamlined deployment with centralized cloud management, simplifying oversight. ExtremeWireless needs manual configuration, which can extend setup time, but compensates with more personalized and responsive customer support.

Pricing and ROI: ExtremeWireless is known for competitive pricing and a favorable return on investment, appealing to budget-conscious enterprises. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN has higher initial costs, but robust features and efficient management tools provide significant long-term value, justifying the investment despite a larger upfront cost.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. ExtremeWireless Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. ExtremeWireless

April 2025

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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 Meraki Wireless LAN

Ranking in Wireless LAN

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

119

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

ExtremeWireless

Ranking in Wireless LAN

16th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 12.7%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeWireless is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

RezaPradipta

Sr. Officer Network Managed Service Product Management at PT. Indosat Tbk

Streamline network management with a unified dashboard for seamless device integration

The primary use case for Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is mostly for enterprise wireless, including guest Wi-Fi and enterprise Wi-Fi. I use it across various industries with a focus on retail Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers a single pane of glass management. It only comes with a controller on the…

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Seungho Yang

Network Engineer at KOREAN AIR

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…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"For Meraki, the ease of deployment and management is most valuable."

"I like the status page Cisco added that shows you the health of the wireless connection."

"Allows for cloud-based management of your Wi-Fi network."

"It only comes with a controller on the cloud, and this differentiator simplifies network management."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of deployment."

"It's simple to manage when there's a problem."

"You can scale the solution easily."

"Its ease of use and flexibility are most valuable. It is cloud-based software."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

"ExtremeWireless is a flexible solution."

"The customer service and support provided by Extreme are excellent."

"The stability of the solution has been fine."

"It provides seamless connectivity if you move around."

"The product's price is competitive. It is an impressive and reliable product."

"ExtremeWireless is a powerful solution with good integration. It works perfectly for us."

"The monitoring system is integrated with AI features."

"ExtremeWireless is known for its strong security engine, Air Defense, which provides necessary wireless security assistance to many of my customers."

More ExtremeWireless pros

Cons

"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's management tools need enhancement."

"They're great. If there's anything that they need to change, it is just simplifying the site to which you go to make changes on the admin side."

"If you lose connectivity with the controller, your Wi-Fi network is immediately impacted."

"I would like to see more cybersecurity. I would like the ability to go in and enhance security. Because WPA2 is becoming obsolete, many devices are now WPA3, but the challenge is that a lot of devices are not yet there. I would like to be able to go in and do monitoring, similar to ASPM. ASPM has the ability to monitor who's joining and who's active. It supports two-step monitoring. The stability of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN can also be improved."

"Unfortunately, we have to deal with European privacy laws and as far as we can see, the solution is not compliant with these. It's why we're not able to continue with Cisco Meraki. They need to become compliant with GDPR laws."

"An area for improvement would be that Meraki doesn't work well in a warehouse environment. The device is too sensitive to other wireless devices, which provokes noise and can require a reboot to erase this."

"We have used technical support for some issues but not many times."

"The integration options with third-party applications need enhancement."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

"The reports could prove in ExtremeWireless. However, we are in the early stages of use and we might be able to configure them better."

"The APs have quite a low signal compared to other brands."

"The main area for improvement is the company's local visibility."

"The performance of the access points could be improved. ExtremeWireless coverage and signal stability could be enhanced to match the level of Ruckus Wireless and other vendors."

"It is a subscription model, so it is maybe a bit pricey."

"The solution should offer better support."

"The solution must include integrated IoT solutions on their wireless APs."

"The product must be provided at a cheaper price."

More ExtremeWireless cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is not so much for Wireless LAN, but when you have to get the security license, it costs a lot."

"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is an expensive solution."

"The pricing is based on a subscription and is a bit high at the moment."

"The platform is highly priced."

"The price/benefit ratio is great."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It can be for three, five, or ten years. I'm happy with the pricing. You basically pay for what you get. It is that simple. When you look at Ubiquiti or Aruba, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN far outweighs what you get. If you're in the UK, Ubiquiti gives a three-year or five-year warranty, whereas here in the UAE, they only give a one-year warranty, which is no good to me. Who buys a piece of equipment with only one year warranty on it? It doesn't make sense."

"It is expensive, but it is a good product."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

"The solution has a yearly subscription, and we have to pay additional costs for technical support."

"There are both paid and free licenses of the cloud environment, with only basic functionality in the free version."

"Extreme isn't the most expensive, but it's not a low-cost solution, and because there are no big volumes, you don't receive significant discounts, making the final price higher."

"I rate the price of Extreme Wireless a three out of five."

"ExtremeWireless isn't budget-friendly. The hardware costs around 20,000 Indian rupees. We're still using an older controller, so it doesn't require a license, unlike the newest versions of the ExtremeWireless controller."

"We pay approximately $30,000 per year."

"It's not as expensive as some and is scalable to our needs."

"The purchase of 350 access points cost approximately $250,000 USD."

More ExtremeWireless pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

15%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

10%

Non Profit

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?

Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...

See all answers

Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...

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How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...

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What do you like most about ExtremeWireless?

The initial setup process is simple.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 32% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 15% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 11% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Ekahau Site Survey vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 1% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Ruckus Wireless vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 38% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 19% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 7% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 5% of the time

ExtremeCloud IQ vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 4% of the time

More ExtremeWireless Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

May 2025

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeWireless

May 2025

Download ExtremeWireless product report

Also Known As

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN

No data available

Overview

Cisco Meraki access points are built from the highest grade components and carefully optimized for a seamless user experience. The outcome: faster connections, greater user capacity, more coverage, and fewer support calls. The Cisco Meraki dashboard gives visibility into the network users, their devices, and their applications. Armed with rich analytics, administrators can quickly create access control and application usage policies, optimizing both the end-user experience and network security.

Cisco

Extreme ExtremeWireless Access Points deliver wired-like performance, at scale for high-density in every environment. Smart Access Points are equally adept for both distributed and centralized deployment models. ExtremeWireless Controllers provide advanced functionality to allow organizations to define how wireless voice/video/data traffic is processed without architectural constraints and in accordance with business needs.

Extreme

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins

St. Xavier High School, Americatel, Diamond Light Source

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. ExtremeWireless

April 2025

Free Report: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. ExtremeWireless

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. ExtremeWireless and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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