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Cisco Wireless WAN vs Fortinet FortiExtender comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 4, 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 Wireless WAN
Ranking in Wireless WAN
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
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
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Wireless WAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless WAN is 8.9%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiExtender is 7.7%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless WAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Wireless WAN8.9%
Fortinet FortiExtender7.7%
Other83.4%
Wireless WAN
 

Featured Reviews

HassanBilal - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager IT Infrastructure & Helpdesk at LCI Pakistan
Solution supports extensive connectivity but faces occasional coverage challenges
Cisco Wireless WAN has room for improvement in WiFi coverage. Sometimes, their coverage is normally good, but at the same area where the access points are deployed, people face continuous disconnectivity issues. These kinds of issues come over time, and we need to do troubleshooting, but they get resolved. This is a performance-related issue, and I think they have to work on that.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Recently, the most valuable and in-demand feature that users are enjoying is WiFi 6 support on the access points. The other good thing about Cisco Wireless LAN is how easily it provides clean access to the WiFi network."
"We used everything Cisco, not just wireless. It works great with other Cisco tools."
"We find the product to be stable."
"The solution has improved the customer experience, which has helped improve the organization by allowing customers to access the corporate network with ease and get the resources they need even if they are moving around the office."
"I like that it's a very stable solution."
"The solution offers very good performance, especially for iPhones."
"Our most valuable feature involves the 802.11ac, which operates at a very high level and has updated technology."
"The product can scale well."
"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 initial setup was was just beautiful; it was straightforward."
"For me, the best feature of Fortinet FortiExtender is its integration with an external solution such as a 5G LTE broadband modem, wired modem, and cellular network. I also like that the product can be integrated into one device or a unified device, and that is one of its best features because it allows you to manage and centralize the control of every device."
"The ease of the setup and integration into the entire Fortinet solution is seamless."
"The product is easy to use and easy to integrate."
"The solution is extremely user-friendly."
 

Cons

"The coverage area on some of the low-end access points isn't the best. The high-end ones are fine, but we've had bad experiences on the other ones."
"It needs to increase its strength in capacity. We'd like to cover more areas for WiFi accessibility."
"We did have issues with the product that made us concerned about the overall stability."
"The cost is one of the higher in the industry."
"I hope Cisco can improve the capacity to service a high density of users in a small area, as currently we have difficulties with this."
"The setup of Cisco Wireless WAN needs an expert. You need someone with experience to be able to work with Cisco Wireless solutions. It took approximately one to two weeks to implement the solution."
"Cisco Wireless WAN is expensive."
"The new platform of Cisco Wireless WAN I did not like, there weren't many features available."
"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."
"They could improve the remote console server feature and make it more user-friendly for more users."
"The support could be faster and more responsive."
"The solution would be a lot better if it was a little bit more intuitive. Additionally, the help menu would be a lot better if it was easier to identify the items that I was looking for. I find the graphical interface a little bit difficult to navigate. And I find the font that is used on the HTML interface not conducive to being able to be read in low light situations."
"The product is also not as user-friendly, so that's another area for improvement."
"There is a huge downside because we need to remove and insert the SIM to get it working."
"We would like to see some improvement in the price for 5G models, as they are currently very expensive."
"The engineering of the solution has some negative points, especially in terms of troubleshooting."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is based on how much is ordered from the vendor and what type of discount they receive."
"Cisco is more expensive than other solutions."
"The price of Cisco Wireless WAN could improve upon pricing, it is expensive. We purchased the hardware through a vendor that Cisco used and we received approximately 75 percent off."
"Cisco's licensing model includes some mandatory licenses, making it more expensive than other vendors like HP, Aruba, and Ruckus."
"The product is highly-priced."
"The license is not subscription-based."
"On the low end, the solution costs probably around $1200 to $1300 for five years. It's an expensive product."
"Cisco's pricing is reasonable."
"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 solution is not that expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
18%
Construction Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Media Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Consumer Goods Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise36
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Wireless WAN?
I think the pricing of Cisco Wireless WAN must be reasonable at present.
What needs improvement with Cisco Wireless WAN?
Cisco Wireless WAN's interface could be simplified in the future. Simplification would make it more helpful to see how the user is connecting. We are able to see the connectivity details, and we al...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Wireless WAN?
We are still working with Cisco products, and I am supporting the Cisco devices. We are working with Cisco switches, routers, and we have guest Wi-Fi now. Regarding Cisco Wireless WAN, I am not tha...
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...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Brunel University London, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Chartwell School, Children's Hospital Colorado, Cisco Live Milan, City of Biel, City of Mississauga, Dundee Precious Metals, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Erickson Living, Goldcorp, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS)
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Wireless WAN vs. Fortinet FortiExtender and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.