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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 February 2026, in the Wireless WAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Wireless WAN is 7.9%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiExtender is 6.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless WAN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Wireless WAN7.9%
Fortinet FortiExtender6.7%
Other85.4%
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

"Granularity of standardization and technical controls."
"The most valuable features for me are the ease of operation and scalability."
"The network management is good. We use it to control access, channels, and phones and limit bandwidth."
"The solution offers very good performance, especially for iPhones."
"Cisco Wireless WAN's most valuable feature is it is robust."
"We used everything Cisco, not just wireless. It works great with other Cisco tools."
"It just gives you the ability to use it around the office without being tied up to an actual physical connection."
"It is also reasonably priced. The tool is scalable."
"The overall stability deserves a perfect rating."
"The product is easy to use and easy to integrate."
"We appreciate that this solution can be used as an active secondary link as well as a backup."
"The solution is extremely user-friendly."
"The integration is easy and it works as a normal internet connection."
"You don't need to have two different vendors to interoperate and get into comparability issues or inter-operability issues."
"Centralized management via FortiManager for my organization is very useful and a must-have."
"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."
 

Cons

"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."
"We have had some problems connecting to the internet with Cisco Wireless WAN, but it is not the equipment or configuration. Additionally, the integration with access control security could improve."
"There are some limitations with scaling the on-premises version - if you want to scale, you need to change the hardware and purchase a new wireless controller at an additional cost."
"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 would like to have the lead times improved."
"The integration support technology should be improved."
"The network management system is not great."
"The solution could be more stable."
"The Fortinet FortiExtender should be more suitable for outdoor use. Currently, the vehicle model can be used outdoors, but there are no dedicated outdoor devices."
"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."
"Though Fortinet FortiExtender has some security features, the product could still be improved by adding features similar to those in FortiGuard, such as antivirus, intrusion, prevention, and detection, as well as web filtering features. The product is also not as user-friendly, so that's another area for improvement. In the FortiGate UTM solution of Fortinet, there's software-defined or SD-WAN, and in the next release of Fortinet FortiExtender, I'd like to see SD-WAN embedded in the product. Most of the communication in Fortinet FortiExtender is related to WAN and Edge, so having an SD-WAN function in the product would be useful for integrating and controlling WAN communication."
"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."
"The engineering of the solution has some negative points, especially in terms of troubleshooting. It's difficult to troubleshoot when we have a problem. It's not like other products like Cisco or Palo Alto which make troubleshooting much easier."
"The support could be faster and more responsive."
"I would like to see them make it smaller in the next release so that it has a smaller footprint for mobile clients."
"What most of my clients are telling me is the price is a problem."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco Wireless WAN is fairly expensive."
"The price is too high. The licensing is on a yearly basis."
"The product is highly-priced."
"Cisco's licensing model includes some mandatory licenses, making it more expensive than other vendors like HP, Aruba, and Ruckus."
"This is a very expensive solution but there are no additional costs."
"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."
"There is a license that is needed for the use of this solution."
"The price of the solution is expensive. The license is priced based on the number of APs and controllers used."
"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."
"I'm not sure what the cost is. However, I anticipate that the purchase price will range between $2,500 and $5,000."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
24%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Media Company
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
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 do you like most about Cisco Wireless WAN?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
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 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: February 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.