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ExtremeCloud IQ vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

ExtremeCloud IQ
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (12th), Network Access Control (NAC) (10th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (16th)
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (23rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

ExtremeCloud IQ and WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. ExtremeCloud IQ is designed for Network Management Applications and holds a mindshare of 2.9%, down 2.9% compared to last year.
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless LAN, holds 1.2% mindshare, up 0.4% since last year.
Network Management Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ExtremeCloud IQ2.9%
Cisco DNA Center8.7%
OpenText Network Node Manager5.4%
Other83.0%
Network Management Applications
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi1.2%
Aruba Wireless12.7%
Ruckus Wireless10.5%
Other75.6%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Wael Awni - PeerSpot reviewer
Management Board Member And Network Engineer at NewLogics
Unified licensing and AI-driven control have simplified multi-site management and boosted automation
There is a little bit of delay for the analytics in ExtremeCloud IQ, but it is acceptable. The response time in ExtremeCloud IQ is a little slow. The system response time is slow, and the updates on the system, such as the updates for the analytics or for the location-based services, are slow. For example, if I want to update the location-based solution, it takes about one minute to update my location. This is too much time. It's not an accurate location over one minute. They should enhance the response of the system part of location-based services, such as Extreme LPS or Extreme Location Essentials. This needs a huge improvement for the latency and for the updates.
reviewer2562924 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT System Support Administrator at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
Configuration offers flexibility but response to incidents needs improvement
We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major incident. We are still trying to identify the cause, which is why I would rate it seven out of ten. Without this incident, I might have rated it eight to nine. Overall, I give the solution a rating of seven.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Customer Service: Our VAR/customer service is very responsive and always goes the extra mile."
"Ability to assign zero trust policies from the user."
"This is a stable solution."
"Being a controller-less solution is more cost effective and gives more flexibility."
"I would recommend Aerohive to anyone seeking a robust cloud-based WIFI system."
"I like ExtremeCloud IQ's unified single-pane-of-glass dashboard; it offers a lot of visibility of performance, and it's great for troubleshooting because you don't have to go to 55 different places and can get the information you need with just a few clicks."
"Aerohive has been a very good solution for us, and we have always been able to get great service and great support."
"The main reason why a lot of customers choose this solution is because of how scalable it is."
"Cloud analytics that provide all its attributes."
"The configuration part of WatchGuard is very flexible."
"The solution has been stable."
"The solution is priced high compared to competitors, however, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."
"If I were tasked to set up new WiFi at a single site, or at multiple locations for hundreds of sites, I would make this solution my first choice."
"The Wi-Fi security features of this solution have been great for our customers who need to strictly control access to their network."
"We like that WatchGuard works and integrates directly with the firewalls we use."
"All you have to do is take it out of the box, plug it in and you're ready to go."
 

Cons

"The firewall inside the AP is a little limited in what it can do."
"The response time in ExtremeCloud IQ is a little slow. The system response time is slow, and the updates on the system, such as the updates for the analytics or for the location-based services, are slow."
"It needs to have a good Layer 7 and a better user interface."
"Their firewall configuration gets funky and it can be difficult to understand."
"The managing of switches within this solution could be improved."
"There are some minor bugs in parts of the software which can cause some issues from time to time, but it's like any other piece of software."
"Integrating the network access control solution can be complex, as it essentially combines two separate products."
"The user interface and disparity of feature releases versus golden firmware. Certain features only exist or work in certain versions."
"Inability to import a user with one click."
"In terms of improvement, one issue I have is that I can't import a user with one click."
"If a client device had issues with authentication due to out of date browser or similar difficulties, it would be nice to have the ability to migrate the client onto the portal via one click."
"One of the things is if you buy it with a certain subscription, you can't easily change the subscription level."
"The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention."
"I don't think they're available at the best price."
"The solution can be scaled but it has limitations from my experience. The access points are rated for 500 people but I think the max is closer to 200."
"The price of this solution needs to reviewed, as it is currently high enough to deter customers from trying it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is easy for customers to use this product because they are able to interchange the license depending on their usage rather than having to buy individual licenses for each asset."
"ExtremeCloud IQ's pricing is medium, but its support contract costs more."
"Customers need to pay a yearly licensing fee for ExtremeCloud IQ, which is a little bit expensive."
"Bring the cost down."
"ExtremeCloud IQ's pricing is high."
"This solution offers annual licensing that is middle of the range in terms of cost."
"It is costly as compared to Meraki, Aruba, Juniper, and Cisco. Cloud IQ is an enterprise solution, whereas Meraki is specifically a single solution."
"It is not the cheapest product but I think that the price is reasonable because you get a lot of support of it's needed."
"Your licensing and cost, as would be required for many other solutions, being considered for eighty to two hundred and eighty different physical locations, is just about the same amount per access point."
"The solution is priced high compared to competitors. However, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."
"WatchGuard is on the upper scale for pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
 

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ExtremeCloud IQ?
The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period. The documentation and training courses were also costly, impacting how easily I c...
What advice do you have for others considering ExtremeCloud IQ?
I use ExtremeCloud IQ's real-time analytics. In the cloud solution, I get reports, and it works together with machine learning and artificial intelligence for those reports. This tool permits the c...
What needs improvement with WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention. Also, when an incident occurs, the impact can be significantly huge. A recent p...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We use WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi because we have used different tools as well, like Ubiquiti. The complexity of Ubiquiti is much more compared to WatchGuard, which provides more flexibility and is ea...
What advice do you have for others considering WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major inc...
 

Also Known As

Aerohive Networks, Aerohive HiveManager, HiveManager, ExtremeCloud , ExtremeSecurity
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henry Ford Health System, Baltimore Ravens, Brandili, Federal University of Alagoas, CEDAE, Caxias do Sul, UNISC Concurrency, CenturyLink Field, Louisiana College, Cricket Tasmania Stadium, Moscow Internet Exchange
Portsmouth Grammar School, HILOTEC
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.