We performed a comparison between Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and ExtremeCloud IQ based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Aruba Networking, Cisco, Ruckus and others in Wireless LAN."The most valuable feature of the solution is Marvis, the AI-driven network management system."
"You can easily monitor, manage, and cover all your IT equipment."
"The solution is stable."
"The AI capabilities of Mist Wireless are superior to other OEMs."
"The solution is pretty generic and easy to use."
"Juniper Mist offers valuable features like comprehensive network insight, granular policy control, fast device setup, strong security, and efficient SSL traffic management."
"The solution is very secure."
"In terms of reporting, in terms of all the user reports, it's very rich."
"It improved the installation time."
"The cloud manageability feature is valuable."
"I like the status page Cisco added that shows you the health of the wireless connection."
"Its ease of use and flexibility are most valuable. It is cloud-based software."
"The captive portal feature is my favorite. It allows us to keep track of how many people are entering our client's businesses."
"The solution ensures seamless connectivity as users move within the office. Six installed Meraki APs provide excellent coverage for around three hundred users, offering reliable speeds. Additionally, the system allows guests and users with priority devices to connect using their SAP ID. The traffic is managed through D and G controllers to meet the specified requirements for continuous connection and speed."
"The solution is easy to install."
"This product has allowed us to easily create custom SSIDs for clients and carve out the necessary bandwidth for clients needs."
"The technical support for this solution is good."
"ExtremeCloud IQ is a complete package with the pilot and the co-pilot feature that gives me full visibility of the network."
"Our transaction polling is now way more secure."
"ExtremeCloud IQ is an intuitive platform. The tool's ability to streamline network operations depends on the end customer. Sometimes it's quicker, and sometimes it takes much longer. It helps me to address network problems."
"Ability to assign zero trust policies from the user."
"Its configuration and deployment are the most valuable."
"The cloud-based management interface allows us to fully manage all our wireless radios, ensuring consistency and ease of access."
"It's extremely easy to deploy. Even our access points are behind the net, not using real, public IP. We can easily add to the cloud. For deployment, we just need to let the access point take the DSCP from IP and then, even if it's not a requirement, we can see the serial number from the access points and add the serial number to the cloud directly."
"It would be helpful to have even stronger security features to help protect against interference from other nearby access points that aren't part of our network."
"The pricing should be made cheaper."
"I need a bit more time with it before criticizing the features."
"The solution is expensive."
"Improving third-party integration is key for Juniper Mist's next release."
"The pricing is very high in the Indian market."
"They should include SD-WAN features to it."
"Juniper Wireless AP can improve by continually improving its reporting and integration with other systems."
"If you lose connectivity with the controller, your Wi-Fi network is immediately impacted."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"The technical support from Cisco is good, but they can improve themselves in some areas. Sometimes it takes a while to provide a solution or an answer to our problem."
"In some cases, they could include enhanced features in the product, such as a firewall console and traffic analysis."
"The signal coverage radius could be extended."
"We haven't had any issues with the solution. We like the way it works. There isn't anything I can think of that makes me worry that it might be lacking in a certain area."
"We would like to see Wi-Fi 6 support for devices sold in the Middle East."
"The price could be slightly better, but then again, we negotiate deals every time so the market price isn't really relevant."
"Lacks cyber asset tracking."
"Pricing could be improved. It could be lower."
"Browser load time for the cloud is long and needs improvement."
"For me, the only issue is the potential delay in the tool statistics updating in real time after making changes."
"ExtremeCloud should invest in an SD-WAN solution or integration with SD-WAN."
"Certain features only exist or work in certain versions."
"Integrating the network access control solution can be complex, as it essentially combines two separate products."
"They can improve just the onboarding process. More user information about the introduction to the product would be helpful. It would be good if they have a better user introduction to the new product because it is different than the prior version."
More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Pricing and Cost Advice →
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is ranked 4th in Wireless LAN with 115 reviews while ExtremeCloud IQ is ranked 6th in Network Management Applications with 73 reviews. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is rated 8.2, while ExtremeCloud IQ is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN writes "Offers good mobility, stability and scalability ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of ExtremeCloud IQ writes "Robust stability for maximizing network efficiency and security". Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is most compared with Aruba Wireless, Ruckus Wireless, Ubiquiti Wireless, Mist AI and Cloud and Cambium Networks Wireless LAN, whereas ExtremeCloud IQ is most compared with Ubiquiti Wireless, Mist AI and Cloud, Aruba Wireless, Cisco DNA Center and Ruckus Wireless.
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I suggest Aruba. We've considered the same upgrade (APs + Switches) and I've settled with Aruba.
Aruba 505,515 (or other models) depends on the number of users and the area you want to cover.
Regarding switches, from what I could see, there isn't much difference though my experience is for Cisco so far. I haven't used Aruba switches to judge.
Aruba APs are very flexible: you can operate them in 3 modes: controller-less (Instant) where 1 AP acts as the controller for the others, with the on-prem controller, and cloud controller (similar to Meraki). depending on budget, you can go with a cloud controller (very affordable pricing in our region). then upgrade to an on-prem controller 1-3 years later to split the project budget.
Cisco isn't as flexible: you can either go with the controller-less solution, or on-prem controller if you buy the Cisco Catalyst APs or go with the Meraki cloud-only solution. But you can't migrate the solutions after buying them. As @Michael Fulton said: "Merakis are worthless without the subscriptions as you can't manage them".
I have also heard it from several people: Aruba is much better in wireless. Though, honestly, I haven't tried both solutions for myself to give any feedback (Currently, we have 802.11n APs from Cisco).
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 experience with any of these brands? If so, based on your experience would you use that brand again?
Also what other equipment do you have on your network? Firewall? Router? APs? Security (Cameras, door locks etc.)? Are there any functions with one of these brands of switches that would enhance the products you already have? Sometimes you get more bang for your buck by sticking with the same manufacture as they will have features on different products that work together well or feed off of each other.
If all of that comes down to the same three brands still, then look at performance claims, features sets, cost.
We have the Meraki AP's and I like the cloud management portion of them. But if you don't renew with them to use the cloud then the AP's are worthless as the require the cloud management. But it is nice to have that central, visual representation and central management feature Meraki has to offer. I don't know if Extreme Networks or Aruba has that.
STAY AWAY from Arista Mojo
Most of the Wi-Fi properties come embedded in the chipset. So, there is not too much difference between different brand APs.
If you are redoing your Wi-Fi infrastructure because of new technologies (such as Wi-Fi 6), fine. If you are redoing it because of a bad user experience, then you should investigate possibilities of AP misplacement or AP configuration.
Cisco Meraki is cloud-controlled. If you are thinking about an on-prem Wi-Fi controller, you should concentrate on Aruba or Cisco Catalyst 900 series.
As far as I know, Aruba 515 has
- 4x4:4 antenna for 5 GHz
- 2x2:2 antenna for 2.4 GHz
Cisco, on the other hand, has either
- 2x2:2 antenna for both bands (9105 model) or
- 4x4:4 antenna for both bands (9115 model)
Of course, whether this difference in antennas will have any impact will depend on the client devices and whether they have matching antennas and whether they also have Wi-Fi 6 technology.
If you really want a differentiating factor, you should consider Ruckus Wireless.
Ruckus Wireless APs have;
- Adaptive antenna technology (called BeamFlex). This technology analyses different paths to reach the client and electronically turns itself to a directional antenna, choosing the path that gives the best performance to reach each specific client. If the client is mobile or if the environment changes (such as a warehouse) the selection of paths/direction also changes instantly.
Transmitting in a directional way allows a good Signal-to-Noise Ratio and also causes less interference for other nearby APs outside the path of the directional transmission.
- ChannelFly technology. This technology chooses the best channel based on performance rather than background scanning for noise.
- Polarization Diversity. This technology allows the clients not to lose signal strength when held at different angles (important for mobile devices such as tablets and telephones).
- Better receive sensitivity compared to the competitors.
None of the other brands have the features listed above.
To summarize:
- Features embedded in the chipset, and dumb antennas don't make any difference.
- Adaptive antenna and polarization diversity make a big difference.
I have Extreme and chose them years ago when they were Aerohive for one reason PPSK they are still the only company that has this. I put out a bid this year and was ready to forklift my entire extreme system because of their outrageous maintenance costs Aruba had a great maintenance cost but to achieve what I needed I would have to purchase clearpass an excellent product I might add. TCO for Aruba was about 10% of my original Extreme quote. The bid for extreme came in and they had dropped the maintenance cost to 10% of the original cost for 5 years. I would like to have purchased Aruba but I have 125 Extreme WAPs deployed so the cost of Aruba forklift would have been higher and the need to retrain techs on how to configure Aruba is now not an issue. If I was doing a system from scratch I would choose Aruba hands down for their service, price and ease of use. I have a full Aruba network of routers and switches as well as all HP printers so it would have been a good fit. I must add this is based on educational prices I am the network Engineer for a residential High School ASMSA. Your prices may vary. I have heard from other extreme users that their support is not what it was when Aerohive was a stand alone company, I have a very knowledgeable vendor so I rarely have to contact Extreme.