We performed a comparison between Aruba Wireless 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."It provides private network access, helping us protect our company’s devices."
"The solution is pretty generic and easy to use."
"The simplicity is great."
"Juniper Mist offers valuable features like comprehensive network insight, granular policy control, fast device setup, strong security, and efficient SSL traffic management."
"You can easily monitor, manage, and cover all your IT equipment."
"The artificial intelligence feature is very good."
"Overall, we've been very pleased with the performance."
"The AI capabilities of Mist Wireless are superior to other OEMs."
"Aruba Central is a valuable feature because I can monitor access points remotely, even if I'm not in the office."
"The most valuable feature is the client match."
"Price is one of the most important factors. We have a solution that's reasonably cost-effective when balanced against all the areas we need to cover."
"Aruba Wireless is easily scaled between a lot of devices and a lot of endpoints. When we decided to use it as our solution, we had planned to use it exactly for its ability to scale."
"AirWave is a valuable feature."
"We appreciate the integration options that are available."
"The solution has been helpful in improving the way our company functions."
"One advantage is the built-in Zigbee-based IoT functionality. You don't need an additional dongle to enable that option."
"HiveManager is incredibly useful for managing APs and switches from one cloud interface."
"Our transaction polling is now way more secure."
"The tech who handles Extreme IQ tells me it's easy to use and learn. He felt like it was pretty intuitive. It comes with solid training materials. He also has talked about the security features that give you as much or as little control as you want."
"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."
"The cloud management gives us the tools and reports that we need to monitor and troubleshoot the network."
"Extreme is transitioning to 802.11ax facilities running the 2G and the 5G cloud, allowing for higher density in education use cases, and ExtremeCloud IQ provides you with novel ways to manage everything. In the old days, you used to have a controller on-site for your access points, but everything is easier now."
"ExtremeCloud IQ is a complete package with the pilot and the co-pilot feature that gives me full visibility of the network."
"The few times we have needed help, Aerohive has been there for us and I am confident that If I need them they will be there again."
"Juniper Wireless AP can improve by continually improving its reporting and integration with other systems."
"The pricing should be made cheaper."
"The product should include adaptive Wi-Fi to show a more accurate location."
"Improving third-party integration is key for Juniper Mist's next release."
"The pricing is very high in the Indian market."
"Enrolling into the tool is a tedious process."
"I need a bit more time with it before criticizing the features."
"Improvement is needed in the user-friendliness of Juniper Mist, particularly in enhancing the interaction with AI features."
"An area of this product that could use improvement would be the troubleshooting. At times I had to engage Aruba Support which ran some pretty complicated troubleshooting commands. I would not have been able to do with existing CLI documentation."
"The solution could be improved on the security side."
"The urgent areas of improvement would be customer support, better tuned default settings, and documentation."
"The ceiling grid mount clips have room for improvement. "
"I need more access. I only install the hardware and the software part for the client. However, there are no admin privileges, which is an issue. You need to contact them and make a special request."
"They should have more support for implementing Aruba Wireless in Smart Cities and outdoor applications."
"Not cost-effective."
"They could work on energy consumption as this equipment needs a lot of energy."
"Having a wizard for customers who are just starting might be helpful."
"The licensing model could be improved."
"The solution will show us that there are some issues, but when we try to find those issues, we can't see them."
"Their firewall configuration gets funky and it can be difficult to understand."
"The dashboard and stability need to be improved."
"Integrating the network access control solution can be complex, as it essentially combines two separate products."
"Pricing could be improved. It could be lower."
"For me, the only issue is the potential delay in the tool statistics updating in real time after making changes."
More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Pricing and Cost Advice →
Aruba Wireless is ranked 1st in Wireless LAN with 139 reviews while ExtremeCloud IQ is ranked 5th in Network Management Applications with 73 reviews. Aruba Wireless is rated 8.4, while ExtremeCloud IQ is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Aruba Wireless writes "The portal for centralized management and virtual controller for APs are very valuable". On the other hand, the top reviewer of ExtremeCloud IQ writes "Robust stability for maximizing network efficiency and security". Aruba Wireless is most compared with Cisco Wireless, Ruckus Wireless, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, Ubiquiti WLAN and Huawei Wireless, whereas ExtremeCloud IQ is most compared with Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, Ubiquiti Wireless, Mist AI and Cloud, 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.