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."
"With Mist, every Wednesday they roll out new features."
"You can easily monitor, manage, and cover all your IT equipment."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is Marvis, the AI-driven network management system."
"The solution is pretty generic and easy to use."
"The most useful feature of Juniper Wireless AP is the reporting Marvis."
"The most valuable feature of Juniper Mist is the Virtual Network Assistant, powered by artificial intelligence."
"The most valuable feature of Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) is the ability to troubleshoot ports on the network. Additionally, when there is an update on the APs they are able to reboot quickly reducing downtime. Other solutions have a longer downtime when updates are done."
"One advantage is the built-in Zigbee-based IoT functionality. You don't need an additional dongle to enable that option."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba Wireless is application monitoring."
"Enterprise wireless LAN solution with good visibility and amazing scalability. Aruba Wireless also offers good technical support."
"The most important feature is all about the two wavelengths, the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz, and the access points which are connected to this wireless controller."
"The web interface to manage the APs is intuitive and makes managing the system easy. Firmware updates are quick and do not require much downtime."
"It's a very stable system."
"The dashboard tells us who is using most of the bandwidth, and how many APs are not in good range, or that do not actually have good security. It shows us which users are trying to hack or how many users are trying to use BitTorrent. So it gives us very good visibility into the user."
"The access points support a high number of connected clients."
"Ability to assign zero trust policies from the user."
"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."
"The support organization behind this product is extremely professional."
"It is more cost effective and gives more flexibility."
"Its configuration and deployment are the most valuable."
"What I like best about ExtremeCloud IQ is its ease of use. Flexibility is another pro of ExtremeCloud IQ. I also find ExtremeCloud IQ feature-rich."
"Integrated Firewall in every AP (with DPI inspection) is a killer feature and it is included already in the price of licence (with others, this feature is an add-on licence)."
"Our transaction polling is now way more secure."
"Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) could improve if the MIST platform had a built-in master key. This would be an advantage."
"Juniper Wireless AP can improve by continually improving its reporting and integration with other systems."
"The solution is expensive."
"The price could be better."
"The pricing is very high in the Indian market."
"If you want to do more specific stuff, it's a bit limited."
"There is room for improvement in terms of support and installation."
"Improving third-party integration is key for Juniper Mist's next release."
"We would like to declare a specific number of devices that an employee or a user can use to access their Wi-Fi."
"Aruba doesn't match some competitors in wireless signal strength. It isn't in the same class as Cisco Meraki, so I would use Cisco Meraki in situations where I need to cover a large open space. Meraki has more powerful signals going out."
"Better integration with equipment from other vendors would ease the deployment process in some cases."
"The bad things about the product are the price, the information about the product, and the time it takes to deliver the product."
"Because it's cloud-based, it takes time for the floor maps and the heat map to load."
"There are some issues we occasionally have. However, they are easily remedied."
"Improvements to the GUI, such as being able to search in the Mobility Master, would be nice."
"Initial setup was complex."
"I would like to see more security features such as NAC integrated to the solution. This would allow customers to be able to control all other users under one dashboard."
"We have had some mediocre to poor experiences with tech support: Conflicting information, condescending attitudes, and reluctance to work to resolve an issue."
"Certain features only exist or work in certain versions."
"ExtremeCloud should invest in an SD-WAN solution or integration with SD-WAN."
"Lacks cyber asset tracking."
"For me, the only issue is the potential delay in the tool statistics updating in real time after making changes."
"Their firewall configuration gets funky and it can be difficult to understand."
"Its price could be lower. It is a simplified solution, but it has price challenges. It is costly as compared to other solutions. It has almost everything. The only thing is that MAC is not possible on the cloud, and it has to be on-premises."
More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Pricing and Cost Advice →
Aruba Wireless is ranked 1st in Wireless LAN with 138 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 8.8. 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, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, Ruckus Wireless, 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.