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 useful feature of Juniper Wireless AP is the reporting Marvis."
"The solution is stable."
"In terms of reporting, in terms of all the user reports, it's very rich."
"The solution is very secure."
"You can easily monitor, manage, and cover all your IT equipment."
"It provides private network access, helping us protect our company’s devices."
"With Mist, every Wednesday they roll out new features."
"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."
"The fact that Cisco Meraki is cloud based and is reasonably priced has been most valuable."
"The most valuable thing to me is the stability of the product."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of deployment."
"This product has allowed us to easily create custom SSIDs for clients and carve out the necessary bandwidth for clients needs."
"The product is super stable. I would rate the stability a ten."
"The solution has worked very well in our campus environment."
"The most valuable feature is the technology of the security that is offered."
"The emailing of statuses is the most valuable feature."
"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 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."
"Its configuration and deployment are the most valuable."
"The most valuable feature is the centralized management capability."
"Our transaction polling is now way more secure."
"It excels in Wi-Fi and switch management, as well as other internal management aspects, offering speed and efficiency that surpass what other competitors provide."
"What our customers like the most is that this device is so rugged. It has very good performance and throughput. Its console is very easy to use and has many features, which makes it different from its competitors. Cloud IQ has all the features built into the console, whereas other solutions require you to integrate multiple solutions with their consoles. You don't need to add anything extra with Cloud IQ. With this single solution, you can do almost everything."
"The HiveManager integration with the VPN Gateway is awesome."
"The product should include adaptive Wi-Fi to show a more accurate location."
"I need a bit more time with it before criticizing the features."
"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."
"Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points’ support services need improvement."
"Enrolling into the tool is a tedious process."
"Improving third-party integration is key for Juniper Mist's next release."
"The pricing is very high in the Indian market."
"Licensing is, in my opinion, the least appealing component. It can be difficult to keep licenses up to date in order for the system to function properly."
"Meraki leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to the technical capabilities in terms of throughput, spectrum, management, higher-level functions, etc"
"Meraki should share their viability roadmap. It is really hard to know which functionality will appear or when they will be available. It is also hard to know which features are available now but are not visible on the dashboard."
"The licensing isn't very customer-centric. They may have improved it, but previously, if you forgot to pay on a certain day, your service would be shut off."
"The technical support for Meraki needs improvements made to the waiting times."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved."
"We would like to see Wi-Fi 6 support for devices sold in the Middle East."
"The ease of use is average. It could be more user-friendly."
"We'd like to have a cloud dashboard from which we can see all devices."
"An area for improvement in ExtremeCloud IQ is its technical support. Support could be better, especially when you need help concerning ExtremeCloud IQ and WinG."
"We have had some mediocre to poor experiences with tech support: Conflicting information, condescending attitudes, and reluctance to work to resolve an issue."
"Their firewall configuration gets funky and it can be difficult to understand."
"The certification costs from suppliers are getting out of control, and it's not just Extreme. We have the same problem with Cisco and Huawei."
"Pricing is a bit expensive."
"The managing of switches within this solution could be improved."
"Certain features only exist or work in certain versions."
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.
We monitor all Wireless LAN reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
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.