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Aruba Airwave vs ExtremeCloud IQ comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.5
Aruba Airwave offers favorable ROI through efficiency in troubleshooting, reduced staffing needs, and cost savings despite initial hardware costs.
Sentiment score
6.8
ExtremeCloud IQ enhances productivity by simplifying management, stabilizing Wi-Fi, reducing costs, and offering quick deployment for business growth.
I managed to support and deploy ExtremeCloud IQ and handle network management without requiring external staffing, thus saving on external hiring costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
Aruba Airwave customer service is praised for responsive support but has slower escalation processes compared to competitors like Cisco.
Sentiment score
7.8
ExtremeCloud IQ offers efficient, responsive customer service with knowledgeable support, though some find documentation and resources lacking compared to competitors.
I would rate their technical support as a nine or ten, as it's quite good.
Angie was very kind and communicated well in both Spanish and English, making it pleasant to connect with her.
I experienced effective help mainly remotely, though for some issues, a technical person had to assist on-site.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Aruba Airwave is highly scalable, accommodating various deployment sizes, offering flexibility and efficiently handling significant user loads.
Sentiment score
8.0
ExtremeCloud IQ offers scalable, seamless network expansion with cloud-based architecture, supporting high-density and smaller-scale applications efficiently.
Aruba Airwave is fully scalable, as we have a large number of tenants using the network with approximately six thousand end users.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
Aruba Airwave is highly reliable and stable, integrates well with vendors, but may have occasional performance issues.
Sentiment score
7.6
ExtremeCloud IQ is stable, with minor firmware issues; updates improve reliability, with newer bands performing well and occasional reboots needed.
I have found Aruba Airwave to be stable.
It requires some time to update, which affects real-time management.
 

Room For Improvement

Aruba Airwave requires better pricing, stability, integration, user interface, and management features, alongside improved compatibility and scalability.
ExtremeCloud IQ needs improvements in UI, stability, performance, security, support, and pricing to meet user and market expectations.
The end-to-end users' messages show some details that are not always up-to-date, and sometimes the information from the GUI is not exactly aligned with what's on the website.
When upgrading hardware, there were technical issues with network interfaces and Red Hat, which required escalation to developers.
When attempting to copy a floor plan, it does not copy well, so I often have to redraw the walls.
I needed deep details and more thorough resources.
 

Setup Cost

Aruba Airwave's pricing is complex but flexible, generally cheaper than Cisco, with costs based on device count and scalability.
ExtremeCloud IQ is competitively priced, offering flexible licensing and reasonable support costs, especially advantageous for educational institutions.
The pricing for Aruba Airwave is acceptable because compared to Cisco, it's slightly cheaper, but not significantly - maybe 5% or 7% less expensive.
The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period.
 

Valuable Features

Aruba Airwave provides seamless multivendor support, insightful monitoring, and efficient management tools for large-scale Wi-Fi networks.
ExtremeCloud IQ excels with centralized management, AI analytics, seamless scalability, and integration with planning tools for efficient networking.
Aruba Airwave provides good visibility, offering extensive data on network dynamics, such as access point connections, usage, signal strengths, and potential interference from neighboring Wi-Fi networks.
It provides near real-time monitoring using AIMON and AURO protocols, which is robust with multiple models and brand support.
The feature that proved most beneficial for our organization's network monitoring is the virtual four, which we use frequently when working with Aruba.
The automation and information provided by ExtremeCloud IQ, such as connection status and logs, were very beneficial.
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Airwave
Ranking in Network Management Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ExtremeCloud IQ
Ranking in Network Management Applications
11th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (10th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Aruba Airwave is 6.4%, down from 9.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeCloud IQ is 2.9%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Lulzim Islami - PeerSpot reviewer
Creating floor maps and configuration templates enhances troubleshooting capabilities
The most helpful feature I noticed, yet did not utilize, allowed us to add our Cisco switches for monitoring. We also created templates for configurations. Additionally, it facilitated creating floor maps. I need to open it for more extended periods. It is more about troubleshooting and checking the coverage problems of wireless.
KristianLarsen - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps resolve network-related issues quickly and is reasonably priced
The tool has both advantages and weaknesses because it has several pieces of software on which it has been working because of buyouts. The tool has several branches of software versions, and you can consolidate it into ExtremeCloud, but it also has the disadvantage that sometimes people can get issues because the software on the hardware is different than they expected, especially if it is not converted to the tool used. The tool has simplified things, but it also adds a complexity that sometimes stumps some users. In the future, I think the tool’s onboarding setup of a new tenant could be smoother or faster. I also think that they could provide a simpler setup for first-level support so that it can be easier for them to have a support dashboard that would help them. I am talking about customer support organizations, so you usually have a high turnaround, but you need to have something that is easier to use and where you don't need so much training.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Airwave?
I would rate the stability a nine out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Airwave?
The pricing for Aruba Airwave is acceptable because compared to Cisco, it's slightly cheaper, but not significantly - maybe 5% or 7% less expensive.
What needs improvement with Aruba Airwave?
My general opinion on Aruba Airwave is that it's acceptable, but it's not ideal because we are accustomed to Cisco. We didn't use Aruba much, but once you set it up, you probably don't need to worr...
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 do you like most about ExtremeCloud IQ?
The Client 360 feature provides a comprehensive view of your clients and their activities, including the devices they use. Additionally, a feature called Network 360 offers a 360-degree view of the...
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...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Airwave vs. ExtremeCloud IQ and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.