Aruba Airwave vs ExtremeManagement comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Extreme are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.0, while Extreme is ranked #22. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 6.4% mindshare in NMA, compared to Extreme’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Extreme users who would recommend it.

Aruba Airwave

Read 24 Aruba Airwave reviews

1,503 Views
999 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

ExtremeManagement

Read 5 ExtremeManagement reviews

263 Views
142 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Aruba Airwave

ExtremeManagement

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Aruba Airwave and ExtremeManagement are products in the network management space. Aruba holds an advantage in affordability and customer support, while ExtremeManagement's robust features and value stand out.

Features: Aruba Airwave provides comprehensive monitoring and network visibility, supports multiple vendors, and offers valuable orchestration features that save configuration time. ExtremeManagement delivers automation capabilities, advanced analytics for deeper insights, and rich reporting capabilities that enhance network operations.

Room for Improvement: Aruba Airwave could enhance its automation features, improve its analytics depth, and expand its compatibility with non-Aruba devices. ExtremeManagement might focus on simplifying deployment, enhancing customer support resources, and broadening vendor compatibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Aruba Airwave is simple to deploy and benefits from strong customer support, easing the process for organizations. ExtremeManagement, while more complex, provides thorough documentation and tutorials to support deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Aruba Airwave has a lower initial setup cost, appealing to budget-conscious buyers, and offers good ROI due to cost-effective support solutions. ExtremeManagement comes with a higher setup cost but provides substantial ROI through its comprehensive feature set and long-term value.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Airwave vs. ExtremeManagement Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Airwave vs. ExtremeManagement

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 859,129 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Airwave

Ranking in Network Management Applications

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

ExtremeManagement

Ranking in Network Management Applications

22nd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

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 ExtremeManagement is 1.6%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Management Applications

Featured Reviews

Lulzim Islami

IT Network Operations Manager at KEDS

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.

Read full review

LuisBrown

Chief Information Security Officer at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees

Mature and robust platform; can be used to manage Cisco switches

ExtremeManagement is excellent. It is a very mature platform and robust in that it covers most of the functionality of the devices. One of ExtremeManagement's advantages over its competitors is that it is capable of managing Cisco switches if you have their on-prem manager. So you can take your legacy Cisco switches and manage them directly in the Extreme platform.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most beneficial feature for network monitoring in Aruba Airwave is the Live Heat Map. It helps identify interferences, coverage issues, and user connectivity issues. The device management capability of Aruba Airwave is good. It provides end-to-end visibility from the user to the access point, the switch, and the internet breakout. From a monitoring, management, and orchestration standpoint, it is very effective and can manage any scale of deployment."

"It facilitated creating floor maps."

"AirWave definitely helps us troubleshoot and get to the root cause of the issues. It gives you an excellent indication of what's going on within your network at different locations. You can get to the area, take a look at the AirWave analysis, and make informed decisions."

"The solution's initial setup process is straightforward."

"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 technical support services are good."

"The Clarity feature makes it easy to use and understand what is going on with your network in a nice dashboard."

"It can interact with other vendors better than Cisco, which is a good point of AirWave. It is easy to use, and its reporting is good."

More Aruba Airwave pros

"The report model is one of the valuable models. We are able to see all the information concentrated in reports, which is very useful. We are able to get the information about the performance of the equipment and check that everything is okay. You can get very useful information across applications, so we have very good experience with their management solutions. It has many functionalities to simplify the administration and monitor the development of the switches or AP. It is easy to deploy, easy to configure. and easy to develop. Its price is also good."

"I need fewer people to do implementation and support, and I don't have to go on-site to change the configuration or otherwise support the switch."

"The best thing about the solution is that it is all managed from just a single application window. We call this feature a single pane of glass due to the fact that almost all the features are all managed within a single application, or a browser, to be more specific."

"The technical support services are good."

"ExtremeManagement brings in the most value by reducing the technical debt to the organization in terms of having to hire personnel to maintain it or contract it."

Cons

"The overall monitoring of this solution could be improved."

"They should make it cheaper. By doing that, they can replace Cisco, which is also very expensive. If it is equivalent to Cisco in the features, with a reduced price, they can sell it more than Cisco."

"We encounter delayed ETAs in the manufacturing of hardware."

"The main challenge we've faced with Aruba Airwave is its high cost, especially regarding high availability and failover licenses, which can be relatively expensive for customers. As for recommendations for improvement, considering that Aruba is planning to retire Airwave soon and introduce a new solution, it's crucial that the new product meets or exceeds the current Airwave's feature set. Customers expect a seamless transition without losing any functionality, so Aruba needs to ensure that the new solution is ready with all the essential features and capabilities from day one to avoid any gaps or dissatisfaction among users and partners."

"We sometimes have problems with troubleshooting between the GUI and the CLI manipulation."

"Its pricing and support could be improved."

"The integration with other platforms like Cisco needs to be improved."

"The solution’s pricing could be improved."

More Aruba Airwave cons

"They can improve the information period. Currently, we are able to have information for only 14 or 15 days, but we would like to have information for an extended period of maybe 30 days. Their technical support can also be improved in terms of the response time to the tickets."

"It would be great to not need an on-premises SiteIQ license for running a Fabric OS cloud or managing third-party devices."

"Some features are quite difficult to configure and they are very complicated to figure out. Maybe the vendors should introduce a more driven configuration that can clarify the processes a bit more to make the processes more clearly defined."

"It would be helpful if this solution had support for configuring and managing third-party hardware devices."

"There could be better integration with third-party equipment and vendors."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"AirWave is a very expensive solution. If you implement it in a wide range network, it will cost a lot. There is no option to sell it outside that price segment, which is a problem."

"This product is not expensive."

"The tool is expensive. If one is bad or expensive, and ten is very good or cheap, I rate the product's price as a six."

"It's device-based licensing. One device requires one license."

"We must buy a new license to connect more devices to scale up the solution."

"It is an expensive solution."

"Aruba Airwave's licensing cost is not that expensive."

"The licensing is on an yearly basis."

More Aruba Airwave pricing and cost advice

"It has a good price. There is a good relationship between the cost and the performance."

"The support is billed on a yearly basis, and there are no additional costs."

"While they don't consider it affordable, they don't find it overly expensive."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Management Applications solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Educational Organization

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Airwave?

I would rate the stability a nine out of ten.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about ExtremeManagement?

The technical support services are good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ExtremeManagement?

I don't know the exact pricing or licensing details. However, based on feedback from our customers, they haven't raised significant complaints about the cost. While they don't consider it affordabl...

See all answers

What needs improvement with ExtremeManagement?

There could be better integration with third-party equipment and vendors. While ExtremeManagement technically supports monitoring various devices like firewalls, the integration may not be as seaml...

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco DNA Center vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 33% of the time

HPE Intelligent Management Center vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 24% of the time

Aruba ClearPass vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 9% of the time

Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 9% of the time

SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 8% of the time

More Aruba Airwave Competitors

DataMiner vs ExtremeManagement

Compared 58% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs ExtremeManagement

Compared 42% of the time

More ExtremeManagement Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Airwave

June 2025

Download Aruba Airwave product report

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeManagement

June 2025

Download ExtremeManagement product report

Overview

Offering granular visibility into wired and wireless networks, AirWave is the only management platform designed with mobile devices and apps in mind. By proactively monitoring the health and performance of all things connected, AirWave lets IT gain the insights they need to support the digital workplace.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Extreme Management Center (formerly NetSight) provides access to web-based reporting, network analysis, troubleshooting, and helpdesk tools. Management Center includes wired/wireless dashboards, reports, end-system information and policy, interactive topology maps, application identification, web-based FlexViews, device views, and event logs. NetFlow diagnostics enable assessment of network issues and performance. Search functionality enables you to search for end-systems by MAC address, IP address, end-system name, or user name.

Extreme

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

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Airwave vs. ExtremeManagement

June 2025

Free Report: Aruba Airwave vs. ExtremeManagement

Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Airwave vs. ExtremeManagement and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Aruba Airwave vs. ExtremeManagement report.

See our list of best Network Management Applications vendors.

We monitor all Network Management Applications 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.