Aruba Airwave vs ExtremeManagement comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Extreme Networks are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.1, while Extreme Networks is ranked #22. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 4.0% mindshare in NMA, compared to Extreme Networks’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Extreme Networks users who would recommend it.

Aruba Airwave

Read 26 Aruba Airwave reviews

1,305 Views
1,161 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

ExtremeManagement

Read 5 ExtremeManagement reviews

436 Views
392 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Aruba Airwave

ExtremeManagement

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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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: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Airwave vs. ExtremeManagement

December 2025

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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

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

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 January 2026, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Aruba Airwave is 4.0%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeManagement is 1.9%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Aruba Airwave	4.0%
ExtremeManagement	1.9%
Other	94.1%

Network Management Applications

Featured Reviews

Edward Zeng

Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology

Troubleshooting obstacles occur but technical support excels

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 worry about it too much. The version we are using is quite old now, probably around version four. I can't remember the version exactly because a lot of the products require Aruba Central, but we haven't used Aruba Central yet. I face challenges with Aruba Airwave, particularly with troubleshooting. When someone has a problem, we try troubleshooting, but 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. If Aruba Airwave can apply AI capabilities, that would be even more perfect. I'd appreciate integration with Aruba Central; it would be great if they could incorporate it into Airwave.

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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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Aruba Airwave provides a robust solution for monitoring and configuring Wi-Fi networks."

"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 most valuable feature of Aruba Airwave is the multivendor support, which enables you to manage and monitor different vendors or products."

"One of the main advantages is its ability to draw building floor plans and analyze Wi-Fi signal behavior in real-time."

"The most valuable features of the solution are its dashboard and simplicity."

"I would rate the overall solution nine out of ten."

"What I like best about Aruba Airwave is its orchestration feature because it saves configuration time. I also like that it allows you to do ZTP installations for new Aruba equipment."

"All the technical support goes through our contractor. It is a local support, and it is perfect."

More Aruba Airwave pros

"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."

"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 technical support services are good."

"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 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."

Cons

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

"Whenever you get an error it doesn't immediately tell you what the thing is that is causing the error. You have to sit down and research it. If it could say what error is causing the issue, it would make my troubleshooting a lot quicker."

"I am not deeply familiar with the solution, so if I mention a feature, it might already exist, yet I may be unaware of it."

"We're looking for more device compatibility. Like compatibility with third-party devices."

"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 encounter delayed ETAs in the manufacturing of hardware."

"I would like to see an integration of services into one system, rather than having multiple systems to do multiple things."

"Cost is always a big issue for partners."

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."

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

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

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

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."

"The cost is perfect because the devices have a lifetime warranty, and the licensing is good as well."

"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."

"The licensing cost for Aruba Airwave increased from $72 to $210 within a few months. It would be better if the pricing for the solution were cheaper."

"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."

"Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."

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

"This product is not expensive."

More Aruba Airwave pricing and cost advice

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

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	14

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Airwave?

I think the solution is quite affordable.

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What needs improvement with Aruba Airwave?

They have other sensors which can manage and control all the sites. There is an IoT component where we can restrict internet services such as Facebook and YouTube. These things can also be managed....

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Aruba Airwave?

For Aruba Airwave, I am using the wireless devices for the Wi-Fi for the full company with access points. This is the top product I feel, and I see in the Gartner also. It is a good product and eas...

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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...

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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...

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Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Center vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 10% of the time

Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista vs Aruba Airwave

Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 46% of the time

HPE Intelligent Management Center vs ExtremeManagement

Compared 31% of the time

Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista vs ExtremeManagement

Compared 24% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Airwave

January 2026

Download Aruba Airwave product report

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeManagement

January 2026

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 Networks

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

December 2025

Free Report: Aruba Airwave vs. ExtremeManagement

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