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Aruba Wireless vs ExtremeWireless comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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
8.4
Aruba Wireless delivers mixed ROI, with gains in productivity and cost-effectiveness, but initial rollout and integration challenges impact returns.
Sentiment score
8.5
ExtremeWireless provides scalable, cost-effective solutions with 30% ROI savings, easy deployment, and excellent support for long-term use.
There is no need to buy additional controllers for managing access points.
There are significant time savings, around thirty to forty percent, due to minimal disconnections.
The best ROI is achieved over a three-year term.
The monitoring access and excellent support provide significant value.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Aruba Wireless customer service yields mixed reviews, praised for knowledgeable support but criticized for language barriers and wait times.
Sentiment score
7.2
ExtremeWireless support is helpful but inconsistent, with slow response times and limited availability affecting user satisfaction. Ratings vary.
I only needed support once or twice for a replacement, and it was handled smoothly without any difficulty.
I would rate their technical support nine out of ten.
The customer support is good.
I rate their support as a nine because they are very helpful when we need assistance and they strive to help, even if not the fastest.
The technical support sometimes closes cases without resolution.
I would rate the customer service as a ten.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Aruba Wireless offers flexible, scalable solutions for businesses, enabling seamless integration and management across diverse infrastructures and industries.
Sentiment score
6.7
ExtremeWireless is scalable and adaptable for medium to large enterprises but may face stability issues at higher user thresholds.
The solution is scalable, as multiple sites connect seamlessly.
It is easy to adapt and very scalable.
The Extreme access points handle high-density connectivity needs very well, managing lots of traffic efficiently.
ExtremeWireless is suitable for companies with a user base below three hundred.
ExtremeWireless is quite scalable.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.9
Aruba Wireless is highly stable and reliable, suitable for large enterprises, with minimal issues apart from some configuration challenges.
Sentiment score
7.0
ExtremeWireless is praised for its stability and reliability, though some encounter challenges with firmware updates in high-density environments.
I have been using the product for the last nine years without facing any issues post-installation.
I don't remember it going down during the years it existed.
Aruba Wireless is stable.
They work well without failures.
I experienced issues during firmware upgrades, as some devices required a physical restart, which affects system stability.
The stability of ExtremeWireless is somewhat weaker compared to previous solutions, like Motorola before its acquisition.
 

Room For Improvement

Aruba Wireless struggles with complex configurations, high costs, lacking support, and unfriendly interface, needing enhanced features and tools.
ExtremeWireless must enhance affordability, integration, security, support, and performance to improve competitiveness and meet small business needs.
The product should be more affordable, especially the cloud and console for the Aruba product as it is currently very expensive.
While the technical specifications are satisfactory, the access points are expensive.
At the time of purchase, the prices were moderate, but now they are quite expensive.
I wish for ExtremeWireless to optimize the roaming capability between access points, especially for IoT devices.
They should develop more troubleshooting tools for system management.
There is some delay in firmware upgrades for access points.
 

Setup Cost

Aruba Wireless is competitively priced, praised for perpetual licensing, but costs can rise with maintenance and add-ons.
ExtremeWireless provides good value with both free and paid options, despite medium-high pricing and substantial hardware costs.
The pricing seems reasonable compared to other brands; however, it is too expensive for smaller businesses.
The pricing can be expensive.
The initial prices were more affordable compared to the current high prices.
Each customer typically buys around 100 APs, which makes it quite expensive.
The pricing is favorable due to its flexible licensing model.
The pricing is a weak point for Extreme; it is very high.
 

Valuable Features

Aruba Wireless excels in scalability, security, and performance, offering seamless deployment and reliable connectivity, favored for large networks.
ExtremeWireless offers cloud management, strong security, seamless integration, and stability, making it ideal for security-focused sectors.
I do not need to buy a controller for the access point since the Aruba Access Point has a built-in virtual controller.
The Aruba Wireless solution has excellent roaming capabilities, ensuring seamless connectivity.
It has many features and is integrated with Azure AD and multiple active directories, making authentication easy.
A single license can be used for on-premises, hybrid, or cloud, allowing for easy transition between solutions without losing investment.
The most valuable features of ExtremeWireless include the management through the one dashboard management with ActionCloud IQ, integrated with Site Engine.
The support from Extreme is very good and helpful.
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
148
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ExtremeWireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 16.5%, down from 23.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeWireless is 1.8%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad_Faisal - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience seamless connectivity with top-notch roaming capabilities
The Aruba Wireless solution has excellent roaming capabilities, ensuring seamless connectivity. Once installed, Aruba Wireless works robustly without overheating issues. This is particularly effective compared to other products I've used, like FortiMonitor and FortiAPs, which sometimes heat up. I am very satisfied with the roaming feature, as it ensures connectivity when moving from one location to another. The product's stability, after setting it up, adds to its value.
Seungho Yang - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced employee access with effective wireless monitoring and seamless roaming
Our use case for ExtremeWireless is to allow our employees to access the company systems The monitoring systems in ExtremeWireless have been very effective, and they are cheaper than other products. It provides better monitoring logs and detailed logs compared to Cisco Wireless. The most…
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
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Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 24, 2015
Cisco vs. Aruba Wireless Solutions
Cisco or Aruba Networks? If you are considering wireless access solutions, this is a common question that you are probably asking. You probably have sales people knocking at your door. How do you make sense of all the stories that you are presented with. If you have done any research, you are…
 

Answers from the Community

DS
Oct 5, 2021
Oct 5, 2021
It also depends on the integration with your LAN network and Network Access Control. Both have campus and cloud-native solutions. One single pane of glass for all your end devices is very advisable. So be sure to integrate your LAN with your WLAN and NAC, and if possible with your firewall gateway and endpoint security. Aruba Wireless has a very rich feature set and integration possibilities. ...
See 2 answers
EB
Oct 4, 2021
Hi @Huthaisa Al Saaideh, @D6B8, @DImo Dimov, @Gassan Armouti ​and @Joris Van den Bergh, Can you share your professional insights with @Danny Stevens?  We appreciate your help.
JV
Oct 5, 2021
It also depends on the integration with your LAN network and Network Access Control. Both have campus and cloud-native solutions.  One single pane of glass for all your end devices is very advisable. So be sure to integrate your LAN with your WLAN and NAC, and if possible with your firewall gateway and endpoint security. Aruba Wireless has a very rich feature set and integration possibilities. Extreme has a very high level of automation and easy to deploy virtual services on their SPBM fabric.  So it all depends on your expectations and business case...
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
10%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
Aruba Wireless or Ruckus Wireless?
At my organization, we researched Ruckus Wireless among other solutions but ultimately chose Aruba wireless. What did we like about Ruckus? First, it was very easy to use, and anybody with minimal...
How does Cisco Wireless compare with Aruba Wireless?
On the most basic level, Cisco Wireless can offer a rather straightforward initial setup. In the span of about three hours, the basic framework can be set up. Step-by-step instructions are availabl...
What needs improvement with ExtremeWireless?
There are concerns regarding the stability of ExtremeWireless. It could be an area of improvement, especially when compared to previous solutions such as Motorola before their acquisition. Another ...
What is your primary use case for ExtremeWireless?
We mainly use ExtremeWireless ( /products/extremewireless-reviews ) for the warehouse, specifically for the Zebra handheld devices and printers.
 

Also Known As

Aruba WLAN, HP WLAN, HP Wireless, Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Point
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified School District, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities
St. Xavier High School, Americatel, Diamond Light Source
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. ExtremeWireless and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,874 professionals have used our research since 2012.