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Cisco Enterprise Routers vs ExtremeRouting comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 29, 2025

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

Cisco Enterprise Routers
Ranking in Routers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ExtremeRouting
Ranking in Routers
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Routers is 19.7%, down from 24.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeRouting is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Routers
 

Featured Reviews

Jos Badimo - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides reliable connectivity but setup and compatibility require improvement
Cisco Enterprise Routers can only integrate with standard equipment. If using something non-standard, it will not work. By non-standard, I mean the unknown brands that are not generally used. There is still room for improvement in performance, quality of service, and security in general. Cisco Enterprise Routers are not easy to set up. They require special skills and don't have plug-and-play capability.
Imran Taiyeb Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
A scalable tool that needs to improve its support, software resiliency, and software stability
The support team is not technically that strong. The previous company that owned the product, Nortel, went bankrupt, after which the transition phase of the product didn't go smoothly. Avaya did not do well with the product's design and engineering after taking the product over from Nortel, after which Avaya decided to outsource the tool to my company, meaning we have worked as a vendor with third-party access to the tool in the name of Avaya. The support was very bad initially, but my company could fix the problems of the customers on time since we had better communication skills than technical-solving skills due to our limitations related to the area of device engineering. When it comes to a feature of the product, my company could enable it for the customers or users of the product. If, by any chance, my company found a bug in the tool, then it was a hectic task for our support team to deal with it since it took months to fix it. Currently, Extreme Networks takes care of the support part, and it might have improved. I rate the technical support a four out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Solution is stable."
"The most valuable features are stability and the initial setup wizard."
"Flexibility is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."
"Cisco Enterprise Routers are easy to use and configure through the CLI."
"They are the best in failover switches. Their product line is excellent."
"The most valuable feature is the command prompt, which is very user-friendly."
"The operating system is good and well-made."
"It is very easy to set up."
"What I like about Extreme Routing is its impressive performance."
"Looking at the robustness, I do not know whether it would be carrier grade – let's say for hundreds of thousands of users – but it certainly doesn't balk at 10,000 users or less."
"Provides a good redundancy technique."
"The routing protocol is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"Cisco is not granular if we compare it to Juniper."
"The price has room for improvement."
"It can be very expensive, sometimes, to do the jump to the next router for your needs."
"The solution could be more secure."
"The solution is not easy to manage for people that do not have the experience."
"The only disadvantage is that the router comes with specific interfaces, typically two or three, and adding another interface requires an additional card, which increases the cost."
"Tends to have a short life cycle."
"The cost is the biggest drawback of Cisco products. They say you'll never get fired for buying Cisco, but it's going to cost you."
"The solution is far too unstable. It's completely unreliable."
"The support, software resiliency, and software stability are areas of concern where improvements are required."
"One area for improvement with Extreme Routing is the need for more accessible and comprehensive training."
"Some of the latest protocols are unavailable."
"My advice for those looking into ExtremeRouting is: right now all switch manufacturers are backed up for months. If you're looking to implement quickly, I would say shop around a bit because it might be difficult."
"It's not evolving as quickly as we would like it to."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a costly solution."
"I like the price of the solution."
"Cisco Enterprise Routers are not the cheapest routers on the market, they are expensive."
"The solution is costly for small businesses."
"The price is reasonable."
"It is quite costly. Its price should be reduced."
"Cisco's prices could be cheaper."
"The product is very expensive and does not provide the expected performance for the cost."
"We have no issues with the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How do Cisco Enterprise routers compare with Mikrotik routers and switches?
Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is ve...
What do you like most about Cisco Enterprise Routers?
The most valuable feature of the solution is that it makes it possible for users to use encryption and decryption since our company aims to achieve transparency, and without it, the other system on...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Enterprise Routers?
The pricing and licensing of Cisco Enterprise Routers is high, but the quality justifies the cost.
What do you like most about ExtremeRouting?
It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What needs improvement with ExtremeRouting?
I think that all the devices included in Avaya fall under Extreme Networks currently. I am not sure how much Extreme Networks has changed ExtremeRouting, but I think it is in a better condition tha...
What is your primary use case for ExtremeRouting?
My company uses ExtremeRouting for a big LAN environment, where there is a need for ERS switches, including Extreme Networks Core Switches and chassis, so the product is like a big cabinet to reduc...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Avaya Enterprise Routers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Boingo, Chartwell School, Children's Hospital of Orange County , Department of Justice, Explorer Pipeline, Linz AG, National Rugby League, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Telecom Italia, Transwestern
Breakthrough Urban Ministries, Black Oak Casino, Glamorgan County Cricket Club, University of San Carlos, Holland Hall School, South Euclid Lyndhurst Schools, Prairie View Networking Academy, City of Troy, Ryerson University, Linamar, City of Redondo Beach, York Region District School Board
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Enterprise Routers vs. ExtremeRouting and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.