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Cisco Enterprise Routers vs ExtremeRouting comparison

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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
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
115
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ExtremeRouting
Ranking in Routers
10th
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 September 2026, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Routers is 14.7%, down from 19.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ExtremeRouting is 4.0%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Routers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Enterprise Routers14.7%
ExtremeRouting4.0%
Other81.3%
Routers
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad IrfanGhauri - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Solutions at Comtech Associate
Enterprise routing has delivered advanced security integration and supported AI data centers
The licensing part of Cisco Enterprise Routers is a bit tricky nowadays. With DNA, they have introduced DNA licensing. If they make it more simplistic with respect to customer understanding, I think it would be a good selling point for them. The licensing model could be a bit too high or a bit too complex. They need to make it simplified. It would be good for their business. With respect to enterprise routing, I would like to see additional features in the future to make it closer to a ten. Previously, Cisco has integrated many technologies into their router and multiple security features. However, since they have created a separate firewall product line, Firepower, I still want them to integrate more security features into their enterprise-grade router as well. Content filtering, application control, and website filtering are features that should be integrated into the router. They have multiple options, so with respect to technology, I am expecting that they integrate security more and Voice over IP features more easily into the router. For the customer, this makes their life easier in the sense that a single box can give them multiple solutions. I think they are already providing 5G interfaces, and there are options available.
Imran Taiyeb Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solutions Specialist at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
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

"Cisco 2800 series provides fast excellent delivery of multiple simultaneous services."
"The product can scale."
"Cisco has one of the best products in terms of routing because of the protocols in which they provide."
"We have found the technology to be excellent. It provides a lot of services."
"It's highly stable. We rarely see any bugs or abnormalities in our Cisco routers, especially for the ISR series."
"This product is easy to use."
"This solution helps us with our inter-network constitution, and that works for us."
"Cisco support is the most valuable aspect because most technicians in the industry understand how to interface with a Cisco product. When we contact support, we know we'll probably get the answer whether we have to escalate the request to a new engineer or not."
"The routing protocol is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"Technical support is very good, especially when you compare it to other vendors we have here."
"We evaluated Cisco routers as well, but we chose ExtremeRouting because it was more user-friendly, budget-friendly, cheap compared to Cisco, and has an easy configuration process."
"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."
"It is a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"What I like about Extreme Routing is its impressive performance."
"Overall, ExtremeRouting requires less technical depth in order to implement the infrastructure than Cisco, for example."
"Provides a good redundancy technique."
 

Cons

"Cisco sells expensive equipment, but it does not really have greater performance compared to the price paid for it, so we're paying very high prices for medium — or low to medium — capacity equipment."
"The security of the solution could be a bit better."
"While the hardware is good, it doesn't offer very easy scalability and lacks decent automation capabilities."
"These routers are not easy to use for non-professional users, so simplification is something that would improve this product."
"The cost of this solution is a little bit high compared to others."
"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 isn't too scalable. It's not modular. You have to size everything correctly."
"The licensing structure is very convoluted, and the cost of the licenses includes a whole bunch of stuff that you'll never use."
"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."
"One area for improvement with Extreme Routing is the need for more accessible and comprehensive training."
"The solution is far too unstable. It's completely unreliable."
"It's not evolving as quickly as we would like it to."
"We have not had a very good experience with customer service and support."
"The support, software resiliency, and software stability are areas of concern where improvements are required."
"We are concerned with how the solution will evolve to the next generation of Contact Center. It's not evolving as quickly as we would like it to."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost is quite reasonable."
"There are licensing costs and they are expensive."
"The product is very expensive and does not provide the expected performance for the cost."
"It's expensive and the pricing could be improved."
"The price of this solution is high."
"Cisco Enterprise Routers are not the cheapest routers on the market, they are expensive."
"There is no licensing cost."
"It's not a fair price, it's a bit too high."
"We have no issues with the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business49
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise45
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Enterprise Routers?
Regarding the pricing for Cisco Enterprise Routers, I would say it might be a little bit too high because for large companies, it does not matter since they prefer Cisco, but smaller companies ofte...
What needs improvement with Cisco Enterprise Routers?
Utilizing Cisco's integrated security protocols is the area where I wish to get into in the coming days, but currently, I am not working on the security portfolio.
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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: September 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.