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ExtremeCloud IQ vs Portnox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

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
6.8
ExtremeCloud IQ enhances productivity by simplifying management, stabilizing Wi-Fi, reducing costs, and offering quick deployment for business growth.
Sentiment score
7.3
Portnox CORE improved network visibility, security, and efficiency, reducing costs and enhancing decision-making through detailed analytics and automated features.
I managed to support and deploy ExtremeCloud IQ and handle network management without requiring external staffing, thus saving on external hiring costs.
If you were moving from a traditional on-premise NAC that was 100% managed by the IT department, there would be great savings in going to a cloud-based NAC with Portnox.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
ExtremeCloud IQ offers efficient, responsive customer service with knowledgeable support, though some find documentation and resources lacking compared to competitors.
Sentiment score
7.3
Portnox customer service is highly rated for responsiveness and efficiency, with room for improvement in local services and communication.
I experienced effective help mainly remotely, though for some issues, a technical person had to assist on-site.
I was seeing weird things, and they were able to explain things to me and help me quickly find a resolution.
They resolved issues quickly and provided clear explanations.
They respond very immediately and provide detailed, amazing support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
ExtremeCloud IQ offers scalable, seamless network expansion with cloud-based architecture, supporting high-density and smaller-scale applications efficiently.
Sentiment score
7.5
Portnox is scalable and flexible, supporting growth efficiently, though larger setups may require more resources, rated seven to ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
ExtremeCloud IQ is stable, with minor firmware issues; updates improve reliability, with newer bands performing well and occasional reboots needed.
Sentiment score
7.6
Portnox offers reliable uptime, though CORE users report issues with vendor support and configuration, while Clear performs smoothly.
It requires some time to update, which affects real-time management.
The product itself is available and its uptime is 100%.
In the four years that I used Portnox, if it crashed or the server crashed, that would not have been more than once.
 

Room For Improvement

ExtremeCloud IQ needs improvements in UI, stability, performance, security, support, and pricing to meet user and market expectations.
Portnox can improve with better GUI, integration, scalability, support, licensing, false positives, documentation, and Wi-Fi and AI analytics.
I needed deep details and more thorough resources.
Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
When I'm doing filtering at times, it doesn't filter the items properly.
It was a seamless integration, but we did experience some difficulties initially where mobile phones were being locked out until we figured out how to set footprints for mobile phones that would be able to connect using Portnox to access the Wi-Fi in the environment.
 

Setup Cost

ExtremeCloud IQ is competitively priced, offering flexible licensing and reasonable support costs, especially advantageous for educational institutions.
Portnox offers scalable, competitive pricing based on ports, with annual fees, appreciated value, but no perpetual license option.
The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period.
The pricing is a bit high, possibly due to the cloud features and running instances across regions like the US, Asia, and Europe.
If you compare Portnox with all other well-known standard products, it is the cheapest.
It is a bit on the high side, but considering the cloud features and how much it costs to run the instance in the cloud, it is not unreasonable.
 

Valuable Features

ExtremeCloud IQ excels with centralized management, AI analytics, seamless scalability, and integration with planning tools for efficient networking.
Portnox provides scalable, agentless network visibility with intuitive dashboards and automated security integration, enhancing efficiency and endpoint compliance.
The automation and information provided by ExtremeCloud IQ, such as connection status and logs, were very beneficial.
It's notable how Portnox has improved operational efficiency.
You can see a PC connected to it, and you can tell which user the PC is using and which version of the OS it's running.
It is very easy to implement on our current network hardware.
 

Categories and Ranking

ExtremeCloud IQ
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
10th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (10th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (18th)
Portnox
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (11th), Passwordless Authentication (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of ExtremeCloud IQ is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Portnox is 3.6%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

Sriman L - PeerSpot reviewer
One of the best cloud-based wireless solutions that helps manage multiple APs from a single dashboard across multiple locations
ExtremeCloud IQ’s user interface needs to be improved, and its current bugs need to be fixed. Sometimes, AP details, like the AP firmware and the AP hostname, are not updating properly because of a few bugs in the current version, which they might fix in the next version. Compared to the central and other cloud solutions, a couple of bugs still running on these portals need to be rectified. For ExtremeCloud IQ's next releases, I expect to get all the users and the events alerts. Also, if any AP goes down, I should be able to do some scheduled reports specific to the site because it is currently in beta. If any AP goes offline, that's an event. If you want to do the filter for a specific site event, we don't have that filter option. I expect specific site-level and category-level events and alert filters to get reports.
Scott Kerr - PeerSpot reviewer
It is seamless and integrates well with our Azure setup
We use devices like PLCs and controllers, and when we receive a request to allow one on the network, we bypass typical authentication, associate it with a group account, and push it to a firewalled VLAN. However, problems arise when the same MAC address is requested for a different project. Our current system only finds authenticated MAC addresses, making it difficult to troubleshoot when the same device is used for multiple purposes. Ideally, we should be able to search for any MAC address in the database, regardless of its authentication status, to see all its associated groups and potential conflicts.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Insurance Company
5%
 

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...
What do you like most about ExtremeCloud IQ?
The Client 360 feature provides a comprehensive view of your clients and their activities, including the devices they use. Additionally, a feature called Network 360 offers a 360-degree view of the...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ExtremeCloud IQ?
The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period. The documentation and training courses were also costly, impacting how easily I c...
What do you like most about Portnox CORE?
It's easy to manage and troubleshoot thanks to the lightweight components.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Portnox CORE?
It's not cheap. It's not expensive. It's in the middle, so I'll probably give it a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with Portnox CORE?
We have been having some issues with it. That's why we're considering migrating to Portnox Clear due to some limitations with CORE. At the end of the day, Portnox Clear's capabilities are much more...
 

Also Known As

Aerohive Networks, Aerohive HiveManager, HiveManager, ExtremeCloud , ExtremeSecurity
Access Layers Portnox, Portnox CLEAR
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Data Realty, Royal London, Wales Millennium Centre, McLaren Construction Group, EL AL Israeli Airlines, 
Find out what your peers are saying about ExtremeCloud IQ vs. Portnox and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.