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ExtremeCloud IQ vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

ExtremeCloud IQ
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (12th), Network Access Control (NAC) (10th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (17th)
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (23rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

ExtremeCloud IQ and WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. ExtremeCloud IQ is designed for Network Management Applications and holds a mindshare of 2.9%, up 2.9% compared to last year.
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless LAN, holds 1.1% mindshare, up 0.4% since last year.
Network Management Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ExtremeCloud IQ2.9%
Cisco DNA Center9.4%
OpenText Network Node Manager5.5%
Other82.2%
Network Management Applications
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi1.1%
Aruba Wireless12.3%
Ruckus Wireless10.8%
Other75.8%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

José Roldan - PeerSpot reviewer
Ingeniero De Preventa at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Has improved network monitoring with AI-driven insights and centralized device management
The best features of ExtremeCloud IQ include the integration of different vendors in one dashboard, the evolution of the manager, and any devices in networking. The impact of ExtremeCloud IQ on my organization is positive as the deployment is for a hybrid solution, using third-party vendors and cloud solutions for Extreme devices, switches, IP, and access points or SD-WAN solution devices. My IT team is occupied with other jobs, and ExtremeCloud IQ helps with monitoring networking at low costs. For networking and access points, it acts as a controller in a cloud environment, eliminating the need for an appliance controller or wireless LAN controller, thus saving on investment and reducing TCO costs.
reviewer2562924 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT System Support Administrator at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
Configuration offers flexibility but response to incidents needs improvement
We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major incident. We are still trying to identify the cause, which is why I would rate it seven out of ten. Without this incident, I might have rated it eight to nine. Overall, I give the solution a rating of seven.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The amount of time spent troubleshooting wireless issues is now non-existent so our ROI is priceless as it stands."
"I’ve used both Cisco and Meraki extensively and have found Aerohive to offer the best mix between stable hardware and software and ease of setup, deployment, and management."
"I'd encourage anyone to use Aerohive products, they've been trouble free, they're timely with upgrades (including new functionality)."
"Since these APs are controller-less they are very dependable and easy to configure."
"The few times we have needed help, Aerohive has been there for us and I am confident that If I need them they will be there again."
"We have installed these in around 40 nursing homes and they are working great."
"Customer service is excellent."
"We're end-users; it's working very well on our side, and that's why we tell people that this solution is good."
"All you have to do is take it out of the box, plug it in and you're ready to go."
"The configuration part of WatchGuard is very flexible."
"It makes it easy to obtain all information about the client experience."
"They're very easy to set up and get running."
"The Wi-Fi security features of this solution have been great for our customers who need to strictly control access to their network."
"The solution is priced high compared to competitors, however, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."
"The solution has been stable."
"The Wi-Fi security features of this solution have been great for our customers who need to strictly control access to their network."
 

Cons

"A nice-to-have would be the possibility to set an expiry date for guest users in the User Manager."
"Pricing is a bit expensive."
"Pricing could be improved. It could be lower."
"The Virtual Appliance crashed once while doing an upgrade. The good thing here is, even if the management system fails, all our networks and features still remain 100% stable and working."
"There are some minor bugs in parts of the software which can cause some issues from time to time, but it's like any other piece of software."
"There are some things that need to be fixed. For example, the solution will show us that there are some issues, but when we try to find those issues, we can't see them."
"A room for improvement in ExtremeCloud IQ is roaming. My team is facing roaming issues with the solution, particularly when using VoIP over WiFi. For example, VoIP sometimes breaks when you walk around the customer site. In terms of what I'd like to see in the next release of the solution, right now, the inventory for ExtremeCloud IQ is awful. There's no stock, and you must wait a year and a half for new stocks. It's awful."
"Their firewall configuration gets funky and it can be difficult to understand."
"If a client device had issues with authentication due to out of date browser or similar difficulties, it would be nice to have the ability to migrate the client onto the portal via one click."
"One of the things is if you buy it with a certain subscription, you can't easily change the subscription level."
"The solution can be scaled but it has limitations from my experience. The access points are rated for 500 people but I think the max is closer to 200."
"The price of this solution needs to reviewed, as it is currently high enough to deter customers from trying it."
"Inability to import a user with one click."
"The price of this solution needs to reviewed, as it is currently high enough to deter customers from trying it."
"If a client device had issues with authentication due to out of date browser or similar difficulties, it would be nice to have the ability to migrate the client onto the portal via one click."
"In terms of improvement, one issue I have is that I can't import a user with one click."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Extreme is twice as cheap compared to Cisco due to the currency exchange. Normally, I think Cisco would be a little bit more expensive, but there wouldn't be that much of a difference."
"For example, if you compare Aruba vs Aerohive, you need to check which licences from Aruba you need to match the functionality of Aerohive (usually you need at least three types of licences and a controller with redundancy). The same goes with Cisco, where you need buy additional licences for central management, firewall, spectral analysis, WIPS, PPSK, etc. Aerohive has a very simple model - one licence for all the functionalities - and you can believe that there are many. One licence makes it easy to maintain, scale, renew and you can plan your costs 10 years in advance."
"ExtremeCloud IQ's pricing is medium, but its support contract costs more."
"Customers need to pay a yearly licensing fee for ExtremeCloud IQ, which is a little bit expensive."
"The product pricing is reasonable."
"Although the pricing is a bit high, I consider Aerohive to be well worth the money."
"This solution offers annual licensing that is middle of the range in terms of cost."
"The pricing is so cost-effective that it leaves no room for competition with other vendors."
"The solution is priced high compared to competitors. However, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."
"Your licensing and cost, as would be required for many other solutions, being considered for eighty to two hundred and eighty different physical locations, is just about the same amount per access point."
"WatchGuard is on the upper scale for pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
 

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 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 advice do you have for others considering ExtremeCloud IQ?
I use ExtremeCloud IQ's real-time analytics. In the cloud solution, I get reports, and it works together with machine learning and artificial intelligence for those reports. This tool permits the c...
What needs improvement with WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention. Also, when an incident occurs, the impact can be significantly huge. A recent p...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We use WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi because we have used different tools as well, like Ubiquiti. The complexity of Ubiquiti is much more compared to WatchGuard, which provides more flexibility and is ea...
What advice do you have for others considering WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major inc...
 

Also Known As

Aerohive Networks, Aerohive HiveManager, HiveManager, ExtremeCloud , ExtremeSecurity
No data 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
Portsmouth Grammar School, HILOTEC
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: May 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.