ExtremeControl vs F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) comparison

ExtremeControl vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

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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

ExtremeControl

Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)

14th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Man...

Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)

8th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (17th), SSL VPN (5th), Remote Access (10th), Access Management (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of ExtremeControl is 1.8%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is 0.9%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Access Control (NAC)

Featured Reviews

Jose Mota

IT specialist at FERCAM SpA

Has a simple setup process, but it could be affordable

We have noticed similarities between Extreme and Ubiquiti, particularly in their functionality, like how they operate wirelessly and can be managed from the cloud or locally. Based on our experience, Ubiquiti's system may be more user-friendly and capable of handling heavy loads. Still, Extreme could be more reliable, although you have yet to compare them side by side directly. For instance, we have observed Extreme performing well in a warehouse environment, which might have a different level of network traffic than a convention center.

Read full review

Ashish Kumar Rai

Associate Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Offers remote access control, good GUI and easy to configure

I'd suggest improved documentation integration directly within the GUI. Right now, finding comprehensive documentation often requires going to external websites like the community portal. In the APM interface itself, they could add direct hyperlinks to relevant online documentation. This would provide easy access to admin guides and other resources when working within the GUI.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has effectively enhanced network security and integrated with other security tools to streamline operations."

"The solution is easy to use."

"The company also uses Cisco ISE in other places. I have been told that ExtremeControl is easier to use than ISE. The other reason we prefer ExtremeControl is stability. That's why they chose it for this big hospital in Oslo."

"I can know which end users are using which features."

"There is information on migrating most of the cloud system's features."

"Overall, I would rate ExtremeControl nine out of ten."

"The load balancing features are valuable."

"This is a product that is easy to install and integrate, and it is simple to use."

"The performance of the solution is valuable."

"I recommend F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) to others due to its reliability, and it is perceived as critical to security infrastructure."

"The most valuable feature is the virtual IP creation. It's our most frequently used feature."

"The tool is reliable and easy to configure."

"The portal access was very good."

"Our organization is small - a college with about 3,500 students. We use F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager to protect our site, especially from the Iranian attacks we faced last year. We restrict access to only inside the country."

More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) pros

Cons

"The installation is easy, it can take between five minutes to four hours depending on the complexity of the environment. The speed of the installation could improve for more complex environments."

"One improvement could be better clarification, namely that the system only works optimally with all components purchased together."

"I would rate their technical support five out of ten. They have strict upgrade policies."

"I'd like to have access to more information on the traffic passing through."

"The initial setup was not easy. It requires an experienced person to deploy ExtremeControl, and deployment can take from days to weeks depending on the complexity of the network."

"There isn't enough development for the on-premises controller."

"The solution is quite costly."

"The main improvement needed for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is to integrate into the cloud-delivered services from F5."

"Regarding price, I'm not directly involved in purchasing, but our CIO thinks the product is very expensive. He's considering moving from the tool to Citrix NetScaler WAF because it's cheaper, and we already have Citrix for VDI. We got NetScaler almost free as part of our VDI deal. Three years ago, I convinced him to use the solution because it's better, but now, with budget constraints, he may want to switch."

"In my opinion, the GUI side needs some improvement based on my usage. Sometimes, it doesn't work as efficiently as the CLI side."

"F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager has room for improvement in integration with other products."

"I have had a lot of issues in the past few months with the agents, which was disappointing."

"The initial setup was complex."

"If I could copy and paste objects instead of picking and configuring them from scratch each time, it would be great."

More F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"ExtremeControl can be expensive compared to other options in the market."

"Recently, they have simplified the licensing"

"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."

"The product is very expensive."

"The tool is a little bit expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Healthcare Company

Government

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ExtremeControl?

It has effectively enhanced network security and integrated with other security tools to streamline operations.

What needs improvement with ExtremeControl?

ExtremeControl is a great solution, but it is mainly focused on wireless. For their wired network, especially with third-party switching, this is where most of the features are lost.

What is your primary use case for ExtremeControl?

We have projects with mostly government entities. They want to create some policies for individuals who access Active Directory through others as an authentication method. They have Active Director...

What do you like most about F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

In my opinion, the GUI is perfect with the configuration options provided. F5 BIG-IP has given customization options and policy configuration tools in the GUI. It's good and good enough to work.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

F5 products are more expensive than other solutions but are valued for their quality and reliability, akin to purchasing a Bentley as opposed to an Audi.

What needs improvement with F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)?

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM ( /categories/application-performance-monitoring-apm-and-observability )) does not have a direction for SaaS. Most solutions focus more on remote access and acc...

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Product Reports

Network Access Control (NAC)

Download ExtremeControl product report

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)

Download F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) product report

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) report

Also Known As

Extreme Access Control, Enterasys NAC

F5 Access Policy Manager

Overview

ExtremeControl lets you manage secure and automated access for both, BYOD and IoT devices from one convenient dashboard. It makes it easy to roll out granular policies across your wired and wireless networks to meet industry and company compliance obligations. Identity based network access control keeps unauthorized people and devices from accessing your network.

Extreme

F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) is an access management proxy solution for managing global access to the enterprise networks, cloud providers, applications, and application programming interfaces (APIs). Through a single management interface, BIG-IP APM consolidates remote, mobile, network, virtual, and web access.

BIG-IP APM can also serve as a bridge between modern and classic authentication and authorization protocols and methods. For applications which are unable to support modern authentication and authorization protocols, like SAML and OAuth with OIDC, but which do support classic authentication methods, BIG-IP APM converts user credentials to the appropriate authentication standard supported by the application.

BIG-IP APM Benefits:

Ease of use
Flexibility
Ability to integrate with other systems
Security features
Granular access control
Responsive and helpful support team

BIG-IP APM Features:

Support for Identity Aware Proxy (IAP) enabling Zero Trust application access
Context-based authorization with dynamic L4/L7 ACLs
Integration with third-party MFA solutions
DTLS 2.0 mode for delivering and securing applications
SAML 2.0 identity federation support
Support for OAuth 2.0 authorization protocol
SSO support for classic authentication (Kerberos, header- based, etc.), credential caching, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, and FIDO2 (U2F)
AAA server authentication and high-availability
Integration with leading IAM vendor products (Microsoft, Okta, Ping Identity)
BIG IP Edge Client and F5 Access integrate with VMware Horizon ONE (AirWatch), Microsoft Intune and IBM MaaS360
Risk-based access leveraging third-party UEBA and risk engines (HTTP Connector)

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by BIG-IP APM users.

Mahmmoud Rabie, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, writes that BIG-IP APM is "A highly stable solution for load balancing, but the initial setup is complex."

Clyde Livingston, Senior Process Specialist at Telstra, says that BIG-IP APM is "Easy to use, useful access remotely, but lacking stability."

Chris Lam, Senior Solution Consultant at Macroview Telecom Limited, states that BIG-IP APM is "Useful for remote access VPN and VPI integration with VMware.

Sample Customers

Street Crane, Robert Bosch, Molex Chengdu, Weir Valves & Controls UK, Renault, AESSEAL, Ducati, Alexander Dennis, UK Ministry of Defence, Manz

City Bank, Ricacorp Properties, Miele, American Systems, Bangladesh Post Office

ExtremeControl vs. F5 BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM)