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ExtremeWireless vs Ruckus Wireless comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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

ExtremeWireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Ruckus Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of ExtremeWireless is 2.0%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ruckus Wireless is 14.0%, up from 13.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Ruckus Wireless14.0%
ExtremeWireless2.0%
Other84.0%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Seungho Yang - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced employee access with effective wireless monitoring and seamless roaming
Our use case for ExtremeWireless is to allow our employees to access the company systems The monitoring systems in ExtremeWireless have been very effective, and they are cheaper than other products. It provides better monitoring logs and detailed logs compared to Cisco Wireless. The most…
Xander Janse Van Rensburg - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable and high-performance wireless networking with exceptional stability, scalability, and robust feature set
One of the most valuable features I appreciate is auto channelization, facilitated by a proprietary product called ChannelFly. This feature enables APs in a specific zone to automatically adjust their channels, optimizing performance. Additionally, Ruckus Wireless stands out for its ability to reuse certain beams, resulting in smaller data spots. In my experience with various products, Ruckus Wireless consistently delivers unparalleled throughput, coverage, and reliability in wireless networking across different environments. As a noteworthy point, the newly launched WiFi 7 standard is measured against Ruckus's WiFi 7 AP, establishing it as the global benchmark. When it comes to WiFi, Ruckus sets the standard, outperforming competitors with its superior performance and capabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The central control is valuable."
"The most valuable feature is stability."
"The cloud-based solution allows for easy management and monitoring of traffic and congestion."
"The most valuable features of ExtremeWireless include the management through the one dashboard management with ActionCloud IQ, integrated with Site Engine."
"The wireless security solution is the most valuable feature of ExtremeWireless."
"The most useful feature is how the product integrates with the Microsoft directory in the cloud."
"The initial setup was easy."
"The cloud-based management system is valuable."
"In general, all implementations are standard and pretty straightforward."
"We rarely had access points fail in the field. They were rock solid, durable, and had the best signal penetration from any we tested.​"
"It's reliable wireless equipment."
"Ruckus Wireless is more of a plain Wi-Fi solution where it does the basic job well. Additionally, it has good conductivity, easy to use, simple to manage, and its access points can be used as standalone devices which gives flexibility in the SMB market."
"The APs themselves have been pretty solid. We haven't had too many of them go bad or anything like that. The wireless performance seems pretty good. The ability to provision the devices is pretty good, and the back end is also pretty good."
"Ruckus Wireless is reliable. The most valuable features are BeamFlex technology, Wi-Fi 6, and channel management."
"The solution is very stable. I've worked with it at a hospital before, where we deployed it all over the hospital. It worked everywhere and continuously worked flawlessly."
"The smart antenna is very good."
 

Cons

"The APs have quite a low signal compared to other brands."
"They should develop more troubleshooting tools for system management. Additional troubleshooting tools should be created by the engineers."
"In the next release, I would like to see more security features."
"It is a subscription model, so it is maybe a bit pricey."
"One area that could be improved is the accuracy of tracking tags."
"The performance of the access points could be improved."
"Many companies prefer Aruba over ExtremeWireless, possibly due to Aruba's broader range of products or their thorough approach to understanding customer needs."
"ExtremeWireless should fix some general bugs and make the user interface more user-friendly."
"The delivery time of the hardware needs to be improved."
"The switching could be improved. The active component requires a data center. Cisco and HPE have a complete solution for data centers. Ruckus has a core solution, but the data center aspect needs to be improved."
"APs should be more adaptable to denser client regions and, most important, the logs on the ZoneDirector should be classified into groups, such as type of logs and alerts."
"It could be more stable."
"Lacks some analytics features in the control itself."
"The software should be made more stable."
"They have so many products that there are so many different part numbers for the US and other countries. That means it's easy to make a mistake with the licensing. You have to have somebody knowledgeable on the other end with the licensing. If you make one mistake, it can be a $2,000 mistake."
"I would like to see this product made a little more economical because it's very expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"ExtremeWireless isn't budget-friendly. The hardware costs around 20,000 Indian rupees. We're still using an older controller, so it doesn't require a license, unlike the newest versions of the ExtremeWireless controller."
"The solution is priced well and we currently are only paying for a license for maintenance."
"The purchase of 350 access points cost approximately $250,000 USD."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"Extreme isn't the most expensive, but it's not a low-cost solution, and because there are no big volumes, you don't receive significant discounts, making the final price higher."
"Our access points device is at its end of life. I can buy one more and then I must buy a new device, but if it is a new device it will not support the old virtual appliance. I would need to upgrade our virtual appliance to the next version or build a new virtual appliance with new devices, and it's not good for us. The overall licensing subscription could be better."
"The solution has a yearly subscription, and we have to pay additional costs for technical support."
"ExtremeWireless is subscription-based for both cloud and on-prem solutions, and it's quite expensive."
"The price is reasonable."
"It is decently priced."
"It's quite expensive, but that is what you get with these types of solutions."
"​The cost can be prohibitive for many as it is a high-end product in the WiFi market.​"
"We have a yearly license for our multiple mode 200 or 300 Ruckus Wireless systems. It's a good price."
"We paid for a three-year contract last year. I am not sure about what we paid. It is certainly less expensive than Meraki."
"I would rate their pricing 3 out of 5. There is no annual licensing cost."
"​Pricing is very competitive for an enterprise solution. Regarding licensing, always carry the support contract on the controller (not needed on APs)​."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business69
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ExtremeWireless?
There are concerns regarding the stability of ExtremeWireless. It could be an area of improvement, especially when compared to previous solutions such as Motorola before their acquisition. Another ...
What is your primary use case for ExtremeWireless?
We mainly use ExtremeWireless ( /products/extremewireless-reviews ) for the warehouse, specifically for the Zebra handheld devices and printers.
Aruba Wireless or Ruckus Wireless?
At my organization, we researched Ruckus Wireless among other solutions but ultimately chose Aruba wireless. What did we like about Ruckus? First, it was very easy to use, and anybody with minimal...
Which is better - Ruckus Wireless or Cisco Wireless?
Ruckus Wireless offers users the benefit of being both easy to set up and get running as well as being very user friendly. This user-friendly quality also renders it easy to learn how to use and ma...
How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

St. Xavier High School, Americatel, Diamond Light Source
American University of Sharjah, Baruch College, Centro Escolar Liceo Santo Tomšs, Chevalier College, Chico Unified School District, Colegio de Fomento El Prado, Columbia Public Schools, Delta School District, Dordt College, Douglas County School District, Drew University, Armonea, Central Utah Clinic, Grove Hill Medical Center, Inner South Community Health Service, Midwest Surgical, Satilla Regional Medical Center, Lyndoch Living, Polonus, Roaring Fork School District, Sonora State, Vivid, Sydney, Players Club, Sandals, Scandic Hotels, Sheraton LAX, Sunbird
Find out what your peers are saying about ExtremeWireless vs. Ruckus Wireless and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.