ExtremeWireless vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi comparison

Extreme and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Extreme is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.3, while WatchGuard is ranked #24 with an average rating of 7.0. Extreme holds a 1.7% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to WatchGuard’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Extreme users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

ExtremeWireless

Read 29 ExtremeWireless reviews

1,738 Views
1,516 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Read 7 WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi reviews

531 Views
431 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

ExtremeWireless

WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

ExtremeWireless and WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi are competing products in the realm of wireless networking solutions. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi has the upper hand due to its advanced security features and remote deployment options, making it attractive for security-focused enterprises and distributed locations.

Features: ExtremeWireless offers cloud-managed high-performance Wi-Fi solutions with advanced security protocols and centralized management. It ensures seamless connectivity with excellent scalability and cloud IQ analytics. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi is equipped with dynamic host configuration protocol fingerprinting, innovative intrusion prevention, and analytics capabilities. It provides seamless integration with firewalls and robust cloud-based management.

Room for Improvement: ExtremeWireless could improve by expanding its feature set to appeal to the hospitality sector and enhancing its remote deployment capabilities. Broadening support for diverse industries and adding more advanced configuration options can elevate its offering. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi might benefit from reducing initial investment costs and simplifying licensing agreements. Enhancing interoperability with third-party solutions and further streamlining the configuration process could enhance user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ExtremeWireless is renowned for its straightforward deployment featuring excellent hands-on customer service. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi provides a seamless deployment process, specializing in remote deployment and advanced configuration management, which is ideal for distributed locations. Both products offer robust technical support, with WatchGuard excelling in remote capabilities.

Pricing and ROI: ExtremeWireless offers competitive setup costs with a cost-effective licensing model, delivering substantial ROI. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi, despite a higher initial investment, delivers exceptional ROI justified by its advanced features, focusing on long-term investment prosperity. The primary difference is in ROI strategies, where WatchGuard emphasizes securing long-term benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed ExtremeWireless vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeWireless vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

April 2025

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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

ExtremeWireless

Ranking in Wireless LAN

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Ranking in Wireless LAN

24th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of ExtremeWireless is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi is 0.4%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

Seungho Yang

Network Engineer at KOREAN AIR

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…

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WarrenWilliams

Senior Account Manager at Bralin Technology Solutions

A solution that offers excellent support and makes it easy to manage networks

To utilize the solution properly, you need some training and guidance on that. Getting it working is easy, but if you're going to use it with feature sets that make WatchGuard worthwhile to use, it's probably not the easiest to set up. I'd rate the initial setup a seven out of ten. The time taken to deploy the solution depends on the project scope you're doing. Do you need ten WiFi access points or one? You could deploy the solution in an hour. We need one person to deploy the solution. But the number of people required for deployment depends on where the access points are deployed. Like, if it's the ceiling or whatever. The way we do it, we usually have an on-site technician who sets up the backend. We usually have two people when deploying the solution, but you can do it with one person. We have a team that manages the solution. But if you have ten people on a site to manage the solution, 15 minutes daily is enough.

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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

"I like Cloud IQ, ExtremeWireless' cloud controller and analytics platform. It's full of information, easy to use, and provides excellent visibility into my network."

"It's cloud-based and very easy to deploy."

"The most valuable features of ExtremeWireless include the management through the one dashboard management with ActionCloud IQ, integrated with Site Engine."

"The initial setup process is simple."

"The solution is easy to use and manage. Overall it is very simple to understand and users do not know it is a cloud solution."

"It provides seamless connectivity if you move around."

"The wireless security solution is the most valuable feature of ExtremeWireless."

"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability of its access points to adapt and self-heal."

More ExtremeWireless pros

"They're very easy to set up and get running."

"The solution has been stable."

"The configuration part of WatchGuard is very flexible."

"We like that WatchGuard works and integrates directly with the firewalls we use."

"The Wi-Fi security features of this solution have been great for our customers who need to strictly control access to their network."

"Cloud analytics that provide all its attributes."

"It makes it easy to obtain all information about the client experience."

Cons

"They should develop more troubleshooting tools for system management."

"The performance of the access points could be improved."

"The solution must include integrated IoT solutions on their wireless APs."

"There is some delay in firmware upgrades for access points. When there is a problem with the firmware of one access point, the correction might be too late."

"The current product line is very high-level and is well suited for enterprise-level organizations, but they need a more cost-effective solution for smaller businesses."

"The main area for improvement is the company's local visibility."

"One area that could be improved is the accuracy of tracking tags."

"The troubleshooting feature for the cloud version is challenging."

More ExtremeWireless cons

"The price of this solution needs to reviewed, as it is currently high enough to deter customers from trying it."

"The solution can be scaled but it has limitations from my experience."

"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."

"Inability to import a user with one click."

"One of the things is if you buy it with a certain subscription, you can't easily change the subscription level."

"The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention."

"I don't think they're available at the best price."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is priced well and we currently are only paying for a license for maintenance."

"We pay approximately $30,000 per year."

"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."

"There are both paid and free licenses of the cloud environment, with only basic functionality in the free version."

"I rate the product's pricing a three or four out of ten."

"The solution has a yearly subscription, and we have to pay additional costs for technical support."

"The price of the solution overall is expensive. Additionally, the controller and license are expensive. We pay for an annual subscription."

"ExtremeWireless is subscription-based for both cloud and on-prem solutions, and it's quite expensive."

More ExtremeWireless pricing and cost advice

"WatchGuard is on the upper scale for pricing."

"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."

"The solution is priced high compared to competitors. However, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

11%

Non Profit

Computer Software Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Non Profit

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ExtremeWireless?

The initial setup process is simple.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ExtremeWireless?

There is some delay in firmware upgrades for access points. When there is a problem with the firmware of one access point, the correction might be too late.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ExtremeWireless?

We work with some end customers, and we use ExtremeCloud IQ ( /products/extremecloud-iq-reviews ) for the administration of the wireless platform. We use Wi-Fi 6 E for many users.

See all answers

What do you like most about WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?

We like that WatchGuard works and integrates directly with the firewalls we use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?

WatchGuard is on the upper scale for pricing.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 7% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs ExtremeWireless

Compared 5% of the time

More ExtremeWireless Competitors

Ruckus Wireless vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Compared 40% of the time

Ubiquiti WLAN vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Compared 34% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Compared 26% of the time

More WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeWireless

April 2025

Download ExtremeWireless product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

April 2025

Download WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi product report

Overview

Extreme ExtremeWireless Access Points deliver wired-like performance, at scale for high-density in every environment. Smart Access Points are equally adept for both distributed and centralized deployment models. ExtremeWireless Controllers provide advanced functionality to allow organizations to define how wireless voice/video/data traffic is processed without architectural constraints and in accordance with business needs.

Extreme

WatchGuard is a global leader in network security, secure Wi-Fi, and network intelligence products and services for SMBs and Distributed Enterprises worldwide. Our mission is to make enterprise-grade security accessible to companies of all types and sizes through simplicity, making WatchGuard an ideal solution for distributed enterprises and SMBs. WatchGuard is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

WatchGuard

Sample Customers

St. Xavier High School, Americatel, Diamond Light Source

Portsmouth Grammar School, HILOTEC

Buyer's Guide

ExtremeWireless vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

April 2025

Free Report: ExtremeWireless vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

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