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Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued) vs. Fortinet FortiExtender

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)

    Score6.2 out of 10
    N/ACurrently supported by Cisco, but no longer sold, Cisco recommends migration to the Cisco Catalyst 9100 Family of Access Points, which offer greater performance and flexibility.N/A

    Fortinet FortiExtender

    Score7 out of 10
    N/AFortiExtender is the wireless WAN offering from Fortinet.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Fortinet FortiExtender
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Fortinet FortiExtender
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Fortinet FortiExtender
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Fortinet
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    83%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    80%
    Delivers good value for the price
    4 Answers
    75%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    8 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Fortinet FortiExtender
    Small Businesses
    WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
    Score9.5 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score9.8 out of 10
    HPE Aruba Networks Wireless WAN
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
    Score9.1 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Fortinet FortiExtender
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.3
    (13 ratings)
    8.8
    (9 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Aironet 1500 Series Access Points (discontinued)Fortinet FortiExtender
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    Cisco Aironet 1550 Series Access Points is very useful for outdoor locations that are more exposed to the wilderness or the weather, which provides uninterrupted wifi access during high winds and bad weather. It also is useful for hazardous locations that are prone to danger or wildlife. Unfortunately, it would not be appropriate to get a Cisco Aironet 1550 Series Access Point if it is only needed for basic wifi use, or indoor use, as the extra features and price would not be necessary.
    Incentivized
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    Fortinet
    Fortinet FortiExtender is well suited to delivering fast 5G and LTE service. The cloud-based system is great so that our agency can manage the cloud from anywhere which is great during remote work. The Fortinet FortiExtender was easy to deploy and the system has been easy to manage. The Fortinet FortiExtender is less appropriate when it comes to the cost to implement and the customer support could be improved.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • Outdoor mesh bridging of access points brings significant cost savings to many of our production facilities. Deploying mesh APs is a significant cost reduction over trenching conduit to connect remote areas via fiber.
    • Cisco APs are extremely resilient, with a failure rate of below 5% in some of our harshest environments.
    • Cisco APs have the intelligence to identify wireless interference sources with Clean Air technology
    Incentivized
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    Fortinet
    • Failover protection by supporting multiple bands.
    • Cloud based management helping to manage the system from anywhere.
    • Integration with the Fortinet firewall.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • In the facilities where we operate, we had to put a reinforcement on the ceiling to avoid problems due to the weight of the access point.
    • On the appearance, it could be smaller and lighter.
    • As for the hardware, I think it's incredible, I don't see any points to improve.
    Incentivized
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    Fortinet
    • It is good when any problem occurred in our fiber cables but when it gets problematic then there isn’t any way out for us and its graphic interface is not helpful.
    • Its support team is useless and didn’t help in any regard.
    • The price is not in our favor.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    There is no other better option than this. It's the line between the commercial Cisco grade AP's and industrial ones.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    Everything clear and easy to use
    Incentivized
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    Fortinet
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    The Cisco Aironet 1560 Series Access Points served their function well. They were reliable, provided decent speeds, resisted the elements, and provided a good investment. The only downsides were mostly appearance which doesn't matter that much. However, I believe that the tech in the access point is not future proof which is why I did not give it a nine or ten star rating.
    Incentivized
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    Fortinet
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    Initially I had a problem with the regulatory and channel selection, it was a bug on the AP as it was fairly new, solved by TAC on engineering release, and since then it has been performing flawlessly.
    Incentivized
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    Fortinet
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    Making the decision to use Aironet is more related to the type of scenario that you have. We chose Aironet because we mainly manage all the network internally and already have Cisco products to integrate with Meraki which is a good option if you are starting from scratch.
    Incentivized
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    Fortinet
    By looking at the market of similar devices, we quickly recognized that Fortinet FortiExtenders are very reasonably priced; however, they provide top-level functionality that even some of the competitors don't have.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Discontinued Products
    The software of the Cisco Aironet 1560 is highly scalable, the software is very powerful so that the APs can be customized to the maximum and achieve the best performance of the network at the wifi level. The use of it is very easy for people with low knowledge.
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • With only a few DOA's or failing devices, the AP's are of very high quality.
    • We expect them to run stable for many years, which is why our initial investment will be an intelligent choice compared to installing a cheaper product.
    • Although the AP's from Cisco is cutting-edge technology, the 802.11ac standard will be considered legacy in a few years, meaning that its a balance to purchase a well-designed product that won't outlast the tech that it provides. Imagine having an investment in a large fleet of high-quality 802.11b AP's 20 years ago. Although they would still be working flawlessly due to their good quality, the bandwidth would probably be unacceptable to most modern consumers.
    Incentivized
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    Fortinet
    • Backup connectivity is helping us in many ways especially at times when connections run out and we have to perform any action that is essential to be done at times.
    • It provides a secure network.
    • With direct management, we can monitor and add and remove unwanted devices.
    Incentivized
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