Extreme Wireless Access Points

Score8.3 out of 10

31 Reviews and Ratings

What is Extreme Wireless Access Points?

Extreme Networks' Wireless Access Points (or ExtremeWireless) are designed to provide performance in the most demanding environments with the latest Wi-Fi technologies including 6 GHz, OFDMA, MU-MIMO, and software-defined dual 6 GHz radios.

Categories & Use Cases

Wireless LAN

Media

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Screenshot of AP5020

Verified User

Employee in Information Technology (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have deployed Extreme Wireless Access Points across our whole business environment for the sole purpose of providing a wireless Internet connection. We have also deployed some of Extreme Wireless Access Points outdoors in a few selected locations. These wireless access points also allow us to segment our network on the WLAN.

Pros

The hardware and firmware are both reliable.
Extreme Wireless Access Points has some variety to the type of WAP's they offer.
The management interface they report back to offers good basic information that is easy to find.

Cons

We use WiNG still for our WAP's, which is ok to do administrative tasks from, but it could be better. However, Extreme Wireless Access Points is moving everything to CloudIQ, which is better in every way and something we plan to move to soon.
The logo on the access points makes you want to mount the AP's sideways like a diamond because otherwise the logo looks crooked, and that just looks bad, so you have to take extra time sometimes, depending on the mount, to get the AP to look square.

Return on Investment

It helps meet the goals we have for network security.
It has a one pane of glass, so it is easy to manage and do other admin tasks.
It has provided a better experience for our end users.

Usability

John Robinson View profile

Network Administrator in Information Technology at Children's Defense Fund (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Managed Wi-Fi for our Washington DC headquarters. Have a 20,000 square foot office space on a single floor. The heat zone mapping functionality enabled us to set up the system using the minimum of access points, leaving no dead spots at all on the floor (despite the elevator shafts centrally located).
The cloud management console allows me to keep track of client machines on the networks and to change the password remotely if needed.

Pros

Heat Mapping
Multiple SSID creation/management
remote cloud management

Cons

Built in help could be easier to acces
licensing could be explained better

Return on Investment

Full coverage of entire office space in one system
reduced management of Wi-Fi, as once set up its all automated.
decent cost to renew after initial purchase (and cheaper than Meraki!)

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft Defender XDR, Microsoft SharePoint, Adobe Acrobat, DocuSign

Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In our company regional, our entire data network infrastructure is Extreme containing POE switches and wifi access points. We manage this equipment through the cloud software that the manufacturer sold us. The extreme access points have been in use for almost two years and are model 250 Wifi 5 - 802.11ac wave 2. This solution is excellent, and we are very pleased to meet all our internet connection and access requirements. The main issue with this purchase was resolving internet slowness and connection security issues through Radius 802.1x authentication and guest portal.

Pros

Allows simultaneous access of more than 200 people per access point.
It has great design and signal capture and send enhancement features.
Authenticated access on the Radius server for employees.
Access with registration portal for guests.
Warranty with quick parts replacement.

Cons

The hotspot equipment is not upgradeable to Wifi 6. You need to buy the new model.
24x7 warranty is much more expensive.

Most Important Features

3X3 MIMO and high level support for 2.4ghz and 5ghz radios.
It avoids external interference and protects the signal from degrading.
Great coverage radius with a single access point.
Bluetooth.
It has POE ports to connect directly to the switch and does not need a source.

Return on Investment

It's a great hardware investment for many, many years of high-end wireless networking.
It can be updated with new firmwares.
It has a low price compared to other competitors.

Other Software Used

HPE Apollo Server Systems, Cisco Webex DX80, Cisco ASA 5500-X with FirePOWER Services, Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series, Slack, KanbanFlow

Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We utilize ExtremeWireless in our district for our Wireless Access Point solution. These devices are cloud-managed, which was inherited by Aerohive (Extreme bought them out). Very configurable based on what your needs are - these devices can support up to 200 devices per SSID, and every setting imaginable can be tweaked - such as individual Radio profiles on a per AP basis.

Pros

Cloud-managed
Fine-tuning settings on a per-device basis
Quick deployment
Heatmaps that allow for placement of APs on uploaded building maps

Cons

In my experience, licensing has become a nightmare. Licensing must be tied to a device, they also won't let you activate used units from other companies if they are donated or purchased third-party.
Customer service is outsourced overseas.
In my experience, technicians are incentivized to close tickets quickly - whether the issue has been fixed or not - which can be frustrating to work with.

Most Important Features

Cloud-managed
Reliability/uptime
Speed Of deployment
RMA turnaround Is next-day

Return on Investment

Uptime in a school setting is incredibly important. We have never had downtime due to ExtremeWireless having a loss of services.
The ability to run a BYOD/Guest wireless on the same hardware with separate VLANs helps us support students who bring their own devices to school.
These devices are quite expensive though, coming in at about $1000 per AP510c. And that's if you can order them with their supply shortages right now.

Alternatives Considered

Ubiquiti Networks UniFi

Other Software Used

Adobe Creative Cloud Express, Adobe Acrobat DC, PaperCut

Gus Awad View profile

Senior Systems Engineer in Information Technology at BELLA + CANVAS (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Aerohive APs throughout our warehouses to support our distribution as well as supply chain. It addresses all issues with connecting the thousands of device that relies on our APs to communicate and connect to our core infrastructure services.

Pros

Ease of use and Management. The process of implementing APs is straight forward and managing the wireless infrastructure is quite simple and efficient.
Coverage: we are very happy with the distance each AP coverages in our warehouses without having any drop issues or over implementing APs.
Cost competitive versus other cloud managed wi-fi solutions such as Cisco, Aruba or Mist.

Cons

A mobile app would be great to manage the Infrastructure.
The browser load time is quite long sometimes making troubleshooting slow.
Better integration with Windows cloud services for management and authentication.

Return on Investment

It improved productivity for our warehouse workers when using scanning guns that are connected to our APs.
Ease of use for our helpdesk to troubleshoot basic issues and could down on the cost of managing the wireless core service.
Expansion of our infrastructure is less tedious than other solutions and the implementation phase is short.

Alternatives Considered

Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point, Extreme Networks Wireless WAN and Aruba Networks Wireless LAN (WLAN)

Other Software Used

Veeam Backup & Replication, Zerto, Nutanix, Varonis Data Security Platform, KACE Asset Management Appliance, Duo Security, Jamf Pro, SolarWinds ipMonitor, LastPass for Business, Asana, Sophos Intercept X