Arbiter vs ExtremeControl

Arbiter is a cloud-hosted network access control product that determines which devices can connect and what they can access. It identifies and catalogs devices by type and vendor without endpoint agents. Access controls include certificate-based EAP-TLS and 802.1X, plus MAC authentication bypass for headless devices. Its on-premises Edge appliance connects over RadSec and can continue authenticating locally during a WAN outage using cached decisions. A live Microsoft Intune integration reads device compliance and can quarantine non-compliant devices to a remediation VLAN. SIEM event forwarding supports Microsoft Sentinel, Elastic, TLS syslog, Splunk HEC, and generic HTTPS webhooks. The service supports wired and wireless access control in a hybrid deployment. The Asset Discovery tier profiles and inventories devices but does not enforce access; the access-control plans include the full feature set and vary by endpoint count. Asset Discovery costs €29 a month after a 60-day free trial. Essential costs €149 a month for 100 endpoints, Professional costs €399 a month for 500 endpoints, and Enterprise costs €999 a month for 1,500 endpoints. Arbiter is designed for SMEs and the MSPs or MSSPs that support them.

ExtremeControl centralizes network access control, visibility, and policy management for users, endpoints, and IoT devices. It supports wired, wireless, and VPN access control, including role-based access, guest access, BYOD onboarding, 802.1X, and secure IoT access through third-party networking devices. Administrators can build policies around user, time, location, vulnerability, or access type, then apply VLAN, ACL, and QoS rules. The product can share user, IP address, and location context with perimeter firewalls and coordinate endpoint isolation and remediation after alerts. Reports and alerts cover authentication, guest access, onboarding, device profiles, and endpoint health. Listed integrations include NGFW, SIEM, CMDB, internet security, and EMM/MDM tools; an open northbound API supports custom integrations. Virtual engines are documented for VMware ESX/ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V. ExtremeControl is paid, with pricing on request based on unique MAC addresses connected within the past 24 hours; there is no free plan. An initial ExtremeCloud IQ Site Engine installation does not include an end-system license, though its generated evaluation license includes unlimited end-systems.