We use Aruba Wireless to provide wireless solutions and services to some of the biggest IT customers for multiple use cases.
Network Support Engineer at VFM Systems And Services
Has a user-friendly interface and very scalable and stable wireless product. The solution provided by Aruba wireless products fulfills most of todays IT services requirements
Pros and Cons
- "The product’s most valuable feature is its ability to offer wireless connectivity to any service provider."
- "The product's stability and technical support services needs improvement."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
The solution provided by Aruba Wireless fulfills most of today's IT services requirements.
What is most valuable?
The product’s most valuable feature is its ability to offer wireless connectivity to any service provider, and ease of integration with 3rd party vendors. It is also stable.
What needs improvement?
Technical support services needs improvement.
Buyer's Guide
Aruba Access Points
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Aruba Access Points. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Aruba Access Points for more than four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We encounter stability issues with some old IAPs.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable platform.
How are customer service and support?
We contacted the product’s technical support team regarding OpenLDAP integration with WLC for dot1x authentication. They said the OpenLDAP support dot1x. But later we checked the solution OpenLDAP is compatible with WLC but OpenLDAP itself doesn't support dot1x. The overall support requires improvement.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The product’s initial setup process is easy if you have specific knowledge. If you use Aruba Central, enter the MAC address and serial number on Aruba Central.
Port 443 should be open on the firewall. It is zero-touch provisioning. The AP will automatically be provisioned to Aruba Central. It takes around 10 - 15 minutes to provision.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price is better when compared with the competitors.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Compared to Cisco, the product has a user-friendly interface. It is easy to configure as well.
What other advice do I have?
I advise others to analyze if the product is relevant for their production. There is no need for bandwidth. It is suitable for all types of complexity.
I rate Aruba Access Points a 9.5 out of 10.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Network Engineer at Click ITS
Offers good features in areas like power adapters and high-efficiency
Pros and Cons
- "It is a stable solution."
- "The integration capabilities of the product with the tools from other vendors is an area of concern where improvements are required."
What is our primary use case?
It is a tool that provides wireless Wi-Fi services in different locations, specifically in corporate locations. It has many features, such as power adapters and high efficiency.
What needs improvement?
The integration capabilities of the product with the tools from other vendors is an area of concern where improvements are required.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have experience with Aruba Access Points.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution.
The product can be used to provide service to around 50 users.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support is very active.
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup phase is very easy due to Aruba Instant Mode.
The solution can be deployed in less than five minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is cheap, in my opinion, since I don't have to buy a hardware controller with it.
There is a need to pay the licensing charges for the product. If I consider the market prices, then I won't say it is an expensive tool, but I feel that it is a moderately priced tool that is available at a price higher than Cisco and Huawei.
What other advice do I have?
The tool can manage IoT devices like Aruba Meridian, which are mostly used in hospitals and airports.
The high throughput and high efficiency offered by the product are its most powerful features. The product doesn't need a controller since it already has a virtual one. I don't need to apply a hardware controller to the product. In Aruba Access Points, there is a built-in virtual controller.
In terms of the product's security features, I would say that it has all types of authentication, including enterprise authentication, which depends on AAA authentication. It can integrate with Aruba RADIUS server and ClearPass. The product can also integrate with an AAA server. The tool has interference protection, along with protection of Layer-1 and Layer-2 networking areas.
The management software simplifies your network administration tasks as it is integrated with the TACACS+ Server. The product's privilege mode option can also be used. It has a basic feature, and it can be enabled when integrated with a mobility controller. The network traffic control is encrypted, which is a powerful security feature.
The tool has all the features that are accessible in the mobility controller, and the same features exist in Aruba Instant APs.
The AI-powered insight feature offered by the product is something that is too early to discuss right now.
When starting with the networking part, it is good to go with Aruba. The portfolio offered by Aruba is good which consists of switches under Aruba Instant On.
I rate the tool a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Apr 26, 2024
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Aruba Access Points
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Aruba Access Points. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Presales Consultant at a non-profit with 11-50 employees
Along with the tool's simplicity and great security features, it also offers good support to users
Pros and Cons
- "The product's initial setup phase is very simple and very easy to use."
- "In Aruba Access Points, the security part is an area of concern where improvements are required."
What is our primary use case?
In the beginning, my company was involved with a small amount of the solution, but for now, we have a lot of customers who use Aruba Access Points.
My company's customers use Aruba Access Points to access the internet and manage their VPN connections. I have experience with a lot of installations of the product in our company's customers' branch offices to help establish VPN connections since there is a need for secure connections in branch offices.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the solution are that it has a lot of features that other vendors don't have and offers users simplicity of use. Only Aruba Access Points have a lot of features. There has been a lot of growth in everything with the usage of Aruba Central and Aruba Mobility Controller Virtual Appliance.
In our country, security is an issue for my company's customers that prompts them to choose Aruba because the simplicity of use allows them to ensure some security in their environment.
What needs improvement?
In Aruba Access Points, the security part is an area of concern where improvements are required.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Aruba Access Points for four years. My company has a partnership with Aruba.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Considering the scalability option provided by the product in a unified Infrastructure, I rate the product's scalability a ten out of ten, especially in an environment where pieces of equipment from Aruba are used.
As I am a pre-sales consultant of Aruba, I can recommend it to all industry sizes, but in Croatia, my company deals with small and medium-sized businesses.
How are customer service and support?
I work with the solution's technical support on a daily basis, and I feel they provide a speedy response in a professional manner, which is much better than my previous experience with HPE's delivery engineers. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup phase is very simple and very easy to use.
The solution is deployed on an on-premises model, and a few are deployed on the cloud.
What about the implementation team?
The company's customers themselves usually carry out the product's installation phase. With some experience in the area of Wi-Fi, you can easily set up the product by yourself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I rate the product's price a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price. I am familiar with the price perspective of the product in my country, and I can say that we are not that much of a rich country.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Though Cisco is significantly better than other products in the market, I believe that my company is better off with Aruba. Cisco is costlier than Aruba.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall tool a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Network & Security Department Head at Hypernet Indonesia
A product good for medium and large enterprises thanks to its helpful AI Insights feature
Pros and Cons
- "I find AI Insights valuable."
- "The product should improve its integration and the grouping of the features and functions."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used for medium to high-enterprise businesses and the government sector.
What is most valuable?
I find AI Insights valuable.
What needs improvement?
The product should improve its integration and the grouping of the features and functions.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've worked with Aruba access points for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product's stability is great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the scalability eight to nine out of ten. We have more than 10,000 users using Aruba access points. We plan to increase the number.
How are customer service and support?
We still have one case running about Aruba 203, the microbranch. The issue is about the uplink. We couldn't do a file transfer. Last time, we needed to migrate through the OSM. We cannot change the uplink to traffic. Their last answer was that they would upgrade the platform, Aruba Central, sometime by the end of this year.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. It's faster with the RS10 than the RS8. But it can still be improved. It took about ten to 25 minutes to deploy from onboarding to the stable installation.
When deploying the solution, we configure and test all the devices before deploying them at the customer's side, where the solution should then be plug and play. Then, there is further testing, such as the users and the bandwidth.
What about the implementation team?
We need 11 staff members to deploy the product. They are the delivery team, and their main jobs are to do the configuration, the assessment, and the deployment.
What was our ROI?
From a return-on-investment point of view, the solution is worth it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have to pay for a license for Aruba Central, the platform for Aruba access points. It is an annual license. The price compared to other brands is slightly higher.
What other advice do I have?
In our company, we are using a number of products from Aruba, such as access points, Gateways, switches and so on.
I rate Aruba access points eight to nine out of ten. The solution has great features, and we are exploring IPS and IDS. Some companies have already begun asking about those features.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Vice President II at Air Selangor
Offers good visibility but pricing is expensive
Pros and Cons
- "The solution gives good visibility into access points."
- "I am not able to integrate Aruba Access Points in Azure AD. It is also quite expensive."
What is our primary use case?
We use Aruba Access Points in our office environment.
What is most valuable?
The solution gives good visibility into access points.
What needs improvement?
I am not able to integrate Aruba Access Points in Azure AD. It is also quite expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Some users have reported low latency but I am not sure if it is because of the solution. I would rate the product a seven out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 700-800 users for the product.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the product an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Specialist, ITSM | ITAM | ITOM at a logistics company with 1,001-5,000 employees
An economical and easy-to-deploy solution that can be used for wireless connection
Pros and Cons
- "Aruba Access Points is an economical solution."
- "The solution's technical support and the quality of the new releases need to be improved because we have seen a lot of bugs in the solution's new releases."
What is our primary use case?
We use Aruba Access Points mainly for wireless connection.
What is most valuable?
Aruba Access Points is an economical solution.
What needs improvement?
The solution's technical support and the quality of the new releases need to be improved because we have seen a lot of bugs in the solution's new releases.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Aruba Access Points for more than five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Aruba Access Points is a stable solution for the short term. However, it is not stable in the long term. For example, it won't be stable in an environment where the Wi-Fi needs to be up 24/7 and 365 days.
If I turn on my access points today, I will not face any issues for the next six or seven months. However, after eight to nine months, or after one year, I'll start facing a lot of issues directly connected to what we call maximum tolerable uptime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution's scalability is good. We have one of the largest Wi-Fi infrastructures in terms of the number of access points, and we have never faced any limitations or issues related to capacity or scalability.
I rate Aruba Access Points an eight or nine out of ten for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support team can fix minor issues. However, when it comes to resolving complicated or complex issues, they either lack expertise, are not routing it through the proper channel, or are not engaging the right people. We are yet to receive solutions for the complex and unique problems we highlighted to them around two years ago.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Cisco has an edge over Aruba in terms of stability and support.
What was our ROI?
We are getting the expected return on investment with Aruba Access Points.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Although not cheap, Aruba Access Points is a reasonably priced solution.
What other advice do I have?
Users should insist on checking the SLAs in an environment where they need to run the solution 24/7 and 365 days without any break, planned maintenance window, or outage window. They should insist on defining strict SLAs right at the beginning of the project for support and resolution. We call it response time and resolution in terms of SLA.
The solution is scalable, easy to deploy, and easy to maintain.
Overall, I rate Aruba Access Points an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior System Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
It is a secure and flexible tool that is easy to set up
Pros and Cons
- "We like the flexibility and the security, and the product is very easy to use."
- "Aruba sometimes redesigns Aruba Central and the web interface, which is sometimes an annoyance."
What is our primary use case?
We use Aruba access points for enterprise and guest wireless.
What is most valuable?
We like the flexibility and the security, and the product is very easy to use.
What needs improvement?
I am not sure if it is a weakness, but Aruba sometimes redesigns Aruba Central and the web interface, which is sometimes an annoyance because you have to check everything all over again because the settings would have been placed somewhere else in the graphical interface, for example.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Aruba access points for eight years now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is stable because sometimes security fixes are sent over email.
Everyone at our company uses Aruba access points. The product works for small, medium, and enterprise companies.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have worked with Cisco, though not Cisco Meraki. I had no problems with that solution. My current company uses Aruba access points. Aruba access points are easier to deploy, and their pricing is on par with competing solutions. Moreover, you have more choices in the "flavors" of access points with Aruba, which is a plus point.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is easy to deploy, and it normally takes three to five days. Of course, it depends on the customer's setup. Some customers need just five access points, while others require 14 switches and 50 access points.
What was our ROI?
It takes about a year before I get a return on investment because you need to place them. You get a return on investment when it comes to troubleshooting because you don't need to do as much troubleshooting on Aruba Central. If there are 50 sites, you do not need to check all of them. You have a larger return on investment over a longer period because it is easier to manage everything.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Aruba Central is a bit overpriced for some customers. It is expensive because you need to buy the hardware as well as the license. The license includes maintenance and support.
What other advice do I have?
Before choosing Aruba access points, you should seek someone who is qualified or has done an introductory course to be able to use it. You will need to have some idea of how you want to arrange everything. Cisco Meraki has an introductory course, though I don't know if Aruba Central has one.
Though Aruba access points are priced the same as competitors, they should have discounts for more devices. If you have five devices, you pay the amount for five devices, but if you have 100 devices, it starts to get expensive.
I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Strategic growth consultant at Airowire Networks
Resolves roaming issues and has low latency
Pros and Cons
- "I like the solution because of its throughput and low latency. It has resolved roaming issues for my customers."
- "The delivery timeline is a major problem. There are also configuration and integration issues since not many engineers are available in the market who has expertise with the product. Some of our customers also experience network slowness."
What is most valuable?
I like the solution because of its throughput and low latency. It has resolved roaming issues for my customers.
What needs improvement?
The delivery timeline is a major problem. There are also configuration and integration issues since not many engineers are available in the market who has expertise with the product. Some of our customers also experience network slowness.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the product for nine years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Aruba Access Points is stable but has some minor issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is easy to scale. If customers roll out a project then they can add it immediately in a fraction of a second.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I also work with Dell but find Aruba Access Points to be better. Aruba is better in terms of technology and performance.
How was the initial setup?
The product's setup is not so easy since you cannot get many engineers in the market who can do the tool's installation. Developing an engineer is a costly affair for us. The time taken to complete the installation depends on the infrastructure. If the infrastructure is moderate then installation takes a week's time to complete. If it's a big campus, then installation can take one month.
We require only four engineers if the area to deploy is 20,000 square feet. However, if the campus is big then we would need eight to ten engineers. Mounting the solution will take time but the rest of the things can be handled remotely.
We would require one to two engineers to maintain the solution if the deployed area is 20,000 square feet.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is expensive and licensing costs are yearly. Customers have to pay extra costs for service and subscription apart from the hardware cost.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Aruba Access Points a nine out of ten. We work mostly with enterprise customers but we also have medium and small customers as well.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
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