Aruba Wireless Reviews

I have a small office with about five APs. It has a good central management system to help manage my wireless devices, just to ensure that everything is working correctly.

It makes things easier because it's SD-WAN. With the central management system, I'm able to access each device. I can configure one device and then it provisions all the other devices with the same configuration, rather than my having to configure them one by one.

The central management system. It's called Aruba Central, which allows you to manage the APs, the switch, and the controllers, etc.

The management system would be better if it were more polished, if it had a better interface like, for example, Meraki.

Scalability is pretty good. I believe they recommend having up to 50 APs per cluster, but it can scale even more than that. I don't really need that in particular, although it's an enterprise-standard product. The throughput is pretty good.

I haven't used technical support as of yet.

I used to use Meraki but with Meraki, if you stop paying for the licenses, you basically don't own the device. Once you stop paying for the licensing, the device is pretty much dead.

The initial setup was pretty much straightforward to be honest. You only configure one AP and when you plug the other ones into the network, it recognizes that that AP is the master and gets the configuration off that.

I did look at Ubiquiti because the price point was cheap. But after looking further into it, the main reason I chose Aruba was because they have a lifetime warranty on their APs.

My advice would depend on the needs. It depends on what size of business you have and what you are looking to accomplish. In general, I'd recommend Aruba Wireless. 

The only other thing I would let you know is that, if you want a centralized management system that is able to manage all your networking devices such as the wireless, the switch, the routers, and the firewall, then Aruba may not be the one, because Aruba doesn't do firewalls. For example, with Meraki, you can have a full Meraki network with the switches, routers, firewall, APs, all managed on one central network. With Aruba, if you have a firewall, you'd have to use a separate management system to manage that.

The most important criteria when selecting a vendor would be

• support
• durability of the device
• brand reputation
• ease of use.

I would rate Aruba Wireless at about eight out of 10. I haven't had any issues with it to date, and it's a pretty robust product. The reason I won't give it higher than that is because of the GUI. They need to make it more polished like Meraki's. But other than that, I've been pretty happy with it and I like all the additional features there.

We use Aruba wireless APs to provide wireless services for a private high school campus which is located on a 60-acre campus in Rockford, IL, with an enrollment of nearly 900 students.

Increased productivity with mobile devices has improved by expanding wireless coverage throughout the building. While our building has been covered by the Aruba APs throughout the years, we are now replacing older APs to increase bandwidth to support an increase in the number of users with dedicated devices. Nowadays, the end-user devices require faster bandwidth from APs, and the newest APs obviously support faster standards and improved bandwidth connectivity.

We appreciate that the Instant models do not require a dedicated "controller" to manage the APs. This cost saving allowed us to purchase more APs in our initial order. We started out small and slowly added more APs as each annual budget allowed. We still have the possibility of adding a dedicated controller which affords us more options, but at this time we haven't needed it.

The web interface to manage the APs is intuitive and makes managing the system easy. 

Firmware updates are quick and do not require much downtime.

Customer service really needs to be improved. If the customer support was better, I would recommend it to others more than I do now. I say that even though we are upgrading to newer units this summer.

Stability of wireless services provided by the Aruba APs hasn't been an issue. If there have been any issues, they've been minor and have been resolved by firmware updates.

No issues with scalability. Scalability has been one of the easiest aspects of the Aruba Instant product line. As long as the models are compatible, you can simply connect it to your network and it will learn the settings from the other APs on the network and join the AP network. This is one of the best features of the Aruba Wireless Instant product line, besides the fact that you do not need a dedicated "controller."

The first level of technical support is frustrating, and I stated that technical support was the one area where Aruba Wireless needs improvement. Higher levels of support are better. Considering that you have to pay yearly for support, I expect a higher level of support. On a scale of one to 10, I'd give their first level of support a four. They have to improve.

We did for a very brief time, it was a consumer "off-the-shelf" product to get us by in strategic locations in our building. It was not intended to be a long-term deployment.

Initial setup was straightforward. We followed the very basic instructions (connect to the new WiFi network, then go to a website, make some simple changes, save, reboot, done); updated the firmware, and we were on our way.

Pricing is competitive. Licensing is needed to maintain access to the latest firmware, which wasn't made clear originally when we started with Arbua (or things changed, I'm not sure which). I would just say, make sure you budget for it. In addition to the licensing, you do get "support," for what its worth.

No, we received guidance from others in our community and stuck with Aruba.

We currently utilize the Aruba Instant 205 and older Instant 105 models. I would give both models a rating of an eight out of 10. We will be upgrading this summer to move our Instant 105 models out of circulation and will be implementing three new Aruba product lines.

Make sure you get the maintenance licensing, don't skimp on the models. If you can buy a more powerful unit, get the more powerful unit, it will be supported longer and offer a longer ROI.

I sold both the Aruba hardware and software, primarily the IAP 100, 200 and 300 series, along with AirWave as well as ClearPass to SMB clients primarily with less than 500 employees. At the time, I worked for PGH Networks, a local MSP and Aruba certified partner.

I used this solution for four years from 2013 to 2017.

Aruba provided a great product offer for clients of all sizes and scopes. Everyone needs WiFi. Aruba allowed for the detailed control and management of an entire WiFi network from a single screen backed by a support team with local SEs who work with business partners to ensure the product's success.

• Instant access points and ClearPass
• IAPs could be deployed without a controller, solving sticky clients by peeling away users crowding one AP and can have settings pushed from a master AP.
• ClearPass and AirWave gave highly accurate detailed reports of who used which applications when and the ability to throttle users if they were bogging down the network with superfluous activity.

Larger network for Aruba users and partners. I would have liked to see more manufacturer driven events and outings to drive brand recognition and familiarity.

I primarily use the solution for wireless connectivity.

I really appreciate the seamless mobility between access points.

The solution is very stable. 

It can scale as needed.

Technical support has been helpful. 

It did take us a while to get used to the setup.

We have had issues with the availability of the equipment. We always have trouble locating equipment, finding suppliers who sell it, or finding someone who has stock.

I've been using the solution for the past three years. 

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

We haven't had issues with scalability. It has met our needs so far. 

Our organization is quite sizeable, and 10,000 people alone are cell phone users. They all use Aruba Wireless. 

I've never dealt with technical support. 

I recall there was an issue that we had to call to contact technical support, and the architect contacted Aruba directly. It took them like three days to resolve the issue. Generally, my understanding is that they are helpful. 

Positive

I also have experience with Cisco Wireless solutions as well. 

The initial setup does take some getting used to. However, once you understand it, it's quite straightforward. 

I'd rate the ease of setup at a four and a half out of five. 

I don't have any insights into the exact cost of the solution. My understanding is that it is a bit more expensive than Cisco. I'd rate the affordability at a three out of five.

I'm not involved in the decision-making process regarding looking at solutions.

We're Aruba partners. 

New users need to understand the technical solution before considering it, especially if they're migrating from Cisco to Aruba. If that's the case, they need to understand Aruba before migrating fully. They shouldn't compare it as it's not apples to apples. 

I'd rate the product eight out of ten. 

At the time when we started implementing it, there wasn't enough experience in the market, so all the engineers and the architects had to learn from scratch. I also have a concern about the cost, which seems, from what I recall, a little bit higher than the one we were replacing. Otherwise, it's a very good, reliable product.

I use Aruba Wireless to manage and monitor mobile users.

It has helped in making deployments easier despite the configuration's complexity.

I have found the Access Point (AP) group profile feature extremely useful. It makes deployments look easy.

• They should simplify the configuration flow. 
• Additional detailed reporting for client traffic would be a great addition.

For me, its security features are the most valuable, helping us to reduce a lot of complications. For example, there are security code issues we have to address when enterprise users bring their own iPads, iPhones, notebooks, or any mobile device, and they want to access our network. They may need to access our network resources, but there can be complications because they are our enterprise users or guests with unique user names, passwords, etc. Aruba is able to address those complications by providing the security for that network access. 

I work as an IT infrastructure manager. WiFi is in our scope of responsibilities, so we prepare the implementation projects for the general areas and for our enterprise users. 

We asked for tenders from Aruba, Cisco, and Meru Networks. At the end of the day we decided, or rather I decided, on Aruba because of its security features. We performed a lot of tests to reduce the number of certificates needed, the access point requirements, IPS features, spectrum analyses, etc. After that, we decided that Aruba would be best for us. 

We have been using it for two years and we are very, very satisfied with the features because there are no security problems. We continued using Aruba, not just with that project, but for different projects in other companies.

For other projects, we ask for tenders, and if HP wins, Aruba will also win because we will not buy separate WiFi solutions. We will buy solutions under the local area network site. We combine the solutions because we believe that if you are using wired and wireless networks, the one utilizing UNIX systems should be the deciding factor. At the same time we want a program with NOC solutions, BYOD, MDM, and ATM location services. We want all that to work together in our program designs.

Sometimes there's some small problems, but this is the nature of technology.

We've not had any issues with deployment.

In our two years of use, there haven't been any big problems.

We've had some scalability issues because of the way we're scaling our hardware base. For example, we started with 64 access points although our controller supports only 6 core access points. We've scaled incrementally, though, as we then went to 128 and then to 200, whereas our competitors start high.

Out of the box, we had 1000 access points licensed, but that amount depends on your own license. If you buy 120, you can support 120. There's no change to the control site up to 1000 licenses. Compared to Cisco in this regard, Arube is not as flexible.

The initial setup was not complex. There's a CLI, much like Cisco. Aruba's certification is also very similar to Cisco's, which is not very difficult.

I implemented it myself.

The solution's most valuable features are authentication and third-party vendor integration.

The solution's GUI for configuration could be better.

We have been using the solution for two years.

The solution is stable. I rate its stability a nine out of ten.

We have enterprise businesses as our customers for the solution. I rate its scalability an eight out of ten.

The solution's technical support is excellent.

Positive

Compared with the solution, Cisco Wireless has a more user-friendly GUI for configuration.

The solution's GUI for configuration is complicated. Thus, it is easier to implement if you have experience using it. There should be drag-and-drop features to make it more easier. I rate the process a four out of ten. It takes a month to complete.

The solution's cost is affordable. I rate its pricing a five out of ten.

The solution is stable, integrates with different platforms, and is reasonably priced. I rate it an eight out of ten.

The product can be used in all verticals. There are different kinds of use cases. Mostly, it is used in corporate settings, however, we also use solutions for distribution centers, et cetera.

We sell the solution and we do due to the fact that we think it's the best solution overall. We usually are researching other solutions also, as you have to know what you're competing against. That said, we've never been disappointed by its capabilities.

Overall, it's a very strong solution.

The solution is stable.

The scalability is great. 

The pricing could always be better.

Technical support needs work. It's hard to reach the right people you need to help you when you come face to face with issues. 

I can't say that they are missing any features at this time. There's nothing I can think of needing in the next release. 

We have been Aruba's partner for the last 16 years.

The stability is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's very reliable. 

We've found the solution to be scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so easily.

Technical support needs to be more responsive. It takes time to get to the proper person when you need help. The solution itself is better than the support on offer.

For us, it's easy to set up. I don't know if this is the case for everyone, but for us, it's easy. We have people that are certified in solutions, including Aruba. We know how to handle implementations quite effectively.

The time it takes for the deployment depends on the size, however, usually, the process is one to two weeks.

As integrators, we can implement this product for our clients. 

We'd like Aruba to lower the cost of using the solution. 

While we really like Aruba, we usually are researching other solutions also, as you have to know what you're competing against.

We sell wireless solutions. We are integrators. We also use the solution. We deal with multiple deployment versions.

If a company would like to add Aruba to their organization, they should first get a knowledgeable system integrator that knows the solution. If they do, the deployment will go well and they will be okay.

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten overall.