Aruba Wireless Reviews

It is our primary wireless solution. We use a HA paired controller in our main DC. We use the 7200 model. We provide a corporate and guest SSID.

Its manageability of APs is the most valuable feature: ease of adding APs and the ability to configure the APs on the fly. 

Also, their support engineers are great to work with.

I believe it would benefit from more reporting, other than just a dashboard. It needs some type of report builder so you can have PDFs to show upper management what is going on in the wireless network.

We had a small Cisco wireless environment originally and to upgrade or expand that environment it would have been a very expensive purchase. Also, instead of one controller that does everything we needed it to do, it would have taken two to three other devices with Cisco to make it work.

The scalability is the key here. We operate in a multi-vendor environment, running proprietary and open source software as well as pretty much every OS in it. We have to be able to adjust features as we need them throughout the WLAN.

WLAN is one of the major functions that allows employee movement without re-doing cabling etc.

I haven't encountered an area for improvement and am quite satisfied with the product.

We implemented WLAN 4 years ago.

We haven't encountered any major issues with the deployment. Normal minor glitches as usual, but nothing major. I'd expect to face the same issues with any brand of WLANs.

All stability issues have been due to configuration changes. Currently as the WLAN expands we are starting to have some issues that aren't directly dependent on Arubas' solution, but issues in aggregate and core network layers.

We have no issues in scalability.

8 out of 10.

8 out of 10.

I'm familiar via my career with other manufacturers solutions and have worked with those too. In my current position we have used Arubas' WLAN from the start.

As always in complex systems, initial setup required a lot of work that might be seen as complex. On the other hand it was also logical and among the professionals, straightforward. Initial setup of single equipment is easy, but it only allows you to start configuring it.

We did the implementation in-house with a technical person from the manufacturer.

Every AP implemented takes out around 3 switch interfaces. Also work can be done away from the desk, and much faster in certain positions. I'd say that it took about three years to get an ROI.

We did a massive comparison with most of the WLAN vendors and from those we chose Aruba.

Main thing is to have a clear vision of what is needed from the WLAN and of course, the expertise of the staff is one key factor. Pretty much, the rest is just pricing of the solution, acquisition and running costs.

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.

We have many customers in the retail business using Aruba Wireless for their network.

The main features of the Aruba Wireless are universal and effective, covering most uses, a lifetime hardware warranty that sets it apart from the competition and it integrates seamlessly with the network access control solution - Aruba Clearpass

The GUI dashboards should more user-friendly.

I have been using Aruba Wireless for approximately four years.

I found the Aruba Wireless to be a stable solution. It is more stable than competitors especially in roaming.

The solution is scalable and stable 

We have opened a support ticket with technical assistance and I would rate the support from Aruba Wireless a four out of five when comparing it to Cisco or Juniper.

Positive

I have used Juniper and Cisco networking products previously.

The initial setup was simple to do.

My advice to others that want to implement Aruba Wireless is they have to study the solution and have a good understanding. Aruba has a good academy for studying.

I rate Aruba Wireless a nine out of ten.

We have made a full 32-site school transition from Mary to Aruba wireless.

Reliability, stability, and best use of our network.

The Aruba 335-AP.

There were stability issues, but only on initial deployment.

Very few scalability issues, mostly user error.

Great support.

We used Meru. We switched to Aruba for the newer technologies they presented.

It was pretty straightforward.

Licencing can be surprising and needs improvement. Look into all features, what you need versus what you want, and know that nothing comes without some kind of license.

Meru, Cisco, Aerohive. 

It's a great product, easy to use, easy monitoring, and great tech support. Plan out placement as thoroughly as possible.

The most useful feature of Aruba Wireless, as with all Aruba products generally, is the software and controls. Wireless has many APs and client management software. They're able to push clients based on profile matching to different nearby APs. For example, if there are 75 APs in one area, such as a lobby entrance, you can have an AP next door with one client on Aruba software, and the APs will be able to push a set number of clients.

In our hospital lobby, we have on average 700 clients trying to connect at the same time. Using the software, we've been able to make sure that everyone's able to connect.

Our entire switching and LAN infrastructure is based on HP along with Cisco. We have about 10,000 access points, but Aruba provides our the client solution. So far, two smaller controllers are able to handle our entire guest infrastructure, which is something around 15,000 concurrent users on the wireless network.

We've had it for about three years now.

It deploys well for us.

The stability is only decent. You shove in an extra controller and it works generally, but you have to be careful to properly configure it.

The licensing works during peak hours but not during non-peak hours. We're expecting in the near future around 15,000 handheld devices as well as 9,000 BYOD, probably next year.

We've had no problems with technical support. We know the Aruba technicians in Denmark.

We evaluated Cisco APs. Aruba's APs are nice and the management solutions are pretty good. Cisco and Aruba play nicely together.

The most valuable feature for us is High Density as it allows us to provide coverage for lots of our students both in the same classroom and across campus.

It really drives our WiFi function because 95% of the network connections are from student BYOD. It provides location awareness and uses HP's software, which is great.

The location-based software isn't quite there yet and we haven't been able to use it the way that works best for us.

We've used it for over 15 years now. It's been a long journey.

We've had no issues with deployment.

I find that its stability is better than most of the other products we've used over the years.

We don't have any notable issues with scalability right now. From time to time, we've noticed that with 5,500 APs, we do have some issues, but they're not anything we wouldn't expect.

We've used Meru and Cisco, but Aruba's proven to be the best.

Consider all the software and add-ons for it because they can increase the value of it for something more than WiFi. Put everything together to maximize the benefit for your company.

This solution has been in place for close to 9 years.

Even as the current system we are using is old and the AP's being used are AP-61's, it is still working well.

We have 64 AP's around the site and with more and more students bringing in their wireless devices, we are only now starting to see some cracks. These cracks are to be expected due to the age of the system, and I'm sure it wasn't designed to have more than 1,000-plus devices accessing the network at the same time.

So if the current and future Aruba systems are as good as the old, we should all be fine.