Aruba Wireless Reviews

The main reason I chose to implement the HP WLC was due to the limitations of our previous Sonicwall WLC not being able to have layer three provisioning. I would say that feature is the most valuable.

With our old wireless network, we had to put controllers at every location to have wireless access. This product allowed us to have one controller at our central location and still provide wireless to our outlying clinics.

The user interface on the product isn’t terribly intuitive in some areas, especially when setting up VSC’s.

I've been using HP MSM 720 Mobility Controller and 40 HP since April 2014, so approximately 10 months.

I experienced a few issues while deploying the controller. Getting the product to work correctly with a back end RADIUS server proved to be a bit of a task and the lack of documentation didn’t help either.

Stability wise the product has been fairly rock solid. I can’t think of any time I have had to even reboot it since I implemented it.

The particular model (MSM 720) doesn’t provide much in terms of scalability. It only allows for 40 Access Points which my company has about that number.

Customer service on the phone I would rate fairly poorly. On more than one occasion I could not understand the agent or would get disconnected, however, online customer service is much better.

I have only used the HP forums for technical support and it has a pretty good following and a lot of knowledgeable users.

We previously used a Sonicwall NSA3500 for all our needs. We switched due to the lack of Layer three provisioning at the time plus I wasn’t a fan of one device controlling so many aspects of our network and security.

I would say complex, mainly due to the lack of good documentation. All together, it took me about a week to fully get the product in a production state. Coming from a Cisco background it seemed much more cumbersome than their products.

We used an in house team (me).

I am not sure of the ROI at the moment. It has not been implemented long enough for any significant ROI.

Original setup cost for this implementation was around $30,000. Day-to-day the product costs nothing.

Any time we have a project we must have three viable options to choose from. We looked at HP, Cisco and Meru.

• Have a strong knowledge of your internal network
• Study the manual as much as possible
• Focus on VSC’s and Vlan configuration
• If you come from a Cisco background keep in mind you won’t use an access port on the switch port connected to the AP like you would in a Cisco WLC setup, but instead either a trunk or tagged port

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.

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 valuable aspects are its security and analytical capabilities.

I think when it comes to wireless the industry has changed a lot. When it comes to wireless, the industry has changed a lot and with connectivity everyone uses the same chips and really the same hardware so the quality of radio is very similar for every vendor.

Aruba have put a lot of emphasis on manageability and security, and I think their Airwave and Clearpath products are head and shoulders the best in the industry. They let their customers deploy a wireless network and manage and secure it better than you can do with all other solutions.

The next step is to create better unified story with HP switching. They're part of the same competitor, and their main competitor, Cisco, has a great unified wired/wireless story, and Aruba need to focus on this. They have great management tools and security capabilities, and they need to extend that to the wireless network.
Also, they need to enable the data they collect to be used by more companies. If you think of where wireless is big - schools, hospitals, retail environments - it would be good to capture that data and share it with third-parties so they can enhance their customers' experience.

It's amongst the best in the industry. It's used by lots of small companies but also by some of the largest companies in the world, and there's only a couple of vendors who can be multi-thousand user wireless deployments, and Aruba's one of them. They have a rock solid solution.

It's highly scalable, and I like the way they have orientated their portfolio. They have a configuration called 'Instant' where you don't actually need a controller, you can just start with a couple of access points and get it at relatively low cost. As you scale it out, you can add more access points, and one or two controllers, and manage it through the cloud. So almost any configuration the customer wants they can do, and as it gets larger, you can bring in the management tools. It's not like some solutions where you have to rip it out to go larger.

I think it's great. I've never heard a customer complain and they get you on the phone with an engineer quickly. Obviously it's very focused on wireless so you're not going to be calling them for a wide range of problems. For the solution, they're very good.

It's easy to get going. You can take an access point out of the box and have it running in minutes.

It's been the tech leader in the wireless market for a long time, which is why HP paid so much for them. Using the product is very simple, and there are lots of features unique to them. If you're going to purchase it - and you will pay a premium so it will cost more - take advantage of the security features, management tools, and analytical features.

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.

In the Aruba 2540 Switch Series portfolio, it is very important that these switches have advanced security and management tools, such as the following:

• Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager
• Aruba Central
• Aruba AirWave

It has not made improvements for my company, but from our partner company. They have a list of branch offices across country, and use Aruba cloud-based central support and for remote manage of equipment.

Our partner has been using this solution for a year.

They haven't found any issues yet.

They didn't found any issues yet.

They didn't found any issues yet.

Excellent.

They are very good responsive and very good knowledgeable.

Partner had been using Cisco. They switched to Aruba, because of price and functionality, also with an option for adding a SW, like AirWave, Meridian, ClearPass, and Central.

Initial setup was complex, but when you finally set up the whole network, there are no problems.

ROI is that cost for managing a branch offices which are far away from the main building. Now, it is very low.

Aruba's good. It's almost over-complicated for what we need it for.

Aruba gives me the security that I need because we have WiFi for employees, and the public. It allows me to monitor them and block them or do whatever I need to to keep them in check.

It's a little bit over-complicated. They could simplify the interface. Also, the update procedure from their website could be a little better. Finding the firmware the first time is a pain.

They're good. As long as you have the right controller in place to have enough APs for your business, then it's great. You can stack them. They're just a good product.

You just plug them in, and once you get them configured, they're great from there.

The licensing could always be a little bit cheaper. Everybody complains about that, but you just plug them in and I rarely have to think about it and that's the product I want.

I looked at Cisco and I can't remember the other vendor. Once again, Cisco was price-point was higher. Aruba gave me every feature I needed and more so they were a good fit for us.

Make sure you know how many APs you want to throw up there. Remote APs, stuff like that, and size your controller properly, but not for now but five or six years in advance because you don't want to replace it every other year so that'll be my biggest piece of advice.

We use Aruba Wireless strictly for corporate use. Within our company, there are slightly over 100 people using this solution.

I really like the user interface.

Better integration between the controller and the ClearPass portal would be a nice change. Currently, they're separated, but if they could be combined and managed in one portal it would be much better.

I have been using Aruba Wireless for three years.

We have been experiencing some scalability and stability issues on our Apple devices.

There are a lot of competing solutions on the market. I think Aruba should lower their prices.

Aruba Wireless is a very good solution. Should you choose this solution, be sure to start from the beginning and learn as much as you can. This way, you will have a better understanding of its uses — how to navigate and use it properly.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of eight. I can't give it a higher rating because of the issues we have experience with our Macintosh devices.