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it_user171990 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer with 51-200 employees
Vendor
Spectrum Analyzer and the WIP are my eyes in the sky. It would be good to have more than 4GB for the firewall.

What is most valuable?

The Aruba Adaptive Radio Management (ARM), Spectrum Analysis and Wireless Intrusion Protection are the most valuable capabilities for me. ARM is helpful because it manages my network for me basically. The Spectrum Analyzer and the WIP are my eyes in the sky, so to speak.

How has it helped my organization?

First of all we use to have standalone AP’s and we had to manage each one separately which was very time consuming for me but now we have a centralized management network with the Aruba 3400 series platform that saves me time in managing. Secondly we had a lot of issues with clients hogging all of the airtime and causing other clients to have to wait but now with Aruba Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) all of our clients have a fair share of airtime and the adjustments are automatic in the controller.

What needs improvement?

They may have already improved on this but it would be good to have more than 4GB for the firewall. I think this is the only thing I can think of for improvements.

For how long have I used the solution?

Just over one year

Buyer's Guide
Aruba Wireless
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Aruba Wireless. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
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What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

I didn’t have any issues when I deployed to Aruba 3400 series platform. The process was smooth and exciting.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I didn’t have any issues with stability. We have been up and running for over a year now and the users are very happy with our network.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I haven’t had any issues with scalability. We haven’t had any growth or additional things since we deployed the Aruba 3400 series platform.

How are customer service and support?

Customer Service:

On a scale from 1 – 10 I would say a 7. I haven’t used the customer service enough to give a higher rating.

Technical Support:

On a scale from 1 – 10 I would say a 7. I haven’t used the customer service enough to give a higher rating.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes I previously used a Cisco Solution. We changed products because Aruba was better in cost.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. We deployed all of the hardware and configured the controller and watch the AP’s authenticate and associate with the controller.

What about the implementation team?

We used a vendor to the deployment. The deployment went absolutely well. I will have to give the vendor a 10 for their expertise and work they did.

What was our ROI?

My ROI is 125%. We have better production for the workers and IT team.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No! We only evaluated Aruba.

What other advice do I have?

If you are interested in a solution that is straightforward in configuring and deploying choose Aruba solutions. If you want features that will open up more time for you as a network admin Aruba solutions is for you. If you are looking to improve your WLAN performance, scalability, stability, and security Aruba solutions is for you.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Specialist Design and Solutions at orben comunicaciones
Real User
Clear pass helps a lot with admin, though its analytics and big data requires improvement

What is our primary use case?

Implementing wireless networks.

How has it helped my organization?

It seems a little bit more difficult to implement than Meraki.

What is most valuable?

Clear pass, it helps a lot with admin.

What needs improvement?

Analytics and big data.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Aruba Wireless
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Aruba Wireless. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Organization Civil Engineer with 1-10 employees
Real User
Provides us with a scalable Wi-Fi solution

What is our primary use case?

Wi-Fi. The performance is okay.

What is most valuable?

Scalability.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see more security features. Also, it should have more than one, maybe five, access points. Wherever we go, we should get the same speed continuously, without disconnecting.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I am satisfied with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I am satisfied with the scalability.

How is customer service and technical support?

Their services are okay, satisfactory.

How was the initial setup?

It is straightforward.

What other advice do I have?

It's a good product, you can go ahead with it.

When selecting a vendor, the most important criteria are a stable product, the cost, and security features.

I rate Aruba Wireless at nine out of 10 because it is reliable, and all the features are okay.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
SME at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Consultant
Denies inter-user traffic: It easily blocks traffic between users
Pros and Cons
  • "HA: Apps failover without reboot."
  • "Role assignment: Each user is assigned a different role based on the radius attributes returned by ClearPass."
  • "Denies inter-user traffic: It easily blocks traffic between users."
  • "MAC authentication against an external Radius server while using 802.1X. This feature will help the L2 devices to authenticate via external Radius servers."

What is our primary use case?

  • Different roles assigned to corporate and guest users.
  • Corporate users authenticated via 802.1X against ClearPass with machine authentication. 
  • Guest users authenticated via captive portal; ClearPass guest self-registration process.

How has it helped my organization?

  • Better failover. 
  • Aruba Mobility Controllers configured in master standby mode. 
  • Centralized licensing. 

What is most valuable?

  • HA: Apps failover without reboot. 
  • ARM: Auto adjusts the power and channel. 
  • Rouge Detection: Helps in identifying threats.
  • Role assignment: Each user is assigned a different role based on the radius attributes returned by ClearPass.
  • Firewall rules can be applied per role.
  • AppRF: Helps to find out which applications are used by the clients.
  • Denies inter-user traffic: It easily blocks traffic between users.

What needs improvement?

MAC authentication against an external Radius server while using 802.1X. This feature will help the L2 devices to authenticate via external Radius servers.

As L2 devices cannot do 802.1x. This feature is available in Cisco WLC, named for its MAC Filtering. 

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Jovan Jovanovic - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
It has lowered our partner's costs for managing their branch offices
Pros and Cons
  • "Aruba Central."
  • "Initial setup was complex."

What is most valuable?

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

How has it helped my organization?

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.

For how long have I used the solution?

Our partner has been using this solution for a year.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

They haven't found any issues yet.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

They didn't found any issues yet.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

They didn't found any issues yet.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Excellent.

Technical Support:

They are very good responsive and very good knowledgeable.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

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.

How was the initial setup?

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

What was our ROI?

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

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user361920 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder & CTO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
They provide the flexibility to choose different models depending on, for example, the number of APs you want to deploy.

Valuable Features:

The most valuable features of these wireless controllers for us are the advanced security and management features. They're excellent and provide our users with protection over-the-air.

Improvements to My Organization:

They've improved our clients' organizations by providing the flexibility to choose different models depending on, for example, the number of APs they want to deploy and other criteria. 

They're also easily upgradeable to higher versions and the licenses can be transferred easily.

Room for Improvement:

Aruba adds more and more features to them all the time, but having to buy additional licenses for new features can get pretty expensive, especially when a client wants to stay up-to-date.

Deployment Issues:

They deploy well without issues.

Stability Issues:

It's a very stable product. Right now, we have several deployments and we'll know whether there are problems with these controllers.

Scalability Issues:

The 7000 is highly scalable. You can start with a lower controller model, and as a client's requirement increases, you can always migrate to a newer model. They'll still have all the licenses that they previously purchased.

Initial Setup:

The initial setup for the 7000 is straightforward for us. We're trained and certified engineers. But for someone who isn't, it's very complex.

Other Solutions Considered:

We've done several migrations from competitive products, but Aruba is better because of the technology and the price. They also integrate well with other Aruba applications, such as ClearPass.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Network Engineer at a university with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
We don't need to visit each AP locations for a code upgrade or troubleshooting but some went bad over time.

What is most valuable?

Central controller and ARM function on Access Points.

How has it helped my organization?

We don't need to visit each AP locations for a code upgrade or troubleshooting.

What needs improvement?

More stable cide

For how long have I used the solution?

6 years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

Some of them have cable limitations.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Yes, we did. Some model of APs went bad over time.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No, we don't as long as we purchase the license.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Almost excellent.

Technical Support:

Almost excellent.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes, we did. It was Cisco Autonomous APs, but we replaced them as we wanted a centralized system.

How was the initial setup?

It was pretty straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We used a vendor and they were very knowledgeable.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes we also evaluated Cisco Lightweight APs.

What other advice do I have?

You should start implementing the latest and greatest access points which are 801.11 AC.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1429029 - PeerSpot reviewer
Converged Services Project Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Stable, good support, and scales well
Pros and Cons
  • "Aruba Wireless is stable and we plan to continue using it in the future."
  • "Better integration with equipment from other vendors would ease the deployment process in some cases."

What is our primary use case?

We are a solution provider and Aruba Wireless is one of the network products that we implement for our customers. We offer it to our clients to provide wireless and cloud services.

What needs improvement?

Better integration with equipment from other vendors would ease the deployment process in some cases. It is also helpful because certain vendors concentrate more heavily on a certain side of the industry. For example, one may focus on security but neglect availability. Being able to integrate gives a better overall solution.

Security is something that can be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Aruba Wireless for about two years. The company has more than 10 years of experience.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Aruba Wireless is stable and we plan to continue using it in the future.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is good, although it sometimes depends on who it is that handles the case. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We deal with several wireless networking products from Aruba, Ruckus, and Brocade.

How was the initial setup?

Sometimes, the initial setup is complex. For example, if I need to integrate with other vendors then there can be issues and we have to do a lot of work to solve these kinds of problems.

The length of time required for deployment depends on the size and density of the network. There are a lot of parameters that dictate how much time it takes, but the average for us is a three to four-day deployment.

What about the implementation team?

We have a design team and a technical team who take care of the implementation and deployment. Most of the time, they consult with me if there's an issue with the design or they need more details. We provide a consulting service for this.

What other advice do I have?

My advice for anybody who is implementing Aruba Wireless concerns the design stage. I suggest trying to design everything using a single vendor. Do not use a multivendor approach because you will have issues with integrating systems together.

Overall, this is a good product and I recommend it.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
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Updated: November 2024
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Aruba Wireless Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.