Aruba Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN comparison

Aruba Access Points vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Access Points

Ranking in Wireless LAN

5th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Ranking in Wireless LAN

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

118

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Access Points is 1.1%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 13.0%, up from 12.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

PRADIPJOSHI

Owner at Shree Atharva Sales Corporation

Pricing competitiveness and remote management have enhanced network flexibility

One of the most valued aspects of Aruba access points is their price competitiveness; they are available at half the price of Juniper access points. Additionally, they do not require any kind of license for implementation. Despite this, many customers have their own firewall, and they can control everything from their firewall, ensuring flexibility. Furthermore, the ease of management with Aruba access points enables customers to connect them directly to their network via a PoE switch and manage them remotely from mobile devices.

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Mageshwaran S

Solution Architect at Bharti Airtel ·

Enables organizations to control many sites globally with a lean IT team and provides visibility into the user activities

The solution can handle only medium and small businesses. We face a bottleneck on the gateway while using the solution for large enterprises. The solution must be able to expand to larger enterprises. Currently, the MX device can support only up to 10,000 users. It would be good if it can go beyond 1 lakh users. Catalyst 9300 is coming on the Meraki Dashboard. The vendor must also bring in the 9400 and 9600 Catalyst series. It will be very helpful. We will not have any choke on the gateway. There is no active-active concept. It will be very helpful if the solution provides active-active. Now, we are doing an active-passive setup, which is a warm spare. If it is an active-active setup, the gateway bottleneck issue can be resolved. I would be able to segment the Wireless LAN IPs. It will help support 20,000 devices at a go. Meraki does not have a single dashboard. I need to port an on-premise controller. There is a bottleneck while scaling the product. I need to consider a lot of things.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution is its stability."

"The solution gives good visibility into access points."

"The Adaptive Radio Management feature is quite good."

"The technical support is perfect."

"We like the flexibility and the security, and the product is very easy to use."

"It is a reliable solution with good coverage."

"The product has good coverage."

"It offers remarkable client-handling capacity."

More Aruba Access Points pros

"The solution is fast."

"I like the record that is being kept and multiple SSDs."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...The solution's initial setup process was straightforward."

"Meraki is a decent solution for a small company, and we use it in a pretty typical way. We need Teams and Zoom to work, and we need a high level of security because we want our business to remain confidential."

"The solution is stable and reliable."

"The ability to manage it remotely is the most valuable. If it has an internet connection, you can get to it. It is a great product for remote clinics. We kind of thought about doing this kind of standalone technology. Meraki is easy to manage. From a management perspective, it is the easiest to use, especially in the cloud. I like Meraki. I even have it in my home."

"It's a stable product."

"It is very handy to have a support number to call."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

Cons

"The product should provide more coverage."

"Since we manufacture medical devices, we must adhere to pharmaceutical guidelines. According to these guidelines, our rooms are categorized as 'head type' and thus require network connectivity. However, installing high-end APs in every room may not be feasible."

"I would appreciate for the higher-end models to offer the same signal strength as the older, smaller models, even while maintaining the latest standards, as this would enhance the overall network performance and coverage."

"The solution's lead time is very slow and should be improved."

"The product is highly priced. They could improve pricing."

"I have to go via HP's process, which is not as good as Aruba's used to be."

"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."

"Some customers comment that the shape and size of the access point is a little big, especially the one installed in the guest room."

More Aruba Access Points cons

"I would like to see Cisco Meraki improve the accessibility by region level here in Latin America."

"The price could be slightly lowered to make it more competitive in the market."

"Concern when there are a number of concurrent users."

"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's management tools need enhancement."

"Its price should be reduced."

"The user interface needs to be improved."

"Despite being enabled, I've encountered an issue where the alert main dashboard fails to detect when any of the devices go down. Hence, the tool's notification feature should improve. We have also faced issues with integration."

"There is a processing limitation when you have multiple SSIDs, above three or four."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive and licensing costs are yearly. Customers have to pay extra costs for service and subscription apart from the hardware cost."

"The pricing is competitive. It is neither cheap nor expensive. It is moderate. It offers better price than Cisco and other competitors."

"The tool's pricing is not expensive. It is perfect as per the features."

"Overall, I would say the pricing is reasonable and meets our expectations."

"I rate the pricing a six out of ten because it's not cheap or expensive."

"The price compared to other brands is slightly higher."

"The product's licensing cost is low. However, hardware is costly. Thus, it is overall expensive."

"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."

More Aruba Access Points pricing and cost advice

"The tool is reasonably priced."

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It can be for three, five, or ten years. I'm happy with the pricing. You basically pay for what you get. It is that simple. When you look at Ubiquiti or Aruba, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN far outweighs what you get. If you're in the UK, Ubiquiti gives a three-year or five-year warranty, whereas here in the UAE, they only give a one-year warranty, which is no good to me. Who buys a piece of equipment with only one year warranty on it? It doesn't make sense."

"Pricing could be better."

"The pricing is based on a subscription and is a bit high at the moment."

"When compared to other vendors, Cisco's pricing is higher."

"Cisco products are generally recognized for their performance and quality, which may justify the higher price point compared to other options on the market."

"It is expensive."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Access Points?

After we installed the Aruba switches, the work became faster because the network speed improved.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Access Points?

Due to its pricing, Aruba access points provide good value. They are priced at half the rate of Juniper access points for basic models.

What needs improvement with Aruba Access Points?

I would like Aruba to provide integration capabilities for Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Directory, or other identity verification engines like Okta, Google Identity, or Ping Identity. It is important ...

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?

Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...

Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...

How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...

Fortinet FortiAP vs Aruba Access Points

Comparisons

Compared 75% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Aruba Access Points

Compared 14% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Aruba Access Points

Compared 4% of the time

ExtremeWireless vs Aruba Access Points

Compared 3% of the time

More Aruba Access Points Competitors

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 32% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 16% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 11% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Product Reports

Aruba Access Points

Download Aruba Access Points product report

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Also Known As

No data available

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN

Overview

Aruba Access Points are a preferred choice for enterprises, providing efficient wireless connectivity across corporate settings, educational institutions, and healthcare facilities with both indoor and outdoor deployment options.

Aruba Access Points deliver reliable Wi-Fi and network access tailored for enterprise and guest connectivity, supporting IoT devices in diverse environments such as warehouses and offices. They ensure secure connections with features like VPN management and 802.1x authentication, along with flexibility in deployment. Users can benefit from their robust warranty, ease of use, and seamless integration possibilities. The devices facilitate convenient management through both on-premise and cloud solutions, although there is a need for improved coverage, security, and integration features.

What are the standout features of Aruba Access Points?

Virtual Controller: Manages multiple Access Points without additional hardware.
Client Match: Ensures devices connect to the best access point available.
Seamless Roaming: Provides uninterrupted connectivity without drop-offs.
Integration Capabilities: Allows easy incorporation of enterprise wireless solutions.
Advanced Authentication: Offers 802.1x and secure guest access.

What benefits or ROI can users look for?

High Stability: Consistent performance minimizes downtime.
Simple Configuration: Easy setup saves time and resources.
Network Mobility: Supports movement with uninterrupted access.
Visibility: Provides network insights for better management.
Warranty and Support: Offers robust warranty terms.

In specific industries, Aruba Access Points are implemented to enhance patient record access and guest connectivity in healthcare, support interactive learning environments in education, and streamline operations in warehouses with IoT integration. Their deployment aligns with industry-specific requirements, ensuring reliable connectivity and secure access to critical applications.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Cisco Meraki access points are built from the highest grade components and carefully optimized for a seamless user experience. The outcome: faster connections, greater user capacity, more coverage, and fewer support calls. The Cisco Meraki dashboard gives visibility into the network users, their devices, and their applications. Armed with rich analytics, administrators can quickly create access control and application usage policies, optimizing both the end-user experience and network security.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins

Aruba Access Points vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN