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Aruba Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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
7.1
Number of Reviews
36
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 January 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Access Points is 0.8%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 13.1%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Trevor Fernandes - PeerSpot reviewer
This is a reliable product that is easy to scale thanks to its virtual controller
Aruba's virtual controller is the most important feature. I also have TP-Link, Huawei, and D-Link access points, and normally those solutions have a controller, which is a separate software or hardware used to control all of these. But Aruba's virtual controller basically sits in one of the access points, and if that particular access point goes down, the controller automatically migrates to the next available access point. With this feature, I firstly don't need any additional hardware for a controller. Secondly, I don't need maintenance for it. A virtual controller that roams around from one device to another automatically makes life very easy for me. My access points are nearly ten years old, so though they now have 2.4 and 5 GHz options, features like the captive portal for the guest Wi-Fi, avoiding sticky clients between two Aruba devices, reduced authentication, and the ability to look at the IDS are all still very advanced.
Mageshwaran S - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The Adaptive Radio Management feature is quite good."
"Aruba's virtual controller is the most important feature."
"Aruba products are good. The Middle Eastern marketplace is one of the biggest markets where Aruba products are preferred."
"I find AI Insights valuable."
"The main strengths of Aruba Access Points lie in their connectivity, range, and straightforward configuration. Setting up the access point is a quick process, taking only seconds. Standard features such as identity access management, captive deploy tools, and VLE are available. Additionally, Aruba offers medical-grade access points like the 400 series, which is well-suited for healthcare or hospital environments. One noteworthy feature is the impressive handshaking capability, particularly when transitioning between access points. This ensures a seamless experience without disconnection, especially when a well-designed heat map is in place. Aruba Access Points are robust and require minimal maintenance, making them reliable for long-term use."
"I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. It is a stable product."
"Aruba access points protect connectivity, and we don't get interference."
"The manageability of both on-premise and cloud versions is valuable."
"The most valuable features in Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN are that we were able to see all the registered users for each particular WAP, which is a big help. The roaming allows us to have continuous wireless throughout the building. The signal can carry over from one WAP to another. Which is probably the most important feature."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The solution provides good coverage and identity management. Additionally, the user interface is straightforward."
"I like the status page Cisco added that shows you the health of the wireless connection."
"The product's cloud controller is easy to use."
"The flexibility, since it's a cloud service, is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"We use the solution's bandwidth shaping, URL filtering, and group policy configuration features."
"The solution's most valuable features at that time were the ease of managing on the cloud without having a server and the authentication using RADIUS integrated with the server on the cloud."
 

Cons

"The product's stability and technical support services needs improvement."
"Aruba Access Points should improve its automation."
"I have to go via HP's process, which is not as good as Aruba's used to be."
"They should reduce the prices as an advanced marketing tool."
"The solution's lead time is very slow and should be improved."
"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."
"Aruba sometimes redesigns Aruba Central and the web interface, which is sometimes an annoyance."
"The pricing can be improved."
"Concern when there are a number of concurrent users."
"Its pricing could be better."
"Updating the equipment and the scheme they use to bill for the license could be improved."
"The dashboard could be a bit better. I'd like to see more information about the whole controller and APs. It should be as simple and convenient."
"The wireless infrastructure scalability has room for improvement."
"An area for improvement would be that Meraki doesn't work well in a warehouse environment. The device is too sensitive to other wireless devices, which provokes noise and can require a reboot to erase this."
"Currently, only a limited number of clients can connect to these devices."
"The customization needs to be improved because it's pretty locked down."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is priced the same as its competitors."
"The cost of Aruba Access Points has been on the rise, which may be due to market dynamics or regional factors, such as in Egypt. Additionally, the availability of Aruba products is a concern, with a lead time of approximately twelve months. This prolonged waiting period and a lack of responsiveness from HP, the parent company of Aruba, have led to the cancellation of some orders. The supply chain for Aruba appears to face challenges, impacting product delivery timelines."
"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."
"My company needs to pay around 50,000 JPY to 1,00,000 JPY towards the licensing costs of the product on a monthly basis. Additional payments are to be made towards the maintenance and support costs of the product."
"I rate the pricing a six out of ten because it's not cheap or expensive."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The product is expensive if you want it to have a long life."
"The product is more expensive than two of its competitors."
"The product is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."
"At this price point, I would not mind seeing a four-way channel, instead of a 3x3 or a 4x4, like they do in the Cisco Aironet system with their other brand. For the same price point in this other Cisco brand, it is a lot cheaper, and you can get a slightly better throughput than you can with these."
"This solution is reasonably priced."
"The box itself is very cheap. The question here is about the subscription because this is what you will pay every year. In the initial year, for purchasing, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN gives you an attractive price. While during renewal, we are not given much discount."
"Cisco Meraki requires either a one year or three year license for a standard enterprise license."
"The solution is overpriced and more expensive than Hauwei."
"We are on a SmartNet contract. All of our Cisco products are licensed under one contract. I do not think there are any additional costs."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
6%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

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?
Here, many owners look at the lump sum figure of the deal, comparing overall costs. Our company contacts Aruba's country manager for extra discounts to secure deals. The pricing is reasonable and l...
What needs improvement with Aruba Access Points?
Some customers comment that the shape and size of the access point is a little big, especially the one installed in the guest room. Other than that, nothing specific in terms of improvements comes ...
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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Access Points vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.