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Aruba Access Points vs Cisco Wireless 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.1
Users reported operational efficiency, manageable licensing costs, and improved communication with Aruba Access Points, achieving ROI within five years.
Sentiment score
2.3
Cisco Wireless boosts productivity, reduces downtime, improves connectivity, and offers cost savings with robust security and manageability.
This is why we do not require technical support, as the solution remains simple without AI implementation.
Manager Technical at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It is acceptable; it was not very cheap, but it was acceptable, and we can tell our customers, 'This is a good solution and you should pay this once and you have this solution forever.'
Telecommunication Engineer at Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia
A comparison from standalone to distributed WLC-controlled access points provides some decent ROI.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
Users appreciate Aruba Access Points support for efficiency and quick responses, but seek better handling of complex issues.
Sentiment score
5.3
Customer service is mostly praised for professionalism and efficiency, though some users experience slow response times and regional differences.
A company called ACT is very good at support.
Senior Manager, Hospitality Program at ACT international
For technical support alone, I would give them a score of nine out of ten.
Owner at a transportation company with 11-50 employees
Because we work with different HP products, such as servers, storage, and high-end switches, technical assistance is only needed when there are issues on the compute side.
Manager Technical at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The technical support from Cisco is of high quality.
Head Of ELV and ICT at Intec Systems Solution Pvt Ltd
We received responses quickly after logging our problem.
Group IT Head at Euracare
The refresh cycle is not as aggressive with Aruba, meaning they will continue supporting products for longer durations without facing end-of-life and end-of-sale situations as frequently as Cisco does.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Aruba Access Points offer excellent scalability, easily integrating and expanding to support high-density users across various environments.
Sentiment score
6.8
Cisco Wireless offers scalable solutions for enterprises, praised for flexibility and seamless expansion, despite some cost concerns.
Aruba access points integrate well with existing networks via PoE switches.
Owner at a transportation company with 11-50 employees
Scalability and expandability are adjusted from day one based on expansion and growth projections.
Manager Technical at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Every decision the central management makes takes extra latency to send over to the local area network.
Telecommunication Engineer at Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia
Installing new licenses with the number of access points that the device WLC is expected to support makes it scalable.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Aruba Access Points are highly reliable with minor issues, showing excellent short-term stability and robust long-term performance.
Sentiment score
7.4
Cisco Wireless is praised for its stability and reliability, with minimal downtime and robust performance in production environments.
The failure rate is very rare.
Manager Technical at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The only thing the customers need is that wireless communications work stably.
Telecommunication Engineer at Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia
The performance is excellent, rating 10 out of 10.
Group IT Head at Euracare
The best aspect is that even if the WLC goes down, the access points stay up and remain functional.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Aruba Access Points require enhanced security, seamless integration, scalability, improved performance in dense areas, and clearer licensing and support.
Cisco Wireless struggles with complex UI, high costs, integration issues, and inadequate support, affecting user satisfaction and performance.
Everyone discusses AI, but for providing wireless access to users, AI only plays its part when analytics are needed.
Manager Technical at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
There are some problems in assessing the performance of Aruba Access Points in environments with high user density.
Telecommunication Engineer at Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia
Some customers comment that the shape and size of the access point is a little big, especially the one installed in the guest room.
Senior Manager, Hospitality Program at ACT international
Sometimes, integration with other Cisco products requires manual intervention for tasks such as firmware upgrades, which should be automated.
Network Security at Tech Mahindra Limited
We would prefer if we could increase the controller to a 10 gig interface because we want to connect our controller to a 10 gig interface.
Group IT Head at Euracare
In the long term, there could be a cost reduction because it does not require much maintenance.
System Engineer at DANAT IT FOR BUSINESS
 

Setup Cost

Aruba Access Points are moderately priced, cheaper than Cisco but pricier than some, with negotiable discounts available.
Cisco Wireless is costly but valued for quality; licensing is complex and varies by enterprise size and project scope.
The pricing is reasonable and lower than competitors.
Senior Manager, Hospitality Program at ACT international
They are priced at half the rate of Juniper access points for basic models.
Owner at a transportation company with 11-50 employees
When comparing pricing between Aruba Access Points and Forti, I find Aruba to be on the higher side.
Head Of Technical Operations at ITE
Cisco generally is expensive.
Group IT Head at Euracare
The setup cost involves licenses.
System Engineer at DANAT IT FOR BUSINESS
The licensing of Cisco Wireless is competitive.
Network Security at Tech Mahindra Limited
 

Valuable Features

Aruba Access Points offer excellent coverage, reliability, and affordability, with advanced features for seamless connectivity and robust security.
Cisco Wireless provides scalable, easy management with robust security, seamless roaming, high performance, and advanced integration capabilities.
We receive support from Aruba, with assistance from the country manager in providing better quotations and support for projects.
Senior Manager, Hospitality Program at ACT international
Additionally, they do not require any kind of license for implementation.
Owner at a transportation company with 11-50 employees
Price-wise, they are cheaper than Cisco and other options.
Manager Technical at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
If one network fails, there is a link between different access points, which ensures network continuity.
Head Of ELV and ICT at Intec Systems Solution Pvt Ltd
The advantages of Cisco Wireless include helping me aggregate all the access points, managing one point connection for my users easily, controlling rogues, and addressing hotspots effectively.
Group IT Head at Euracare
The primary benefit is the ability to triage and identify what is where, and when users report issues, we can identify the users, location, endpoint, and nuances such as signal strength and signal-to-noise ratio.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Access Points
Ranking in Wireless LAN
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
155
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Access Points is 3.2%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 9.2%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Wireless9.2%
Aruba Access Points3.2%
Other87.6%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

HJ
Telecommunication Engineer at Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia
Wireless connectivity has remained reliable and supports flexible, cloud‑independent management
As I already mentioned, the ability to stay with self-hosting solutions for central management is what I think could be improved about Aruba Access Points. If this becomes available in the future, I think it should change the game. However, I don't currently see this because I see nothing about AirWave anymore on your roadmap. I don't understand what happens next. There are some problems in assessing the performance of Aruba Access Points in environments with high user density. If there is a dense environment, a mobility controller would be the one you should go with because this needs more telemetry to calculate. I suspect this will be easier to do with local administration or local management because if everything goes over the internet through Aruba Central, it takes time. Every decision the central management makes takes extra latency to send over to the local area network. I think this is not a good approach to move to central management that is hosted somewhere far away. It should still retain the functionality to use Instant AP functionality that is available until 500 and maybe 600 as well. If you go to software version 10 and future versions, then you lose this functionality and you can't go back anymore. It would be good to assist with local location management and BLE-based functionalities as additional features I expect from future Aruba Access Points. There were some attempts to support third-party integrations through cooperation between Aruba and Meridian. However, I don't understand what happened there, and nothing is clear in this area. IoT will also be very important for people. You should add functionality to the platform that will support third-party IoT devices.
EvansEsezobor - PeerSpot reviewer
Group IT Head at Euracare
Has enabled centralized user management and improved wireless access point aggregation
To improve Cisco Wireless, the ports on the access points are all 100 Meg, not 1 gig. We have not gotten a gigabyte interface of about 1,000, but the controller we have is just 1 gig. We would prefer if we could increase the controller to a 10 gig interface because we want to connect our controller to a 10 gig interface, which currently limits us to 1 gig. When we want to move higher capacity data via wireless, it limits us to 1 gig.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
883,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
President at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Mar 24, 2015
Cisco vs. Aruba Wireless Solutions
Cisco or Aruba Networks? If you are considering wireless access solutions, this is a common question that you are probably asking. You probably have sales people knocking at your door. How do you make sense of all the stories that you are presented with. If you have done any research, you are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business78
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise73
 

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?
When comparing pricing between Aruba Access Points and Forti, I find Aruba to be on the higher side.
What needs improvement with Aruba Access Points?
As I already mentioned, the ability to stay with self-hosting solutions for central management is what I think could be improved about Aruba Access Points. If this becomes available in the future, ...
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...
Which is better - Ruckus Wireless or Cisco Wireless?
Ruckus Wireless offers users the benefit of being both easy to set up and get running as well as being very user friendly. This user-friendly quality also renders it easy to learn how to use and ma...
How does Cisco Wireless compare with Aruba Wireless?
On the most basic level, Cisco Wireless can offer a rather straightforward initial setup. In the span of about three hours, the basic framework can be set up. Step-by-step instructions are availabl...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Cisco WLAN Controller
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Aegean Motorway, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Brunel University London, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Chartwell School, Children's Hospital Colorado, Cisco Live Milan, City of Biel, City of Mississauga, Dundee Precious Metals, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Erickson Living, Goldcorp, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS)
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Access Points vs. Cisco Wireless and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
883,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.