Aruba Access Points vs Fortinet FortiWLM comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Fortinet are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.7, while Fortinet is ranked #17 with an average rating of 9.0. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 1.3% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to Fortinet’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Aruba Access Points

Read 37 Aruba Access Points reviews

696 Views
530 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiWLM

Read 27 Fortinet FortiWLM reviews

2,259 Views
2,088 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Aruba Access Points

Fortinet FortiWLM

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Fortinet FortiWLM and Aruba Access Points compete in the network management category, each offering unique features tailored to different user needs. Fortinet appears to have an advantage with its emphasis on security integration and support, while Aruba excels in flexibility and ease of deployment.

Features: Fortinet FortiWLM is noted for its centralized management, integrated security features, and seamless roaming capabilities. It benefits users with Fortinet's Security Fabric, which unifies control over various products. Aruba Access Points offer reliability, easy setup, and high-performance roaming. The virtual controller eliminates additional hardware needs, simplifying management and providing robust connectivity.

Room for Improvement: Fortinet FortiWLM could improve its centralized management and reporting features, requiring fewer external tools like FortiAnalyzer. Enhancing automation in guest management and better service contract policies could boost its appeal to small businesses. Aruba Access Points need improvements in pricing consistency, coverage, and integration, along with support and licensing clarity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortinet FortiWLM's on-premises solution is highly rated for its responsive technical support, aided by dedicated sales engineers. Aruba provides flexibility with on-premises, hybrid, and cloud deployments, yet receives mixed support reviews due to response and escalation issues. Fortinet's consistent support offers an edge in customer satisfaction, with Aruba's diverse deployment options providing useful flexibility but needing better support services.

Pricing and ROI: Fortinet FortiWLM is considered cost-effective, particularly for educational institutions, due to its all-inclusive pricing. However, additional costs may arise in the RMA process. Aruba Access Points balance cost and features well, with their pricing sometimes more attractive than Cisco's, though annual licensing is required. Both provide reasonable ROI, but Fortinet's integration of security and management may offer a more compelling reduction in total cost of ownership.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Access Points vs. Fortinet FortiWLM Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Access Points vs. Fortinet FortiWLM

March 2025

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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

Fortinet FortiWLM

Ranking in Wireless LAN

17th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Access Points is 1.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiWLM is 1.9%, down from 2.1% 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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Zachary Wheeler

President / CEO at Secure Solutions Center LLC

Impressive manufacturing quality, highly durable, and very easy to deploy

They need to do more with their marketing. That's what's wrong with them. Nobody knows they do all this other stuff. I love the product. For an enterprise-level system, you never have to explain why you're recommending Fortinet, whereas you might have to do that if you want to use the Ubiquiti Professional or the new Netgear line, but you don't have to explain Fortinet. It has been remarkable to work with. It would be nice if they had some smaller switches or hubs. They should offer two-port, three-port, or four-port devices so that you don't have to buy an eight-port switch, and you don't have to use an unmanaged element, but their product line is very complete, and I can't say enough about it.

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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

"It is a stable solution."

"The product's initial setup phase is very simple and very easy to use."

"I like the solution because of its throughput and low latency. It has resolved roaming issues for my customers."

"Aruba is a controller-based solution. We have some multi-story buildings. We only need to maintain one controller, and we can manage it from a single IP address."

"The manageability of both on-premise and cloud versions is valuable."

"Aruba Access points easily integrate with existing network infrastructure."

"The product has good coverage."

"Aruba Access Points’ most valuable features are network mobility and reliability for network access."

More Aruba Access Points pros

"Fortinet FortiWLM is good for tracking assets, monitoring, and overall management."

"The setup was easy."

"Although there are a few steps, the initial setup is pretty straightforward."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the management."

"With Fortinet, there is a feature called Network-In-Control. It's the AP controller that decides what the clients are going to connect to... Even though your phone sees, let's say, two APs, since the wireless controller has visibility into and access across all the APs, it knows the best AP for the client to connect to. This way, the controller makes sure that none of the APs is over-crowded, and the spectrum is used properly."

"At the moment, particularly with the COVID-19 situation, the most valuable feature is probably the IPsec VPN, which is easy to implement with Fortinet."

"Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"Security is the feature we like most from Fortinet. In general, their security architecture is really great, because it involves everything: firewalls, wireless LANs, the user. Everything is really secure."

More Fortinet FortiWLM pros

Cons

"The stability must be improved."

"The price could be a bit lower."

"There should be enhancements to support open Wi-Fi technology for seamless authentication across different access points."

"The solution's technical support and the quality of the new releases need to be improved because we have seen a lot of bugs in the solution's new releases."

"The product fails to provide better and extended coverage, making it in an area where improvements are required in the tool."

"The product's stability and technical support services needs improvement."

"The solution should be made more robust."

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

More Aruba Access Points cons

"The roaming of Fortinet FortiWLM could improve when comparing it to other solutions. We are missing some of the functionality in the controller. Additionally, they should offer more logs instead of using FortiAnalyzer because all the users will not be using the same thing."

"The pricing model can be improved to encourage use by small business and individuals and the hardware could stand to be redesigned."

"The pricing for the solution is expensive and can be improved."

"There are currently issues with Fortinet's software quality. We have concerns regarding the frequent updates needed because of short software cycles."

"The range needs some improvement and also the stability."

"Licensing is the only area that I think they are below average. They need enterprise licensing, an all-encompassing license to cover all products for a company."

"The interface could certainly do with some improvement. We have other customers with WiFi networks, and they always use Ubiquiti. With Ubiquiti, it's a much better user interface, and it is much easier to configure."

"In the next release, they could improve by adding a controller-less server, or architecture that is provided in other solutions, such as Aruba. This would be a great benefit for customers."

More Fortinet FortiWLM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is cheaper than Cisco and Huawei."

"The tool is priced the same as its competitors."

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

"There is a need to pay the licensing charges for the product...I feel that it is a moderately priced tool that is available at a price higher than Cisco and Huawei."

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

"The solution's pricing is nominal and not as costly as Cisco's."

"My company needs to pay yearly for the licensing costs attached to the product. There are no additional payments towards the solution apart from its licensing costs."

More Aruba Access Points pricing and cost advice

"In the last few years, due in part to the impact of COVID on the market, Fortinet has increased its prices by 35 percent."

"Licensing costs are reasonable. There are so many different types of licenses with Fortinet, but the licensing and the 24/7/365 support are so reasonable that I automatically include it with every transaction. I never line item it without it. There are no additional costs."

"Licensing has become easier. There is no longer a per-AP license needed on the controller."

"There is a perpetual license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."

"Fortinet would do something with their pricing model to attract smaller business users and eliminate the mandatory service contracts."

"To save yourself from increased setup and maintenance costs, I highly recommend undertaking a proper site survey from the beginning."

"The solution is fairly priced."

"The price of Fortinet FortiWLM is reasonable compared to the other vendors. We are using a five-year license."

More Fortinet FortiWLM pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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 ...

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What do you like most about Fortinet FortiWLM?

The security is a valuable feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWLM?

While the pricing of Fortinet FortiWLM is a bit high, it remains effective. However, the cost could be better if reduced.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWLM?

In terms of improvements, the price is higher than I would like. A reduction in pricing would be beneficial.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiAP vs Aruba Access Points

Compared 75% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Aruba Access Points

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Aruba Access Points

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Aruba Access Points

Compared 4% of the time

ExtremeWireless vs Aruba Access Points

Compared 3% of the time

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Aruba Wireless vs Fortinet FortiWLM

Compared 26% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Fortinet FortiWLM

Compared 18% of the time

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Fortinet FortiWLM

Compared 12% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Fortinet FortiWLM

Compared 11% of the time

Cambium Networks Wireless LAN vs Fortinet FortiWLM

Compared 8% of the time

More Fortinet FortiWLM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Access Points

April 2025

Download Aruba Access Points product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiWLM

April 2025

Download Fortinet FortiWLM product report

Also Known As

No data available

FortiWLM, FortiAP, Fortinet AP/OAP, Meru Wireless LAN

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

Consolidate security and wireless LAN management with our integrated wireless solutions. Single-pane-of-glass management for security and access without the need to add point products simplifies deployment and reduces management complexity. These solutions are highly scalable to support even the largest organizations and distributed enterprises.

Fortinet

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Access Points vs. Fortinet FortiWLM

March 2025

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