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Aruba Airwave vs Aruba ClearPass comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
5.8
Aruba Airwave provides long-term ROI with efficient troubleshooting, significant cost savings, and improved productivity despite initial hardware costs.
Sentiment score
4.9
Aruba ClearPass enhances data security and management efficiency, though licensing misunderstandings can complicate ROI measurements for some users.
Using Aruba ClearPass has resulted in less engineering time compared to other products we've used.
Owner at Channelserve
The investment is huge for enterprise clients, but Aruba ClearPass makes processes easier.
Pre-Sales Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
Aruba Airwave technical support is praised for effective service, knowledgeable staff, and multilingual communication, despite occasional slower responses.
Sentiment score
7.3
Aruba ClearPass customer service is praised for expertise and effectiveness, though some desire faster responses and improved escalation.
I would rate their technical support as a nine or ten, as it's quite good.
Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology
Angie was very kind and communicated well in both Spanish and English, making it pleasant to connect with her.
TI at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Portnox is one level up, as their customer support is outstanding.
Chief Digital Officer at Clarity AI
We have faced delays in the resolution of production issues after raising tickets, which impacts productivity.
Network Support Engineer at HDFC Life
We have escalated questions to tech support, and I would rate the technical support an eight out of ten.
Network Engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Aruba Airwave is scalable, supporting different user counts and environments, often used with Cisco tools, rated highly for scalability.
Sentiment score
8.1
Aruba ClearPass is highly scalable, seamlessly integrating with upgrades and environments, effectively handling large, diverse user volumes.
Aruba Airwave is fully scalable, as we have a large number of tenants using the network with approximately six thousand end users.
Executive at a government with 201-500 employees
Aruba Airwave gives good information about SNR value, signal value, and you can get extensive information.
Senior Network Consultant at Data Market
I believe the scalability of ClearPass is rated as ten out of ten.
Senior Security & Infra Technology Systems Engineer at BARQ Systems
Everything will be handled when you add new users because all configurations are deployed from the beginning.
Network Product Manager/ Senior Presales engineer at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
In our environment, ClearPass handles up to 100,000 users, which is better than some other NAC solutions like Fortinox that scale up to 25,000.
Network Engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Aruba Airwave is stable, reliable, and highly rated, with minor manageable issues during high usage and integration.
Sentiment score
7.9
Aruba ClearPass is highly stable, performing reliably with minimal disruptions, and receives high ratings for consistent dependability.
I have found Aruba Airwave to be stable.
Executive at a government with 201-500 employees
As it is centralized, sometimes it disconnects from the cloud, and I need to reboot.
Server Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
I have experienced more than three years without zero downtime with Aruba ClearPass.
Senior Enterprise Customer Solutions Specialist at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
There are issues with some versions, especially in integrating with AD and SSL configurations over port sixty-three.
Network Support Engineer at HDFC Life
There aren't many stability issues, but sometimes the guest management function occasionally throws errors.
Pre-Sales Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Aruba Airwave requires cost reduction, system integration, UI simplification, pricing changes, and better synchronization, support, and compatibility.
Aruba ClearPass requires UI enhancements, improved integration, better scalability, refined features, and comprehensive support for optimal performance.
The end-to-end users' messages show some details that are not always up-to-date, and sometimes the information from the GUI is not exactly aligned with what's on the website.
Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology
I find the price of Aruba Central compared to Aruba Airwave to be more expensive.
Senior Network Consultant at Data Market
When upgrading hardware, there were technical issues with network interfaces and Red Hat, which required escalation to developers.
TI at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The language and policy enforcement mechanisms are not clear, making it difficult to use the product effectively.
Project Manager at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
It is also better to improve threat intelligence for built-in threat detection and prevention.
Network Engineer at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees
A more streamlined menu of licensing options would be helpful.
Owner at Channelserve
 

Setup Cost

Aruba Airwave licensing is seen as complex and costly, yet often cheaper than Cisco, with variable pricing flexibility.
Aruba ClearPass pricing varies by needs and usage, with licensing options influencing costs and long-term value for users.
The pricing for Aruba Airwave is acceptable because compared to Cisco, it's slightly cheaper, but not significantly - maybe 5% or 7% less expensive.
Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology
Achieving the best price requires careful selection from a menu of licensing options.
Owner at Channelserve
We cannot mix in prices, and of course, prices are going higher.
IT Network Operations Manager at KEDS
Aruba ClearPass is a premium product with higher pricing, which seems unnecessary given its complexity.
Project Manager at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

Aruba Airwave provides multivendor support, robust reporting, real-time analysis, and easy network management with zero-touch provisioning and Visual RF.
Aruba ClearPass provides versatile network security, supporting diverse authentication and integration, with a user-friendly interface for comprehensive access control.
It provides near real-time monitoring using AIMON and AURO protocols, which is robust with multiple models and brand support.
TI at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Aruba Airwave provides good visibility, offering extensive data on network dynamics, such as access point connections, usage, signal strengths, and potential interference from neighboring Wi-Fi networks.
Executive at a government with 201-500 employees
The most helpful feature I noticed, yet did not utilize, allowed us to add our Cisco switches for monitoring.
IT Network Operations Manager at KEDS
In Aruba ClearPass, you can have control of all authentication in the company.
Senior Enterprise Customer Solutions Specialist at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
The ClearPass solution has reduced the amount of engineering time compared to previous solutions, making it more efficient for our purposes.
Owner at Channelserve
The most effective feature for us is the OnGuard feature.
Senior Security & Infra Technology Systems Engineer at BARQ Systems
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Airwave
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (6th)
Aruba ClearPass
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Aruba Airwave and Aruba ClearPass aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Aruba Airwave is designed for Network Management Applications and holds a mindshare of 4.0%, down 7.2% compared to last year.
Aruba ClearPass, on the other hand, focuses on Network Access Control (NAC), holds 21.6% mindshare, down 24.7% since last year.
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Aruba Airwave4.0%
Cisco DNA Center14.4%
Cisco Catalyst Center7.9%
Other73.7%
Network Management Applications
Network Access Control (NAC) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Aruba ClearPass21.6%
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)22.4%
Fortinet FortiNAC16.1%
Other39.9%
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

Edward Zeng - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology
Troubleshooting obstacles occur but technical support excels
My general opinion on Aruba Airwave is that it's acceptable, but it's not ideal because we are accustomed to Cisco. We didn't use Aruba much, but once you set it up, you probably don't need to worry about it too much. The version we are using is quite old now, probably around version four. I can't remember the version exactly because a lot of the products require Aruba Central, but we haven't used Aruba Central yet. I face challenges with Aruba Airwave, particularly with troubleshooting. When someone has a problem, we try troubleshooting, but the end-to-end users' messages show some details that are not always up-to-date, and sometimes the information from the GUI is not exactly aligned with what's on the website. If Aruba Airwave can apply AI capabilities, that would be even more perfect. I'd appreciate integration with Aruba Central; it would be great if they could incorporate it into Airwave.
Darko Skurla - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Enterprise Customer Solutions Specialist at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Role-based policies have simplified secure access control for all users and smart devices
I do not know about the functionality of Aruba ClearPass integration with a third party. If you ask me if there is support for Zebra and for different IoT devices, they have it. However, I do not know how to describe integration with other products. Aruba ClearPass can act as a RADIUS server and it can connect to the domain RADIUS server, for example. The biggest problem is when a customer does not know what they want with Aruba ClearPass. I can recommend Aruba ClearPass to other users because it is very stable. My review rating for this product is ten out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise33
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Aruba Airwave?
They have other sensors which can manage and control all the sites. There is an IoT component where we can restrict internet services such as Facebook and YouTube. These things can also be managed....
What is your primary use case for Aruba Airwave?
For Aruba Airwave, I am using the wireless devices for the Wi-Fi for the full company with access points. This is the top product I feel, and I see in the Gartner also. It is a good product and eas...
Which is better - Aruba Clearpass or Cisco ISE?
Aruba ClearPass is a Network Access Control tool that gives secure network access to multiple device types. You can adapt the policies to VPN access, wired, or wireless access. You can securely ...
What is the biggest difference between Aruba ClearPass and FortiNAC?
I've done quite a lot of work with ClearPass, and not a lot with FortiNAC/Bradford. ClearPass incorporates a number of different functions including ClearPass Guest for creating complex wireless g...
What do you like most about Aruba ClearPass?
If you are looking at the base installation, then it was a very straightforward process, which I would rate an eight or nine out of ten.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Avenda eTIPS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa
Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified School District, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, NetScaler and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: December 2025.
880,435 professionals have used our research since 2012.