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Aruba Airwave vs Aruba ClearPass comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Airwave
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (3rd)
Aruba ClearPass
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
83
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (2nd)
 

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 7.9%, down 10.2% compared to last year.
Aruba ClearPass, on the other hand, focuses on Network Access Control (NAC), holds 25.0% mindshare, down 26.1% since last year.
Network Management Applications
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

Prashant-Patel - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution has multi-vendor support, and it can be used for network management
Aruba Airwave is an on-prem solution, so you have to manage it with your servers to be deployed. You can also deploy it on the cloud if you have your own private cloud. All the configuration guides and the different types of designs you need are available from Aruba Airwave's portal. I would recommend Aruba Airwave to other users. Overall, I rate Aruba Airwave ten out of ten.
SvenVenables - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use, multifeatured, and reliable policy management platform for identity authentication and new device onboarding
The only area that really needs improvement in Aruba ClearPass is the onboarding for doing TLS authentication. The biggest problem we've seen in our environment is Huawei not being able to get onto Google Play. No Huawei device can be onboarded via Aruba ClearPass easily. An additional feature we'd like to see in the next release of Aruba ClearPass is for its OnGuard function, its health check function. We'd like it to have the functionality for installing or copying files that are required for remediation on health checks. For example: if you're using Aruba ClearPass and you do a health check, if the client is missing a file or a particular product such as an antivirus product, we would like the opportunity to have the files copied or installed in the platform, because currently there are some limitations when you want to do remediation. If the client is missing a file and you want them to install a specific application, we have to provide an HTTP download so they can download the file for the remediation to work. What I would like to see is a bigger storage area in Aruba ClearPass so we can upload those files in the platform, rather than having those files in an external server for downloading, because we've had huge problems with doing remediation to locations that require an HTTP download. What we'd like is having the ability to put the applications on Aruba ClearPass directly, to make the remediation steps for clients when they're missing software, to get those directly from the platform, because currently, you can't put a big file onto Aruba ClearPass as there are size limitations.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I like best about Aruba Airwave is its orchestration feature because it saves configuration time. I also like that it allows you to do ZTP installations for new Aruba equipment."
"This solution is definitely stable."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba Airwave is the multivendor support, which enables you to manage and monitor different vendors or products."
"The solution's initial setup process is straightforward."
"The technical support services are good."
"The solution's most valuable features are its usage, bandwidth existence, device capacity, and utilization."
"Aruba Airwave provides a robust solution for monitoring and configuring Wi-Fi networks."
"It has improved my organization by increasing troubleshooting opportunities which makes things more efficient."
"The solution is highly stable."
"It provides a single access point and is highly available."
"The visibility and security features are most valuable. We get a clear view. It is a very secure product for educational institutions."
"What I like best about Aruba ClearPass is its 802.1X certificate-based authentication feature."
"What I like most about Aruba ClearPass is its access tracker that serves as its monitoring feature. The access tracker is really helpful when you want to troubleshoot authentication failures."
"It supports AAA and offers a range of features, including guest authentication for visitors and 802.1X authentication for employees. ClearPass provides options for customized authentication methods, such as SMS and social media authentication, which customers are effectively utilizing."
"We are mainly using Aruba ClearPass for our clients for securing access to their on-premise assets. As per customer expectations, we are trying our best to track the complete user activity in the network. This is the main and the core feature we require."
"The most valuable thing about Aruba ClearPass is its ease of use. It has always been a very reliable and very stable policy management platform."
 

Cons

"The integration with other platforms like Cisco needs to be improved."
"The overall monitoring of this solution could be improved."
"More devices or vendors should be onboarded to Aruba Airwave."
"I would like to see is “AAS”. Not only Aruba APs with central, but NAC/ClearPass, AirWave, and everything licensed as a Service."
"The main challenge we've faced with Aruba Airwave is its high cost, especially regarding high availability and failover licenses, which can be relatively expensive for customers. As for recommendations for improvement, considering that Aruba is planning to retire Airwave soon and introduce a new solution, it's crucial that the new product meets or exceeds the current Airwave's feature set. Customers expect a seamless transition without losing any functionality, so Aruba needs to ensure that the new solution is ready with all the essential features and capabilities from day one to avoid any gaps or dissatisfaction among users and partners."
"I want a management solution to manage and monitor everything from a single dashboard. This is not there with Airwave."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved."
"Cost is always a big issue for partners."
"The product's graphical user interface (GUI) could use an update and better integration between the guest management and policy management interfaces."
"In the next version, I would like to see some enhancement or extension on the tracking side. For example, when any user enters the network, it should be more visible in the graphical form."
"An issue with Aruba ClearPass is the lack of information and poor community support. You can't find the material easily on the internet for any issues. For example, if you're looking for any configuration or exploring any issue, it's not easy to find information, and this is the problem with Aruba ClearPass. Access to helpful information and poor community support could be improved. Another area for improvement in Aruba ClearPass is that some of its advanced features aren't easy to find. For example, my team needed to apply Google single sign-on, but it wasn't easy to find. Aruba ClearPass is a big solution with a lot of capabilities, and it's a very advanced solution, so you need to either have some experience with it or undergo some training. Aruba ClearPass is a very good solution from the network perspective, but the issue is the poor support you get from the community. When you try using the solution, some areas aren't easy. When you search on YouTube, you'll find very few materials about Aruba ClearPass. It isn't like Cisco where you can find information from hundreds of websites, on YouTube, etc. This is bad for Aruba, so this area should be improved. Aruba has a training center, but the usual training offered is only for Aruba Wireless and Aruba Switches. If you have another solution, it's not easy to integrate it with Aruba ClearPass, so this is an area for improvement. You need to do some research to successfully integrate your solution with Aruba ClearPass. We integrated Aruba ClearPass with Ubiquiti WiFi, and it's working fine with no issues. My next project is to start integrating Aruba ClearPass with Cisco Switches. The solution is good, but on the website, there's no book and no video, and you can't find the material on Aruba ClearPass easily. This is one of the issues with Aruba."
"There is room for improvement in the support."
"They should include SMP functionalities."
"The pricing policy could be more flexible."
"Because some users use OS 10, it would be good if the solution could group its functions better."
"If you look at the tool's deployment phase from a fine-tuning perspective, I feel it was very complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost for Aruba Airwave increased from $72 to $210 within a few months. It would be better if the pricing for the solution were cheaper."
"It is an expensive solution."
"AirWave is a very expensive solution. If you implement it in a wide range network, it will cost a lot. There is no option to sell it outside that price segment, which is a problem."
"The cost is perfect because the devices have a lifetime warranty, and the licensing is good as well."
"It's device-based licensing. One device requires one license."
"The tool is expensive. If one is bad or expensive, and ten is very good or cheap, I rate the product's price as a six."
"Aruba Airwave's licensing cost is not that expensive."
"Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."
"Aruba ClearPass has permanent licenses. You purchase it one time and this license is yours. You don't need to refresh it for five years, et cetera. They have a couple of licenses for enabled features with not only one license."
"We pay an annual licensing fee for Aruba and there are no additional costs."
"​Cost is important. I switched because Aruba's costs were well below Cisco's."
"The pricing is not bad and everything is included."
"The starting price of Aruba ClearPass is 200k Hong Kong dollars. The licensing is based on the endpoints. For example, 100 - 500 end points."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is too expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."
"The licensing cost for Aruba ClearPass is a bit expensive. Its pricing could be better. The license costs around $125,000 for the perpetual license and support for one year. Aruba can give you a license with five thousand endpoint access and one thousand five hundred onboard licenses on one hundred endpoints and two controllers."
"There is a license to use Aruba ClearPass."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
8%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Airwave?
I would rate the stability a nine out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Airwave?
The tool is expensive. If one is bad or expensive, and ten is very good or cheap, I rate the product's price as a six.
What needs improvement with Aruba Airwave?
The tool's expensive nature is an area of concern where improvements are required. The product's scalability can be improved.
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, HPE Aruba Networking and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: November 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.