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Aruba Airwave vs Huawei eSight comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

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 Airwave
Ranking in Network Management Applications
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Huawei eSight
Ranking in Network Management Applications
16th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (56th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Aruba Airwave is 3.1%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Huawei eSight is 4.2%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Airwave3.1%
Huawei eSight4.2%
Other92.7%
Network Management Applications
 

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.
Gary Strydom - PeerSpot reviewer
Desktop Analyst at Transnet
Used to monitor devices and provides the hardware alarms feature
Huawei eSight has helped me overcome many monitoring aspects of the hardware. From a single view, I can monitor all the hardware. Instead of logging on to each piece of hardware and monitoring it individually, I can monitor them from one single point. I would recommend the solution to other users because it provides a single point of view of the hardware. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"All the technical support goes through our contractor. It is a local support, and it is perfect."
"The monitoring and administration allow configurations for checking the association of the user to the network, then to the AP, then to the switch, and back to the controller."
"The solution's most valuable features are its usage, bandwidth existence, device capacity, and utilization."
"ROI is good, and the technology has a good life span."
"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."
"The most beneficial feature for network monitoring in Aruba Airwave is the Live Heat Map. It helps identify interferences, coverage issues, and user connectivity issues. The device management capability of Aruba Airwave is good. It provides end-to-end visibility from the user to the access point, the switch, and the internet breakout. From a monitoring, management, and orchestration standpoint, it is very effective and can manage any scale of deployment."
"AirWave definitely helps us troubleshoot and get to the root cause of the issues. It gives you an excellent indication of what's going on within your network at different locations. You can get to the area, take a look at the AirWave analysis, and make informed decisions."
"It can interact with other vendors better than Cisco, which is a good point of AirWave. It is easy to use, and its reporting is good."
"We use this solution to monitor our sales."
"We can scale the solution."
"We use Huawei eSight to monitor devices like Wi-Fi controllers, LAN switches, and routers."
"Huawei eSight provides businesses with monitoring capabilities of network devices across your network."
"One of the most beneficial features of Huawei eSight is its simplicity and ease of use."
"Technical support is good from Huawei."
"eSight allows me to monitor and solve any problem in the backbone and any switch in real-time."
"Since we have a central monitoring system, we can proactively monitor those devices, easily capture any abnormalities before major downtime, and quickly address the issues before they become a bigger problem in the future."
 

Cons

"I would like to see is “AAS”. Not only Aruba APs with central, but NAC/ClearPass, AirWave, and everything licensed as a Service."
"They should make it cheaper. By doing that, they can replace Cisco, which is also very expensive. If it is equivalent to Cisco in the features, with a reduced price, they can sell it more than Cisco."
"My general opinion on Aruba Airwave is that it's acceptable, but it's not ideal because we are accustomed to Cisco."
"Pricing for Aruba Airwave could be cheaper, which is an area for improvement in the solution."
"I am not deeply familiar with the solution, so if I mention a feature, it might already exist, yet I may be unaware of it."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved."
"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."
"We encounter delayed ETAs in the manufacturing of hardware."
"It is not a very flexible product. We cannot change much from our side."
"Something that could be improved is the lack of integration with Cisco switches. In the next release, I would like to see better reporting."
"Technical support for the solution is not so good."
"The variety of license types should be made simpler as, at present, it is complex."
"The solution and the operating system come separately. It would be easier if we did not have to deploy anything. A bundle feature would be better."
"The price is very expensive."
"This solution could be improved by offering monitoring for all devices and not only Huawei devices."
"In my experience with eSight, I can tell you that you will experience a number of alerts that can be stressful to the administrator monitoring plenty of devices."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 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."
"Run a 90 day free Proof of Concept (PoC) for each product by implementing and using it fully in your environment. This way you will be educated on its features, functionality, and manageability."
"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."
"Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."
"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."
"Its pricing is better than any other Huawei product. Some products are cheaper in Huawei, and some products are cheaper in Cisco. Cisco has more benefits and options than Huawei if you consider different network environments."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"I would rate this solution a nine out of ten for pricing. The pricing depends on which features you use and can become expensive."
"The price is very expensive."
"Pricing depends on the competition. If your competitor is like Cisco, then Huawei is much more competitive when it comes to pricing."
"The pricing for Huawei eSight is reasonable, especially with the base license and incremental licenses for additional devices. However, the variety of license types can be a bit complex. We used to sell eSight but switched to another solution, so we're not actively trading it anymore."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Government
7%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

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 Business5
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise1
 

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...
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa
Marina Bay, CITIC Pacific Mining
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Airwave vs. Huawei eSight and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
916,582 professionals have used our research since 2012.