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Aruba Airwave vs Huawei eSight comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Huawei are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.1, while Huawei is ranked #9 with an average rating of 9.0. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 4.0% mindshare in NMA, compared to Huawei’s 3.8% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 72% of Huawei users who would recommend it.
Aruba Airwave
Read 26 Aruba Airwave reviews
  • 1,305 Views
  • 1,161 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
Huawei eSight
Read 10 Huawei eSight reviews
  • 2,218 Views
  • 821 Comparison Views
72% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

Aruba Airwave and Huawei eSight compete in network management solutions. Aruba Airwave seems to have the upper hand due to its wider vendor support and enhanced network visibility features.

Features: Aruba Airwave includes multi-vendor support, robust monitoring, and the Clarity and Visual RF features for optimized troubleshooting and network visibility. Huawei eSight integrates management tasks efficiently for Huawei devices, provides strong monitoring and reporting features, and is noted for its user-friendly simplicity.

Room for Improvement: Aruba Airwave could improve seamless integration with other platforms and enhance transparency in troubleshooting errors, also addressing licensing cost concerns. Huawei eSight needs more automation features, better integration with third-party devices, especially non-Huawei systems, and improvements in user experience and device compatibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both primarily support on-premises deployment, with Aruba also offering a private cloud option. Aruba's technical support is efficient but slower than competitors, while Huawei is praised for effective support, though its documentation could be improved. Aruba's cloud capability may present more flexibility.

Pricing and ROI: Aruba Airwave is considered expensive compared to Huawei eSight, despite being more cost-effective than Cisco. Users highlight concerns over Aruba's rising costs, though its ROI is significant due to reduced troubleshooting time. Huawei eSight offers competitive pricing and reasonable licensing but can be complex. Both products show solid ROI, with Aruba's efficiency justifying its higher cost.

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To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Airwave vs. Huawei eSight Report (Updated: December 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Aruba Airwave vs. Huawei eSight
December 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 Airwave
Ranking in Network Management Applications
6th
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
9th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
IT Infrastructure Monitoring (34th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Aruba Airwave is 4.0%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Huawei eSight is 3.8%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Aruba Airwave4.0%
Huawei eSight3.8%
Other92.2%
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Edward Zeng - PeerSpot reviewer
Edward Zeng
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.
Read full review
Gary Strydom - PeerSpot reviewer
Gary Strydom
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.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has improved my organization by increasing troubleshooting opportunities which makes things more efficient."
"I would rate the stability a nine out of ten."
"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."
"It's scalable because it's licensed per device and we bought licenses with each device. I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability."
"This solution gives you a lot of reporting capabilities, and it has a very good interface."
"The feature that proved most beneficial for our organization's network monitoring is the virtual four, which we use frequently when working with Aruba."
"The technical support services are good."
"The most valuable features of the solution are its dashboard and simplicity."
More Aruba Airwave pros
"I like that it supports all our Huawei devices. Unlike other network monitoring tools that monitor Huawei devices, it provides more details when it comes to monitoring or management. We can get complete details about the devices, and management is also simple."
"The most important features are alarm management and the visualization of the health of our network devices."
"The solution's most valuable dashboard features include monitoring storage, resource availability, and hardware alarms."
"One of the most beneficial features of Huawei eSight is its simplicity and ease of use."
"We can scale the solution."
"eSight allows me to monitor and solve any problem in the backbone and any switch in real-time."
"The product is stable."
"I like the real-time location monitor or RTLS feature. It is similar to the monitoring feature in Cisco Prime."
More Huawei eSight pros
 

Cons

"I would like to see is “AAS”. Not only Aruba APs with central, but NAC/ClearPass, AirWave, and everything licensed as a Service."
"When upgrading hardware, there were technical issues with network interfaces and Red Hat, which required escalation to developers."
"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."
"Whenever you get an error it doesn't immediately tell you what the thing is that is causing the error. You have to sit down and research it. If it could say what error is causing the issue, it would make my troubleshooting a lot quicker."
"Cost is always a big issue for partners."
"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."
"My general opinion on Aruba Airwave is that it's acceptable, but it's not ideal because we are accustomed to Cisco."
"The integration with other platforms like Cisco needs to be improved."
More Aruba Airwave cons
"The solution needs to improve it's user interface to make it more modern and stylish. They need to design proper menu positions, features, etc. Right now the layout is complicated."
"The price could be less costly."
"It will be better if they can make the simple network topology part more presentable. It would also be better if they had API integration and integration with third-party devices."
"The variety of license types should be made simpler as, at present, it is complex."
"It is not a very flexible product."
"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."
"eSight has many features and options, but sometimes, we feel that it should be more advanced, like Cisco. It would be good if they can enable some automation part in eSight. Most of our customers want automation in their network. They don't want a dependency on everything. That's why the automation part must be improved in Huawei. It will be beneficial for customers. Cisco has different products, and there are multiple products for monitoring, automation, etc. In the software-defined network, Cisco has ACI, and VMware has NSX. Such options must be there in Huawei to move to a software-defined network. Unlike Cisco, in the case of eSight, there is only one product. I am not aware of any other product. It would be good to enhance it with at least some automation options so that we can use it effectively in the campus network or big data center environment. When I implemented this Huawei solution, I faced some limitations in particular areas like wireless scanning. This is another part that they can improve. Wireless reporting option is not as effective as other monitoring solutions. For a particular use case, if a customer is asking for some reports, sometimes they are not 100% satisfactory. The reporting structure must be improved."
"Something that could be improved is the lack of integration with Cisco switches. In the next release, I would like to see better reporting."
More Huawei eSight cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."
"This product is not expensive."
"The licensing is on an yearly basis."
"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."
"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."
"We must buy a new license to connect more devices to scale up the solution."
"The cost is perfect because the devices have a lifetime warranty, and the licensing is good as well."
"Aruba Airwave's licensing cost is not that expensive."
More Aruba Airwave pricing and cost advice
"The price is very expensive."
"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."
"Pricing depends on the competition. If your competitor is like Cisco, then Huawei is much more competitive when it comes to pricing."
"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 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."
"I would rate this solution a nine out of ten for pricing. The pricing depends on which features you use and can become expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
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 Enterprise4
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Airwave?
I think the solution is quite affordable.
See all answers
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....
See all answers
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...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Huawei eSight?
Huawei eSight should work on the option to have the email notification working on Office 365 Exchange.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Huawei eSight?
We use the solution to monitor the hardware environment of our data center. We mainly use Huawei eSight to monitor the devices. It assists in monitoring our devices in terms of utilization and moni...
See all answers
What advice do you have for others considering Huawei eSight?
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 i...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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HPE Intelligent Management Center vs Aruba Airwave Logo
HPE Intelligent Management Center vs Aruba Airwave
Compared 15% of the time
Cisco Catalyst Center vs Aruba Airwave Logo
Cisco Catalyst Center vs Aruba Airwave
Compared 10% of the time
SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper vs Aruba Airwave Logo
SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper vs Aruba Airwave
Compared 5% of the time
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Cisco DNA Center vs Huawei eSight Logo
Cisco DNA Center vs Huawei eSight
Compared 15% of the time
Zabbix vs Huawei eSight Logo
Zabbix vs Huawei eSight
Compared 9% of the time
SolarWinds NPM vs Huawei eSight Logo
SolarWinds NPM vs Huawei eSight
Compared 7% of the time
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Huawei eSight Logo
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs Huawei eSight
Compared 6% of the time
More Huawei eSight Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Aruba Airwave
January 2026
Aruba Airwave reportDownload Aruba Airwave product report
Buyer's Guide
Network Management Applications
January 2026
Huawei eSight reportDownload Huawei eSight product report
 

Overview

Offering granular visibility into wired and wireless networks, AirWave is the only management platform designed with mobile devices and apps in mind. By proactively monitoring the health and performance of all things connected, AirWave lets IT gain the insights they need to support the digital workplace.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Huawei's eSight is a unified software suite for planning, operating, and maintaining complex enterprise ICT infrastructure from global, converged networks and data centers to multimedia and video communications that includes the facilities necessary for delivering performance and IT services. eSight provides a platform that supports infrastructure and devices from third-party providers, to develop custom management applications and improves O&M efficiency.

Huawei
 

Sample Customers

Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa
Marina Bay, CITIC Pacific Mining
Buyer's Guide
Aruba Airwave vs. Huawei eSight
December 2025
Free Report: Aruba Airwave vs. Huawei eSight
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