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Aruba Instant On Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 8, 2024

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 Instant On Access Points
Ranking in Wireless LAN
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Ranking in Wireless LAN
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
118
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Access Points is 0.9%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 13.1%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Ricardo Quintero - PeerSpot reviewer
Affordable and offers an easy setup phase
I was working on the on-premises solutions, like IronNet, Aironet, and some other tools from Cisco, but not with Meraki. The last Aironet model that we have here in Mexico, in the corporate office, and in some of the other regions of Mexico is Cisco Aironet 3700 and Cisco Aironet 3800, so it is just two or three devices. Aruba Instant On Access Points was working with Aruba 2540 and Cisco 3850 In Cisco, I found some issues. I was working well with a vendor. I was working with Cisco Catalyst 9200 and Cisco Catalyst 9300, along with Cisco Catalyst 2916M XL Switch. With all devices, we got a report. During the immigration, we choose another vendor, which Aruba. We have some issues with Aruba Instant On Access Points in iOS that are targeting the devices, and I have seen some problems with the DHCP solution.
Mageshwaran S - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables organizations to control many sites globally with a lean IT team and provides visibility into the user activities
The solution can handle only medium and small businesses. We face a bottleneck on the gateway while using the solution for large enterprises. The solution must be able to expand to larger enterprises. Currently, the MX device can support only up to 10,000 users. It would be good if it can go beyond 1 lakh users. Catalyst 9300 is coming on the Meraki Dashboard. The vendor must also bring in the 9400 and 9600 Catalyst series. It will be very helpful. We will not have any choke on the gateway. There is no active-active concept. It will be very helpful if the solution provides active-active. Now, we are doing an active-passive setup, which is a warm spare. If it is an active-active setup, the gateway bottleneck issue can be resolved. I would be able to segment the Wireless LAN IPs. It will help support 20,000 devices at a go. Meraki does not have a single dashboard. I need to port an on-premise controller. There is a bottleneck while scaling the product. I need to consider a lot of things.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find Aruba Instant On Access Points easy to monitor and appreciate the notifications they provide if there is a problem in the network."
"The most valuable aspect of Unifi switches is the Unifi Controller."
"Its performance is very good. It suits small and medium sites very well."
"The solution's most valuable features include a simple deployment phase, easy management, and scalability."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba Instant On Access Points is they are easy to manage."
"The product's initial setup phase is too easy."
"With a variety of switches in their setup, they find that Aruba's online monitoring tools and configuration options for applications effectively manage most of their requirements, all while keeping the process straightforward and user-friendly."
"It is cloud-based. It has a GUI rather than a command line, and it just works."
"The most valuable feature is the technology of the security that is offered."
"I have found it to be stable."
"The product has been very stable over the years."
"If you're trying to identify one of the switches or pinpoint a computer or pinpoint something, you could find it just like that and change the IP address. It's easiest to do it that way."
"The visibility of the site is most useful."
"The emailing of statuses is the most valuable feature."
"It's simple to manage when there's a problem."
 

Cons

"The customer service and support are terrible."
"Software-wise, I would like to have a way of moving APs from site to site and wish there would be a way to add more APs to one site. I know the limit is 25 APs per site and I wish there were more."
"The Unifi Controller is slower compared to other options like Aruba."
"If there's a way to get a floor map of our office space so we can place the access points on a map to be able to see what's what, where everything is going, where the most traffic is being connected, that would be a nice feature."
"The solution should include higher speed and lesser cost."
"Improvement as per customer requirements."
"The security aspect needs improvement."
"I want the product to be made available at a cheaper price point."
"In a future release, they should offer a next-generation UTM, where you can manage all items and the network, and have it include a lot of security features like fingerprinting functionality."
"The signal coverage radius could be extended."
"Meraki should share their viability roadmap. It is really hard to know which functionality will appear or when they will be available. It is also hard to know which features are available now but are not visible on the dashboard."
"It is not a very stable solution."
"Updating the equipment and the scheme they use to bill for the license could be improved."
"The price could be slightly lowered to make it more competitive in the market."
"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN could improve by having more granularity in terms of the data displayed. However, I understand that with Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, you need to have a compromise point to what are the functions that you're going to provide to the users versus ease of use. More granularity in terms of the data and the things that you can do to the devices would be helpful. For example, when we wanted to make a change, restriction, or segregation within Palo Alto, we can go to the level of detail that we want. The amount of detail provided is amazing, it is very granular. However, it comes with much more difficulty, it requires a technical understanding of the environment compared to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN."
"Licensing is, in my opinion, the least appealing component. It can be difficult to keep licenses up to date in order for the system to function properly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The price of Aruba Instant On Access Points is reasonable. They are competitively priced. I've even used it in my home at one time because of the low price."
"Aruba Instant On Access Points are license-free. It's a very good and cheap solution for wireless networks. It can be compared with solutions from Ubiquiti and TP-Link, but it is in a different class. Aruba Instant On Access Points are cheaper than those from Cisco, Ruckus, and Motorola. It's perhaps the cheapest one. They do not use licenses, so it is a solution from the box. You don't need to pay extra money or deal with hidden payments."
"Its price is fair. It is not really cheap, and it is also not expensive. It is in the middle."
"It's a cost-effective solution."
"It is expensive."
"The product's price falls on the cheaper end of the spectrum. The price of the product is one of the biggest benefits that it offers."
"I rate the product's pricing a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"You have to renew your contract every year, or for three or for five years. If you do not pay right away they will suspend your subscription."
"These units cost between $800 and $900 per device and on top of that, you have to pay yearly fees for maintenance."
"The pricing is based on a subscription and is a bit high at the moment."
"The platform is highly priced."
"We are on a SmartNet contract. All of our Cisco products are licensed under one contract. I do not think there are any additional costs."
"As is always the case, the price could be better, although I do not recall exactly how much this comes out to."
"Since it's been acquired by Cisco, it's an even higher cost."
"My client has made comments on the price, indicating it is expensive, however you do receive a lot for the money that you did spend on the solution. The price of the annual renewal of the licensing of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is a little high. We wish the price would drop."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
63%
Computer Software Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
3%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Instant On Access Points?
It's really easy to set up. And, you don't have to pay for the cloud solution. That's really interesting for our clients. And the other thing is, the roaming is also quite good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Instant On Access Points?
Aruba Instant On Access Points work without a list price, suggesting that they are open source and no additional licensing costs are incurred.
What needs improvement with Aruba Instant On Access Points?
All features already exist in Aruba Instant On Access Points. However, in future updates, more AI for intelligence and the option for a separate network could be beneficial.
What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?
Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...
Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...
How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant On Access Points vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.