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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 February 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 12.3% 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."
"It's super user-friendly."
"Configuring everything in the cloud with Aruba Central and having all the devices be independent of a centralized controller has made it simple to deploy."
"The configuration is very simple."
"I would recommend Aruba Instant On Access Points to others."
"The product is scalable. It has 20 users."
"When an error or alert happens, I receive it in the application. I do not have to be there to know if something is wrong."
"The virtual Controller feature is valuable."
"Great architecturally based dashboard and the solution is accessible from anywhere."
"I have found the scalability to be very good."
"Its ease of use and flexibility are most valuable. It is cloud-based software."
"The solution's most valuable features at that time were the ease of managing on the cloud without having a server and the authentication using RADIUS integrated with the server on the cloud."
"I have found it to be stable."
"Provided reliability and a good price."
"It is easy to set up. You can do everything on the GUI. You don't need to trace cables. You don't need to connect to the switch. Everything is there, right in front of you."
"The most valuable feature is that the solution is friendly to manage."
 

Cons

"When there are a lot of people connected, especially during video streaming demonstrations, the connection can get a bit choppy."
"In future updates, more AI for intelligence and the option for a separate network could be beneficial."
"It is suitable for smaller organizations, but it may not be the best choice for large enterprises."
"The solution should include higher speed and lesser cost."
"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 customer service and support are terrible."
"It would be good to integrate some marketing features into Aruba Instant On Access Points, like heat maps. This would allow deployment in warehouses or malls to see how people move from one point to another, helping to locate the original fit."
"The product's coverage area could be expanded. It would help ensure better connectivity."
"When it comes to switching, Meraki lacks categories of features."
"The logging sometimes doesn't give us the granularity needed. Some of the rules are a bit more complicated. The switch ports on the routers are not individually addressable, in the sense that with a switch you can tell what MAC address is on what port but with the security appliances, you can't, which would be beneficial for troubleshooting."
"There needs to be some work done on security because, with time, some viruses may emerge that one may not know about."
"The licensing could be a bit better."
"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."
"The technical support for Meraki needs improvements made to the waiting times."
"We'd like to have better mapping to showcase low-coverage areas."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"It is competitively priced. It was at a price point that made sense for me to put in my home, and that says something. The cost of the solution includes everything we need to manage and upgrade our Wi-Fi network, including the mobile management app. Having the licensing and all the functionality built into the base price of the product is really important for me. There are no extra costs for the security feature or automatic software/firmware updates, which is really important to me."
"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."
"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."
"It is expensive."
"Its price is fair. It is not really cheap, and it is also not expensive. It is in the middle."
"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."
"I rate the product's pricing a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is not a reasonably priced product for home use. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is a reasonably priced product for enterprise-sized businesses."
"The tool is reasonably priced."
"I haven't conducted a price comparison yet, but based on information, it appears to be more affordable than the current environment. Therefore, I consider the price to be reasonable."
"The price is negotiable."
"These units cost between $800 and $900 per device and on top of that, you have to pay yearly fees for maintenance."
"It is super expensive for what you get. You also have to buy a license every year. Otherwise, it stops working."
"At this price point, I would not mind seeing a four-way channel, instead of a 3x3 or a 4x4, like they do in the Cisco Aironet system with their other brand. For the same price point in this other Cisco brand, it is a lot cheaper, and you can get a slightly better throughput than you can with these."
"It is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
65%
Computer Software Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
3%
Comms Service Provider
3%
Computer Software Company
19%
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
 

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.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.