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Aruba Instant vs Fortinet FortiAP comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
3.5
Aruba Instant enhances productivity, stability, and user experience, supporting many connections despite high cost, providing a competitive business edge.
Sentiment score
8.0
Fortinet FortiAP offers strong ROI through secure features, reduced maintenance, high reliability, cost-effectiveness, and enhanced productivity.
I do not have to continuously manage them, and their reliability means they are consistently up and running.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.9
Aruba Instant support is generally satisfactory, with prompt assistance noted, though enterprises occasionally experience delays, especially post-HPE transition.
Sentiment score
7.8
Fortinet FortiAP support is mixed; premium service praised, but standard service disappoints with varied customer experiences and long wait times.
The technical support from Aruba is of high quality, and I would rate it a ten.
We keep a support contract open with Fortinet, so we have instantaneous response from them.
The technical support from Fortinet FortiAP is rated 7.5 out of ten.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Aruba Instant offers scalable solutions for small to medium businesses, enhancing performance and compatibility for diverse environments.
Sentiment score
7.4
Fortinet FortiAP offers effective scalability for different organizational sizes, though complexity may arise when expanding units.
I find Aruba Instant to be highly scalable.
We have good scalability with Fortinet FortiAP because we have multiple ISPs connected to it through FortiManager.
There could be constraints where a product can't be scaled further without purchasing a new model.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
9.2
Aruba Instant is highly praised for its stability and reliability, outperforming competitors despite minor access point and latency issues.
Sentiment score
7.2
Fortinet FortiAP's stability is generally rated high, with some issues arising post-upgrade or after two years of use.
I have not experienced any issues, outages, or problems and have not had to interfere with them at all.
The stability of the solution is very high.
 

Room For Improvement

Aruba Instant needs enhanced documentation, UI, more security, better IoT compatibility, improved features, and competitive pricing.
Fortinet FortiAP requires better security integration, improved functionality, responsive support, competitive pricing, and enhancements in performance, configuration, and legacy support.
An important missing feature is the console port, which allows direct management without the cloud.
I know they're going up to six soon, which will enhance reliability.
Security is always a concern for any business, and the network should not be compromised easily.
 

Setup Cost

Aruba Instant offers competitive pricing with one-time costs, appreciated for its enterprise functionality and minimal licensing complexity.
Fortinet FortiAP offers competitive pricing, seen as cost-effective compared to Palo Alto and Check Point, with varied value opinions.
We do not sell very expensive devices as we move to other products.
However, when compared to entry-level market segments, the price is higher.
The license costs for Fortinet are more affordable when considering licensing costs with other leaders like Cisco.
The pricing is much better than Cisco pricing.
The pricing is a little bit high, and I would rate it a ten on the scale where ten is the highest price.
 

Valuable Features

Aruba Instant provides scalable, user-friendly network management with robust security and seamless integration, ideal for small to medium businesses.
Fortinet FortiAP integrates with FortiGate and FortiAnalyzer, offering streamlined management, robust connectivity, and cost-effective deployment for enterprises.
I highly value Aruba Instant for its ClearPass feature, which is an exceptional product for network access control and works as a NAC solution.
The most beneficial features for network management are the price and the cloud console.
Compatibility with Fortinet firewalls allows clients to set up new businesses with integrated firewalls and access points, offering a cost-effective solution while providing excellent wireless coverage.
FortiAPs are an enterprise-level device capable of handling a large number of users and connections, ensuring quality.
We can do more with one Fortinet FortiAP in two areas instead of having multiple devices.
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Instant
Ranking in Wireless LAN
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiAP
Ranking in Wireless LAN
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAP is 4.3%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Prashant-Patel - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly stable and easy-to-deploy solution that is free and provides excellent deployment guides
The setup is very straightforward. There is no complexity at all. It took us 15 minutes. We need IP address details, DNS, a gateway, DHCP servers, and SSIDs. Single access points can act as controller-based, controller-less, and cloud-based solutions. That is the beauty of Aruba. If I have an on-premise solution and want to move to the cloud, I don't need separate hardware. The same hardware can be utilized in the cloud. The deployment guides that we get from Aruba are excellent. We have every piece of detail.
Yati Gharat - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrates well with Fortinet products, but there are signal issues in the outdoor environment
FortiAP is very good in an indoor environment, but we are struggling with the outdoor environment. That is where we are having certain issues. We are not 100% happy with it. With the indoor environment, we are okay, but we are facing some issues when certain voice-related calls go from wireless points. There are certain drops, and we have faced these issues on an ongoing basis. We also have other vendors such as Aruba and Meraki, and we do not face any issues when there is a Teams or Zoom meeting going on. It could be that FortiAP is okay, but that particular device or appliance is not capable of handling that much load of voice and video. This might be the issue. RF Spectrum Analysis helps to understand what is the coverage and hotspots related to a particular access point, but then when we bought it, we did heat mapping through different vendors. If there are any rogue APs, we can identify them with RF Spectrum Analysis. We can see what the coverage area is, but there are some issues with that. Some of the offices have thick glasses, or the cabins are different, so in the RF coverage, what is shown is not what we get on the practical grounds. There are some issues with signal performance. It has the basic functionality that is mostly used, but there are certain devices that are not able to interconnect. When there is any issue or problem, if the administrator can get some information about that, that will be good. With Meraki and Aruba, we get certain beautiful things. If those can be integrated into this solution, it will be more beneficial, but we understand that being a security company, Fortinet's focus is on security.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Construction Company
6%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Ubiquiti WLAN or Aruba Instant?
We researched Ubiquiti and Aruba when looking for a WLAN solution. Ubiquiti offers good WLAN access both indoors and outdoors. It provides an enterprise-level WIFI while remaining cost-effective. U...
What do you like most about Aruba Instant?
I find network management features related to monitoring Wi-Fi usage and visited sites particularly valuable. Content filtering is also important to prevent access to malicious or inappropriate web...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Instant?
The licensing costs depend on the product. The smaller switch is around one hundred and twenty euros. We do not sell very expensive devices as we move to other products.
What do you like most about FortiAP?
If we have FortiClient installed on multiple devices, it is seamless to connect with FortiAP. It supports passwordless authentication as well. That is a great thing about it.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiAP?
The pricing is a little bit high, and I would rate it a ten on the scale where ten is the highest price. They are a bit more expensive compared to other solutions, however, it is worth it if you ca...
What needs improvement with FortiAP?
There is nothing that particularly comes to mind for improvement. The management is controlled by Fortinet firewalls, so specific improvement needs do not jump to mind.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Purdue University, Orlando Magic, Brussels Airport Company, Molecaten Holiday Parks
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant vs. Fortinet FortiAP and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.