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Aruba Instant vs Ruckus Wireless 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Instant
Ranking in Wireless LAN
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Ruckus Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ruckus Wireless is 14.3%, up from 12.4% 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.
Xander Janse Van Rensburg - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable and high-performance wireless networking with exceptional stability, scalability, and robust feature set
One of the most valuable features I appreciate is auto channelization, facilitated by a proprietary product called ChannelFly. This feature enables APs in a specific zone to automatically adjust their channels, optimizing performance. Additionally, Ruckus Wireless stands out for its ability to reuse certain beams, resulting in smaller data spots. In my experience with various products, Ruckus Wireless consistently delivers unparalleled throughput, coverage, and reliability in wireless networking across different environments. As a noteworthy point, the newly launched WiFi 7 standard is measured against Ruckus's WiFi 7 AP, establishing it as the global benchmark. When it comes to WiFi, Ruckus sets the standard, outperforming competitors with its superior performance and capabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You don't have to deal with licenses."
"The coverage of the solution is great."
"The integration with ClearPass is the most valuable feature."
"Aruba's mobility features, which facilitate seamless switching between wireless access points, are also quite impressive. Users don't even notice the transition, ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted experience."
"The simplicity of the dashboard is one of the most valuable features. It's easy to use, and manage and the security features are robust. We can block unauthorized connections and create secure SSIDs."
"The solution provides a very good end-user experience."
"The product is easy to configure."
"Aruba Instant is easy to manage."
"Analyzes real-time, in-depth network performance."
"The most valuable feature for me is reliability."
"I like the price and its capacity."
"I really like Ruckus Unleashed, which is the feature that provides a quick solution for me to control the APs."
"The scalability has been very good."
"Dead zones were immediately eliminated when we deployed these WAPs in all of our locations, plus Ruckus’ analytics on the ZoneDirectors allow us to quickly identify clients that are taking too much bandwidth."
"It gives you the whole user session, and you can tell that the client connected at the traffic post."
"All IPs can be managed and monitored by the customer from a single console."
 

Cons

"It is not powerful enough and lacks features recommended for larger dimensions, making it unsuitable for big companies with requirements like 100 access points."
"The Central cloud management (optional) is far behind the competition in features, ease of use, and dependability. I have tried Aruba Central a few times over the years and, in my option, it is not where it needs to be for serious consideration in production environments."
"The solution should be able to support more users on the access points."
"The product can be improved by adding a clear interface."
"Embedding a heatmap tool within the product would make it easier to conduct a wireless survey."
"It is a software characteristic, and it is during the reboot. During the startup of the AP, the AP tells you that you are using the wrong password. However, I have realized that this is not true."
"Doesn't support enough access points in one cluster."
"The meshing could use improvement but aside from that nothing else really needs improvement."
"Ruckus products, overall, have a wide range of useful features, however not all customers have the budget to buy a corporate Wi-Fi solution. Most of the time, it's far too expensive for our clients to consider going with Ruckus, and they might like to see cheaper solutions in the Ruckus range."
"What would be interesting to see is if they had more of an ability for their customers to capture revenue. They should offer some sort of gateway functionality that you could tie through radius authentication, so you can bill the customers. That way, when you go in, you could just have a device and set up a hotspot, and it's a totally billable tool at that point."
"Some customers have issues with the price because it's more expensive than Ubiquiti, but they can accept the cost because it's reliable and has more features."
"I recommend enhancing flexibility for administrators within the Partner Domain."
"The initial setup could be more straightforward. It would be better if we could seamlessly integrate security tools like a firewall or IPS with Ruckus Wireless."
"Their support has been lacking a little bit and needs to be improved. I have had a ticket open for a month, and it is really hard to get a resolution out of them. They haven't really come out with anything that is much of an improvement in a long time. It has mostly just been fixes and things like that. We used to have a ZoneDirector or a physical controller for the wireless network, and that was kind of end of life. It was very old, and at the time, we were expanding the wireless network, and we didn't want to rely on one piece of hardware that was pretty old. So, we went to SmartZone Cluster, which has two VMs in a cluster. Unfortunately, we lost the feature ability for guest networks and other things that we were using before, and Ruckus just kind of told us that they weren't supporting that feature in the newer product, which is not really great. I was told initially that SmartZone was an upgrade to ZoneDirector. It is the logical thing to think that it is going to have all the same features, but it didn't. The issue that we have right now is onboarding BYOD devices. It is not really great for us, and we're looking for a new product to make that easier. We did have Cloudpath, which was a product that Ruckus purchased from another company that was an onboarding solution, but it just didn't really work very well for us. So, we discontinued using it, and it actually created more confusion for people. They should make BYOD or guest network portals a lot easier and better. In some areas, we have been having issues because there are just so many WAPs that are so close that we had to manually turn down the radio of power because the automatic feature of the AP wasn't really doing it right. It should also have a little bit better RF analysis capability to be able to see on the controller side. The front end for our staff, students, and guests has also not been quite as good as we had hoped."
"I have not got any major problem using Ruckus, but the price and technical support could be better."
"The product licensing could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Two years ago, I paid INR 12,000 for access points, but now, I will have to pay double the amount, which comes up to INR 24,000, making it a costly product."
"In terms of costs, Aruba Instant is cheap because it doesn't require a license, but you'll incur charges for the access points. Access point charges could be more affordable."
"The tool's pricing is neither cheap nor expensive."
"It's a one time cost, including the upgrades, but you have to pay on a yearly basis if you want support. The price is in the middle in comparison to that of competitors' products."
"I personally would rather pay that little bit more and get what I need because I know what I'm getting, as opposed to going for something cheaper that's not as manageable and doesn't give as much."
"Aruba Instant is a free subscription with a limited lifetime warranty."
"It is not expensive. Its price is fair. You get many features with the normal licensing. If I look at Cisco, it is very expensive if I need similar things."
"We pay about $300 per access point."
"It's definitely a good value. It's more expensive than some of the other offerings out there, but when you compare it to other enterprise-class gear, it's very well priced. And the beauty of it is, because it has better range because of their patented BeamFlex - which is the way they can send and receive and listen to signals - you can actually use fewer access points. That means that it's a cheaper overall project."
"Ubiquiti and Aruba Instant On are good for small businesses in terms of cost than Ruckus Wireless."
"We have a yearly license for our multiple mode 200 or 300 Ruckus Wireless systems. It's a good price."
"The setup that I have at the moment does not require licensing, although I am not sure whether a bigger project will mean that I have to spend more."
"Ruckus Wireless is an expensive solution."
"We also looked at Cisco and Aruba but Ruckus pricing was better."
"Ruckus Wireless is not an expensive solution."
"The tool’s pricing is competitive with other alternative solutions’ pricing."
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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
14%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

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.
Aruba Wireless or Ruckus Wireless?
At my organization, we researched Ruckus Wireless among other solutions but ultimately chose Aruba wireless. What did we like about Ruckus? First, it was very easy to use, and anybody with minimal...
Which is better - Ruckus Wireless or Cisco Wireless?
Ruckus Wireless offers users the benefit of being both easy to set up and get running as well as being very user friendly. This user-friendly quality also renders it easy to learn how to use and ma...
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...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Purdue University, Orlando Magic, Brussels Airport Company, Molecaten Holiday Parks
American University of Sharjah, Baruch College, Centro Escolar Liceo Santo Tomšs, Chevalier College, Chico Unified School District, Colegio de Fomento El Prado, Columbia Public Schools, Delta School District, Dordt College, Douglas County School District, Drew University, Armonea, Central Utah Clinic, Grove Hill Medical Center, Inner South Community Health Service, Midwest Surgical, Satilla Regional Medical Center, Lyndoch Living, Polonus, Roaring Fork School District, Sonora State, Vivid, Sydney, Players Club, Sandals, Scandic Hotels, Sheraton LAX, Sunbird
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant vs. Ruckus Wireless and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.