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Aruba Networks Wireless WAN vs Fortinet FortiWLM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Networks Wireless WAN
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Wireless WAN (5th)
Fortinet FortiWLM
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is designed for Wireless WAN and holds a mindshare of 3.0%, up 1.7% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiWLM, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless LAN, holds 2.0% mindshare, down 2.1% since last year.
Wireless WAN
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Colly - PeerSpot reviewer
Reasonably priced and offers a good GUI
The product is very scalable. When it comes to some schools, they start with the solution's proof of concept in certain sections. My company aims to improve the throughputs in the schools where the product is installed. If the rest of the School wants the product, it is easy to set up the solution. My company uses Aruba Networks Wireless WAN for schools and warehouses but not in the retail sector. The product offers reliability and uptime twenty-four hours and seven days a week. My company gets notified if the reliability offered by the product goes down. My company also gets notified if we are getting hacked.
Zachary Wheeler - PeerSpot reviewer
Impressive manufacturing quality, highly durable, and very easy to deploy
They need to do more with their marketing. That's what's wrong with them. Nobody knows they do all this other stuff. I love the product. For an enterprise-level system, you never have to explain why you're recommending Fortinet, whereas you might have to do that if you want to use the Ubiquiti Professional or the new Netgear line, but you don't have to explain Fortinet. It has been remarkable to work with. It would be nice if they had some smaller switches or hubs. They should offer two-port, three-port, or four-port devices so that you don't have to buy an eight-port switch, and you don't have to use an unmanaged element, but their product line is very complete, and I can't say enough about it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"An engineer with enough experience can tune the network however they want. It's crucial. It's good to customize our information security how we like it and configure the solution to achieve the level of stability we need."
"I rate the support an eight out of ten since it is good."
"The most valuable feature is reliability."
"The initial setup of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN can be done quickly, and everything functions smoothly."
"It’s very stable and reliable."
"What I like most about Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is seamless integration from an endpoint perspective. Another valuable feature of the product is that it supports certificate-based authentication."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is that it is easy to configure. Additionally, with the same configuration with Cisco and Ruckus, we can receive 55 to 60 percent more out of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN."
"I rate the stability an eight out of ten."
"We can deploy a tunnel-based VLAN and SSID, for something that happens at the last minute, in a matter of minutes, because of the interaction between the FortiGate, the FortiSwitches, and the FortiAPs."
"The setup was easy."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiWLM is the single management pane and integrated controller inside the firewall."
"For me, the ease of setup and the rugged nature in harsh environments are most valuable. So, durability and ease of use have been its best features."
"Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable features of this solution are its speed, reliability, and integration with the firewall."
"With Fortinet, there is a feature called Network-In-Control. It's the AP controller that decides what the clients are going to connect to... Even though your phone sees, let's say, two APs, since the wireless controller has visibility into and access across all the APs, it knows the best AP for the client to connect to. This way, the controller makes sure that none of the APs is over-crowded, and the spectrum is used properly."
"I use Fortinet FortiWLM for wireless communication and the internet."
 

Cons

"Support is a little expensive. It's also a little tricky to configure Aruba sometimes. For example, if we want to whitelist a device, it works in unexpected ways. I want to allow this device to connect somewhere, and it lets it connect to any device in the network. Let's say I want to allow my phone to connect to the network printer, but if I add my phone to the white list, I automatically allow my phone to connect to any other devices, and it's not secure."
"The solution has bugs. It really has bugs, and you have to wait until it happens, then you realize it."
"Aruba's technical support has room for improvement."
"This product needs more flecibility with switching technologies."
"The issue is that we are unable to update it because we lack the necessary permissions. We set up the website, but we don't have permission to download the software."
"The price for the license could be a bit improved since it is the only area with an issue."
"The product should improve Aruba Central."
"The product offers a feature that pinpoints where the devices are to help users find them easily if they want to know where a laptop or tablet is, but it is a feature that needs improvements due to some shortcomings."
"In the next release, they could improve by adding a controller-less server, or architecture that is provided in other solutions, such as Aruba. This would be a great benefit for customers."
"The roaming of Fortinet FortiWLM could improve when comparing it to other solutions. We are missing some of the functionality in the controller. Additionally, they should offer more logs instead of using FortiAnalyzer because all the users will not be using the same thing."
"I have used Cisco previously and I don't see any specific differences from Fortinet FortiWLM or other vendors."
"In terms of improvements, the price is higher than I would like. A reduction in pricing would be beneficial."
"They need to do more with their marketing. That's what's wrong with them. Nobody knows they do all this other stuff. I love the product. For an enterprise-level system, you never have to explain why you're recommending Fortinet, whereas you might have to do that if you want to use the Ubiquiti Professional or the new Netgear line, but you don't have to explain Fortinet. It has been remarkable to work with."
"The guest management features need to be improved by adding automation."
"There are currently issues with Fortinet's software quality. We have concerns regarding the frequent updates needed because of short software cycles."
"The pricing for the solution is expensive and can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"That's really subject to the type of environment you're deploying. If you're doing a full controller model with 200 APs, the initial deployment could be 150 grand. Maintaining that or maintaining support for that per year could be something like 10 to 15 grand per year. In the cloud sense, the cloud is by the number of APs. So, everything is readily available."
"Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is cheaper than Cisco, and the web experience is great."
"The price of this solution is approximately 1,000,000 ESP ($6,750 USD)."
"Aruba Wireless comes with the controller."
"On a scale f one to ten, where one point is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing as eight. Cloud licenses are quite expensive."
"I rate the product's price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is the lowest ,and ten is the highest."
"The price of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN depends on how you buy it. From a pricing perspective, if you choose to buy Aruba Networks Wireless WAN as an MRC, it's dependent upon the radio and the solution that you choose what your MRC is. If you choose to buy it outright, they're competitive with their competitors, and they're probably four percent or five percent lower than their largest competitor."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"Support contracts typically cost approximately $100.00 per year."
"The product is highly expensive. I rate the pricing a ten."
"For indoor access points, there is a one-time cost, upfront, whereas outdoor access points have an annual fee."
"Licensing costs are reasonable. There are so many different types of licenses with Fortinet, but the licensing and the 24/7/365 support are so reasonable that I automatically include it with every transaction. I never line item it without it. There are no additional costs."
"Licensing has become easier. There is no longer a per-AP license needed on the controller."
"Fortinet would do something with their pricing model to attract smaller business users and eliminate the mandatory service contracts."
"The solution is expensive. I give the solution a one out of ten for the price."
"The solution is fairly priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Do you recommend Aruba Network Wireless WAN?
I recommend Aruba Networks Wireless WAN. I have been using Aruba for approximately a decade. It has a great centralized management system, which means we don’t need wireless LAN controllers at ever...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Networks Wireless WAN?
I am not paying anything more apart from the licensing. The only thing I am paying for is the implementation cost.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWLM?
While the pricing of Fortinet FortiWLM is a bit high, it remains effective. However, the cost could be better if reduced.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWLM?
In terms of improvements, the price is higher than I would like. A reduction in pricing would be beneficial.
 

Also Known As

No data available
FortiWLM, FortiAP, Fortinet AP/OAP, Meru Wireless LAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Pittsburgh Golf Club, Rio Rancho Public Schools, Amwaj Rotana - Jumeirah Beach Residence - Dubai, Trevecca Nazarene University
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Ubiquiti Networks, Ruckus, Cambium Networks and others in Wireless WAN. Updated: March 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.