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Aruba Networks Wireless WAN vs Fortinet FortiWLM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Networks Wireless WAN
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Wireless WAN (5th)
Fortinet FortiWLM
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (15th)
 

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 2.4%, up 1.9% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiWLM, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless LAN, holds 2.1% mindshare, down 2.2% 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

"The most valuable feature is reliability."
"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 like the solution's ability to add multiple SSIDs on different levels such as enterprise and guest networks."
"It works well. It is reliable."
"They offer per-user tunneling to a variety of endpoints."
"The initial setup of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN can be done quickly, and everything functions smoothly."
"It's stable and reliable."
"There is a clustering feature, so the APs immediately switch back to the next available controller. The users will not notice any impact and will feel connected to the network. They will not notice any disconnection."
"Having the single pane of glass, by using the Fortinet Security Fabric, allows us to tighten security, and more easily and quickly create additional VLANs to help protect data. Rules in the firewall mean we can protect data and systems so that, should anything go wrong, any security issue is held to an individual device."
"Seamless roaming by leveraging Virtual Cell is a major advantage which reduces roam times and issues related to roaming. Code stability has been excellent and the hardware quality is second to none."
"The setup was easy."
"We're using SD-WAN at all of our locations now, which helps increase and aggregate and lower response time and improve application performance."
"Although there are a few steps, the initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"The product is a stable solution."
"The most valuable features of this solution are its speed, reliability, and integration with the firewall."
"Security is the feature we like most from Fortinet. In general, their security architecture is really great, because it involves everything: firewalls, wireless LANs, the user. Everything is really secure."
 

Cons

"There’s a bit of complexity in the initial setup."
"They have to work on their Aruba Central cloud platform. There are still some glitches such as not showing proper user details. When we removed the AP from the Aruba Central cloud, it showed up as being connected to Aruba Central. They need to fix these issues."
"The customization options could be improved."
"Deployment can take some time if you haven't planned well."
"What needs to improve in Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is the support because it takes quite a long time for the support team to resolve issues. Whenever a new version or update is released, my company sees many bugs and issues, so that is another area for improvement as well."
"The price for the license could be a bit improved since it is the only area with an issue."
"We do not have direct access to Aruba’s Mesh portal."
"It works. We don't look at it any deeper than that and don't find any features ar missing."
"This solution should be easier to set up in a production environment."
"When using the FortiGate as the wireless controller, you cannot have automatic user registration, which is something that they should offer."
"I have used Cisco previously and I don't see any specific differences from Fortinet FortiWLM or other vendors."
"The initial setup is complex and has room for improvement."
"The guest management features need to be improved by adding automation."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement."
"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."
"The interface could certainly do with some improvement. We have other customers with WiFi networks, and they always use Ubiquiti. With Ubiquiti, it's a much better user interface, and it is much easier to configure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is pretty cost-efficient than Cisco ISE when my company did a PO, but for a single-party tender, its pricing was on the higher side, so it depends. I rate the pricing for Aruba Networks Wireless WAN as six out of ten."
"I rate the pricing a seven or eight on a scale of one to ten, where ten is the highest and one is the cheapest."
"The price of this solution is approximately 1,000,000 ESP ($6,750 USD)."
"The solution is expensive."
"The price of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is less expensive than Ruckus and Cisco."
"It is more affordable than Cisco."
"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."
"The pricing is cheaper in comparison to similar products."
"Fortinet would do something with their pricing model to attract smaller business users and eliminate the mandatory service contracts."
"Support contracts typically cost approximately $100.00 per year."
"If a customer already is a FortiGate customer, the cost to go to the FortiAP is incredibly affordable, because you already have the controller."
"The product is highly expensive. I rate the pricing a ten."
"There is a perpetual license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."
"To save yourself from increased setup and maintenance costs, I highly recommend undertaking a proper site survey from the beginning."
"For indoor access points, there is a one-time cost, upfront, whereas outdoor access points have an annual fee."
"The solution is expensive. I give the solution a one out of ten for the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Media Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
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...
 

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: November 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.