Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Cisco are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.5, while Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 19.7% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to Cisco’s 13.0% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 8, 2024

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and Aruba Wireless compete in the wireless network solutions category. Cisco Meraki seems to have the upper hand in deployment and management simplicity, particularly benefiting organizations with small IT teams.

Features: Cisco Meraki offers a centralized and cloud-based management system, an intuitive dashboard, and seamless device integration. Its Layer 7 security protections provide robust performance. Aruba Wireless is renowned for its security features, integration capabilities, and ability to manage extensive wireless protections, which are especially beneficial for high-demand environments.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Meraki users wish for more enterprise-level features, easier licensing, and smoother integrations with non-Meraki products. Aruba users desire a more user-friendly interface, affordable pricing, and simplified configuration processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Meraki is favored for its streamlined cloud deployment and positive customer support, despite variable response times. Aruba's support is comprehensive but often complex to deploy in hybrid settings, necessitating significant expertise, with requests for improved technical support efficiency.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Meraki features high initial costs with a premium subscription model, justified by performance and manageability. Aruba Wireless presents a competitive pricing model with perpetual licenses, beneficial for cost-effective solutions, providing a sound return on investment through enhanced network security.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Juniper Mist Wireless Acces...

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points is 5.7%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 19.7%, down from 23.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 13.0%, up from 12.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

Gyan Sharma

Assistant Programmer at Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha

Offers good performance, good solution and smooth implementation

I do have a suggestion: it would be helpful to have even stronger security features to help protect against interference from other nearby access points that aren't part of our network. If there are access points from other brands installed nearby; they can cause interference and disrupt the range of our Mist access points. So, the security features could be stronger, especially in terms of authentication. The connectivity is excellent, but security needs improvement. In future releases, integrating more AI features would be beneficial. If Mist had stronger AI features, it could provide better security against network threats and cyberattacks. So, this solution still needs to improve its AI capabilities. It would be great if the AI could improve the range of the access points, and auto-protect functionality should be there to avoid interference by other nearby access points and enhance threat detection. In the future, I'd like to see stronger threat detection features integrated with Mist, as well as better detection of nearby access points that might cause interference.

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Rahul Bogala

General Manager - Network and Infrastructure Security Business Unit at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

We've gone two years without downtime

We previously used Extreme Aerohive then we started using Cisco Meraki for some of our locations. We had Meraki at one or two of our offices, but we decided it was too costly, so we shifted to Aruba. We've also used Ruckus Wireless, which is an 802.1X solution. Ruckus lacked a security feature that is available in Aruba. We didn't want to compromise on security with Ruckus even though the range is really good. It can cover larger areas and a greater number of devices. However, we are an organization that places a high premium on security, so that is why we switched to Aruba. I think Meraki and Aruba can go hand in hand, but Meraki is expensive, and the OpEx is costly. You need to renew the licenses every year, so it's a lot of overhead. Meraki is a fantastic solution apart from that.

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JoseAlmonte

Network Engineer at TechProc

Offers good mobility, stability and scalability

The main company is a hotel resort with around 120 rooms. They have approximately 90 devices deployed throughout the complex, and they haven't had any issues with the streamlined version or established information Cisco offers a service where they provide internet access to clients. This allows…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"For the most part, it does what it's supposed to do, and I like it. It's a great product."

"The most valuable feature of Juniper Mist is the Virtual Network Assistant, powered by artificial intelligence."

"The simplicity is great."

"It's well-detailed in terms of troubleshooting logs."

"The AI capabilities of Mist Wireless are superior to other OEMs."

"You can easily monitor, manage, and cover all your IT equipment."

"Overall, we've been very pleased with the performance."

"The artificial intelligence feature is very good."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points pros

"Scalability has been one of the easiest aspects of the Aruba Instant product line. As long as the models are compatible, you can simply connect it to your network and it will learn the settings from the other APs on the network and join the AP network."

"AirWave is a valuable feature."

"Role assignment: Each user is assigned a different role based on the radius attributes returned by ClearPass."

"The most valuable feature of Aruba Wireless is application monitoring."

"Aruba is an industry leader. The hardware is on par, and its performance is also on par with anybody else. The Aruba brand really only focuses on wireless, so they're not competing their R&D for switching data center products and cloud security. They're really focused on that and their underlying key pieces. They provide a role-based authentication that is native to the controller. A lot of other systems don't do that. They won't provide you the ability to basically have everybody join the network, regardless of whether or not they share the same network space, the SSID, or the wireless LAN. You can segment it down to a specific user role based on any kind of attributes that you like. That's their differentiator. If you need per user, per device, or per port segmentation, you can get that with Aruba. There isn't another vendor who does it."

"The web-based GUI is much simpler to use than similar products by Cisco."

"Ability for a student or teacher to be able to roam freely from classroom to classroom, no matter the floor, without dropping a signal."

"I think Aruba Wireless' Wi-Fi 6 capability is something that really makes a difference. We used to have bottlenecks. Each user has one laptop on one mobile device, so that equals 40 devices connecting to one AP. The Wi-Fi 5 series couldn't handle the traffic during peak hours, and when I say "peak hours," I mean Monday at 11 a.m. We used to see a lot of packet drops, but we haven't seen that problem at all since we moved to Wi-Fi 6."

More Aruba Wireless pros

"The solution ensures seamless connectivity as users move within the office. Six installed Meraki APs provide excellent coverage for around three hundred users, offering reliable speeds. Additionally, the system allows guests and users with priority devices to connect using their SAP ID. The traffic is managed through D and G controllers to meet the specified requirements for continuous connection and speed."

"The solution provides good coverage and identity management. Additionally, the user interface is straightforward."

"It enables quick deployment within all branches for the users."

"This product offers cloud-based configuration, so you can set it up from anywhere."

"The primary value lies in the ease of configuration; these products seamlessly integrate, and work well together."

"Its management is most valuable. It is the major feature of Meraki."

"I have found it to be stable."

"It is cloud-based. You can manage it remotely from anywhere in the world, and you don't have to be on-site, which is a very big advantage."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

Cons

"If you want to do more specific stuff, it's a bit limited."

"Improvement is needed in the user-friendliness of Juniper Mist, particularly in enhancing the interaction with AI features."

"The solution is expensive."

"It would be helpful to have even stronger security features to help protect against interference from other nearby access points that aren't part of our network."

"Supporting multiple protocols would be beneficial."

"I need a bit more time with it before criticizing the features."

"The pricing is very high in the Indian market."

"Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) could improve if the MIST platform had a built-in master key. This would be an advantage."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points cons

"Not cost-effective."

"I would like to see a faster web interface in the controller and more troubleshooting tools, including real-time troubleshooting tools."

"There were some settings which were confusing and unlabeled when trying to use the online help with the newer firmware."

"There is a lot of information for users about the product, but it needs to be better organized so that solutions are easier to find."

"There are some issues we occasionally have. However, they are easily remedied."

"The urgent areas of improvement would be customer support, better tuned default settings, and documentation."

"Their documentation needs to be improved. Aruba's documentation is poor."

"The vendor should include multiple additional protocols"

More Aruba Wireless cons

"In the next release, I would like to see a third-party high tech center to connect multiple users to a particular network."

"The wireless infrastructure scalability has room for improvement."

"The cost of the devices and the solution itself could be more competitive."

"They're great. If there's anything that they need to change, it is just simplifying the site to which you go to make changes on the admin side."

"The solution cannot be looked upon for one year or short term because you will pay back all the discounts they offer the next time you pay for renewal."

"An area for improvement would be that Meraki doesn't work well in a warehouse environment. The device is too sensitive to other wireless devices, which provokes noise and can require a reboot to erase this."

"It is not a very stable solution."

"The initial setup was simple. However, the full deployment could be easier."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is something Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) can work on. The pricing is very high compared to the competition."

"The pricing is too high."

"Juniper Wireless AP's price is a little more expensive than other solutions, but you get what you pay for."

"I rate the product price as a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is inexpensive, and ten is expensive. It is a reasonably priced tool."

"The solution is expensive."

"I rate the pricing an eight out of ten."

"We pay maybe 1000 SEK per year, per access point."

"I rate Juniper Mist's pricing a ten out of ten since it is expensive."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points pricing and cost advice

"When you look at the price it is a higher price than Cisco."

"In terms of pricing, the pricing for Aruba Wireless is not bad for large-sized companies, but for medium-sized companies, it's on the higher end, but because Aruba has a good company image, medium-sized companies still go with Aruba Wireless."

"It comes with a relatively higher price tag, but it's essential to assess the value it brings to the market because it actively competes with other players in the industry and dedicates efforts to offer competitive devices."

"I don't know the exact costs associated with Aruba Wireless, but I have a rough idea, and it's not too cheap, though it's less costly than Cisco Wireless. Pricing for Aruba Wireless is moderate. It's a three out of five."

"Pricing is competitive. Licensing is needed to maintain access to the latest firmware, which wasn't made clear originally when we started with Arbua (or things changed, I'm not sure which). I would just say, make sure you budget for it."

"I think it would be better if they lowered the price."

"Pricing support has always been cost-effective."

"Besides paying for the APs, you need to pay a license each year for their use. Therefore, watch out for that and do the best you can to keep costs down."

More Aruba Wireless pricing and cost advice

"The price of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN could be improved, it is too expensive. We pay for the solution on an annual basis."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."

"Meraki is a very good solution, but the price is quite high for small markets."

"We are on a SmartNet contract. All of our Cisco products are licensed under one contract. I do not think there are any additional costs."

"The price is on the high side when compared to Aruba."

"The product is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."

"The cost of both the hardware and licensing is high, and it is more than what I would prefer to spend currently."

"Its price is okay for an enterprise. Its licensing is the most painful. If you hear anything bad about Cisco, it's about that. We're supposed to be one of the resellers but had to come back down to become a user. It's really bizarre."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user212721

President at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Mar 24, 2015

Cisco vs. Aruba Wireless Solutions

Cisco or Aruba Networks? If you are considering wireless access solutions, this is a common question that you are probably asking. You probably have sales people knocking at your door. How do you make sense of all the stories that you are presented with. If you have done any research, you are…

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Answers from the Community

Chi Kieu

Works at ISP

Aug 17, 2021

How different are the pricing and costs of Aruba Wireless and Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Pricing is different based on region; it depends on Aruba's and Cisco's strategy in the region. You must contact the respective partners to get an accurate price for comparison. That being said, in MENA where I live, as of a few months ago (21H1), Aruba pricing was cheaper than Cisco.

See 2 answers

Aws Al-Dabbagh

IT Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

Aug 17, 2021

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Johnrex Fernandez

CEO at JR Enterprise Solutions LLC

Aug 17, 2021

Aruba licensing for the AP's is much cheaper compared to Meraki. You can get a 1/3/5-year cloud license per AP.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

18%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Government

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series)?

The solution is very secure.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series)?

Juniper Mist is cheaper than Meraki, placing it in the middle of the pack.

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What needs improvement with Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series)?

Supporting multiple protocols would be beneficial.

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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 h...

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Aruba Wireless or Ruckus Wireless?

At my organization, we researched Ruckus Wireless among other solutions but ultimately chose Aruba wireless. What di...

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How does Cisco Wireless compare with Aruba Wireless?

On the most basic level, Cisco Wireless can offer a rather straightforward initial setup. In the span of about three ...

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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...

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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...

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Which is better - Ubiquiti Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Ubiquiti Wireless offers a wide range of WLAN products. We tested their devices before ultimately choosing Cisco Mera...

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Comparisons

Ruckus Wireless vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 4% of the time

Fortinet FortiAP vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 4% of the time

Ubiquiti WLAN vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 4% of the time

ExtremeWireless vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 2% of the time

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Competitors

Cisco Wireless vs Aruba Wireless

Compared 21% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Aruba Wireless

Compared 18% of the time

Ubiquiti WLAN vs Aruba Wireless

Compared 5% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs Aruba Wireless

Compared 4% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Aruba Wireless

Compared 4% of the time

More Aruba Wireless Competitors

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 10% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 5% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

December 2024

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points report

Download Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points product report

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Wireless

December 2024

Download Aruba Wireless product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

December 2024

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Also Known As

Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series), Mist Access Points

Aruba WLAN, HP WLAN, HP Wireless, Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Point

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN

Learn More

Juniper

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Video not available

Cisco

Overview

Juniper Wireless Access Points work in conjunction with Juniper Mist Cloud Services and Mist AI to deliver premier wireless access capabilities. The Juniper Mist Edge extends microservices to the campus to bring agility and scale while enabling new applications at the edge.

Aruba Wireless is a secure, high-performance, multi-user wireless LAN supporting Wi-Fi 6. As workplaces and user expectations change, users can now maintain hybrid workplaces and IoT without compromising performance, reliability, or security. Aruba Wireless delivers better performance and capacity and greater AIOps visibility throughout all devices and users. In addition, through built-in network intelligence, network operations are made simpler while keeping everything secure through user and guest encryption.

Aruba Wireless, offered through Aruba Networks, is helping achieve digital transformation and IoT with seamless connectivity through multiple Wi-Fi access points. For the user’s convenience, Aruba Wireless provides indoor, outdoor, and remote access points to help boost faster and safer connectivity.

Choosing Aruba Wireless can help improve your organization’s user experience with wireless LAN in many ways, including:

Transforming hybrid workplaces: Employees can move seamlessly between home and office, with reliable internet and without compromising security.
Connect and protect IoT: With built-in AP support for BLE, Zigbee, and USB-port extensions, users can extend visibility, control, and connectivity to IoT devices and applications.
Expand the 5G experience to the enterprise network: Empower users to experience 5G with Wi-Fi 6 by automatically enabling cellular devices to join Aruba Wireless LAN securely and reliably.

Aruba Gateways and Controllers

Small organizations as well as large enterprises require excellent performance and security for cloud, mobility, and digital transformation. Therefore, in addition to the access points, Aruba Wireless also offers a variety of gateways and controllers, including:

9000 Series: With SD-WAN capabilities, it’s excellent for small campus networks looking for enhanced Wi-Fi scalability and security.
7200 Series: Perfect for campus WLAN scalability or branch SD-WAN and VPN Concentrator capabilities, the 7200 Series optimizes Wi-Fi performance to guarantee smooth roaming.
7000 Series: Acting as a controller or gateway to provide WAN intelligence, the 7000 Series is a policy-based router and an excellent solution for small to mid-sized campuses.
Mobility Controller Virtual Appliance: Maximizes Wi-Fi and network services in an economical, virtualized environment.
SD-WAN Virtual Gateways: Orchestrate virtual gateways in public cloud infrastructure, like Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Mobility Conductor Hardware Appliance: While enhancing the scalability and reliability for large campus WLANs, Aruba Mobility Conductors bring the full capability of ArubaOS.
Mobility Conductor Virtual Appliance: To scale large campus deployments, Aruba Mobility Conductors simplify the deployment and management of up to 1,000 Mobility Controllers.
ArubaOS Network Operating System: Great for remote workers in mid-sized and large companies who need seamless connectivity to and security over Wi-Fi.

Reviews from Real Users

Aruba Networks is aiding organizations in transforming to a hybrid work environment with Aruba Wireless. Users especially love its ability to work with many devices and its ability to group and manage access points.

A senior IT solutions architect at a manufacturing company says, "The most valuable feature is the fact that it can work with many devices. It supports everything that we need it to."

Gary F., a network administrator at wireless at Abilene Christian, notes, "I like the way it groups and manages access points."

Cisco Meraki access points are built from the highest grade components and carefully optimized for a seamless user experience. The outcome: faster connections, greater user capacity, more coverage, and fewer support calls. The Cisco Meraki dashboard gives visibility into the network users, their devices, and their applications. Armed with rich analytics, administrators can quickly create access control and application usage policies, optimizing both the end-user experience and network security.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified School District, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities

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

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

December 2024

Free Report: Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.

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