Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 8, 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 Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
146
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Ranking in Wireless LAN
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
118
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 19.1%, down from 23.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 13.1%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad_Faisal - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience seamless connectivity with top-notch roaming capabilities
The Aruba Wireless solution has excellent roaming capabilities, ensuring seamless connectivity. Once installed, Aruba Wireless works robustly without overheating issues. This is particularly effective compared to other products I've used, like FortiMonitor and FortiAPs, which sometimes heat up. I am very satisfied with the roaming feature, as it ensures connectivity when moving from one location to another. The product's stability, after setting it up, adds to its value.
Mageshwaran S - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables organizations to control many sites globally with a lean IT team and provides visibility into the user activities
The solution can handle only medium and small businesses. We face a bottleneck on the gateway while using the solution for large enterprises. The solution must be able to expand to larger enterprises. Currently, the MX device can support only up to 10,000 users. It would be good if it can go beyond 1 lakh users. Catalyst 9300 is coming on the Meraki Dashboard. The vendor must also bring in the 9400 and 9600 Catalyst series. It will be very helpful. We will not have any choke on the gateway. There is no active-active concept. It will be very helpful if the solution provides active-active. Now, we are doing an active-passive setup, which is a warm spare. If it is an active-active setup, the gateway bottleneck issue can be resolved. I would be able to segment the Wireless LAN IPs. It will help support 20,000 devices at a go. Meraki does not have a single dashboard. I need to port an on-premise controller. There is a bottleneck while scaling the product. I need to consider a lot of things.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have found the most valuable features are the new Wi-Fi six technology and it also integrates with triple-A solutions. It has good bandwidth and virtual control."
"Its manageability of APs is the most valuable feature: ease of adding APs and the ability to configure the APs on the fly. Also, their support engineers are great to work with."
"What I like most about Aruba Wireless is its stability, functionality, and performance."
"The Aruba Wireless solution has excellent roaming capabilities, ensuring seamless connectivity."
"The Airwave is the best feature for a single management point for all APs in the environment."
"ClearPass is a unique product that contains multiple solutions like BYOD, Guest, NAC, AAA, UEBA, etc. There is also quick support from Aruba TAC."
"Role assignment: Each user is assigned a different role based on the radius attributes returned by ClearPass."
"Enterprise wireless LAN solution with good visibility and amazing scalability. Aruba Wireless also offers good technical support."
"Its flexibility, ease of management via the portal, and the variety of access points are the most valuable features."
"The tool's most valuable feature is report generation. Its dashboard helps me a lot with user analytics."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is that it is fast and does the job."
"It enables quick deployment within all branches for the users."
"Cloud managed wireless LAN product that's stable and scalable. It's an easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot solution."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...The solution's initial setup process was straightforward."
"The visibility of the site is most useful."
"The captive portal feature is my favorite. It allows us to keep track of how many people are entering our client's businesses."
 

Cons

"I had some problems with Wi-Fi coverage in the workshop, which required purchasing more devices."
"The Aruba Central cloud portal needs a lot of work. It is complicated to navigate."
"Sometimes the configuration is difficult."
"The solution's documentation could be better organized in an information portal."
"They could work on energy consumption as this equipment needs a lot of energy."
"The logging is hard to read when troubleshooting issues.​"
"The console is difficult to use. The firewall settings could be improved."
"I believe that Aruba's support could be improved."
"It would be better if they enable full integration with Cisco's cloud-based network in the next release."
"The integration options with third-party applications need enhancement."
"Integration with the corporate LAN where Catalyst products are installed is a major challenge."
"The solution's pricing could be improved."
"The way Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN groups certain things, as far as the devices for either monitoring and or configuring them should be done better. They should be grouped a little bit differently because if I want to configure something, a different setting on an SSID, I have to go to their specific area where I would have thought it should be clumped as a dropdown menu in another area."
"There should be better Spanish-language technical support."
"Overall the solution needs to have more time to mature."
"The licensing isn't very customer-centric. They may have improved it, but previously, if you forgot to pay on a certain day, your service would be shut off."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licencing can be surprising and needs improvement. Look into all features, what you need versus what you want, and know that nothing comes without some kind of license."
"The price of Aruba Wireless has a more competitive price than other solutions."
"Aruba Wireless is very attractive cost-wise."
"The balance between quality and price is there, but the cost is still high."
"Partner had been using Cisco. They switched to Aruba, because of price and functionality, also with an option for adding a SW, like AirWave, Meridian, ClearPass, and Central."
"The price is reasonable."
"When you look at the price it is a higher price than Cisco."
"The price of Aruba Wireless is higher than other products, but you'll get stability, performance, and functionality out of it. On a scale of one to five, I'm rating the price of Aruba Wireless a three."
"At this price point, I would not mind seeing a four-way channel, instead of a 3x3 or a 4x4, like they do in the Cisco Aironet system with their other brand. For the same price point in this other Cisco brand, it is a lot cheaper, and you can get a slightly better throughput than you can with these."
"My client has made comments on the price, indicating it is expensive, however you do receive a lot for the money that you did spend on the solution. The price of the annual renewal of the licensing of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is a little high. We wish the price would drop."
"The platform is expensive."
"It could be more affordable than other solutions."
"The solution could improve the licensing structure and the price is expensive."
"The price is on the high side when compared to Aruba."
"The pricing is on the higher side."
"The price is good, but it could be improved."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Answers from the Community

CK
Aug 17, 2021
Aug 17, 2021
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
AA
Aug 17, 2021
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.
JF
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.  
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
6%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...
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...
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 hours, the basic framework can be set up. Step-by-step instructions are availabl...
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 be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...
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...
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 Meraki. Ubiquiti devices have good outdoor performance and the connection is very st...
 

Also Known As

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

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.