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Aruba Wireless vs Juniper WLC Series 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 Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
147
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper WLC Series
Ranking in Wireless LAN
18th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 17.7%, down from 23.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper WLC Series is 0.8%, down from 1.0% 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.
Matilda Elwell - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers visibility and cost benefits
The tool has given us more visibility, but I'm not very technical, so I can't comment on specific features. However, the diagnostic tools for identifying system issues have greatly improved, which we appreciate. We still use Cisco ICE for authentication on the Juniper network, as we did before. We've seen cost benefits with the Juniper WLC Series, which was a key factor in our decision-making during the proof of concept. Besides cost improvements, we've also noticed better resolution of issues and faults in our help desk, thanks to the enhanced features.

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 the fact that it can work with many devices. It supports everything that we need it to."
"The Aruba Central portal is a good interface that helps us monitor the wireless devices extensively. Furthermore, the access points we use, mainly API nine zero five, are working well."
"The web interface to manage the APs is intuitive and makes managing the system easy. Firmware updates are quick and do not require much downtime."
"The most valuable features are the Instant On capabilities, including the controller."
"The technical support is 24/7 from the UA."
"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 stability of Aruba Wireless has been good."
"Aruba Wireless is stable and we plan to continue using it in the future."
"The installation process is very easy."
"Juniper WLC Series is a very high-performance device designed for indoor wireless deployment."
"It's easy to set up, and I feel it's very secure. I also prefer its reporting feature. The devices are quite good."
"It is a very stable solution."
"There weren't any scalability issues, the product did what it had to do."
"It prevents a large number of unauthorized modifications of access point devices."
"Juniper Wireless is reasonable, with a bit of complexity compared to Alibaba and SQL."
"The installation process is nice and easy."
 

Cons

"A lot of the access point commands are in the command line interface, versus being in the GUI."
"Currently, the stability of the code is the basic underlying problem for us. They had an 8.6 release that came out two weeks ago, but we had to migrate twice because the code wasn't stable. We can't get things to work the same way. Version 8 was a big change for them. They made a change so that it is forced to be a managed hierarchical system. It means that you make changes at the top, and it pushes them downstream. There are a lot of problems with the 8.6 version code. I ran into four bugs in one week and was informed that we should just move onto the next one because all of those fixes have taken place. The feedback loop for fixes is not always really relayed back to you. I don't have a lot of strong things to say about version 8.6. When we had version 6, the controller was pretty much rock solid. We had no problems. We made a heavy investment to migrate a lot of stuff to take advantage of things like WPA3, Wi-Fi 6, and all that kind of stuff, and we haven't been able to turn those features on because we are not confident that they are going to work just yet. So, right now, we're still very much stumbling through the version 8.6 code and just trying to make sure that it is safe before we turn on some of those features. In terms of the marketplace, they are one of the top three leaders. In some respects, one of the things that they focus on is wireless. Therefore, there are some things that should be beyond reproach, as far as I'm concerned. In terms of the stability of the code, there are always going to be bugs, but the core stability of the code needs to be there. When it is not stable, that's a real problem for me because you lose a lot of confidence in the products."
"The network times for protocol synchronization can be improved."
"Every month Aruba has new firmware. I don't know if it's good or bad but it's not good in terms of production. We can't upgrade our firmware every month, especially an enterprise company, because if we upgrade our firmware based on the latest firmware that Aruba has, that firmware is not stable. They're not 100 percent sure about it."
"I believe more security options are needed."
"The solution is now taking eight to 12 months to deliver the product."
"The access points could be cheaper. While the technical specifications are satisfactory, the access points are expensive."
"There needs to be better visibility on the day-to-day monitoring."
"The biggest issue was that Juniper stopped developing, so we had to look for another solution."
"There could be a high level of security."
"We would prefer it if the solution could be less expensive."
"The network coverage of Juniper WLC Series and Cisco is different. We need to add additional access points."
"The solution could offer more integration with other products."
"In my region, access to the product is very difficult and presents a logistical nightmare."
"Juniper WLC Series has certain shortcomings in traffic monitoring."
"Juniper lacks a network access control agent similar to solutions like Alubakya Path and Cisco ISE."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco is more expensive than Aruba or Juniper."
"When you look at the price it is a higher price than Cisco."
"The price of Aruba Wireless is expensive."
"​We will be buying the ClearPass solution, which will be pricey. However, in the trial version, it has even more tools to manage a busy network.​"
"The balance between quality and price is there, but the cost is still high."
"Aruba Wireless is much cheaper than our previous solution by Cisco. It is a significant saving, measured in thousands of dollars per year."
"The support pricing for Juniper Mist is higher than Aruba."
"My main concern about this product is the price. The cost is causing me to look at other vendors and competing products."
"Juniper WLC Series is a bit pricey but worth its cost."
"The solution's pricing is reasonable."
"There is a certain amount that needs to be paid towards the licensing charges associated with the product, but though I am not sure, I feel the licenses that we have in our company are for three years."
"The product is relatively affordable for enterprise companies."
"The licensing cost is quite high, but considering it's an enterprise solution, the complexity justifies the price."
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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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Retailer
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

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...
What do you like most about Juniper WLC Series?
Juniper WLC Series is a very high-performance device designed for indoor wireless deployment.
What needs improvement with Juniper WLC Series?
Juniper lacks a network access control agent similar to solutions like Alubakya Path and Cisco ISE. There should be a network access control engine. Some customers find it challenging as they do no...
What is your primary use case for Juniper WLC Series?
I work with Juniper service provider solutions. I have a service provider customer and some enterprise customers in retail.
 

Also Known As

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

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
Apollo Hotel Papendrecht, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Bajaj Capital, Baloise Insurance, BAS Group, Borealis, Danish Crown, Deloitte Belgium, Jan Yperman Hospital, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, MercaSID, S.A., NHTV Breda University, Parklands College and Christopher Robin Pre-Primary, San Antonio Community Hospital, Sandia National Laboratories, Springfield Public Schools (SPS), St. Catherine University, TalkTalk, The Education Village, University of Copenhagen, University of the Highlands and Islands, University of the West of Scotland (UWS), Valdosta State University, Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), zulily
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. Juniper WLC Series and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
846,549 professionals have used our research since 2012.