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Aruba Wireless vs Ubiquiti WLAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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
Ubiquiti WLAN
Ranking in Wireless LAN
7th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
44
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 Ubiquiti WLAN is 5.1%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Q&A Highlights

Julia Miller - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 17, 2018
 

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.
Gabriele-Pizzigati - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing installations through one interface enhances efficiency but AI features improvement
Ubiquiti Wireless LAN is reliable and offers a good quality product. It provides one interface to manage all installations, allowing me to monitor all customers through the same web interface. The web interface in the controller allows for quick configuration of devices with just one click, which is a significant advantage.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Aruba allowed for the detailed control and management of an entire WiFi network from a single screen backed by a support team with local SEs who work with business partners to ensure the product's success.​"
"The initial setup is straightforward. Configure one IAP and all the rest self-configure to that one.​"
"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."
"We like the centralized configuration and monitoring."
"I do not need to buy a controller for the access point since the Aruba Access Point has a built-in virtual controller."
"The most valuable features of Aruba Wireless are the seamless feature and the concurrent user."
"What I like most about Aruba Wireless is its stability, functionality, and performance."
"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 product’s most valuable feature is the workflow-driven setup for the infrastructure component."
"Ubiquiti is affordable, as it does not require recurring licensing fees."
"Ubiquiti WLAN has been stable and is easy to install."
"Firstly, I initially purchased the device to build a VPN, and one very valuable feature for me was the ability to create a layer two VPN, which was available on the legacy ER router. It allowed me to expand a subnet to a remote site, which was essential for my setup. Additionally, I appreciated that the CLI of the router was similar to other Juniper products that I was familiar with."
"The initial setup was very straightforward."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The ease of use and simplicity of the solution is its most valuable feature. This tool is best suited for small environments."
"The most valuable feature of Ubiquiti WLAN is its stability."
 

Cons

"The speed could be better. I heard that Aruba is trying to shape the speed inside the wireless controller, but that has not been adopted yet. If they put some kind of mechanism inside the wireless controller for the speed such that, "Okay, this many users will have 20 by 20 - 20 in the upload, 20 in the download. Just this many users. And this many users will have that type of speed." I think it would be very good if they actually bring that functionality inside the wireless controller."
"The new 8400 failed at Lab, plus its integration with Aruba Central."
"MAC authentication against an external Radius server while using 802.1X. This feature will help the L2 devices to authenticate via external Radius servers."
"Aruba Wireless can improve the assigning of access points. We have times that the nearest access point is not assigned but one far away. The integration between access points could improve."
"Aruba Wireless is a good product, but it still has some issues, especially at the beginning, where there's inconsistent syncing between the cloud and the APs. Sometimes, there's also a little lag when accessing the query."
"The Return Material Authorization procedure is time-consuming and needs improvement."
"Their documentation needs to be improved. Aruba's documentation is poor."
"There is a long queue whenever we reach out to support, and we have to wait for them to answer calls. Once we get in touch with them, we have to coordinate with different teams, so our engineers struggle to understand who are the correct team members. I think support is another area where Aruba needs to improve."
"I think the main area for improvement with Ubiquiti WLAN is that they need to be far more specific in explaining the advantages of one product versus another. They have many access points - over 30. We often get questions about the right product for specific circumstances, and it's difficult to answer them clearly."
"I have never used cloud solutions. My first approach would be something related to the cloud, and backups on the cloud, and maybe an easier way to connect to it because I have an on-premises environment."
"The statistics you can get on it are a bit limited from what I have seen so far."
"Ubiquiti WLAN is not a cheap solution."
"The product must provide better warranties."
"The solution should improve stability."
"Ubiquiti WLAN would be improved with the addition of individual AP configuration, which would allow for fine-tuning of individual access points and logins."
"Ubiquiti WLAN needs to expand the models with external antennas. It needs to improve stability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"​AP signal strength and price. I know this is a competitive market, but APs should not cost so much if they do not cover a large area. ​"
"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."
"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.​"
"The price of Aruba Wireless should be cheaper."
"Customers have to pay for perpetual licenses with Aruba controller licenses, depending on the features they are looking for."
"​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 price of Aruba Wireless is reasonable."
"​Price is fairly expensive, however it is worth it. If the “master” fails, another AP can take over the role.​"
"Ubiquiti WLAN’s price is higher than other competitors."
"The solution is cheap. I rate its pricing as three out of ten."
"This product is more cost-effective than some others on the market."
"The tool's licensing costs are life-time charges."
"I would rate the solution's pricing a nine out of ten. It is high."
"When comparing the price of Ubiquiti WLAN to Aruba the price is reasonable."
"Ubiquiti WLAN is less expensive than Ruckus, but its price could be improved to make it more affordable and accessible."
"Its cost is reasonable."
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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…
 

Answers from the Community

Julia Miller - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 17, 2018
Sep 17, 2018
I'd have to say Aruba over Ubiquiti - Ubiquiti, to me, is more of a poor persons' Wi-Fi system and not really reliably suited for the serious commercial market. Here in the Bahamas we have Aruba for our local university campus and are now deploying the same for the local cable company. It is simply a night and day comparison in my opinion. Also, Aruba has many more features and is well suited f...
2 out of 18 answers
AP
Aug 29, 2018
Aruba. But Cisco Meraki is better. El mié., 29 de ago. de 2018 09:32, Nick Regan from IT Central Station < site-admin@itcentralstation.com> escribió:
MF
Aug 29, 2018
I like both. Aruba are more expensive than Ubiquiti. And support for Aruba (Paid support) would probably be better. But for the price I lean towards Ubiquiti products. Mike Fulton | IT Consultant P: (317) 972-7094 Ext. 25628 | C: (317) 450-5010 9702 East 30th Street | Indianapolis, IN 46229 mfulton@19thcapital.com | www.qualityco.com [cid:image002.png@01D41828.764419C0] DOING BUSINESS AS QUALITY COMPANIES STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY: The information in this message is privileged and confidential and is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that you are prohibited from disseminating distributing or copying the information contained in this message. If you have received this message in error please notify the sender immediately and destroy all copies of the original message.
 

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%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
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...
Is Ubiquiti Wireless better than Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ubiquiti Wireless is extremely easy to set up and is an excellent option for small businesses, offering enterprise features for a one-time fee and no ongoing licensing fees. Ubiquiti Wireless is ve...
Which is better - Ubiquiti WLAN or Aruba Instant?
We researched Ubiquiti and Aruba when looking for a WLAN solution. Ubiquiti offers good WLAN access both indoors and outdoors. It provides an enterprise-level WIFI while remaining cost-effective. U...
What do you like most about Ubiquiti WLAN?
Anyone can buy the product off the shelf and configure it.
 

Also Known As

Aruba WLAN, HP WLAN, HP Wireless, Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Point
No data 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
NASCAR Grand-AM, Maritime Parc, Outdoor Music Festival, One Republic Tour, British Armed Forces, Arcadia School District, Bartlett School District, Universidad del Azuay, Estelar Hotels, Intercontinental Bali, Moscow - Enforta, Miami - Sling Broadband, Manhattan - MST, Ecuador - Aire.EC
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. Ubiquiti WLAN and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.