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Aruba Wireless vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi 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
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi
Ranking in Wireless LAN
24th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 18.3%, down from 23.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi is 0.4%, up from 0.4% 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.
WarrenWilliams - PeerSpot reviewer
A solution that offers excellent support and makes it easy to manage networks
To utilize the solution properly, you need some training and guidance on that. Getting it working is easy, but if you're going to use it with feature sets that make WatchGuard worthwhile to use, it's probably not the easiest to set up. I'd rate the initial setup a seven out of ten. The time taken to deploy the solution depends on the project scope you're doing. Do you need ten WiFi access points or one? You could deploy the solution in an hour. We need one person to deploy the solution. But the number of people required for deployment depends on where the access points are deployed. Like, if it's the ceiling or whatever. The way we do it, we usually have an on-site technician who sets up the backend. We usually have two people when deploying the solution, but you can do it with one person. We have a team that manages the solution. But if you have ten people on a site to manage the solution, 15 minutes daily is enough.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It offers an easy initial setup."
"I like the way it groups and manages access points."
"The access points support a high number of connected clients."
"What I like most about Aruba Wireless is its stability, functionality, and performance."
"I would rate their scalability as ten out of ten."
"Aruba Wireless has its own protocols in the controller that are managed by the firewall of our company."
"Aruba Wireless is stable."
"The most valuable feature is the fact that it can work with many devices. It supports everything that we need it to."
"The Wi-Fi security features of this solution have been great for our customers who need to strictly control access to their network."
"Cloud analytics that provide all its attributes."
"The configuration part of WatchGuard is very flexible."
"They're very easy to set up and get running."
"It makes it easy to obtain all information about the client experience."
"The solution has been stable."
"We like that WatchGuard works and integrates directly with the firewalls we use."
 

Cons

"We have an issue with the integration of Aruba Wireless with our LDAP servers."
"I wish the APs had the ability to enter in notes about a specific AP."
"The console is difficult to use. The firewall settings could be improved."
"The Aruba Central cloud portal needs a lot of work. It is complicated to navigate."
"There has been a recent decrease in the level of support."
"What I would like to have with these kinds of devices is the most enhanced security. For example, if I could apply security from wireless devices, that would be great. I would also like more enhanced reports on user adoption, who is getting what bandwidth."
"What needs improvement in Aruba Wireless is its access point, in particular, it should have more flexibility. Aruba Wireless has Campus AP, Instant AP, and Unified AP, but it would be better if the product has a generic access point that you can manage over the cloud, on-premise, etc. Another area for improvement in Aruba Wireless is scalability. In terms of what additional features I'd like to see in the product, I'm unsure if it's already on the roadmap, but if possible, it would be good to have an SD-WAN functionality on the AP in Aruba Wireless."
"They need to work on reducing prices as they are currently on the higher side."
"Inability to import a user with one click."
"I don't think they're available at the best price."
"One of the things is if you buy it with a certain subscription, you can't easily change the subscription level."
"If a client device had issues with authentication due to out of date browser or similar difficulties, it would be nice to have the ability to migrate the client onto the portal via one click."
"The price of this solution needs to reviewed, as it is currently high enough to deter customers from trying it."
"The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention."
"The solution can be scaled but it has limitations from my experience."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's not expensive. That is the reason we switched to Aruba."
"Aruba is probably cheaper than Cisco, and yet you get all the things that you want."
"The solution's cost is affordable."
"If you compare it to other solutions then it's reasonably priced."
"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 would rate the pricing a five out of ten"
"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.​"
"A recent change is that ClearPass licensing is superb. It counts user-based instead of device-based, for BYOD on-boarding."
"The solution is priced high compared to competitors. However, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."
"WatchGuard is on the upper scale for pricing."
"Your licensing and cost, as would be required for many other solutions, being considered for eighty to two hundred and eighty different physical locations, is just about the same amount per access point."
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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%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Retailer
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
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 WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We like that WatchGuard works and integrates directly with the firewalls we use.
What needs improvement with WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
One of the things is if you buy it with a certain subscription, you can't easily change the subscription level. For example, if you bought it with the Total Secure package, it's not easy to downgra...
 

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
Portsmouth Grammar School, HILOTEC
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
841,004 professionals have used our research since 2012.