Fortinet FortiWLM vs Ruckus Wireless comparison

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5,342 views|3,777 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
Fortinet Logo
4,306 views|3,896 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
Ruckus Logo
29,138 views|17,985 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiWLM and Ruckus Wireless based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Wireless LAN solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Fortinet FortiWLM vs. Ruckus Wireless Report (Updated: March 2024).
772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: Which wireless controller has maximum client connectivity and high throughput?
Answer: Cisco has maximum client connectivity and high throughput.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The solution is very secure.""In terms of reporting, in terms of all the user reports, it's very rich.""Juniper Mist offers valuable features like comprehensive network insight, granular policy control, fast device setup, strong security, and efficient SSL traffic management.""You can easily monitor, manage, and cover all your IT equipment.""The most valuable feature of Juniper Mist is the Virtual Network Assistant, powered by artificial intelligence.""The most valuable feature of the solution is Marvis, the AI-driven network management system.""The AI capabilities of Mist Wireless are superior to other OEMs.""The artificial intelligence feature is very good."

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"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiWLM is the single management pane and integrated controller inside the firewall.""Security is the feature we like most from Fortinet. In general, their security architecture is really great, because it involves everything: firewalls, wireless LANs, the user. Everything is really secure.""Having the single pane of glass, by using the Fortinet Security Fabric, allows us to tighten security, and more easily and quickly create additional VLANs to help protect data. Rules in the firewall mean we can protect data and systems so that, should anything go wrong, any security issue is held to an individual device.""The most valuable feature of the solution is the management.""We can deploy a tunnel-based VLAN and SSID, for something that happens at the last minute, in a matter of minutes, because of the interaction between the FortiGate, the FortiSwitches, and the FortiAPs.""Although there are a few steps, the initial setup is pretty straightforward.""The most valuable features are central management and the many other features available.""Seamless roaming by leveraging Virtual Cell is a major advantage which reduces roam times and issues related to roaming. Code stability has been excellent and the hardware quality is second to none."

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"I haven't heard any complaints about the WiFi equipment at all causing problems.""We used to struggle a lot doing the connectivity between the branch offices in port. Ruckus offers the flexibility to pull the connectivity and we can actually manage our workflow and application to this connectivity. It is a wonderful way of doing things fast.""The beamforming has been the most valuable aspect of the solution for our organization.""Our IT staff can quickly issue guest passes for vendors and the instructions are very straightforward, requiring very little effort to get connected.""The solution is very stable. I've worked with it at a hospital before, where we deployed it all over the hospital. It worked everywhere and continuously worked flawlessly.""The product has some very awesome patents on their radios and their antennas and antenna patterns and how their signaling works. That's why nobody can touch them. If they go head to head with anybody.""It ensured our Internet service was always up, allowing us to serve our customers 24/7.""I like the controller more informative and easier to set up."

More Ruckus Wireless Pros →

Cons
"Juniper Wireless AP can improve by continually improving its reporting and integration with other systems.""Improving third-party integration is key for Juniper Mist's next release.""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.""The solution is expensive.""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.""Enrolling into the tool is a tedious process.""There is room for improvement in terms of support and installation."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Cons →

"The pricing model can be improved to encourage use by small business and individuals and the hardware could stand to be redesigned.""The guest management features need to be improved by adding automation.""Licensing is the only area that I think they are below average. They need enterprise licensing, an all-encompassing license to cover all products for a company.""The range needs some improvement and also the stability.""This solution should be easier to set up in a production environment.""The interface could certainly do with some improvement. We have other customers with WiFi networks, and they always use Ubiquiti. With Ubiquiti, it's a much better user interface, and it is much easier to configure.""They need to do more with their marketing. That's what's wrong with them. Nobody knows they do all this other stuff. I love the product. For an enterprise-level system, you never have to explain why you're recommending Fortinet, whereas you might have to do that if you want to use the Ubiquiti Professional or the new Netgear line, but you don't have to explain Fortinet. It has been remarkable to work with.""Cost is something that could be improved, but you have to pay for what you get."

More Fortinet FortiWLM Cons →

"The solution is sensitive with reference to power fluctuations. This sensitivity should be improved. Additionally, the solution should have more security features integrated.""It is very difficult to convince the customer to choose Ruckus because of the price.""Ruckus seems to have removed the built-in help from the appliance, urging the user to log on to the support web site to obtain it. This is simply a nuisance if one wishes to look up what a particular field on the configuration page does, for example.""The cost could be slightly improved. It's not on the low end, and it's not in the high end. It's in that middle area, which can be a deciding factor between someone going with this solution versus another one.""I have not got any major problem using Ruckus, but the price and technical support could be better.""The Ruckus platform in general could be improved — it could be more user-friendly.""The solution currently lacks the integration of security services.""The initial setup could be more straightforward. It would be better if we could seamlessly integrate security tools like a firewall or IPS with Ruckus Wireless."

More Ruckus Wireless Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "We pay maybe 1000 SEK per year, per access point."
  • "Juniper Wireless AP's price is a little more expensive than other solutions, but you get what you pay for."
  • "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."
  • "The solution is expensive."
  • "I rate Juniper Mist's pricing a ten out of ten since it is expensive."
  • "I rate the pricing an eight out of ten."
  • "The pricing is fair."
  • More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Licensing has become easier. There is no longer a per-AP license needed on the controller."
  • "If a customer already is a FortiGate customer, the cost to go to the FortiAP is incredibly affordable, because you already have the controller."
  • "For indoor access points, there is a one-time cost, upfront, whereas outdoor access points have an annual fee."
  • "Fortinet would do something with their pricing model to attract smaller business users and eliminate the mandatory service contracts."
  • "There is a perpetual license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."
  • "Support contracts typically cost approximately $100.00 per year."
  • "To save yourself from increased setup and maintenance costs, I highly recommend undertaking a proper site survey from the beginning."
  • "Licensing costs are reasonable. There are so many different types of licenses with Fortinet, but the licensing and the 24/7/365 support are so reasonable that I automatically include it with every transaction. I never line item it without it. There are no additional costs."
  • More Fortinet FortiWLM Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "​The cost can be prohibitive for many as it is a high-end product in the WiFi market.​"
  • "​Pricing is very competitive for an enterprise solution. Regarding licensing, always carry the support contract on the controller (not needed on APs)​."
  • "It's definitely a good value. It's more expensive than some of the other offerings out there, but when you compare it to other enterprise-class gear, it's very well priced. And the beauty of it is, because it has better range because of their patented BeamFlex - which is the way they can send and receive and listen to signals - you can actually use fewer access points. That means that it's a cheaper overall project."
  • "The only complaint I have about Ruckus is the price, but considering other enterprise WiFi products are similarly priced, I feel Ruckus is a superior product."
  • "The cost per AP license should be worked on."
  • "We found it a little more expensive than the other competitors on the market."
  • "We also looked at Cisco and Aruba but Ruckus pricing was better."
  • ""The biggest adjustment improvement will come from a price adjustment because the price is quite high; it feels like premium pricing. I suggest shaving off 10 percent to 20 percent. That would help grow users and increase the number of clients.""
  • More Ruckus Wireless Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Suresh Sharma
    AlanTran - PeerSpot reviewerAlanTran
    Real User

    All are good selections, and this question is difficult to answer without knowing your throughput requirements, as each vendor has multiple models within there series.


    Personally I recommend looking at Arista Networks’ cognitive Wifi, where controllers are a thing of the past.

    Jim Rousseau - PeerSpot reviewerJim Rousseau
    User

    Ruckus virtual smart zone will be your best bet allowing up to 300k connected devices and 30k access points. furthermore, Ruckus has time and again proven best in speed, throughput in high density environments by independent studies. I have over a decade of working with this product and none of the other competitors can beat the layer 1 connectivity of Ruckus WiFi

    Imad Awwad - PeerSpot reviewerImad Awwad
    Real User

    Hi,

    Every one of the mentioned solutions is good but you need to check the needs which are security since the firms you are working with need protection and tracking of data. For this reason, I recommend:

    - if you have FortiGate installed then go for Fortinet Wireless since they can be integrated with the Fortigate without buying a controller and they work perfectly together and you will get the advantage of applying rules to the client himself whether mobile or computer, easily managed & monitored, more visibility over your network and incident notifications.

    If the above doesn't apply then you can go with the best one that fits your budget and security needs which for me doesn't fall on the mentioned solution but to go with ARUBA Instant Access Wireless Solution and the reasons are as such:

    - Cisco is too much expensive and you got to pay smart support with some complexity in configuration and you need to buy a controller
    - Ruckus is good but when you want to have the security you need to buy a controller with licenses and it won't give you the security needed since it is just a wireless solution
    - Huawei is not a stable company since it had many ups and downs and they can reach with you to have all the solutions nearly free so that you install their brand.

    Whereas Aruba you don't need a controller in the Instant access points and you will get the minimum security with radius integration and what is important a lifetime warranty on the access points.

    In addition, if the number of access points increased and you want more detailed management and more advanced configurations, you can buy a controller either on-premises or on-cloud with Aruba.

    The above information is based on my experience with all the solutions and their POC.

    If you need any more details and consultancy, kindly feel free to contact me.

    Regards.

    Amin Amor - PeerSpot reviewerAmin Amor
    User

    Hi Imad,
    Thanks for your input. Do you have any POC data for Cisco and Aruba?
    Thanks in advance

    OscarLage - PeerSpot reviewerOscarLage
    User

    Boa tarde
    As soluções cada solução que você indicou tem pormenores que podem impactar tanto no funcionamento quanto em caso de disaster recovery.
    Fortinet: Possui bons access points, aliado às funcionalidades de segurança do próprio UTM, porém será mais um serviço para o appliance gerenciar, e dependendo do que está rodando nele, corre-se o risco de degradar a performance da funcionalidade principal "segurança", por que tambem está gerenciando uma rede wireless, além do fato se houver alguma pane no appliance Fortinet, tanto os itens de segurança quanto a rede wireless irão ficar indisponível. Dê a Cézar o que é de Cézar, deixe a fortinet focada em segurança, que é o que ela faz de melhor.
    Ruckus: Excelentes Access points, confiáveis e com alta performance, possui no mínimo 4 opções de gerência, sendo, controlerless Unleashed, appliance virtual, appliance hardware e cloud, ambas as opções não trará prejuizo à performance da rede wireless, porque não há tunelamento de dados para elas, além de possuir várias funções de segurança inerentes à rede wireless. licenças são perpétuas.
    Cisco: Excelente access points, porém solução muito cara para aquisição e renovação.
    Huawei: Pelo que conheço, tem bons access points, e controladoras virtuais e appliance físico, mas conheço poucas redes com esta solução.
    É lógico que uma tem um recurso extra a mais do que a outra, mas considero mera perfumaria, pois o básico para uma rede wireless segura todas atendem.
    Eu já atendi a mais de 40 universidades federais no Brasil, todas com Ruckus, e não há reclamação da solução.
    Como recomendação pessoal, vá de Ruckus.

    AlanTran - PeerSpot reviewerAlanTran
    Real User

    Hi,
    It is all dependent on the size of the controllers in question. Though I would suggest getting a cloud base technology so you are limited by any controller and have much better redundancy. Take a look at Arista Cognitive Wireless

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Juniper Mist is very reasonable in terms of pricing, especially when compared to competitors like Cisco.
    Top Answer:Someone enrolled in the tool will deploy it in our organization. Later, I could not enroll in the account until they… more »
    Top Answer:At my organization, we researched Ruckus Wireless among other solutions but ultimately chose Aruba wireless. What did… more »
    Top Answer:Ruckus Wireless offers users the benefit of being both easy to set up and get running as well as being very user… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series), Mist Access Points
    FortiWLM, FortiAP, Fortinet AP/OAP, Meru Wireless LAN
    Learn More
    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.

    Consolidate security and wireless LAN management with our integrated wireless solutions. Single-pane-of-glass management for security and access without the need to add point products simplifies deployment and reduces management complexity. These solutions are highly scalable to support even the largest organizations and distributed enterprises.

    Ruckus Wireless is part of Ruckus Networks/Commscope and provides reliable wireless network solutions and services to large venues, schools, hotels, hospitals, malls, and public spaces (and more) worldwide.

    Wireless access is an integral necessary part of today’s modern, fast-paced lifestyle. It is essential that dependable, safe wireless capabilities be available in most of today’s largely populated public spaces. Ruckus Wireless is the trusted industry leader in assisting organizations of all sizes to provide wireless access throughout their locations, both inside their physical structures and adjacent open outdoor areas.

    Ruckus Wireless empowers users to design and create a wireless network across their organizational space to ensure that wireless coverage is available consistently to anyone who needs it. Ruckus can handle anything from homes and small to medium-sized businesses to hospitals, college campuses, airports, malls, stadiums and more. Ruckus also has excellent options for outdoor wireless networks. Many users choose Ruckus Wireless for broad extensive outdoor use. The solution offers excellent durable outdoor access points and a very robust, super fast, reliable Wi-Fi. Each and every access point is very powerful, and the outdoor access points can be very easily disguised to keep the network secure.

    Another strong point is that Ruckus technology is based on frequencies. If there is ever any type of wireless interference, Ruckus Wireless can change frequency automatically so there are never any interruptions. Users also have the option to block outside access points and signals that may interfere with their network and make their network the only one that people can see within the network. Users can additionally whitelist certain networks if desired.

    Ruckus uses the latest next-gen Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi 6, ensuring that more devices can be handled with greater speed and continuity. With Ruckus, users have great control over network traffic. They can also allocate the amount of bandwidth network users are granted based on their status - eg., guest, corporate, etc. - and give users priority on the network based on their status. Ruckus also has mesh and beamforming capabilities, which are recognized as a valued feature for many users.

    Ruckus Wireless is robust, extremely reliable, very easy to deploy, and offers amazing coverage and rock solid connectivity. It is very easy to add additional access points across the network. Ruckus Wireless is very easy to use and manage using an app on any mobile device.

    Reviews from Real Users

    A Director Engineering & New Business at a comms service provider says Ruckus “provides superior coverage and is very dependable”

    Sintayehu A., Director Of Information Communication Technology at Dire Dawa University, relates that "Ruckus Wireless supports the most recent technologies. We can trace every individual and what kind of traffic they're using on our campus. It is very helpful."

    Philip S., Independent Consultant - Wireless, says, "The solution is very stable. I've worked with it at a hospital before, where we deployed it all over the hospital. It worked everywhere and continuously worked flawlessly."

    Sample Customers
    Information Not Available
    Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
    American University of Sharjah, Baruch College, Centro Escolar Liceo Santo Tomšs, Chevalier College, Chico Unified School District, Colegio de Fomento El Prado, Columbia Public Schools, Delta School District, Dordt College, Douglas County School District, Drew University, Armonea, Central Utah Clinic, Grove Hill Medical Center, Inner South Community Health Service, Midwest Surgical, Satilla Regional Medical Center, Lyndoch Living, Polonus, Roaring Fork School District, Sonora State, Vivid, Sydney, Players Club, Sandals, Scandic Hotels, Sheraton LAX, Sunbird
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Educational Organization25%
    Computer Software Company25%
    Newspaper13%
    Healthcare Company13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Government7%
    Educational Organization6%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider22%
    Educational Organization22%
    Consumer Goods Company11%
    Computer Software Company11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Government5%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider39%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Educational Organization9%
    Financial Services Firm5%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Educational Organization6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise44%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise53%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business70%
    Midsize Enterprise5%
    Large Enterprise25%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise53%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business58%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise24%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business34%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise48%
    Buyer's Guide
    Fortinet FortiWLM vs. Ruckus Wireless
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiWLM vs. Ruckus Wireless and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    772,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Fortinet FortiWLM is ranked 15th in Wireless LAN with 22 reviews while Ruckus Wireless is ranked 3rd in Wireless LAN with 97 reviews. Fortinet FortiWLM is rated 8.2, while Ruckus Wireless is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiWLM writes "Impressive manufacturing quality, highly durable, and very easy to deploy". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Ruckus Wireless writes "Great wireless, good reliability, and excellent connectivity". Fortinet FortiWLM is most compared with Aruba Wireless, Cisco Wireless, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, Ubiquiti Wireless and Omada Access Points, whereas Ruckus Wireless is most compared with Aruba Wireless, Cisco Wireless, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, Ubiquiti WLAN and Huawei Wireless. See our Fortinet FortiWLM vs. Ruckus Wireless report.

    See our list of best Wireless LAN vendors.

    We monitor all Wireless LAN reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.