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Pros & Cons summary

Buyer's Guide

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Aruba Airwave offers valuable features for engineers to C-level executives, providing visibility, performance, and statistics, and automating processes to save time and money.
The Clarity feature simplifies network understanding through a comprehensive dashboard, enhancing troubleshooting efficiency and decision-making based on Airwave analysis.
Aruba Airwave is scalable, with per-device licensing, and supports multivendor management, facilitating management and monitoring across different vendors or products.
Technical support is commendable, with local support through contractors, contributing to a robust solution for monitoring and configuring Wi-Fi networks.
The Live Heat Map feature aids in identifying interferences, coverage issues, and user connectivity problems, offering end-to-end visibility from the user to the internet breakout.

CONS

Users would prefer an AAS with centralized integration of all services including NAC/ClearPass, AirWave, and more for licensing ease.
There's a need for improved platform integration, especially with Cisco, to enhance system interoperability.
Pricing of Aruba Airwave is a frequent concern, with the cost being a barrier to widespread adoption.
The lack of investment from HP in upgrading Aruba Airwave deters its extensive use.
Delays in the manufacturing hardware and lack of comprehensive third-party device compatibility are problematic.
 

Aruba Airwave Pros review quotes

Edward Zeng - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology
May 13, 2025
The feature that proved most beneficial for our organization's network monitoring is the virtual four, which we use frequently when working with Aruba.
Ahmet Bulbul - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Consultant at Data Market
Jul 1, 2025
The powerful features we can put forward in Aruba Airwave are clarity, report creation, and VisualRF.
reviewer1877184 - PeerSpot reviewer
TI at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 6, 2025
The monitoring and administration allow configurations for checking the association of the user to the network, then to the AP, then to the switch, and back to the controller.
Learn what your peers think about Aruba Airwave. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Lulzim Islami - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Network Operations Manager at KEDS
Jan 21, 2025
It facilitated creating floor maps.
IA
Solutions Architect Infrastructure and Security Manager at Jumbo Electronics Co. Ltd. LLC.
Jun 3, 2024
The most beneficial feature for network monitoring in Aruba Airwave is the Live Heat Map. It helps identify interferences, coverage issues, and user connectivity issues. The device management capability of Aruba Airwave is good. It provides end-to-end visibility from the user to the access point, the switch, and the internet breakout. From a monitoring, management, and orchestration standpoint, it is very effective and can manage any scale of deployment.
Prashant-Patel - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Presales Consultant - Networking Solutions at Mannai
Oct 23, 2023
The most valuable feature of Aruba Airwave is the multivendor support, which enables you to manage and monitor different vendors or products.
reviewer1854369 - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive at a government with 201-500 employees
Mar 12, 2025
One of the main advantages is its ability to draw building floor plans and analyze Wi-Fi signal behavior in real-time.
MS
Project Manager at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Aug 20, 2024
The solution's most valuable features are its usage, bandwidth existence, device capacity, and utilization.
Sameer Mundekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Subject Matter Expert at Orange
Nov 20, 2023
I would rate the stability a nine out of ten.
MichaelGrady - PeerSpot reviewer
Chairman at Gracon Services, Inc.
Aug 10, 2022
AirWave definitely helps us troubleshoot and get to the root cause of the issues. It gives you an excellent indication of what's going on within your network at different locations. You can get to the area, take a look at the AirWave analysis, and make informed decisions.
 

Aruba Airwave Cons review quotes

Edward Zeng - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology
May 13, 2025
My general opinion on Aruba Airwave is that it's acceptable, but it's not ideal because we are accustomed to Cisco.
Ahmet Bulbul - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Consultant at Data Market
Jul 1, 2025
The biggest problem for not using Aruba Airwave extensively now is that HP is not upgrading this tool. They're not investing money and time into it, which is why we're not using it.
reviewer1877184 - PeerSpot reviewer
TI at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 6, 2025
When upgrading hardware, there were technical issues with network interfaces and Red Hat, which required escalation to developers.
Learn what your peers think about Aruba Airwave. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Lulzim Islami - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Network Operations Manager at KEDS
Jan 21, 2025
I am not deeply familiar with the solution, so if I mention a feature, it might already exist, yet I may be unaware of it.
IA
Solutions Architect Infrastructure and Security Manager at Jumbo Electronics Co. Ltd. LLC.
Jun 3, 2024
The main challenge we've faced with Aruba Airwave is its high cost, especially regarding high availability and failover licenses, which can be relatively expensive for customers. As for recommendations for improvement, considering that Aruba is planning to retire Airwave soon and introduce a new solution, it's crucial that the new product meets or exceeds the current Airwave's feature set. Customers expect a seamless transition without losing any functionality, so Aruba needs to ensure that the new solution is ready with all the essential features and capabilities from day one to avoid any gaps or dissatisfaction among users and partners.
Prashant-Patel - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Presales Consultant - Networking Solutions at Mannai
Oct 23, 2023
More devices or vendors should be onboarded to Aruba Airwave.
reviewer1854369 - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive at a government with 201-500 employees
Mar 12, 2025
When attempting to copy a floor plan, it does not copy well, so I often have to redraw the walls. It's somewhat annoying since other Wi-Fi design software we use is easier for drawing walls and including floor plans.
MS
Project Manager at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Aug 20, 2024
The solution’s pricing could be improved.
Sameer Mundekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Subject Matter Expert at Orange
Nov 20, 2023
We're looking for more device compatibility. Like compatibility with third-party devices.
MichaelGrady - PeerSpot reviewer
Chairman at Gracon Services, Inc.
Aug 10, 2022
Cost is always a big issue for partners.