Aruba ClearPass Reviews

Our clients use Aruba ClearPass for identity authentication on their local area network and their Wi-Fi. For one of our clients, we're using the OnGuard function for health checks, and we're also using the Guest Captive portal.

The most valuable thing about Aruba ClearPass is ease of use for security policies, as it has a much better granular configuration on policies for security. It also allows us to do certain functions which we would not be able to do without Aruba ClearPass, particularly with mobile devices and security. The platform has helped us in a lot of ways where there are aspects that we are limited to, and can't be done in our environment without the server.

The only area that really needs improvement in Aruba ClearPass is the onboarding for doing TLS authentication. The biggest problem we've seen in our environment is Huawei not being able to get onto Google Play. No Huawei device can be onboarded via Aruba ClearPass easily.

An additional feature we'd like to see in the next release of Aruba ClearPass is for its OnGuard function, its health check function. We'd like it to have the functionality for installing or copying files that are required for remediation on health checks. For example: if you're using Aruba ClearPass and you do a health check, if the client is missing a file or a particular product such as an antivirus product, we would like the opportunity to have the files copied or installed in the platform, because currently there are some limitations when you want to do remediation.

If the client is missing a file and you want them to install a specific application, we have to provide an HTTP download so they can download the file for the remediation to work. What I would like to see is a bigger storage area in Aruba ClearPass so we can upload those files in the platform, rather than having those files in an external server for downloading, because we've had huge problems with doing remediation to locations that require an HTTP download.

What we'd like is having the ability to put the applications on Aruba ClearPass directly, to make the remediation steps for clients when they're missing software, to get those directly from the platform, because currently, you can't put a big file onto Aruba ClearPass as there are size limitations.

I've been using Aruba ClearPass continuously within the last 12 months.

Aruba ClearPass has always been very reliable. I've always been well-impressed with it as it's a very stable product. The only problems I've experienced with it was because of people doing something else and causing Aruba ClearPass to malfunction. For example: people deleted authentication sources out of the platform without letting us know that they've deleted those authentication sources, creating problems on Aruba ClearPass because they changed the configuration.

I've been working directly with Aruba ClearPass and I've not had any problems with it, it usually works properly. If no one changes anything, it works.

Technical support from Aruba has always been fantastic, especially the support for Aruba ClearPass. I usually get responses from their technical team very quickly, especially for any T1 call. I've never experienced a problem with the technical support for Aruba ClearPass. They've always been exceptional.

Setting up Aruba ClearPass is complex. It's a complex installation.

I work with Aruba ClearPass and Aruba Wi-Fi, and we do have clients who use Aruba ClearPass with their Cisco equipment. I'm an ACPP professional on Aruba ClearPass, so I work with a few clients who use the platform.

I've been working with version 6.9.9 of the platform.

I'm scoring Aruba ClearPass a ten out of ten. If I can score it higher than ten, twelve for example, I would, because it's that good. It's an unbelievable system and it unlocks a lot of limitations on Wi-Fi and LAN, in terms of security.

We use the solution for security.

It provides a single access point and is highly available.

The period of firmware updates is very short.

I have been using Aruba ClearPass for one year.

It consists of one-time passwords, so you don't have many challenges.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

We have 700-800 users, out of which 50 are concurrent.

I rate the solution’s scalability a nine out of ten.

The initial setup is easy.
If you take a controller concerning the APN, that is a one-time setup. Once you set it up, it doesn't give you any problem going further. The one-time setup takes around four to eight hours.

Compared to other solutions, it has a standard price.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

We have a wireless network for guests and employees. That is one of the biggest use cases for ClearPass.

These products help you to organize stuff. At the same time, these allow forms of regulatory requirements, for example, how to do, or what to do, what not to do, et cetera.

There are many features. Use case-wise, there are maybe 60% of features that you will choose. We don't have any particular kind of feature usage. Our usage is typical usage for any enterprise.

It is easy to use and more integrated with the Aruba wireless networks. That was the biggest selling point for us. We use Aruba Wireless and the Aruba identity engine as well as ClearPass. That was the whole point of using this product. Technically you can use it anywhere, however, since we already use a lot of Aruba, it made sense to keep using another solution.

The setup is simple. 

After HP, their support is the worst.

When you come into the production part, you want to know how easily you can do the updates or how you can easily you can do the patching. Once it comes to the support, if it is in the middle of the day when you are having some issues, and you don't get it, that's where you start thinking this is not the right product. For me, I mean, overall, it's not the pre-sales experience that needs improvement. It's post-sales. I know Aruba is one of the two products that I always like; however, it's the whole life cycle of the product that makes something good. For example, Cisco is not a good product. No one can beat their support. Aruba is a good product, yet if you need technical assistance, it's not good at all. 

I've been using the solution for six to eight years.

The stability is fine. We have no problems with that. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. It is reliable. Peformance-wise, it's good.

The solution is scalable. I'd rate the ability to scale at an eight or nine out of ten in terms of how easy it is to expand. 

We have 5,000 users on the solution. 

Support is not great. It's actually quite bad. 

Negative

We use Aruba ClearPass and we use Cisco.

Aruba is a little simpler. When I say simpler, it means it has fewer knobs to tweak. However, if you have more knobs to tweak, you can control it a little bit differently.

Cisco ISE has been patched up in the last couple of years. It is a very good product and a very stable one. I don't see any real difference between the two products. They are 75% the same. We have the Cisco switching, and we like the Cisco ISE for that. If you have Aruba on the wireless, you want more Aruba.

It's fairly easy to set up. The vendor we work with is good and we are quite familiar with how it works. We use other similar products and don't have issues with the setup. Similar to Aruba and then Aruba Wireless, it is easy to manage with one vendor or one full contractor and you leave it there.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten in terms of ease of setup. 

We spent maybe three or four hours across two days doing the deployment. 

In terms of maintenance, you need to handle patching and vulnerability management sometimes. Historically, maintenance has been fine with the older versions. Recently, it is a little bit challenging.

We have three people who can the maintenance. Typically, one person is needed for the job.

We had a partner who sold Aruba to us. However, we work for other products, so we just sat down for a couple of days and that's it. That is all the time you need to set it up.

Their ROI is good. The ROI may be a bit less than Cisco in terms of the full environment. 

The licensing is almost the same as Cisco ISE. It is a little less, actually. It is a fair price. The only thing is all these products know each other's prices so they keep theirs pretty close to the same. Aruba will typically be a little less than Cisco to make it seem that they show benefit on the cost. However, it depends on how your terms are with the partners. You can maybe get a better discount. It is how your relationship is the principal that dictates the price. We have a fair discount, for example.

Support may be an additional cost.

We're a customer and end-user.

While I'm unsure which version of the solution we're using, it's likely close to the latest.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

I would advise new users to try to get better support lined up with them before buying the product. There's your account manager and support. If you discuss support before purchasing, you won't be alone. In contrast, with Cisco, you are never alone. Even if you call in the middle of the night, you will get assistance. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

My prior company used the solution to integrate multiple environments such as Cisco, Aruba wireless or wired devices, and BYOD cases. 

The solution integrates seamlessly. 

The continuous server and posturing are valuable. 

The solution should be more precise for VMs and allow for management of the entire system or stack. For example, the solution shows device-only information for Cisco AIs.

I have been using the solution for seven years. 

The solution is stable. 

The solution is definitely scalable. 

Technical support assisted us with our implementation and was good. 

The setup was straightforward with no issues. Deployment took one month and was a challenge because we had to integrate 600 devices. 

We utilized technical support for our implementation. 

The ROI is secure data. The question is whether you can afford downtime for a single unit or an entire system. It is hard to measure the value of data but is something you can't compromise. 

The solution has a licensing model. 

We did a proof of concept with Cisco ISE but chose the solution because we liked its seamless integration experience. 

Before implementing the solution, it is important to understand the system, develop plans, and determine what needs to be integrated. Learn what the solution does and how it will work with your use case. 

For example, some people choose the work kit without knowing what they need. Some require only the resource manager. Some don't know their gradual requirements for monitoring or management. Some don't understand that the solution is also provides network security. 

I rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

If for example, a user in my office received a particular VLAN for the USA and relocated to the UK, they will not get the same access. This is the challenge that we are trying to achieve through the CPPM. 

Document authentications allows us to decide which users can connect to an office VLAN and this has been the most valuable feature. It is dependent upon the policies that we have created on CPPM. If a domain laptop needs a Windows update, the device is updated. 

This solution could be improved by making it possible to use it across different territories. Currently, if a user moves from the US to the UK, their usage and access will be restricted. 

I have been using this solution for one year. 

This is a stable solution.

This is a scalable solution. 

The initial setup is straightforward. 

The suitability of this solution is dependent upon the requirements of the business. You need to consider if you want authentications for every network devices like switch, routers, firewalls and wireless. This can depend on the type of projects you are running. 

We needed the enterprise authentication because we needed the wifi dot certification. Using this, we can access network devices and policies. 

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten because the Aruba dashboard is quite simple compared to other solutions.

We use Aruba ClearPass for customers to ensure that whatever devices are entering the network have the correct posture. For example, they have the correct operating system and antivirus, and the firewalls turned on.

The most valuable features of Aruba ClearPass are its ease of use and the general network access controls.

A specific component is part of the solution called ClearPass Onboard, which can sometimes be complex and challenging to set up. If they could simplify the process and make it easier, that would be a benefit.

In an upcoming release, they need to include support for Android devices. Android devices are not fully supported at this time.

I have been using Aruba ClearPass for approximately five years.

The stability of Aruba ClearPass is good.

Aruba ClearPass is scalable. It's very good to scale because you can add additional units and integrate them.

I have used the support many times and they can help remotely which is helpful.

I rate the support from Aruba ClearPass an eight out of ten.

Positive

Aruba ClearPass is very easy to set up.

The time it takes to deploy the solution entirely depends on the customer's needs. Installing the software is very quick which can take about an hour. However, customizing and configuring it with all the different options can take from one day to a week or two depending on what the customer wants.

I do the implementation and configuration of the solution for customers.

You can get Aruba ClearPass either where you purchase it outright or you can be subscription-based. The cost will vary according to what is selected, but it's licensed per device. For example, for a hundred users or a hundred device license, it would cost approximately $2,000.

I have evaluated Fortinet and is good. It is simple and easy to use.

The maintenance could be more user-friendly. If you don't attend a course or if you don't have any technical knowledge of it. If a customer is going to maintain it themselves, they should attend some training.

My advice to others is to make sure they have the skill. Once they have the skills and have done the training, it's fairly simple to use the solution. If they try and do it on their own and try to figure things out, they are going to hate the solution because it's not built for them to figure things out on their own.

The second piece of advice is to make sure they understand what devices are supported and to what level because with smartphones, not all smartphones are supported and you can end up buying the solution to find that certain versions or certain models of smartphones are not supported.

I rate Aruba ClearPass a seven out of ten.

We're using Aruba ClearPass for policy management, security health check, and authorization, as well as assistive network by Active Directory or Google mail.

What I like most about Aruba ClearPass is that it has the best enforcement feature for the network. I also like its Guest Captive Portal and virtual security enforcement features, but the virtual security enforcement feature is still under testing by my company.

Aruba ClearPass also has a wonderful UI which I find valuable.

An issue with Aruba ClearPass is the lack of information and poor community support. You can't find the material easily on the internet for any issues. For example, if you're looking for any configuration or exploring any issue, it's not easy to find information, and this is the problem with Aruba ClearPass. Access to helpful information and poor community support could be improved.

Another area for improvement in Aruba ClearPass is that some of its advanced features aren't easy to find. For example, my team needed to apply Google single sign-on, but it wasn't easy to find. Aruba ClearPass is a big solution with a lot of capabilities, and it's a very advanced solution, so you need to either have some experience with it or undergo some training. Aruba ClearPass is a very good solution from the network perspective, but the issue is the poor support you get from the community. When you try using the solution, some areas aren't easy. When you search on YouTube, you'll find very few materials about Aruba ClearPass. It isn't like Cisco where you can find information from hundreds of websites, on YouTube, etc. This is bad for Aruba, so this area should be improved.

Aruba has a training center, but the usual training offered is only for Aruba Wireless and Aruba Switches. If you have another solution, it's not easy to integrate it with Aruba ClearPass, so this is an area for improvement. You need to do some research to successfully integrate your solution with Aruba ClearPass. We integrated Aruba ClearPass with Ubiquiti WiFi, and it's working fine with no issues. My next project is to start integrating Aruba ClearPass with Cisco Switches.

The solution is good, but on the website, there's no book and no video, and you can't find the material on Aruba ClearPass easily. This is one of the issues with Aruba.

I have around one to two months of experience with Aruba ClearPass.

Aruba ClearPass is a very stable solution. My team didn't experience any hangs or any abnormal behavior from it. If you apply the required configuration, Aruba ClearPass works well. Stability is a good point in the solution.

Aruba ClearPass scales well. It's a scalable solution.

The technical support for Aruba ClearPass is good and responds very fast.

The initial setup for Aruba ClearPass isn't complex, but you need the training to set it up.

The deployment for the solution is very easy, and you can install it within half an hour, but this is a NAC solution. In terms of configuration, it's not a switch configuration or an IT configuration. Aruba ClearPass has one thousand scenarios in our network, and the problem is that you need a lot of information, so its configuration isn't as straightforward.

The deployment for Aruba ClearPass was done in-house. I took training classes from the Aruba training center. It was on-demand training.

The licensing cost for Aruba ClearPass is a bit expensive. Its pricing could be better. The license costs around $125,000 for the perpetual license and support for one year. Aruba can give you a license with five thousand endpoint access and one thousand five hundred onboard licenses on one hundred endpoints and two controllers.

My company is evaluating Aruba ClearPass right now. It isn't live, but it's under evaluation or testing currently.

I'm using version 6.10 of Aruba ClearPass.

My rating for Aruba ClearPass is nine out of ten.

Between ten to twenty people use Aruba ClearPass within the company. There's only a small amount of users of Aruba ClearPass currently because the solution is still under evaluation. Once Aruba ClearPass is live, my impression is that there would be no issues with it in terms of connectivity.

My advice to others looking into using Aruba ClearPass is to get good training from the Aruba virtual training center. The training costs extra. The on-demand training costs around $500. I also recommend doing the structured training, but that would cost around $3,000.

My company is a customer of Aruba.

I mainly use ClearPass to issue and authenticate certificates.

ClearPass has simplified our security as an automatic email is now sent to concerned users when something goes down. For example, if your AP or controller is down, a log is immediately generated stating what's happened, and we can use that to work with local engineers or OEM to resolve it. This reduces the impact on business and has simplified around 70% of our work.

ClearPass' best features are authentication, support for multiple devices, and monitoring.

ClearPass' GUI could be more user-friendly.

I've been using Aruba ClearPass for almost three years.

ClearPass is stable - we haven't had any issues since deployment.

ClearPass' scalability is up to the mark.

The initial setup was a bit complex and took a couple of days.

I implemented ClearPass myself.

I would rate ClearPass nine out of ten.