Aruba Instant Reviews

We use the solution in our regional offices.

The solution is useful for costing purposes. The product is easy to configure. We do not need a controller to have a complete network setup.

Some features like DHCP that were available in the original Aruba controller are not available in Aruba Instant. The tool needs to enhance its security features.

I have been using the solution for more than three years.

The product is stable.

The solution is scalable. We have 1000 to 1500 users in our organization.

I have had no problem with the support team so far. The team always responds on time if we raise any request or ticket.

The initial setup is very easy. Deploying ten to twenty access points will take an hour or less than an hour.

I am an engineer. I can install the solution. To deploy the tool, we must connect with the Wi-Fi, do the default setups, and assign it to Aruba controllers. We can adapt from the controller for the rest of the access points. We need five people to deploy and maintain the solution.

There’s no licensing required to use the tool. We have to renew the maintenance agreement, though.

Even new users or IT personnel can easily manage the deployment of the solution. There are no hassles regarding billing configuration or Wi-Fi signaling. Aruba Instant’s Virtual Controller is very helpful and easy to manage. Overall, I rate the tool seven out of ten.

In my company, we use Aruba Instant since it is a very light product for installations, and it provides summaries, making it a good choice for customers.

The product works well in terms of mobility. When users want to migrate from one location to another, they face no problems with connectivity.

In my opinion, Aruba offers nice products.

The support offered by Aruba is slow. For improvement, I would like Aruba to offer faster support to users and more customization options.

I have been using Aruba Instant for seven years. I might update the product for access points supported by Aruba. In our company, old access points have not been updated since they have reached the end of life. My company is a reseller of Aruba products.

The product's stability is good. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten since its scalability is good.

The product's installation procedure went very well, and there was only very small troubleshooting required because of some compatibility issues of the product with the tools from other vendors. Aruba works very well with devices from the same vendor. Sometimes, when our company wants to connect Aruba to devices from other vendors, we face some minor issues which are not very problematic.

My clients use the solution in small locations like shops, warehouses, and similar places. The number of uses of the solution depends upon the number of access points at those locations.

Around 20 of my clients use Aruba Instant. My company serves small and medium enterprises.

The solution's technical support is very nice. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.

Positive

On a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy, I rate the initial setup a nine since it was an easy and straightforward process.

The solution is deployed on-premises.

I rate the product's price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive. It offers good relations between functionality, compatibility, reasonable price, and a range of nice products.

I rate the overall product an eight out of ten.

I primarily use the solution for my WiFi.

The solution provides a very good end-user experience. 

It's easy to manage the wireless. I can make a mesh. I can make connections to other access points without wires. I have several WiFi routers and can connect them seamlessly.

It's very transparent. I can see how my bandwidth is being used and I can control that.

The access point has a firewall inside to see my applications and the kinds of applications I am using.

The most valuable aspect is the potential to have it cover all my devices and I can see the applications and make a policy around them. The monitoring is very good as it does help me build out policies around the access points. 

The security features are very good. 

They could offer a new model for access points that are outdoors. They don't have an outdoor WiFi Six in their portfolio right now.

They should maybe make the sites bigger. While you can have extension nodes, you can only have 25 devices only. That is too small for some companies. 

I've been using the solution for a year and a half. 

The stability depends on the cloud and what stability the cloud has. I haven't had any issues where the service has gone down. The stability has been 100% stable for me. 

You can have 25 devices on one site. 

For example, in the case of a hotel, you might have one site for the lobby and one site on another floor. You might have WiFi for one site yet you won't have roaming. You need to have sites.

If a company needs more, it can buy an enterprise solution. This one has limited scalability.

I've never contacted technical support.

I have not really used another solution, aside from an offering from my ISP. 

The initial setup is very straightforward. You do not need a specialist. You just have to open the box and read some documentation. I have to download an app on my phone and scan a QR to enter a website. I gain access to a Wizard. Through that, I look for my device and start the process. I go through it step by step. Even if you have no expertise in technology, it's very simple.

I'd rate the ease of setup ten out of ten. 

The full deployment took about five minutes. You only have to configure the first IP. After that, you don't have to configure anything. It's very fast. Even if you have 25 IPs, you only have to configure one, and then the others you just have to power up.

I handled the setup myself. I did not need any outside assistance. Everything I needed was in the box. 

I have seen a good ROI. I've been more productive working from home and this solution facilitates that. It ensures we are safe and protected and the network can help us to be more stable.

The pricing is reasonable. I'd rate it seven out of ten. 

Whether it is affordable to other people depends on who is buying it and what they need it to do. It's not like TP-Link or something like that. There are a bit more features. 

There are also other solutions that are cheaper than this, however, they may not work the same. 

There are no additional costs. We pay just one price for the device itself. I'm not sure of the exact price. It might have been around $100.

I did evaluate other solutions previously. I understand what other solutions can do, more or less, however, I choose to use Aruba since I know what it can do and it offers a good price. 

I'm a user and also a distributor. 

It has devices that are switches and access points and it is managed via the cloud and the cloud is free. It's all unified. 

This solution can integrate other solutions, such as Clear Pass. You can easily configure it to connect to a radio server, for example. There are a lot of great advanced configurations.  It's very flexible. It's a very capable product. 

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.

We use Aruba Instant for sending logins to Aruba AirWave. We also use Aruba Instant with Aruba Mobility Controller for access points, particularly over one hundred access points.

What I like best about Aruba Instant is that it serves as a virtual controller, so you don't need to buy other equipment to manage all your access points.

I also like that the solution is easy to use.

Aruba Instant is a simple and scalable solution that works well, but the costs you incur from access points could be cheaper.

We've been working with Aruba Instant for five years.

I found Aruba Instant stable, so I'm giving it a ten.

Aruba Instant is a very scalable product, making it a ten out of ten.

We encountered a minor issue with Aruba Instant, so we contacted Aruba support. They resolved the problem, and they were helpful and quick to respond.

Aruba Instant is very easy to set up. Setup-wise, it's a ten.

In terms of costs, Aruba Instant is cheap because it doesn't require a license, but you'll incur charges for the access points. Access point charges could be more affordable.

Aruba Instant can either have a cloud or on-premise deployment. However, in my company, it's deployed on-prem.

At most, my company has between three hundred and five hundred Aruba Instant users.

Two to three network engineers handle the deployment and maintenance of the solution.

I recommend Aruba Instant to other people.

My rating for Aruba Instant is ten out of ten.

The coverage of the solution is great.

I would like to see the solution stored within our country or region so we don't have to wait for hardware to be delivered internationally.

The connectivity of the solution can use some improvement.

I have been using the solution for six years.

The solution is stable.

The solution is easily scalable.

There has been a slight decline in the last two years in hardware supply due to COVID, and the regional conflicts with Ukraine and Russia, but customer service and support have met the SLA.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward. The onboarding can sometimes take longer, especially with the 5500 because of the bigger processes within the AP itself. Once the onboarding is complete it is perfect.

We are a vendor and implement for other organizations.

The setup cost varies based on each organization's requirements but it is within reason.

I recommend you set it up before you install the solution. A lot of people think the solution is like a Meraki-type setup but it's not. I would rather centralize the installation and then ship it out.

The product is used for user segmentation, server segmentation, WiFi segmentation, and printer server segmentation.

The most valuable feature of this product is that it is easily deployed.

The product can be improved by adding a clear interface. You can use the Web Green interface however an interface similar to Cisco Catalyst 29 that allows the user to simply configure the product would be useful.

I would like to see clear interface coverage for older models such as 1930.

I have been using the product for one and a half years.

The product is stable. There has been no need for reconfiguration or re-setup.

The product is scalable. It has the ability to connect to other sites.

We previously used Cisco Catalyst 29. 

It was a straightforward setup.

I built a duplicate network on the product that allowed me to replace all the Cisco equipment by simply unplugging the cables from Cisco and plugging them into the new product. The total setup time was about 15 days.

The implementation was done in-house.

I give the product a nine out of ten.

The product comes with all the necessary technical documentation for support. Only one person is required for maintenance.

We primarily use the solution for our wireless network.

It has improved the functionality of our company. It is quite handy.

Aruba Instant is very useful. Even if you just have one device you can create a larger network with just a few configurations. 

You don't have to deal with licenses. 

There is one particular thing that I see that needs improvement. It is a software characteristic, and it is during the reboot. During the startup of the AP, the AP tells you that you are using the wrong password. However, I have realized that this is not true. The AP sees that it's not ready to get the login, and it replies you wrote a wrong password, yet that is not true. The real issue is that the AP is not ready. You get the right login, if you wait five minutes with the same password, it will work. The login is successful. This "wrong password" message should be "Wait, the AP is rebooting."

I've used the solution for one year.

The solution is relatively stable. We had some bugs on some occasions, however, after you are configured, the system is quite stable. It doesn't crash or freeze.

The product can scale. It is definitely good. You just have to add a similar AP sourcing the same version and same model. My wireless networks are quite small, so I don't have more than 100 APs.

The amount of people using it under us is 300 people.

We are integrators, so in the next month, we are going to install some other instant systems.

I've dealt with technical support. How well the response is depends. In general, I feel good with the support and with the professionality and their ability as well. The one thing that I want to be improved is the engineers.

They have to read the entire description. I usually write all of the parameters, for example, the version, my devices, and a description of my infrastructure. And then I received an email, "Please, tell me the version. Please, add a particular file." Yet when I open a case, I add this information from the beginning. They just have to read and get the information. I'd estimate that in at least 50% of the cases, the technicians do not read the notes I send at all.

Positive

The initial setup depends on the configuration that the user wants. The instant infrastructure is relatively straightforward, however, it depends on the environment - including what kind of antenna you have to use if you have an external antenna. The web configuration is quite straightforward depending on the configuration.

We only need three or four people for the installation and the configuration. Once it depends on the environment. 

My company is a system integrator, so we install devices.

It's not easy for me to talk about the cost since I am a technician. I'd rate it a two out of five in terms of affordability. It's more on the expensive side. There might be some extra costs involved depending on the infrastructure. 

We are an integrator, and we have many customers. Then we have a partnership with the distributors, with the sellers.

We work with Aruba devices and Aruba Access Points and Switches. We work with Access Point using Instant Infrastructure, Wireless Controller, or Aruba Central.

There is some confusion about using the website due to the integration with HP. Sometimes you have to go to the HP website and sometimes to Aruba. Also, now, there is the integration with HP GreenLake and you have to log in to an HPE website and then go to the Aruba portal, which is quite confusing. This confuses me. There are too many portals, and it just jumps from one to the other. It's not so handy.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Our company has about 25 access points, and they integrate Aruba Instant. We have authentication integrated with Windows in the main controller for each employee. We also have a guest net portal.

We like that we can assign our employees based on authentication over Windows in the main controller. We couldn't do that with Cisco, so we switched to Aruba for that feature. Other solutions have end of life for devices, but Aruba does not. Cisco becomes completely useless at the end of life.

There is an issue with flooding to the Aruba access point on the ports. The flooding comes from the file transfer, but the two hosts that do the file transfers are on wire, not a wireless connection. So it's strange that we can see that graphic on the access point. We still don't know what is causing the issue. It may be a setting in Aruba, but we don't know. So we are trying to resolve the issue first before contacting technical support.

We have been using this solution for about three years, and I believe we're using version 8.0.9.2. It is deployed on-premises.

Apart from some of the issues we are currently facing, the solution is stable, and we are satisfied.

It is a scalable solution, and we have about 120 users and clients connected to wireless daily and management of the networks are done within by company.

We have not contacted technical support before.

The initial setup was straightforward, and the deployment was completed in-house.

We have a return on investment.

We did not evaluate other solutions before choosing Aruba Instant. We attended a presentation by Aruba, spoke with some Aruba engineers and then decided to try the solution.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten, and I would recommend this solution to others.

I'm the director of information technology at a school and we use this solution for our Wifi. We are customers of Aruba.

The easy setup means that the initial deployment becomes the master access point and everything else follows automatically. As you plug your wifi access points in, and it picks up the network, it will look for the master wifi access point that will work as the controller. It's great. 

Although you don't have to purchase a subscription for the Aruba cloud controller, it's a lot better to have all of your access points in the cloud, so you can manage them without accessing the master access point itself. Integration between the two is pricey and that would be my one complaint about this product. 

I've been using this solution for five years. 

We haven't had any issues with stability. If you configure it to auto update, there won't be any problems. I haven't had any issues with the access points.

The solution is scalable. 

As long as you have your serial number, the technical support is good. They'll work with you to configure and help you through any issues. They'll look at the backend and tell you what's going on with it as well. You don't have to have a lot of knowledge about the system to use it.

We switched to Aruba Instant around 2015 when HPE purchased Aruba and they discontinued Pro Curve.

If there are no special requirements and you're using it out of the box, it's very easy to deploy and maintain. 

It's important to know your physical environment so that when ordering particular access points, you're getting what works for your environment, whether the location is a modern building or something older. 

I rate this solution 10 out of 10. 

Our clients use it as a Wi-Fi access point.

The installation is very simple.

We've limited the security feature, which I found valuable, and that allows two separate networks, one for the company and one for a guest network. During installation, it is very easy at that point to divide it.

The connection to it through the interface is nice and easy, and everything can be done through the interface.

The only issue we've had is getting equipment supplies. The availability of the APs that I want to use has been an issue. It took almost two months to get them the first time. I've ordered a few more for another client, and they're still on back order. It has been over a month now.

We've been working with this solution for about a month and have installed it for two clients so far.

So far, it's been very stable.

We deal mostly with small businesses, and for them, I think it's an easy solution with easy deployment and scalability. It is very easily scalable.

We plan to use Aruba Instant as our solution for small businesses.

Technical support was adequate when we did our first installation. We contacted them just to make sure that we were doing it properly, and they were very knowledgeable. It was great.

Positive

One client used a basic ASUS router.

One of the clients switched because their previous solution was done, and the other did so because they were expanding their warehouse and wanted something more.

The initial setup was straightforward and very simple. The deployment was done in a few hours.

We implemented it ourselves for our clients.

It's a one time cost, including the upgrades, but you have to pay on a yearly basis if you want support.

The price is in the middle in comparison to that of competitors' products.

We looked mainly at Ruckus, but Aruba Instant On's interface was nice and user friendly as well.

Aruba Instant On is a good solution for small businesses. I would rate it at eight on a scale from one to ten.