Aruba Switches Reviews

I use Aruba wired and wireless switches as part of my network infrastructure.

The most valuable features are stability, ease of management, and the monitoring tool.

These switches offer high availability and support stacking.

The audit feature gives me the ability to trust Aruba. 

The layer three switches are very scalable and very reliable.

The command-line interface could be easier to use, perhaps having voice control.

I have been working with Aruba Switches for a year and a half.

Our network environment is very stable with these switches, including wireless coverage.

I have approximately 100 switches and serve about 2,000 users.

The support team has a very fast response and they are very useful.

Our old environment was also built from Aruba products, which means that all of the components are compatible with each other.

The initial setup is very straightforward and very easy. In the last project that we deployed, I and one engineer configured about 100 switches in two days.

Our network team includes two people who are responsible for deployment and maintenance.

The pricing is perfect.

Overall, this is a good product that has all of the features I need. I plan on continuing to use these switches and I can recommend them to others.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

These are ethernet switches that provide power over the net for our PoE requirements, basically layer two and layer three features that we have. I'm the head of technical support and we are customers of Aruba. 

One valuable feature about HP is the warranty. All switches are very similar when it comes to most functionalities. Mostly switches provide a one-year warranty, but with HPE switches, if there's a unit that malfunctions, we call them and they replace it the next business day if that line is still available. We had a switch we reported the other day, it was a 25-10, which we procured way back, around 2014, and they replaced it. In general, HP provides a lot of support for its products. We will be doing some tinkering on the VLAN soon, first the layer two, and then connecting the layer three functionalities for some other departments. The advantage of Aruba compared to other switches is their reliability. If the product is trustworthy, I'll continue to use it. 

The cost of the solution could be improved. Before it became Aruba, it was a cheaper product. When Aruba was acquired by HPE, the prices went up. Most features I would want are there already. It's basically the upgrade, in terms of speed, and the price aspect that are issues for us. Right now we have the new switches, the Pen G features, which are still very expensive. Maybe in two or three years, these switches will be more affordable. 

I've been using this solution for seven years. 

This is a stable solution. 

This is a scalable product, the whole department uses them. 

HP have had problems with support from time to time but they're quite good. We report when we need and then they replace what's required. 

The initial setup is straightforward. They have certain manuals which we can follow on how to define the VLANs and other things, including some of the security. As far as the programming is concerned, I think it's very similar to Cisco. We have an IT team for our implementations and we've built the competency inside. We get the product, we get the manuals, we download and we test it and see if we can do it. If we cannot do it then we ask the vendor for support. We define the IP addresses that we can access remotely and the rest can be done from our office. It's more about testing the equipment to see if it works. 

I would recommend Aruba switches. 

I would rate this product a nine out of 10. 

The primary use case of this solution is as the edge and the core switches for our company network.

We are working on an ERP system, domain controller, warehouse management, Salesforce automation, and many other applications.

It's a reliable product that you can depend on. 

You can use it for a long time without any issues.

Visibility needs improvement. We don't have visibility in Aruba Switches and we are thinking of switching to FortiSwitch because it has visibility. 

Currently, we have visibility and compatibility with the firewall. Through the firewall, we can see the entire network.

They are not very active with this solution. There is no followup with the vendors and resellers, they do not contact us to inform us of new technologies as they do with Cisco and Fortinet. Other vendors are more active in the community.

In the next release, I would like to see visibility included, as well as better integration with other platforms. 

I have been working wit Aruba Switches for approximately 11 years.

We are working with the 251 and 190 series.

Aruba switches are stable, but we have a few that are hanging.

Aruba Switches are scalable.

We have more than 1,000 users in our company. We have 15 administrators and four people to maintain the network. 

Technical support is moderate, not excellent. We have been waiting for more than two months for our switches that are hanging to be replaced.

Maintenance and after-sales service are not good.

We started with Aruba a long time ago when they were originally 3Com Switches.

The initial setup is straightforward, not complex.

Cisco is more complex than Aruba is.

We have many resellers and system integrators in our country, including Cisco and Fortinet.

There are no licenses, you just purchase the switch. 

Comparing with Cisco, and some other solutions, it's a cheap product.

We are considering migrating from Aruba to possibly Cisco, or to Fortinet FortiSwitch.

We are comparing and conducting studies in order to move forward.

We have experience working in networking products, high-security products like firewalls, switches, and all data center products.

We would happy to use Aruba Switches in the future if there are new technologies that meet our requirements, and our needs regarding visibility. Having visibility in the entire network and to see all of the parts of the network is something that is important to us.

In general, I recommend Aruba Switches.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We use Aruba switches as part of our network infrastructure.

The most valuable feature is the security that these switches provide.

We would like to see centralized, cloud-based management.

If the price were lower then it would be more competitive with other products by vendors such as Cisco and Ruckus.

I have been working with Aruba switches for more than ten years.

In our experience, this is a stable product. Once they are configured, you rarely get any problems.

We have rarely had problems with our switches. When there is an issue with the hardware, it is replaced on the spot because we bought the lifetime limited warranty for them.

The price of these switches is high.

The most popular vendors for this type of product in the UAE are Cisco, HPE, and Ruckus.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

The primary use case of this solution is for access points. You can look at any site and take the static ID, or the real ID. It's similar to VPN.

With the access point, you take the real ID and install it in the controller, you then access the site with this access point.

We are interior designers and we have many showroom sites, we use the Aruba controller. We have twenty-five Aruba Switches with fifteen to twenty access points.

We are using the 205 and 215 series. The bandwidth is 1gHz.

The most valuable features are the controller and the access points. Aruba access points have a good transfer rate.

It is powerful for the internet, the GUI is good, the configuration is very good, and it is very easy to use. In contrast, the Cisco configuration does not have a GUI.

Aruba has many features that are very good.

Managing Aruba Switches is not as good as Cisco Controller.

The switch needs to be bigger than it is now. Increasing the number of gigabytes in the switch would improve the switch interacting. You can download the DBS or the datasheet to see the switch interacting.

The switch interacting is the transfer of data from the port to the switch.

They should provide training courses for certification, and have it available on the internet.

They need to increase marketing for their products, especially for the solutions that are stable and very hard working. They should plan an event to market this solution.

Aruba could consider opening a training center for engineering, or IT students.

A suggestion would be to see the unit have a configuration switch like SMTP to send an email to the users if the performance is delayed or down. That would be very useful.

In the command line, we can configure in SMTP to send an email alert to the user and the support worldwide, so that they can know about the problem before it happens.

This solution is very stable.

We have two ways to do the configuration. There are the standard way and Care. If you configure Care, we have a controller and things are fine.

We can deploy the configuration by the controller appliance. The access point can be made into a controller.

The solution is scalable.

With many ports, we blended for the first time and we did not face any problems.

You have to have a plan to expand or increase to a table or other devices.

The technical support is okay, I would rate them a four out of five.

We had some issues with resetting the password, it requires a special technique, there is some reconfiguration involved. 

The guide on the internet is very helpful and easy. You can do a specific search on the internet describing the error or the problem and you will get a very simple, easy, and quick answer.

We have a client who has a nine-story apartment building and in our design, and we researched the internet for different access points. 

We presented the client with Cisco and TriCom, but our customer was not satisfied. We then introduced Aruba to the client and he was satisfied with the performance and our design.

The initial setup is straightforward. It only took fifteen minutes to deploy.

It depends on the number of VLAN, or if there are any rules in the switch. This is all according to the configuration and the settings.

We have three engineers helping with the deployment.

We did not use a vendor team to implement this solution. We did it ourselves.

This solution is not cheap and they don't have a plan to certify it as Cisco does. Cisco is a famous vendor with options for certification.

Aruba does not have a certified license in ARC and CNV. Their certification is for the marketing of the device in Cisco.

The license is annual. If you purchase a switch, you get a one-year free subscription.

Aruba has better pricing than Cisco.

We used and configured Tricom Switches. HP merged with Tricom and the company after that Aruba merged with HP.

The switch became very different, it is good and has a different configuration.

We have had a few problems in our company, we have had some conflicts in the configuration.

Aruba was the first company to introduce access points, as far back as ten years ago.

It's a good product, but it's not equal to Cisco. It's better. I compare it with Cisco and Aruba is a better switch. With Cisco,  you buy the name, history, and global branding.

If an engineer or any company ask me about network solutions, I recommend Aruba.

I have some concerns because not many engineers write on the command line in Aruba. Not many engineers know the solution, unlike Cisco, which is well known in the education industry and on the market.

If you can configure the Aruba Switch for the very first time without any issues, then you are a very good engineer, you know the solution.

Aruba Access points, controller, and performance are the best!

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

We use four Aruba Switches, in one stack, for 802.1X.

We use Aruba Switches mainly as access points.

The most valuable feature is the Aruba Smart Rate Port.

The templates to automate our switches need improvement.

We apply a template using Bison or ANSI C to automate our tasks daily.

We are using Bison and ANSI C programming language to automate our work for shutting down ports, and if the support has locked our shutdown with port security.

Cisco has Nexus Switches for the Data Center solutions. These switches are very powerful. In my research, I haven't found anything that is comparable.

In the next release or the near future, I would like similar Data Cente switches included.

Aruba Switches are very stable when you are using the full solution. 

Aruba Switches are still in the testing phase.

We haven't tested the scalability for this solution yet, but there is another building that we are expanding to and we expect it to scale there.

We have approximately one thousand users.

We have not had any issues with this solution so we have not opened any tickets with technical support.

We were using other switches by Aruba prior to these. We stayed with Aruba to maintain compatibility.

The initial setup of this solution is very simple.

When we implemented the solution, we called a vendor to support us.

We have an in house assistant who configured the solution, but we had a vendor here to support us if we needed it.

We configured all of our switches to gain the experience.

I have also used Cisco switches and they are harder to set up.

I received training on this solution from HP, here in Egypt.

I strongly recommend Aruba Switches with Aruba products for compatibility. If you use Cisco or other solutions, it may cause some issues with the stability of the environment.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for extra switches on campuses and consecutive exchange of existing access switches. 

The zero-touch provisioning made it possible for electricians to install and wire the switches that allows for the continuation with the zero touch provisioning mechanism afterward. It has really helped us to save our manpower within the network support group.

The solution's most valuable aspect is that it integrates with ClearPass, which allows us to use the same management for wireless LAN and wired LAN. 

The written documentation, all the available documentation, is often a little bit hard to find. The solution lacks documentation of recent features. We have access directly to Aruba, Germany, so they are always helpful, but if you start, for instance, with something a little bit more complex like zero-touch provisioning, that would require a more comprehensive written piece. 

The available REST API is invaluable for elegant integration with the core and distribution network.  

There are some new multicast features coming up, but they are just in the process of preparation by IEEE, and I would like to see them as soon as possible.

The solution's stability is really great. We found it very solid. 

The scalability of the solution is good. With the management of ClearPass, it's great. We've been using the feature of building stacks with it, and its really, really easy to handle a large scale environment.

Technical support has been great. Together with the consultant, we set up a regular phone call with Aruba to discuss the issues surrounding setting up the whole system. They always came up with quick solutions, called us back and they've been really, really helpful overall.

We previously used Brocade. The switches portion of the organization was bought by Extreme Networks. The company broke down, which is why we had to switch. The hardware of Brocade was brilliant, but at some point, the development and the stability of firmware lacked, since developers may have moved on before the company broke down.

The setup is mostly straightforward. Deployment, together with the WiFi, took about a month. We had three people on our side assisting with the implementation and have three people currently handling maintenance.

We did the initial set up with the help of a service provider of Aruba. We wrote templates and did the first template with the service provider, who was experienced and was really helpful.

With their assistance, the experience was optimal. We had been really late with our decision to purchase Aruba and we, with the help of the consultants, have since been able to bring up the whole system in time so that the existing schedule for opening the hospital was never endangered. 

We just had all the licenses for five years included in the bidding process. Since the competitive nature of the resulting contract, our actual costs might not reflect the standard market prices. Due to the visibilityof our project, Aruba has been generous with the included amount of licenses, which will serve us for years to come.

As a public hospital we are obliged to implement a public bidding process. We had been in discussions with many companies, including, for example, Cisco. 

In the end, it came down to financial issues. Once you have your requirements fixed, every Vendor has the chance to give you a proper offer through ist sales channel. With all the requirements, including for example common management of wired and wireless access, WLAN integrated Bluetooth capabilities  Cisco failed to meet the offer of Aruba.

We've been implementing, with the help of Aruba, with zero-touch provisioning in a newly opened hospital. Roughly 450 switches have been put into operation using zero-touch provisioning (ZTP). It was challenging;  even Aruba probably hadn't done such a large scale project before using ZTP.

In terms of advice, I'd say if you are entering the next stage of switch hardware, of network hardware, just have a look at Aruba. It's really, really helpful having an open API to use Python or other script languages to modify configurations and to automate exchange of state changes with neighbouring structures.

We try to keep as close as possible to standards. There are some areas where standards aren't available, for instance stacking of network Access switches, whre no vendor-independent standards is existing yet. So look at the whole package including the switch hardware, the licenses, the license for management and bear in mind the transceivers. 

When using Aruba switches, stick with the automation tools, don't let yourself be seduced into going back to manual configuration.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. They would be perfect, but there's a noise once they are on under heavy load in a warm environment. It might be the case that they are not usable for installations where the loudness damping between the installation room and office is not sufficient.

The primary use case of this solution is for Network connection and centralized monitoring and troubleshooting.

The switching configuration is very simple and not as complicated as Cisco. It's easy to do and the deployment is very quick.

When it comes to RMA, the replacement of Aruba parts is very good, and they are very prompt.

There is a limited lifetime warranty with the switches, so if we have any problems, the switch is replaced very quickly. As an example, if I call in the morning, by tomorrow I will receive a box with the replacement.

Visibility and controls need to be improved. When I compare the Aruba switch with Meraki, Meraki has more visibility and more controls.

HPE Aruba has not done any development and research on the SD LAN. They may have another solution for the SD LAN.

Aruba should have SD LAN features to provide more visibility on the network and to be able to control things like the traffic shifting or for voice or data. Currently, Aruba does not have this capability.

It may be there, but it's tedious.

In the next release or the very near future, I think that it is very important to simplify the dashboard and features similar to Meraki. Meraki has a good dashboard and the way they are presenting the information is very useful.

I am forced to consider changing products because other solutions have a better dashboard and a user-friendly interface. Other solutions also have better control and visibility.

This solution is quite stable. To date, we have not had any complaints.

We have our HP IMC (Intelligence Management Center), which is a centralized management control center where I can monitor all of the switches. I can monitor the health of the network appliances, and the CPUs main process. Everything.

This solution is scalable.

We have not had to contact technical support. We handle the issues with our in-house resources.

I have experience with Cisco Meraki switches.

The initial setup is very easy.

The implementation and configuration are not that difficult.

If you have ten to fifteen switches it can take a day. You have to stack it, then put them all together, complete the configuration, the hardening, and the testing, that is a complete full day, eight hours.

I would recommend this product.

I would rate this product a seven out of ten.