Aruba Wireless Reviews

There are a couple of valuable features of Aruba Wireless for us. First is ClearPass, which is an authentication product, and second is AirWave, which is a reporting function.

AirWave allows us to do different reporting on WiFi utilization at our different campuses so I can break down different areas of the college and find out how many users are using the network at any given time. I can find out the utilization of different access points, which allows me to do capacity management.

It needs the ability to perform mobility device management. They should have some kind of mobility device management built into the product.

You need to make sure that the controllers at the access points have the capacity to handle the additional licenses. Otherwise, buying additional licenses won't necessarily scale.

We're very happy with the Aruba. We've been using them for about the past five years.

We've had no issues with deployment.

For the most part, stability is excellent.

All you need to do is buy licenses for the access points that you have on those campuses.

9/10. The customer service we get from our sales rep is excellent.

Technical support is always going to take more time. If there's any kind of issue it needs to be replicated, it needs to be taken away and examined certainly more than customer service.

We were using another vendor to provide WiFi capabilities. Although it didn't have any limitations, Aruba integrated better with our existing equipment.

It's very easily set up.

I don't know what the ROI is on this. It's difficult to value the experience that the students have and the staff have, so to put an actual number on that is going to be very difficult.

We looked at other vendors before deciding on Aruba.

Make sure you're fully aware of all the products around WiFi and capitalize on any ones that are out there that would help your specific environment.

• Firewall
• Virtual controller
• Compatibility with controller-based and controller-less solutions

It supports different classes of services for different types of users, has easy management, is easy to use, etc.

The RF needs to be improved.

We started using it one month ago.

There have been no issues with the deployment.

8/10

There have been no scalability issues.

8/10

I'd rate technical support 9 out of 10.

We switched for its new and advanced features, as well the lifetime warranty.

It's just plug-and-play.

We implemented it with support of vendor and I would rate them as 9/10.

The IAP licence that we use is free.

• Cisco
• Eugenius
• Ubiquity

It is a very stable and scalable solution.

Four years ago, our network was incapable of handling our anticipated throughput. We knew we had issues in our network, so we made sure our switches and infrastructure were OpenFlow-enabled. We originally planned for three devices per student, but now we're seeing four or five and sometimes more with wearable devices. Now, with Aruba Wireless, we're SDN-enabled with networking thrust re-route or pick-ups at the switch edges.

Aruba Wireless allows us to integrate our network with different HP technologies. We want to have a single vendor with a rapid-enough life-cycle. HP isn't held back by the workload or lowest common denominator, or by the fact that we have locations in Australia, Vietnam, and other places on that side of the globe. We can use Aruba Wireless everywhere and manage it effectively. It is doing everything we need it to do and it's giving me the flexibility to go where I want to go.

It could always be improved to be a better risk-related investment. We need to maximum our investment and to have it work to its fullest potential for us. I'd like to see it get to the point where SDN works well with HP Net Protector.

We've had no issues with deployment.

We had lots of issues on the network routers until about 12 months ago, having to do with the architecture. We had too much load at the core by allowing too many wireless users.

We run two-and-a-half gigabytes through the wireless system. We're looking for even greater throughput, and I think it'll scale to accommodate this.

Technical support has been good. We have a support contract with HP and access to the right people when we need them. However, HP's presence in Australia is a little light.

Definitely look at SDN to take some costs out of your network. If you can, go with HP ConvergedSystem because it's the simplest, fastest way to virtualize your networks.

For us, the most valuable feature is the ability to access our office's network. Once you are authorized to gain access, it's a solution that makes doing so a seamless process. Connecting to wifi at our office is something we should be taking for granted.

It's too pricey, to be honest. There's not really much difference between the wireless vendors and competition is tight. Aruba would have a bigger advantage if it weren't so pricey.

They deploy without issues.

Stability is really good and something we're very happy about. We just install it and they last until they die, which is a really long time.

They can go from short range to long range, and there are many new features for connecting additional users.

We chose HP because of the price. It's a good solution and best-suited for us.

The initial setup was very straightforward.

We used a vendor team for implementation.

We always evaluate other options when considering IT solutions. We looked at Cisco and Juniper, but HP/Aruba is better.

The most valuable features of these wireless controllers for us are the advanced security and management features. They're excellent and provide our users with protection over-the-air.

They've improved our clients' organizations by providing the flexibility to choose different models depending on, for example, the number of APs they want to deploy and other criteria. 

They're also easily upgradeable to higher versions and the licenses can be transferred easily.

Aruba adds more and more features to them all the time, but having to buy additional licenses for new features can get pretty expensive, especially when a client wants to stay up-to-date.

They deploy well without issues.

It's a very stable product. Right now, we have several deployments and we'll know whether there are problems with these controllers.

The 7000 is highly scalable. You can start with a lower controller model, and as a client's requirement increases, you can always migrate to a newer model. They'll still have all the licenses that they previously purchased.

The initial setup for the 7000 is straightforward for us. We're trained and certified engineers. But for someone who isn't, it's very complex.

We've done several migrations from competitive products, but Aruba is better because of the technology and the price. They also integrate well with other Aruba applications, such as ClearPass.

The most useful feature of Aruba Wireless, as with all Aruba products generally, is the software and controls. Wireless has many APs and client management software. They're able to push clients based on profile matching to different nearby APs. For example, if there are 75 APs in one area, such as a lobby entrance, you can have an AP next door with one client on Aruba software, and the APs will be able to push a set number of clients.

In our hospital lobby, we have on average 700 clients trying to connect at the same time. Using the software, we've been able to make sure that everyone's able to connect.

Our entire switching and LAN infrastructure is based on HP along with Cisco. We have about 10,000 access points, but Aruba provides our the client solution. So far, two smaller controllers are able to handle our entire guest infrastructure, which is something around 15,000 concurrent users on the wireless network.

We've had it for about three years now.

It deploys well for us.

The stability is only decent. You shove in an extra controller and it works generally, but you have to be careful to properly configure it.

The licensing works during peak hours but not during non-peak hours. We're expecting in the near future around 15,000 handheld devices as well as 9,000 BYOD, probably next year.

We've had no problems with technical support. We know the Aruba technicians in Denmark.

We evaluated Cisco APs. Aruba's APs are nice and the management solutions are pretty good. Cisco and Aruba play nicely together.

The most valuable feature for us is the support they provide us. We're putting together a budget for upgrading to another Aruba kit, but we always know that the support will be there.

It's a reliable product and it just works. We haven't had to really do anything with it. We don't have much budgeted for WiFi because we only have a couple of small offices, but the product is light, very effective, and incredibly reliable for both our employees and guests. I think it'll drive our BYOD policy for more guests who come into our office.

I don't like how the traffic comes out of the controller. Users connect to the wireless APs and all the traffic converges to the controller and then back out again. This is probably not a limitation but a design issue.

We use Aruba in our manufacturing facilities for the handheld wireless scanners in warehouse production environments.

We've had no issues with deployment.

It's been stable. We started out with a small warehouse and then we went into the next warehouse then to the productions areas and other spaces.

We use it the most in our largest manufacturing site with several big warehouses. It scaled just find in this environment.

I wasn't involved in the setup about four years ago.

We looked at HP/Aruba and Cisco.

The most valuable feature for us is High Density as it allows us to provide coverage for lots of our students both in the same classroom and across campus.

It really drives our WiFi function because 95% of the network connections are from student BYOD. It provides location awareness and uses HP's software, which is great.

The location-based software isn't quite there yet and we haven't been able to use it the way that works best for us.

We've used it for over 15 years now. It's been a long journey.

We've had no issues with deployment.

I find that its stability is better than most of the other products we've used over the years.

We don't have any notable issues with scalability right now. From time to time, we've noticed that with 5,500 APs, we do have some issues, but they're not anything we wouldn't expect.

We've used Meru and Cisco, but Aruba's proven to be the best.

Consider all the software and add-ons for it because they can increase the value of it for something more than WiFi. Put everything together to maximize the benefit for your company.