Aruba Wireless Reviews

We were coming from a first-generation wireless network, and now I can use RF optimization for controllers. This is a major advancement for us and we're much happier for having it.

We can now see how many devices and how many users are on our network and where the usage hotspots are. Previously, we didn't have any data of this type, which now allows us to better plan our network.

I'd like more specific details of each user.

We just put it into production and in the coming weeks we will receive our new access points.

Deploying it is no problem.

We've had some issues with stability for Mac and iOS users where we've had to disconnect. There may be configuration issues, but I'm not sure.

We're planning for 300 access points, and right now we only have six. We have older HP products, but once we get our new access points, we should be able to scale without problems.

Technical support is very, very good. They've supported us with everything that we need.

The initial setup was straightforward. We have some prior experiences with various types of access-point networks, so it was not an issue.

Make sure you plan ahead of time.

The most valuable features for me are:

• Built-in firewall
• Security
• Authentication
• Remote access
• Stability

Providing wireless to our clinicians and providers allows them to be mobile within the facility and still maintain connectivity to valuable information, like our Electronic Health Record. The remote access through RAPS is a feature that simplifies access for our providers at home, and provides continuity of security. In addition we provide guest wireless to our patients and families which improves satisfaction.

The configuration is extremely detailed and can be quite complex. For a small IT staff, it is difficult to make changes without outside consulting or Aruba Support.

We've used it for two years. We're using a 3400 controller with AP105 Access Points. The software version is 6.3.1.9_44832.

There were no issues with deployment.

This product has been very stable.

No. We have added Access Points and Remote Access Points as needed. We also expanded to a redundant controller which allows High Availability.

Service has been good - 8/10.

8/10

We switched to Aruba because of the advanced security. In healthcare we have HIPAA compliance to achieve and maintain. Security is a priority.

Setting up the controller is complex. The SSIDs, Authentication methodology, Access, is all quite complex to set up. Not for a novice.

We used a vendor team to implement. We used a third party consulting firm to assist with setting up the redundant controller. Both were very good.

This product is considered infrastructure. It is a cost of doing business. It allows our business to be more flexible and mobile. But there is no direct ROI.

Aruba has made changes to their licensing to make it more cost effective. Work with a partner that is familiar with all of the features in this product so that you get the licensing you need. Not all features are available with basic licensing. You need to determine the feature set you want, and then look at pricing for that feature set.

HP and Cisco. HP was not secure enough. We had HP in house already. We looked at Cisco but did not do a demo or work with a partner. We do not have any Cisco in house. From my own research, Cisco was too expensive and did not have a solution that was a single appliance that could do all of the things that Aruba can do. Their solution required firewalls, controllers, and routers to accomplish the same thing. This may no longer be the case.

Get a good partner. Not just the local IT shop that has wireless experience. Not all wireless vendors are created equal. To get the real bang for the buck, you need an expert to help you decide what you want and to implement it.

Integrated firewall, integrated WIDS/WIPS on the controllers and the ability to tunnel LAN traffic from the switches through the controllers to set consistent 802.1x and access controls that are consistent across both wired and wireless LANs.

It improves security by helping us to centralize access controls and dot1x and set common policy across both wired and wireless LANs without having to install additional components.

The controllers used to include heat map functionality. This was removed in a recent release. To get this functionality now, you need to be using Airwave (AWMS), which adds additional cost. On the other hand, Airwave can be used to manage a multi-vendor environment, so there may be some other benefits to having it deployed, but it would be nice to have the heat map back in the controller.

I've been using it for five years.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

It's excellent.

It's excellent.

Default settings are sufficient to get a functioning wireless network up and running fairly easily. Complexity increases add vLANs, security policy, dot1x, redundancy, etc.

At my previous employer we had a relatively large wireless installation so we worked with a vendor team. The network at my current employer is small enough that I could handle it myself.

Licensing has improved. In the past all redundant controllers required licenses for all the access points. They've not implemented a centralized licensing model so that you only need to license your access points once.

We evaluated Cisco. Cisco's solution, at the time, required additional components to provide the same functionality. For example you'd need external firewalls, IDS/IPS, and authentication servers. Aruba controllers had all this built in. I haven't looked at Cisco's current offerings, so this may not still be the case.

I'd recommend you do the training.

The most valuable aspects are its security and analytical capabilities.

I think when it comes to wireless the industry has changed a lot. When it comes to wireless, the industry has changed a lot and with connectivity everyone uses the same chips and really the same hardware so the quality of radio is very similar for every vendor.

Aruba have put a lot of emphasis on manageability and security, and I think their Airwave and Clearpath products are head and shoulders the best in the industry. They let their customers deploy a wireless network and manage and secure it better than you can do with all other solutions.

The next step is to create better unified story with HP switching. They're part of the same competitor, and their main competitor, Cisco, has a great unified wired/wireless story, and Aruba need to focus on this. They have great management tools and security capabilities, and they need to extend that to the wireless network.
Also, they need to enable the data they collect to be used by more companies. If you think of where wireless is big - schools, hospitals, retail environments - it would be good to capture that data and share it with third-parties so they can enhance their customers' experience.

It's amongst the best in the industry. It's used by lots of small companies but also by some of the largest companies in the world, and there's only a couple of vendors who can be multi-thousand user wireless deployments, and Aruba's one of them. They have a rock solid solution.

It's highly scalable, and I like the way they have orientated their portfolio. They have a configuration called 'Instant' where you don't actually need a controller, you can just start with a couple of access points and get it at relatively low cost. As you scale it out, you can add more access points, and one or two controllers, and manage it through the cloud. So almost any configuration the customer wants they can do, and as it gets larger, you can bring in the management tools. It's not like some solutions where you have to rip it out to go larger.

I think it's great. I've never heard a customer complain and they get you on the phone with an engineer quickly. Obviously it's very focused on wireless so you're not going to be calling them for a wide range of problems. For the solution, they're very good.

It's easy to get going. You can take an access point out of the box and have it running in minutes.

It's been the tech leader in the wireless market for a long time, which is why HP paid so much for them. Using the product is very simple, and there are lots of features unique to them. If you're going to purchase it - and you will pay a premium so it will cost more - take advantage of the security features, management tools, and analytical features.

This solution has been in place for close to 9 years.

Even as the current system we are using is old and the AP's being used are AP-61's, it is still working well.

We have 64 AP's around the site and with more and more students bringing in their wireless devices, we are only now starting to see some cracks. These cracks are to be expected due to the age of the system, and I'm sure it wasn't designed to have more than 1,000-plus devices accessing the network at the same time.

So if the current and future Aruba systems are as good as the old, we should all be fine.

The main reason I chose to implement the HP WLC was due to the limitations of our previous Sonicwall WLC not being able to have layer three provisioning. I would say that feature is the most valuable.

With our old wireless network, we had to put controllers at every location to have wireless access. This product allowed us to have one controller at our central location and still provide wireless to our outlying clinics.

The user interface on the product isn’t terribly intuitive in some areas, especially when setting up VSC’s.

I've been using HP MSM 720 Mobility Controller and 40 HP since April 2014, so approximately 10 months.

I experienced a few issues while deploying the controller. Getting the product to work correctly with a back end RADIUS server proved to be a bit of a task and the lack of documentation didn’t help either.

Stability wise the product has been fairly rock solid. I can’t think of any time I have had to even reboot it since I implemented it.

The particular model (MSM 720) doesn’t provide much in terms of scalability. It only allows for 40 Access Points which my company has about that number.

Customer service on the phone I would rate fairly poorly. On more than one occasion I could not understand the agent or would get disconnected, however, online customer service is much better.

I have only used the HP forums for technical support and it has a pretty good following and a lot of knowledgeable users.

We previously used a Sonicwall NSA3500 for all our needs. We switched due to the lack of Layer three provisioning at the time plus I wasn’t a fan of one device controlling so many aspects of our network and security.

I would say complex, mainly due to the lack of good documentation. All together, it took me about a week to fully get the product in a production state. Coming from a Cisco background it seemed much more cumbersome than their products.

We used an in house team (me).

I am not sure of the ROI at the moment. It has not been implemented long enough for any significant ROI.

Original setup cost for this implementation was around $30,000. Day-to-day the product costs nothing.

Any time we have a project we must have three viable options to choose from. We looked at HP, Cisco and Meru.

• Have a strong knowledge of your internal network
• Study the manual as much as possible
• Focus on VSC’s and Vlan configuration
• If you come from a Cisco background keep in mind you won’t use an access port on the switch port connected to the AP like you would in a Cisco WLC setup, but instead either a trunk or tagged port