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Aruba Access Points vs Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Access Points
Ranking in Wireless LAN
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Wireless 9100 Access ...
Ranking in Wireless LAN
12th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

HJ
Telecommunication Engineer at Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia
Wireless connectivity has remained reliable and supports flexible, cloud‑independent management
As I already mentioned, the ability to stay with self-hosting solutions for central management is what I think could be improved about Aruba Access Points. If this becomes available in the future, I think it should change the game. However, I don't currently see this because I see nothing about AirWave anymore on your roadmap. I don't understand what happens next. There are some problems in assessing the performance of Aruba Access Points in environments with high user density. If there is a dense environment, a mobility controller would be the one you should go with because this needs more telemetry to calculate. I suspect this will be easier to do with local administration or local management because if everything goes over the internet through Aruba Central, it takes time. Every decision the central management makes takes extra latency to send over to the local area network. I think this is not a good approach to move to central management that is hosted somewhere far away. It should still retain the functionality to use Instant AP functionality that is available until 500 and maybe 600 as well. If you go to software version 10 and future versions, then you lose this functionality and you can't go back anymore. It would be good to assist with local location management and BLE-based functionalities as additional features I expect from future Aruba Access Points. There were some attempts to support third-party integrations through cooperation between Aruba and Meridian. However, I don't understand what happened there, and nothing is clear in this area. IoT will also be very important for people. You should add functionality to the platform that will support third-party IoT devices.
Bharath _Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at Velocis Systems
Wireless has delivered advanced analytics and remote troubleshooting for diverse use cases
Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points is valuable because of Cisco's Wi-Fi integration with Cisco Spaces, previously called DNA Spaces. When you bundle Cisco AP with Cisco Spaces, the complete wireless story comes into the picture. The first major advantage is the hardware, the chipset, the processor, and the IOS. There is unified licensing and unified iOS, and once you have DNA advantage, you can get a separate AVIX and the Wi-Fi 6 or 6E dashboard in DNAC. These advantages provide basic throughput support, OFDMA, multi-MIMO architecture, and the latest 4K QAM in Wi-Fi 7, previously 1024 QAM, and MLO in Wi-Fi 7. These functionalities exist for every OEM, but the Cisco advantage is the integration with Wi-Fi Spaces. Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points includes one AP that can operate in dual mode. You can onboard it in Meraki or Catalyst, meaning on-premises or cloud controller. Single hardware can be dual OS, either Meraki OS or Catalyst OS. For IoT and industrial wireless, Cisco has a different technology called CURV. The APs are different from the Catalyst 9000 series APs. There is a different set of series with different models working on fluid mesh architecture of Cisco CURV. Remote troubleshooting is a basic functionality of any SDN controller these days. Engineers do not need to manually log in to the end device, which could be either a switch or an AP. From DNA Center itself, you can get visibility from the assurance. You can get client 360, network 360, and application 360 where the health scores of each individual client are clearly visible in DNAC Center. The assurance data provides visibility and highlights the issues that a particular user or particular network node is facing. You can access the device without any challenge. Similar to how SD-WAN came into the picture seven to eight years ago where you could remotely log in to the WAN edge devices and troubleshoot it, the same principle is being applied in DNAC Center for the campus, whether it is switching or WAN. If the RTT latency has been met from the branch to the place where DNAC Center is deployed, you can easily access those devices without needing an engineer to visit that particular location for troubleshooting.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I like the solution because of its throughput and low latency. It has resolved roaming issues for my customers."
"The main advantage of Aruba Access Points is their on-premises controllers, and the solution is not complex but rather user-friendly and easy to use— even without a controller, small networks can be established for SMB environments."
"Technical support for Aruba access points in India is very good."
"The solution's support, stability, scalability, and good redundancy features are beneficial for our network management."
"Aruba products are good. The Middle Eastern marketplace is one of the biggest markets where Aruba products are preferred."
"We like the flexibility and the security, and the product is very easy to use."
"The product's initial setup phase is very simple and very easy to use."
"The Adaptive Radio Management feature is quite good."
"Cisco is technically superior to competitors."
"The biggest benefit from Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points for me and my clients is that it has many options for tuning the configuration and the radio profile for wireless."
"My favorite thing about Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points is that they just work, and they work reliably."
"Wi-Fi 6 technology has improved wireless connectivity to such an extent that LAN cable connectivity is no longer necessary, allowing users to work remotely with Wi-Fi connectivity while achieving both speed and scalability."
"What I appreciate about Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points is the convenience to operate them and install them across locations remotely or on-premise."
"There is not much in terms of potential improvement for Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points; the product is good on wireless."
"Wi-Fi 7 and WPA3 connectivity has made a difference for my organization as it allows for better and faster connectivity."
"Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points is valuable because of Cisco's Wi-Fi integration with Cisco Spaces, previously called DNA Spaces."
 

Cons

"There should be enhancements to support open Wi-Fi technology for seamless authentication across different access points."
"Aruba sometimes redesigns Aruba Central and the web interface, which is sometimes an annoyance."
"Aruba Access Points should improve its automation."
"Customer service rating: 2 out of 10."
"The disadvantage of Aruba Access Points is experienced by me when I need it to offer me a long range of coverage."
"Since we manufacture medical devices, we must adhere to pharmaceutical guidelines. According to these guidelines, our rooms are categorized as 'head type' and thus require network connectivity. However, installing high-end APs in every room may not be feasible."
"The pricing can be improved."
"The product should improve its integration and the grouping of the features and functions."
"Technical support from Cisco has been a bit degraded lately because the first support we get is challenging."
"Theoretically, you can connect up to 100 clients simultaneously, but practically, this is not feasible. There will be bandwidth deterioration, and 100 clients using the same bandwidth will impact the quality of service."
"Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points are expensive. They are definitely expensive."
"The deployment process itself is complex because we need to ensure that software requirements are running."
"Frankly, ease of use is one of the things that needs improvement, as the management interfaces have always been complex and not very intuitive."
"Apart from that, the security measures of Cisco have not provided us with great help in reducing network vulnerabilities."
"Cisco is always expensive. In terms of pricing, it is very tough because I have lost many RFPs because of the pricing where Ruckus is much less expensive."
"I do not see support for advanced wireless technologies like Wi-Fi 6 and IoT applications."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Overall, I would say the pricing is reasonable and meets our expectations."
"It is a reasonably priced tool."
"The pricing is competitive. It is neither cheap nor expensive. It is moderate. It offers better price than Cisco and other competitors."
"The tool is available in the market at a reasonable price"
"The product is expensive if you want it to have a long life."
"I implemented seven access points in 2015, and I only spent $6,000 for the whole project."
"My company needs to pay around 50,000 JPY to 1,00,000 JPY towards the licensing costs of the product on a monthly basis. Additional payments are to be made towards the maintenance and support costs of the product."
"Aruba Central is a bit overpriced for some customers."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
23%
Marketing Services Firm
18%
Outsourcing Company
11%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Access Points?
When comparing pricing between Aruba Access Points and Forti, I find Aruba to be on the higher side.
What needs improvement with Aruba Access Points?
As I already mentioned, the ability to stay with self-hosting solutions for central management is what I think could be improved about Aruba Access Points. If this becomes available in the future, ...
What advice do you have for others considering Aruba Access Points?
I'm very pleased with Aruba Access Points. I'm even using Aruba's 500 series at my home, so I'm very pleased with it. To be honest, I must consider dealing with Ubiquiti because we have some tender...
What needs improvement with Catalyst 9100 Access Points?
I do not see support for advanced wireless technologies like Wi-Fi 6 and IoT applications. There is nothing to add on this technology.
What is your primary use case for Catalyst 9100 Access Points?
The major use case is to couple that with the WLC wireless controller and push the different SSIDs on these access points to permit different devices and endpoints to connect to it.
What advice do you have for others considering Catalyst 9100 Access Points?
In these last ten years, the projects I made were for customers, but right now, I am a client and a customer. Cisco Wireless support for IoT is good and effective. We do not use AI analytics in Cis...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Catalyst 9100 Access Points
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Access Points vs. Cisco Wireless 9100 Access Points and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.