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Aruba Access Points vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi
Ranking in Wireless LAN
22nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Access Points is 2.7%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi is 1.2%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Access Points2.7%
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi1.2%
Other96.1%
Wireless LAN
 

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.
reviewer2562924 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT System Support Administrator at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
Configuration offers flexibility but response to incidents needs improvement
We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major incident. We are still trying to identify the cause, which is why I would rate it seven out of ten. Without this incident, I might have rated it eight to nine. Overall, I give the solution a rating of seven.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We had a very great experience with the technical team."
"I find AI Insights valuable."
"The deployment process is straightforward."
"The technical support is perfect."
"The product's initial setup phase is very simple and very easy to use."
"I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. It is a stable product."
"It offers remarkable client-handling capacity."
"Aruba's virtual controller is the most important feature."
"We like that WatchGuard works and integrates directly with the firewalls we use."
"Cloud analytics that provide all its attributes."
"The configuration part of WatchGuard is very flexible."
"All you have to do is take it out of the box, plug it in and you're ready to go."
"The solution has been stable."
"They're very easy to set up and get running."
"If I were tasked to set up new WiFi at a single site, or at multiple locations for hundreds of sites, I would make this solution my first choice."
"The Wi-Fi security features of this solution have been great for our customers who need to strictly control access to their network."
 

Cons

"The product should provide more coverage."
"The solution’s updates and firmware are complicated to upgrade."
"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."
"Customer service rating: 2 out of 10."
"The product's prices are an area of concern. The product should be available at a lower price point."
"When comparing pricing between Aruba Access Points and Forti, I find Aruba to be on the higher side."
"Aruba sometimes redesigns Aruba Central and the web interface, which is sometimes an annoyance."
"The ICT dynamic is important. Every other vendor is innovating with new features and ideas. They need to compete and implement these things to stay ahead. So, I would suggest Aruba continue to gain the competitive edge."
"The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention."
"The solution can be scaled but it has limitations from my experience. The access points are rated for 500 people but I think the max is closer to 200."
"I don't think they're available at the best price."
"If a client device had issues with authentication due to out of date browser or similar difficulties, it would be nice to have the ability to migrate the client onto the portal via one click."
"One of the things is if you buy it with a certain subscription, you can't easily change the subscription level."
"Inability to import a user with one click."
"In terms of improvement, one issue I have is that I can't import a user with one click."
"The price of this solution needs to reviewed, as it is currently high enough to deter customers from trying it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a reasonably priced tool."
"The solution's pricing is nominal and not as costly as Cisco's."
"The product is expensive if you want it to have a long life."
"The tool is available in the market at a reasonable price"
"I implemented seven access points in 2015, and I only spent $6,000 for the whole project."
"Aruba Central is a bit overpriced for some customers."
"The product is costly and comes with a lifetime license. There is neither renewal nor subscription. It is a one-time solution."
"The tool is priced the same as its competitors."
"Your licensing and cost, as would be required for many other solutions, being considered for eighty to two hundred and eighty different physical locations, is just about the same amount per access point."
"The solution is priced high compared to competitors. However, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."
"WatchGuard is on the upper scale for pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Access Points?
I would rate the price for the product as two, with one being high and ten being low.
What needs improvement with Aruba Access Points?
AI is only in Aruba Central, and we don't use Aruba Central yet. Integrating AI in the controller would be a good point for improvement. Performance is an area that could be improved and represents...
What advice do you have for others considering Aruba Access Points?
Aruba Access Points work fine with another product called ClearPass. I integrated it with the Access Point. Overall, I would give a final rating of eight for Aruba Access Points. I would recommend ...
What needs improvement with WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention. Also, when an incident occurs, the impact can be significantly huge. A recent p...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We use WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi because we have used different tools as well, like Ubiquiti. The complexity of Ubiquiti is much more compared to WatchGuard, which provides more flexibility and is ea...
What advice do you have for others considering WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major inc...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Portsmouth Grammar School, HILOTEC
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Access Points vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.