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Aruba Airwave vs Broadcom Network Flow Analysis comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 2, 2025

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 Airwave
Ranking in Network Management Applications
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Broadcom Network Flow Analysis
Ranking in Network Management Applications
23rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (76th), Network Troubleshooting (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Aruba Airwave is 3.1%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Broadcom Network Flow Analysis is 2.3%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Airwave3.1%
Broadcom Network Flow Analysis2.3%
Other94.6%
Network Management Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Edward Zeng - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology
Troubleshooting obstacles occur but technical support excels
My general opinion on Aruba Airwave is that it's acceptable, but it's not ideal because we are accustomed to Cisco. We didn't use Aruba much, but once you set it up, you probably don't need to worry about it too much. The version we are using is quite old now, probably around version four. I can't remember the version exactly because a lot of the products require Aruba Central, but we haven't used Aruba Central yet. I face challenges with Aruba Airwave, particularly with troubleshooting. When someone has a problem, we try troubleshooting, but the end-to-end users' messages show some details that are not always up-to-date, and sometimes the information from the GUI is not exactly aligned with what's on the website. If Aruba Airwave can apply AI capabilities, that would be even more perfect. I'd appreciate integration with Aruba Central; it would be great if they could incorporate it into Airwave.
Purneswara Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Consultant at KyndleIT Consulting
A stable tool that helps identify the complete flow analysis in a network
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that the complete flow analysis can be identified through the tool. The classification of each protocol and how the bandwidth utilization is happening with the protocols while managing to get SLAs, IP protocols, and QoS metrics is possible because of the product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We are a solution provider and Aruba Airwave is one of the products that we implement for our customers, and most of our customers use this product to manage and monitor their networks."
"All the technical support goes through our contractor. It is a local support, and it is perfect."
"This solution is definitely stable."
"The solution's initial setup process is straightforward."
"The most beneficial feature for network monitoring in Aruba Airwave is the Live Heat Map. It helps identify interferences, coverage issues, and user connectivity issues. The device management capability of Aruba Airwave is good. It provides end-to-end visibility from the user to the access point, the switch, and the internet breakout. From a monitoring, management, and orchestration standpoint, it is very effective and can manage any scale of deployment."
"I would rate the stability a nine out of ten."
"Aruba Airwave provides a robust solution for monitoring and configuring Wi-Fi networks."
"The monitoring and administration allow configurations for checking the association of the user to the network, then to the AP, then to the switch, and back to the controller."
"For supporting flow-traffic monitoring, this product is the best option."
"This solution has helped our organization by allowing us to have visibility. We deal with cybersecurity, so visibility is very important."
"It is an overall stable solution."
"Despite the low level of support, I would still fully recommend this product, because even when not all the features are used, the advantage of having such a wealth of useful information about the network traffic in real time, together with such flexibility of its presentation, is undeniable."
"The custom report is the most valuable feature."
"Anomaly Detector - This detects the anomaly flows in infra environment and makes job easy to analyze issue."
 

Cons

"More devices or vendors should be onboarded to Aruba Airwave."
"Pricing for Aruba Airwave could be cheaper, which is an area for improvement in the solution."
"I would like to see is “AAS”. Not only Aruba APs with central, but NAC/ClearPass, AirWave, and everything licensed as a Service."
"Its pricing and support could be improved."
"The tool's expensive nature is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"They should make it cheaper. By doing that, they can replace Cisco, which is also very expensive. If it is equivalent to Cisco in the features, with a reduced price, they can sell it more than Cisco."
"We sometimes have problems with troubleshooting between the GUI and the CLI manipulation."
"Sometimes there are some glitches; some access points will behave a little differently, but it is manageable."
"If one is able to find it at all, the documentation is often no help."
"Enhanced support should be given with APIs that work to maintain collected information."
"Prefer this product only if the scope of flow analysis is vast and for a limited scope I don’t prefer this product since the product licenses are very costly and it is a waste of money."
"I would like to see more security features, like a lost protection package."
"Currently, Broadcom Network Flow Analysis does not support high-availability solutions, making it an area that needs improvement."
"Sometimes the custom report jammed in the MYSQL database."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's device-based licensing. One device requires one license."
"The licensing is on an yearly basis."
"The cost is perfect because the devices have a lifetime warranty, and the licensing is good as well."
"Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."
"Aruba Airwave is an expensive solution."
"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."
"It is an expensive solution."
"AirWave is a very expensive solution. If you implement it in a wide range network, it will cost a lot. There is no option to sell it outside that price segment, which is a problem."
"If you make a DX NetOps-based purchase and the complete suite of products that fall under DX NetOps from Broadcom, then you get Network Flow Analysis along with DX NetOps Performance Management and DX Spectrum."
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Construction Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Aruba Airwave?
They have other sensors which can manage and control all the sites. There is an IoT component where we can restrict internet services such as Facebook and YouTube. These things can also be managed....
What is your primary use case for Aruba Airwave?
For Aruba Airwave, I am using the wireless devices for the Wi-Fi for the full company with access points. This is the top product I feel, and I see in the Gartner also. It is a good product and eas...
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Also Known As

No data available
CA NetQoS Reporter Analyzer, CA NFA, CA Network Flow Analysis
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa
Empowered, BCBST
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Airwave vs. Broadcom Network Flow Analysis and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.