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Aruba Airwave vs Cisco Prime [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (4th)
Cisco Prime [EOL]
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmet Bulbul - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Consultant at Data Market
Reports generation remains efficient while support and updates require attention
The biggest problem for not using Aruba Airwave extensively now is that HP is not upgrading this tool. They're not investing money and time into it, which is why we're not using it. I find the price of Aruba Central compared to Aruba Airwave to be more expensive. Customers start to complain and get annoyed about the license price. For example, when customers have 500 access points and features about access point licenses, moving to Central requires purchasing new licenses. This makes customers annoyed and complaining about this situation. It's hard to move from on-premises to Central because they always compare costs. If Aruba gave free licenses, they could move. But going to cloud and Central means more investment, and their budget doesn't cover the new investment. This creates problems for local partner companies.
AR
Network Engineer at Edmonton Catholic School Board
Has an easy implementation process, but the performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive
The project implementation was easy overall. Adapting Cisco's solutions to our specific environment required effort, as their documentation only covers some network scenarios. The deployment didn't happen all at once; it was staged and controlled to ensure a smooth transition. We started with a small test environment before gradually rolling it out to all campuses. This gradual approach helped mitigate the risk of any issues arising across multiple locations simultaneously, especially on a critical day like Monday morning. We have a team of three executives working on the process. Their job roles included network specialists and a manager. It requires maintenance, which is included in the annual cost. We receive updates and support as part of the renewal process.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is not overly expensive."
"What I like best about Aruba Airwave is its orchestration feature because it saves configuration time. I also like that it allows you to do ZTP installations for new Aruba equipment."
"It facilitated creating floor maps."
"It has improved my organization by increasing troubleshooting opportunities which makes things more efficient."
"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."
"The cost is perfect because the devices have a lifetime warranty, and the licensing is good as well."
"Aruba Airwave provides a robust solution for monitoring and configuring Wi-Fi networks."
"All the technical support goes through our contractor. It is a local support, and it is perfect."
"The product has a lot of features and capabilities."
"We use this solution to troubleshoot our wireless systems, specifically regarding signal strength."
"Our clients are happy with Prime, the stability is good and it's easy to manage."
"As a large organization, it is difficult to individually monitor every device. Instead, we use Cisco Prime to keep an eye on the network and services. We do not use it as a node tool, as we have other tools for network operation centers. When services go down, it can cause issues, we rely on Cisco Prime to monitor and notify us of any service disruptions. We mainly use Cisco Prime Infrastructure for configuration-level tasks."
"Enables oversight in order to tweak and tune."
"Cisco Prime is a one-stop place to log in and manage our entire wireless infrastructure."
"The map overview of our campus environment shows the distribution of RF frequency channels and the distribution of a client, providing us with a great idea of where the busier areas are within our environment to allow us to tweak and tune."
"Cisco Prime is user-friendly, so we are comfortable using it."
 

Cons

"Cost is always a big issue for partners."
"We're looking for more device compatibility. Like compatibility with third-party devices."
"I would like to see an integration of services into one system, rather than having multiple systems to do multiple things."
"When attempting to copy a floor plan, it does not copy well, so I often have to redraw the walls. It's somewhat annoying since other Wi-Fi design software we use is easier for drawing walls and including floor plans."
"More devices or vendors should be onboarded to Aruba Airwave."
"I would try to integrate more products from different vendors in future releases. Because that's really good features that Aruba Airway has, but it's so limited."
"The overall monitoring of this solution could be improved."
"Pricing for Aruba Airwave could be cheaper, which is an area for improvement in the solution."
"The solution is not easy to configure. It's not user-friendly for admins."
"The overall management capabilities of Prime need to be improved."
"The product needs to improve its stability."
"That is unacceptable and it's the biggest downfall of the solution."
"Some improvements are needed, specifically in the form of more updates and enhancements."
"The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
"If you look at some of the wireless site-survey tools that are available in the commercial space, Cisco should include similar solutions, which would help our on-plant engineers when they're doing a site survey."
"Cisco Prime is slow at times, we often have to restart the database to run reports or to gain access."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."
"The licensing is on an yearly basis."
"Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."
"We must buy a new license to connect more devices to scale up the solution."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The cost is perfect because the devices have a lifetime warranty, and the licensing is good as well."
"This product is not expensive."
"It's device-based licensing. One device requires one license."
"You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive."
"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"We update the license every five years."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
12%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise24
 

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
Cisco Prime Infrastructure
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa
Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.