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Aruba Networks Wireless WAN vs Fortinet FortiWLM 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 Networks Wireless WAN
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Wireless WAN (5th)
Fortinet FortiWLM
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is designed for Wireless WAN and holds a mindshare of 3.4%, up 1.8% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiWLM, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless LAN, holds 1.9% mindshare, down 2.1% since last year.
Wireless WAN
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Colly - PeerSpot reviewer
Reasonably priced and offers a good GUI
The product is very scalable. When it comes to some schools, they start with the solution's proof of concept in certain sections. My company aims to improve the throughputs in the schools where the product is installed. If the rest of the School wants the product, it is easy to set up the solution. My company uses Aruba Networks Wireless WAN for schools and warehouses but not in the retail sector. The product offers reliability and uptime twenty-four hours and seven days a week. My company gets notified if the reliability offered by the product goes down. My company also gets notified if we are getting hacked.
Zachary Wheeler - PeerSpot reviewer
Impressive manufacturing quality, highly durable, and very easy to deploy
They need to do more with their marketing. That's what's wrong with them. Nobody knows they do all this other stuff. I love the product. For an enterprise-level system, you never have to explain why you're recommending Fortinet, whereas you might have to do that if you want to use the Ubiquiti Professional or the new Netgear line, but you don't have to explain Fortinet. It has been remarkable to work with. It would be nice if they had some smaller switches or hubs. They should offer two-port, three-port, or four-port devices so that you don't have to buy an eight-port switch, and you don't have to use an unmanaged element, but their product line is very complete, and I can't say enough about it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its most valuable feature is the ease of use."
"The product gives good stability and concurrency."
"The solution is easy to use."
"I appreciate the ease of deployment and management through the centralized console."
"The initial setup of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN can be done quickly, and everything functions smoothly."
"Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is stable and good."
"The most valuable features are price, quality, and performance."
"The GUI is user-friendly and the dashboards are good."
"The firewall integration is very important for the security of the connection."
"The greatest advantage is the security fabric Fortinet offers."
"For me, the ease of setup and the rugged nature in harsh environments are most valuable. So, durability and ease of use have been its best features."
"The product is a stable solution."
"With Fortinet, there is a feature called Network-In-Control. It's the AP controller that decides what the clients are going to connect to... Even though your phone sees, let's say, two APs, since the wireless controller has visibility into and access across all the APs, it knows the best AP for the client to connect to. This way, the controller makes sure that none of the APs is over-crowded, and the spectrum is used properly."
"The most valuable features are central management and the many other features available."
"This is the only product on the market currently that supports as many access points for wifi users."
"The security is a valuable feature."
 

Cons

"We do not have direct access to Aruba’s Mesh portal."
"The customization options could be improved."
"The solution has bugs. It really has bugs, and you have to wait until it happens, then you realize it."
"The integration should be better."
"The only issues are the configuration problems that impact the stability of the solution."
"It is a little bit cumbersome to configure. If you're designing a WLAN and you want to do and cover certain types of clients, you really have to know different settings and how they interact with one another. If they could automate that so that if you are designing for one type of equipment, you could, in essence, run a wizard. That would certainly save on a lot of calls to tech support."
"We have had stability issues with some types of portable devices."
"The issue is that we are unable to update it because we lack the necessary permissions. We set up the website, but we don't have permission to download the software."
"This solution should be easier to set up in a production environment."
"The range needs some improvement and also the stability."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement."
"In terms of improvements, the price is higher than I would like. A reduction in pricing would be beneficial."
"Cost is something that could be improved, but you have to pay for what you get."
"Improving support and firmware upgrades is necessary. Firmware upgrades and bug improvements need to be tested well."
"The pricing model can be improved to encourage use by small business and individuals and the hardware could stand to be redesigned."
"Technical support is very poor. We are not satisfied with the technical support because there is not any direct person from Fortinet for any troubleshooting, which we expected."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"The licenses are available as both perpetual or yearly."
"Aruba Wireless comes with the controller."
"I rate the product's price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is the lowest ,and ten is the highest."
"It is a costly solution."
"With some vendors, the access point is not manageable anymore if you don't maintain the license. It's more or less a doorstop because you can't configure and control it. You can't troubleshoot it unless you maintain the license. That's not true with Aruba."
"The price of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN depends on how you buy it. From a pricing perspective, if you choose to buy Aruba Networks Wireless WAN as an MRC, it's dependent upon the radio and the solution that you choose what your MRC is. If you choose to buy it outright, they're competitive with their competitors, and they're probably four percent or five percent lower than their largest competitor."
"On a scale f one to ten, where one point is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing as eight. Cloud licenses are quite expensive."
"Licensing has become easier. There is no longer a per-AP license needed on the controller."
"The price of Fortinet FortiWLM is reasonable compared to the other vendors. We are using a five-year license."
"There is a perpetual license required for this solution and the price could be reduced."
"The solution is fairly priced."
"Support contracts typically cost approximately $100.00 per year."
"In the last few years, due in part to the impact of COVID on the market, Fortinet has increased its prices by 35 percent."
"If a customer already is a FortiGate customer, the cost to go to the FortiAP is incredibly affordable, because you already have the controller."
"To save yourself from increased setup and maintenance costs, I highly recommend undertaking a proper site survey from the beginning."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Government
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Do you recommend Aruba Network Wireless WAN?
I recommend Aruba Networks Wireless WAN. I have been using Aruba for approximately a decade. It has a great centralized management system, which means we don’t need wireless LAN controllers at ever...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Networks Wireless WAN?
I am not paying anything more apart from the licensing. The only thing I am paying for is the implementation cost.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWLM?
While the pricing of Fortinet FortiWLM is a bit high, it remains effective. However, the cost could be better if reduced.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWLM?
In terms of improvements, the price is higher than I would like. A reduction in pricing would be beneficial.
 

Also Known As

No data available
FortiWLM, FortiAP, Fortinet AP/OAP, Meru Wireless LAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Pittsburgh Golf Club, Rio Rancho Public Schools, Amwaj Rotana - Jumeirah Beach Residence - Dubai, Trevecca Nazarene University
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Ubiquiti Networks, Ruckus, Cambium Networks and others in Wireless WAN. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.