Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and Aruba Wireless compete in the wireless networking category. Cisco Meraki may have the upper hand due to its streamlined deployment and cloud management, while Aruba offers competitive pricing and strong security features.
Features: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers robust cloud management capabilities, location tracking, and Air Marshal for interference reduction. Aruba Wireless offers advanced tunability, strong integration capabilities, and advanced security options beneficial for complex deployments.
Room for Improvement: Cisco Meraki's weaknesses include its complicated licensing model, scalability issues for large enterprises, and lack of multi-tenant solutions. Aruba Wireless struggles with dashboard usability, lacks setup simplicity, and could improve security and analytics.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Meraki provides quick deployment and effective cloud-based management, though technical support can vary by region. Aruba Wireless is versatile but has challenges due to dashboard complexity; however, its customer support is consistent, despite occasional delays.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Meraki offers high-quality features with a higher price point but justifies it with long-term ROI through operational efficiency. Aruba Wireless is competitively priced, providing good value for smaller businesses, with users acknowledging its substantial features and strong ROI.
There is no need to buy additional controllers for managing access points.
There are significant time savings, around thirty to forty percent, due to minimal disconnections.
I only needed support once or twice for a replacement, and it was handled smoothly without any difficulty.
Support for Aruba Wireless is good, but the skill set of the support engineers and the documentation are not as robust as Cisco.
I would rate their technical support nine out of ten.
It would be better if the SLA of technical support was less than four hours.
The solution is scalable, as multiple sites connect seamlessly.
It is easy to adapt and very scalable.
Meraki is not scalable enough since it straightforwardly maps its products to segmented specifications.
I have been using the product for the last nine years without facing any issues post-installation.
Aruba Wireless is stable.
I don't remember it going down during the years it existed.
We have experienced many instances where we have experienced a lag in our network, and I am not sure if it is due to their devices or our network.
Stability is not an issue for me because it comes with Cisco's proven manufacturer quality.
While the technical specifications are satisfactory, the access points are expensive.
Tools should be provided for guest access without requiring external software.
Zero-touch provisioning is needed, and although a cloud version is available, like Aruba Central, easier provisioning and configuration would be beneficial in the future.
The most important improvement needed is to eliminate the limitation of uplinks.
Some of the newer models of the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN access point have encompassed the new wireless protocols and increased the strength of their antennas.
The pricing seems reasonable compared to other brands; however, it is too expensive for smaller businesses.
The pricing can be expensive.
The initial prices were more affordable compared to the current high prices.
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is on par with other devices in that category, offering competitive pricing.
The pricing of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is not competitive enough for the SMB market compared to other brands.
I am very satisfied with the roaming feature, as it ensures connectivity when moving from one location to another.
It has many features and is integrated with Azure AD and multiple active directories, making authentication easy.
I do not need to buy a controller for the access point since the Aruba Access Point has a built-in virtual controller.
It also manages security clients and switches, providing a single dashboard to manage multiple network infrastructures.
The ability to program all access points from the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN dashboard, view the status of all of them, and examine the individual devices connected to each access point is very valuable.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Aruba Wireless | 15.4% |
| Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN | 11.5% |
| Other | 73.1% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 76 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 46 |
| Large Enterprise | 73 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 68 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 26 |
| Large Enterprise | 31 |
Aruba Wireless is a secure, high-performance, multi-user wireless LAN supporting Wi-Fi 6. As workplaces and user expectations change, users can now maintain hybrid workplaces and IoT without compromising performance, reliability, or security. Aruba Wireless delivers better performance and capacity and greater AIOps visibility throughout all devices and users. In addition, through built-in network intelligence, network operations are made simpler while keeping everything secure through user and guest encryption.
Aruba Wireless, offered through Aruba Networks, is helping achieve digital transformation and IoT with seamless connectivity through multiple Wi-Fi access points. For the user’s convenience, Aruba Wireless provides indoor, outdoor, and remote access points to help boost faster and safer connectivity.
Choosing Aruba Wireless can help improve your organization’s user experience with wireless LAN in many ways, including:
Aruba Gateways and Controllers
Small organizations as well as large enterprises require excellent performance and security for cloud, mobility, and digital transformation. Therefore, in addition to the access points, Aruba Wireless also offers a variety of gateways and controllers, including:
Reviews from Real Users
Aruba Networks is aiding organizations in transforming to a hybrid work environment with Aruba Wireless. Users especially love its ability to work with many devices and its ability to group and manage access points.
A senior IT solutions architect at a manufacturing company says, "The most valuable feature is the fact that it can work with many devices. It supports everything that we need it to."
Gary F., a network administrator at wireless at Abilene Christian, notes, "I like the way it groups and manages access points."
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