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Aruba Wireless vs SonicWall SonicWave Access Points comparison

 

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 Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
151
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall SonicWave Access ...
Ranking in Wireless LAN
25th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 12.3%, down from 17.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SonicWave Access Points is 1.2%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Wireless12.3%
SonicWall SonicWave Access Points1.2%
Other86.5%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

CK
Network Administrator at Nippon Express Canada Ltd.
Wireless network has supported long-term reliable access and simplifies RF optimization
I have experience with Cisco products and the Cisco brand. The product is mainly a hardware product. Regarding the software part, I don't have a lot of experience. Aruba Wireless was not too difficult to set up. When compared with other products such as Cisco, they also have products with wireless controllers, and it's similar to that. I think it should be recommended for both bigger and smaller companies based on the feedback and our experience. I believe there should be AI functions that might help us in some cases of cybersecurity matters, detecting threats regarding security would be better with AI. For this role, I have more than twenty years of experience. I would rate Aruba Wireless eight out of ten overall.
Winsley De Oliveira - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at ANOC
An industry-leading security and wireless solution packaged in one box
We make our customers SonicWall clients. We have a solution package: If you have a contract to network with us, we will deliver SonicWall firewalls, access points, VPN clients, and all the other equipment with the SonicWall solution. We have been selling this solution for the past 30 years. We had a customer three months ago struggling with a Fortinet solution. We convinced them that the Fortinet solution would not work perfectly during renewal. We made a bet and delivered SonicWall equipment for free for one week, and if they had no more issues, they would buy it. That's precisely what happened. The customer ended up purchasing an $80,000 SonicWall solution. The SonicWall SonicWave Access Points are a good product compared to Cisco, Sophos, and Fortinet. In Brazil, Ruckus is taking market share in some key areas, such as hotels and hospitals. They are into big solutions with thousands of access points. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We like the centralized configuration and monitoring."
"We have been using Aruba Wireless for the past five years."
"The most useful feature of this product is the configuration that allows us to have several areas covered with one unit."
"I like the analytics feature."
"I hardly ever have problems with access points and the failover mechanism works well."
"We find its stability very valuable, as it has been running for the past three years with no default configuration."
"Technical support is quite brilliant and they offer good support as well as product replacement."
"From a person who tried managing multiple wireless device platforms, there were little to no incidents that we receive for Aruba devices for a specific period of time."
"The security features of SonicWall are highly valued."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability to provide cloud access to configure and manage devices."
"I rate SonicWall a nine out of ten."
"This is a very good management option that can be managed through the cloud or firewall, is a very good solution for controlling or managing the device, and offers good integration with many capabilities."
"A good management tool that can be managed through the cloud or firewall."
"Unlike the Cisco solution that needs a dedicated wireless controller outside of a firewall, SonicWall has everything in one box. Fortinet is close to it."
 

Cons

"Additional detailed reporting for client traffic would be a great addition."
"Aruba Wireless is a good product, but it still has some issues, especially at the beginning, where there's inconsistent syncing between the cloud and the APs. Sometimes, there's also a little lag when accessing the query."
"Compared to Cisco in this regard, Arube is not as flexible."
"We needed the help of network consultants to complete the setup for us."
"I used to have issues with DHCP. It is extremely buggy and difficult to upgrade with different firmware versions/models.​"
"I would like to see the management improve."
"Lots of flexibility but with flexibility comes complexity."
"Aruba’s poor performance and random upgrade issues caused too much time consuming maintenance and troubleshooting."
"We have a lot of overlapping wireless networks with a lot of cheap equipment that does not run on any rules or regulations. The best way to improve the wireless network, like in SonicWaves, is to defeat these networks by isolating, preventing them, or overcoming their wireless signal. We try to do that, but I live near an airport, and the AirPortRadar glitches my wireless network every nine seconds."
"Integrating with the firewall and management console was a little complex."
"The product's pricing is high and could be improved."
"The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration."
"Integrating with the firewall and management console was a little complex."
"They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco is more expensive than Aruba or Juniper."
"When you look at the price it is a higher price than Cisco."
"Aruba Wireless is the best for the price. Aruba Wireless is the least expensive, the second is Huawei, and the most expensive is Cisco."
"The price of Aruba Wireless should be cheaper."
"Aruba Wireless is much cheaper than our previous solution by Cisco. It is a significant saving, measured in thousands of dollars per year."
"The price is low. There is an additional cost for maintenance."
"The price is reasonable. I would rate the cost as 8 out of 10."
"The access points are more cost-effective over some other providers, both in cost per AP and the option of a controller-less environment."
"The platform offers yearly licenses."
"The pricing of the SonicWave Access Points solution is different in the US and Brazil. In the US, the solution is priced more competitively than other vendors. In Brazil, the exchange rate is a problem. To address this, SonicWall managers in Brazil are running several sales promotions and improving the price of new units."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
President at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Mar 24, 2015
Cisco vs. Aruba Wireless Solutions
Cisco or Aruba Networks? If you are considering wireless access solutions, this is a common question that you are probably asking. You probably have sales people knocking at your door. How do you make sense of all the stories that you are presented with. If you have done any research, you are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business77
Midsize Enterprise47
Large Enterprise75
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?
Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...
Aruba Wireless or Ruckus Wireless?
At my organization, we researched Ruckus Wireless among other solutions but ultimately chose Aruba wireless. What did we like about Ruckus? First, it was very easy to use, and anybody with minimal...
How does Cisco Wireless compare with Aruba Wireless?
On the most basic level, Cisco Wireless can offer a rather straightforward initial setup. In the span of about three hours, the basic framework can be set up. Step-by-step instructions are availabl...
What needs improvement with SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration.
What is your primary use case for SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
I am using the SonicWall SonicWave Access Point for our Proof of Concept (POC) to our customers.
What advice do you have for others considering SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
I rate SonicWall a nine out of ten. It should provide training to end users to enhance their knowledge.
 

Also Known As

Aruba WLAN, HP WLAN, HP Wireless, Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Point
SonicWave 200 Series, SonicWave 200 Series Access Points, SonicWave 400 Series, SonicWave 400 Series Access Points
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified School District, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities
St. Dominic's School for Girls
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. SonicWall SonicWave Access Points and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.