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Aruba Wireless vs Ubiquiti WLAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 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 Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
147
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Ubiquiti WLAN
Ranking in Wireless LAN
7th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 17.7%, down from 23.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ubiquiti WLAN is 5.1%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Q&A Highlights

Julia Miller - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 17, 2018
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad_Faisal - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience seamless connectivity with top-notch roaming capabilities
The Aruba Wireless solution has excellent roaming capabilities, ensuring seamless connectivity. Once installed, Aruba Wireless works robustly without overheating issues. This is particularly effective compared to other products I've used, like FortiMonitor and FortiAPs, which sometimes heat up. I am very satisfied with the roaming feature, as it ensures connectivity when moving from one location to another. The product's stability, after setting it up, adds to its value.
Gabriele-Pizzigati - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing installations through one interface enhances efficiency but AI features improvement
Ubiquiti Wireless LAN is reliable and offers a good quality product. It provides one interface to manage all installations, allowing me to monitor all customers through the same web interface. The web interface in the controller allows for quick configuration of devices with just one click, which is a significant advantage.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Aruba Central is a valuable feature because I can monitor access points remotely, even if I'm not in the office."
"The solution has been helpful in improving the way our company functions."
"The tool's most valuable feature is Aruba Central, which offers centralized management. You can manage its switches, APs, and data access. It is easy to manage the entire switches and APs. The solution is the best in terms of security and manageability."
"The most important feature is all about the two wavelengths, the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz, and the access points which are connected to this wireless controller."
"With Aruba Instant, we can use the access points independently, allowing us to position them in many places."
"The most valuable features of Aruba Wireless are the seamless feature and the concurrent user."
"If we really want to know where a specific user is connected, it gives us the ability to see that and how that user is actually receiving. We can know the speed and their IP, their MAC address and, most of the time, how much bandwidth they're using per day."
"The dashboard tells us who is using most of the bandwidth, and how many APs are not in good range, or that do not actually have good security. It shows us which users are trying to hack or how many users are trying to use BitTorrent. So it gives us very good visibility into the user."
"Ubiquiti WLAN has good availability, and it is much cheaper."
"The initial setup was very straightforward."
"The solution has a lot of great features."
"Firstly, I initially purchased the device to build a VPN, and one very valuable feature for me was the ability to create a layer two VPN, which was available on the legacy ER router. It allowed me to expand a subnet to a remote site, which was essential for my setup. Additionally, I appreciated that the CLI of the router was similar to other Juniper products that I was familiar with."
"The ease of use and simplicity of the solution is its most valuable feature. This tool is best suited for small environments."
"It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The initial setup process was relatively straightforward, with only minor challenges typically caused by user errors, such as password mismatches."
"I use Ubiquiti WLAN because it's cheap and performs well. The range is its best feature for improving network performance."
 

Cons

"I wish the APs had the ability to enter in notes about a specific AP."
"There is a lot of information for users about the product, but it needs to be better organized so that solutions are easier to find."
"There were some settings which were confusing and unlabeled when trying to use the online help with the newer firmware.​"
"Currently, the stability of the code is the basic underlying problem for us. They had an 8.6 release that came out two weeks ago, but we had to migrate twice because the code wasn't stable. We can't get things to work the same way. Version 8 was a big change for them. They made a change so that it is forced to be a managed hierarchical system. It means that you make changes at the top, and it pushes them downstream. There are a lot of problems with the 8.6 version code. I ran into four bugs in one week and was informed that we should just move onto the next one because all of those fixes have taken place. The feedback loop for fixes is not always really relayed back to you. I don't have a lot of strong things to say about version 8.6. When we had version 6, the controller was pretty much rock solid. We had no problems. We made a heavy investment to migrate a lot of stuff to take advantage of things like WPA3, Wi-Fi 6, and all that kind of stuff, and we haven't been able to turn those features on because we are not confident that they are going to work just yet. So, right now, we're still very much stumbling through the version 8.6 code and just trying to make sure that it is safe before we turn on some of those features. In terms of the marketplace, they are one of the top three leaders. In some respects, one of the things that they focus on is wireless. Therefore, there are some things that should be beyond reproach, as far as I'm concerned. In terms of the stability of the code, there are always going to be bugs, but the core stability of the code needs to be there. When it is not stable, that's a real problem for me because you lose a lot of confidence in the products."
"Configuration for this solution could be made easier, so people could benefit from being able to configure it within a quicker amount of time."
"Their documentation needs to be improved. Aruba's documentation is poor."
"Improvements to the GUI, such as being able to search in the Mobility Master, would be nice."
"We need security features to recognize the traffic source and to apply Zero Trust security."
"Switching devices requires reconfiguration from scratch."
"The product needs to improve the user interface in the migration from old to new versions."
"The solution is stable but could improve."
"The downside is the interface changes, where they are constantly doing firmware updates."
"During the configuration, we cannot get information on the network level from the regular interface."
"The solution should include and expand on a central management system."
"The product’s bandwidth could be better."
"Support from Ubiquiti is hard to obtain. However, there is a good forum where a lot of information can be found."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's cost is affordable."
"We have some licenses for the solution, and we need not renew licenses. But we need to pay a hundred thousand if you want to renew our subscription and renew the hardware."
"The support pricing for Juniper Mist is higher than Aruba."
"The pricing has increased and it was always more costly than some of the other solutions available."
"The product is expensive."
"A recent change is that ClearPass licensing is superb. It counts user-based instead of device-based, for BYOD on-boarding."
"Aruba is less expensive than Cisco."
"​We will be buying the ClearPass solution, which will be pricey. However, in the trial version, it has even more tools to manage a busy network.​"
"This product is more cost-effective than some others on the market."
"Its cost is reasonable."
"The pricing is very reasonable."
"There is no licensing cost for this solution."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The software to control it is free. The license is when we buy the Cloud Key."
"The tool's price is very friendly."
"Ubiquiti WLAN is less expensive than Ruckus, but its price could be improved to make it more affordable and accessible."
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Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Answers from the Community

Julia Miller - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 17, 2018
Sep 17, 2018
I'd have to say Aruba over Ubiquiti - Ubiquiti, to me, is more of a poor persons' Wi-Fi system and not really reliably suited for the serious commercial market. Here in the Bahamas we have Aruba for our local university campus and are now deploying the same for the local cable company. It is simply a night and day comparison in my opinion. Also, Aruba has many more features and is well suited f...
2 out of 18 answers
AP
Aug 29, 2018
Aruba. But Cisco Meraki is better. El mié., 29 de ago. de 2018 09:32, Nick Regan from IT Central Station < site-admin@itcentralstation.com> escribió:
MF
Aug 29, 2018
I like both. Aruba are more expensive than Ubiquiti. And support for Aruba (Paid support) would probably be better. But for the price I lean towards Ubiquiti products. Mike Fulton | IT Consultant P: (317) 972-7094 Ext. 25628 | C: (317) 450-5010 9702 East 30th Street | Indianapolis, IN 46229 mfulton@19thcapital.com | www.qualityco.com [cid:image002.png@01D41828.764419C0] DOING BUSINESS AS QUALITY COMPANIES STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY: The information in this message is privileged and confidential and is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that you are prohibited from disseminating distributing or copying the information contained in this message. If you have received this message in error please notify the sender immediately and destroy all copies of the original message.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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...
Is Ubiquiti Wireless better than Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ubiquiti Wireless is extremely easy to set up and is an excellent option for small businesses, offering enterprise features for a one-time fee and no ongoing licensing fees. Ubiquiti Wireless is ve...
Which is better - Ubiquiti WLAN or Aruba Instant?
We researched Ubiquiti and Aruba when looking for a WLAN solution. Ubiquiti offers good WLAN access both indoors and outdoors. It provides an enterprise-level WIFI while remaining cost-effective. U...
What do you like most about Ubiquiti WLAN?
Anyone can buy the product off the shelf and configure it.
 

Also Known As

Aruba WLAN, HP WLAN, HP Wireless, Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Point
No data available
 

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
NASCAR Grand-AM, Maritime Parc, Outdoor Music Festival, One Republic Tour, British Armed Forces, Arcadia School District, Bartlett School District, Universidad del Azuay, Estelar Hotels, Intercontinental Bali, Moscow - Enforta, Miami - Sling Broadband, Manhattan - MST, Ecuador - Aire.EC
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. Ubiquiti WLAN and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.