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Aruba Wireless vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
150
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi
Ranking in Wireless LAN
23rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 13.4%, down from 18.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi is 0.9%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Aruba Wireless13.4%
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi0.9%
Other85.7%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

UM
IT Infra Deputy Vice President at ESFB
Strong performance supports network team effectively but guest access compatibility needs improvement
We connect the network using Aruba Wireless. We connect our office network, and we use it primarily within our network team Aruba Wireless has many features, especially their state-of-the-art controller, which can be connected to the cloud. They also have an unlimited lifetime warranty, which is…
reviewer2562924 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT System Support Administrator at a non-profit with 501-1,000 employees
Configuration offers flexibility but response to incidents needs improvement
We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major incident. We are still trying to identify the cause, which is why I would rate it seven out of ten. Without this incident, I might have rated it eight to nine. Overall, I give the solution a rating of seven.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The main features of Aruba Wireless in my country is its popularity, long hardware warranty when compared to other solutions, and it integrates well with our network access control solution."
"The network strength is good."
"The web-based GUI is much simpler to use than similar products by Cisco."
"It's a very stable system."
"Setup is straightforward."
"The most valuable feature in this product would be the stability. You build it, install it, and it’s good to go, with no further tweaks needed unless adding or replacing APs."
"The initial setup was very simple."
"It helps the user to have a better vision of what is happening in their network."
"The solution has been stable."
"We like that WatchGuard works and integrates directly with the firewalls we use."
"The configuration part of WatchGuard is very flexible."
"They're very easy to set up and get running."
"It makes it easy to obtain all information about the client experience."
"Cloud analytics that provide all its attributes."
"The Wi-Fi security features of this solution have been great for our customers who need to strictly control access to their network."
 

Cons

"The product’s performance got worse with newer releases."
"The product should be more affordable, especially the cloud and console for the Aruba product as it is currently very expensive."
"We have an issue with the integration of Aruba Wireless with our LDAP servers."
"​Some additional reporting features about the clients would be nice when not combined with the AirWave management package.​"
"One area for improvement in Aruba Wireless is its dashboard or interface because in some cases, it's not as easy to use as it should be, but overall, it's okay. Pricing for the product is also on the higher side. Another area for improvement in Aruba Wireless is technical support because it's hard to reach when issues arise and the speed of answer could be faster. Other areas for improvement in the product include integration and configuration."
"Better integration with equipment from other vendors would ease the deployment process in some cases."
"I had some problems with Wi-Fi coverage in the workshop, which required purchasing more devices."
"​The ARM functionality does not always seem to perform how I would like. In some cases, I have had to manually assign channels to avoid channel confusion."
"I don't think they're available at the best price."
"One of the things is if you buy it with a certain subscription, you can't easily change the subscription level."
"If a client device had issues with authentication due to out of date browser or similar difficulties, it would be nice to have the ability to migrate the client onto the portal via one click."
"Inability to import a user with one click."
"The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention."
"The price of this solution needs to reviewed, as it is currently high enough to deter customers from trying it."
"The solution can be scaled but it has limitations from my experience."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing support has always been cost-effective."
"The price could be better. Competitors offer more features for a similar cost."
"Licensing is a one time purchase (only the cloud license has to be renewed, which is worth trying out).​"
"Get multiple bids/quotes, and talk to the representatives about the limitations of the product; pretty standard."
"It offers a lower cost compared to other products, which is a significant advantage."
"The price of Aruba Wireless is reasonable."
"Pricing is very competitive."
"The price of Aruba Wireless is fairly reasonable. It was within our budget."
"WatchGuard is on the upper scale for pricing."
"The solution is priced high compared to competitors. However, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."
"Your licensing and cost, as would be required for many other solutions, being considered for eighty to two hundred and eighty different physical locations, is just about the same amount per access point."
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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
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
10%
Non Profit
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business77
Midsize Enterprise47
Large Enterprise74
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
 

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 WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention. Also, when an incident occurs, the impact can be significantly huge. A recent p...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We use WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi because we have used different tools as well, like Ubiquiti. The complexity of Ubiquiti is much more compared to WatchGuard, which provides more flexibility and is ea...
What advice do you have for others considering WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major inc...
 

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
Portsmouth Grammar School, HILOTEC
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.