Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Report From IT Central Station 2019-11-04

Aruba Wireless
and
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Buyer's Guide and Reviews
November 2019
Aruba Wireless and Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
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2
Contents
Overview 4
Top Review by Topic of Aruba Wireless and Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN 5-7
Answers From the Community 8
Vendor Directory 9
Top Wireless LAN Vendors, Weighted 10-11
Top 5 Solutions by Ranking Factor 12
About This Report and IT Central Station 13
© 2019 IT Central Station

To read more reviews please visit https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/comparisons/aruba-wireless_vs_cisco-meraki-wireless-lan?tid=pdf_comp_20769-
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Overview
SOLUTION Aruba Wireless Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
OVERVIEW Aruba deliver superb Wireless performance and Cisco Meraki access points are built from the
multi-user MIMO aware ClientMatch to boost highest grade components and carefully
network efficiency and support the growing optimized for a seamless user experience. The
device density and app demands on your network. outcome: faster connections, greater user
capacity, more coverage, and fewer support calls.
The Cisco Meraki dashboard gives visibility into
the network users, their devices, and their
applications. Armed with rich analytics,
administrators can quickly create access control
and application usage policies, optimizing both
the end-user experience and network security.
SAMPLE Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil,
CUSTOMERS
School District, Science Applications International Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling
Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, Green State University, Calligaris, Children's
ACTS Retirement-Life Communities Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa
Distributing...
TOP Cisco Wireless vs. Aruba Wireless Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
COMPARISONS Compared 40% of the time Compared 48% of the time
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Aruba Wireless Ubiquiti Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Compared 25% of the time Compared 12% of the time
Ruckus Wireless vs. Aruba Wireless Ruckus Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Compared 16% of the time Compared 10% of the time
TOP INDUSTRIES, Healthcare Company ... 8% Comms Service Provider ... 11%
BASED ON K 12 Educational Company Or School ... 10% University ... 11%
REVIEWERS*
Comms Service Provider ... 13% Real Estate/Law Firm ... 11%
University ... 30% Financial Services Firm ... 33%
TOP INDUSTRIES, Manufacturing Company ... 7% Media Company ... 7%
BASED ON K 12 Educational Company Or School ... 8% Manufacturing Company ... 7%
COMPANIES
READING REVIEWS* Comms Service Provider ... 17% Comms Service Provider ... 18%
Software R&D Company ... 24% Software R&D Company ... 25%
COMPANY SIZE, 201-1000 Employees ... 27% 201-1000 Employees ... 19%
BASED ON 1-200 Employees ... 31% 1001+ Employees ... 29%
REVIEWERS*
1001+ Employees ... 42% 1-200 Employees ... 52%
COMPANY SIZE, 1-200 Employees ... 27%
BASED ON 201-1000 Employees ... 10%
COMPANIES
READING REVIEWS* 1001+ Employees ... 63%
* Data is based on the aggregate profiles of IT Central Station Users researching this solution.

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Top Reviews by Topic

VALUABLE
FEATURES D6B8 WaqasManzoor
There aren't a lot of features that Aruba has that One of the best features of this solution is that it
their competitors don't. With that being said, some has enough in-depth visibility for the people who
of the implementations or features do work as connect to their wireless technology. This solution
advertised: easy deployment of APs, MAC is quite flexible and compatible with other devices.
caching, and aesthetically pleasing GUI for The most amazing part is that their access points
configuration. [Full Review] have the ability to connect to multiple conference
devices at different times, and it shows you the
very in-depth Wi-Fi analytics through their
dashboard. This solution is simple and easy to
use. [Full Review]
Romal Amarkhail
The most important feature is all about the two Stephen Biastock
wavelengths, the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz, and the
access points which are connected to this wireless
controller. The perfect thing is that if we really
want to know where a specific user is connected, I find it very easy to manage because of the cloud
it gives us the ability to see that and how that user management, so I can update all my buildings at
is actually receiving. We can know the speed and once and see all of my clients from one spot. That
their IP, their MAC address and, most of the time, is probably one of my favorite features, as well as
how much bandwidth they're using per day. The it has good security with its Layer 7 protections. It
wireless controller actually gives that functionality has a lot of overall functionality. [Full Review]
a... [Full Review]
John Mc Arthur
Associat722a
Its ability to be cloud-managed is the most

We appreciate that the Instant models do not valuable feature so if there's a reconfiguration or
require a dedicated "controller" to manage the an issue, we have excellent visibility into the
APs. This cost saving allowed us to purchase more network and we can usually resolve the problem
APs in our initial order. We started out small and online without having to go onsite. [Full Review]
slowly added more APs as each annual budget
allowed. We still have the possibility of adding a
dedicated controller which affords us more
options, but at this time we haven't needed it. The
web interface to manage the APs is intuitive and
makes managing the system easy. Firmware
updates are quick and do no... [Full Review]

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IMPROVEMENTS
TO MY D6B8 WaqasManzoor
ORGANIZATION
We currently use the MAC address caching Well since we are reselling the Meraki as Partner
through ClearPass to allow guests to connect from product, the aim was to choose the vendor for the
a prior authenticated attempt. We also use the organization as revenue-generating and enhance
Visual RF component in AirWave for tracking customer experience product, Meraki happened
devices. [Full Review] to be the best fit in this regard. We marketed this
product according to regional market trends, and
it generated potential sales leads for the company.
[Full Review]
Romal Amarkhail
Stephen Biastock
Before we used Aruba Wireless we had individual
access points connected to our switches. We
didn't actually have a centralized switch that could
control all of our access points. Now, bringing the It has improved our organization immensely. We
Aruba Wireless Controller into production, it's were using: * Not enough access points at one of
really giving us good visibility. All our access my clients. They did not have enough. * They were
points are connected to one controller. Through using Ubiquiti, which was getting overloaded with
that controller, we can actually handle each traffic. Therefore, it has been a big speed
access point; we can disconnect or connect that improvement, as well as in coverage. [Full Review]
access point, and then we can tell, or see, or allow
how many use... [Full Review]
John Mc Arthur
Associat722a
For some of our larger clients, it has enabled them

to not need to grow staff in order to retain a large
Increased productivity with mobile devices has 13 access point network has needed a lot of
improved by expanding wireless coverage reconfiguration because of the nature of our
throughout the building. While our building has business. We are able to maintain that and the
been covered by the Aruba APs throughout the responses even after hours because we can
years, we are now replacing older APs to increase usually make changes rapidly. [Full Review]
bandwidth to support an increase in the number of
users with dedicated devices. Nowadays, the end-
user devices require faster bandwidth from APs,
and the newest APs obviously support faster
standards and improved bandwidth connectivity.
[Full Review]

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ROOM FOR
IMPROVEMENT D6B8 WaqasManzoor
The urgent areas of improvement would be These products are more suitable for SMB rather
customer support, better tuned default settings, than an enterprise for one of the listed Access
and documentation. Aruba’s TAC support for us Points like MR-20, Whereas MR-33 and above
has been frustrating most of the time, as there is a models covers and target the Enterprise
clear language/dialect barrier when speaking or customers. We would like to see Wi-Fi 6 support
emailing a TAC representative. We’ve found that for devices sold in the Middle East, however,
we have more emails (which equates to longer Meraki has introduced WiFi-6 where we would
resolution time) than typically needed to cover strategize our GTM plans for WiFi 6, where we
certain questions and updates – as the TAC would offer WiFi 6 to specific customers with
directions and instructions were either incomplete extensive needs of high WiFi availability in KSA.
or we couldn’t understand wh... [Full Review] [Full Review]
Romal Amarkhail Stephen Biastock
The speed could be better. I heard that Aruba is At this price point, I would not mind seeing a four-
trying to shape the speed inside the wireless way channel, instead of a 3x3 or a 4x4, like they
controller, but that has not been adopted yet. If do in the Cisco Aironet system with their other
they put some kind of mechanism inside the brand. For the same price point in this other Cisco
wireless controller for the speed such that, "Okay, brand, it is a lot cheaper, and you can get a slightly
this many users will have 20 by 20, 20 in the better throughput than you can with these. It does
upload, 20 in the download. Just this many users. not have the cloud-base. This would be something
And this many users will have this type of speed or that I would like to see, and they do have it in their
that type of speed." I think it would be very good if bigger units, just not at the price point we were at
they actually bring that functionality inside the for the MR 42s. [Full Review]
wireless... [Full Review]
John Mc Arthur
Associat722a
The logging sometimes doesn't give us the

Customer service really needs to be improved. If granularity needed. Some of the rules are a bit
the customer support was better, I would more complicated. The switch ports on the routers
recommend it to others more than I do now. I say are not individually addressable, in the sense that
that even though we are upgrading to newer units with a switch you can tell what MAC address is on
this summer. [Full Review] what port but with the security appliances, you
can't, which would be beneficial for
troubleshooting. I would like to see more
information on what is plugged into each MX
switch port. I would also like to be able to see that
the templates would be able to be... [Full Review]

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Answers from the Community
Compare Aruba Wireless and Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN. How Do I Choose?
One of the most popular comparisons on IT Central Station is Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN.
People like you are trying to decide which one is best for their company. Can you help them out?
Which of these two solutions would you recommend for Wireless LAN? Why?
Thanks for helping your peers make the best decision!
--Rhea
We are authorised to sell both Aruba and Meraki. Being a consultant myself, I give a honest comparison of both the products and let
the customers take a well informed decision based on their priorities. Meraki ------- PROS + Pure play Cloud controller. + Easy to deploy
and configure + Easy to manage geographically distributed locations with single Dashboard + Simpler learning curve with a very simple
Akshay GUI + Supports most standard business needs w.r.t WiFi viz PSK, 802.1x, Guest WiFi, Presence Analytics, heatmapping, Basic
Balaganur
L7awareness etc + Single Dashboard for configuring and managing Access switches, MX firewall and IP cameras. Cons - YoY
mandatory subscription ( which includes support BTW ) - Limited interms of Advanced features like Roles based Dynamic Vlans, Device
profiling, RF related features, BLE Beacons etc. - No On Prem OR Virtual Controller architecture. Some Financial companies are
concerned about having Mgmt on Cloud. They...
Both have their merits. Aruba has taken the brand of all the hp procure hardware. Excellent Customer service. I liked Meraki when they
were just Meraki. Cisco has given them autonomy in development and products mix. They are simple as is Aruba is to configure. As
another responder indicated its a license world now. Everyone wants a piece of the monthly operational pie. The dashboard is easy to
Michael understand and configure but so is everyone else. It sometime comes down to who is going to support it how easy is it to deploy and
Newman
manage and what are the operational costs. Honestly I prefer Ruckus :-) unleashed is free (zone director is built into it). Also as
enterprises have embraced mobil look down the road a bit 3-5 years you may see enterprise wireless also include cellular microcell
boosters. You could to a POC between the 2 and see who...
Confidentiality Integrity and Availability Or just CIA are the basic elements of security. How secure is your WLAN Infrastructure. Can
you clone an AP (exposing AP's integrity), can you sniff on WLAN encrypted traffic (exposing client traffic confidentiality), or do you
need a maintainance window to upgrade or a faliover time in case a controller failure (reducing WLAN availability). Let's find out why
John Aruba WLAN Infrastructure is more secure than Cisco Access Point integrity Every Aruba device like Controller or Access Point has a
LeBrun
TPM (Trusted Platform Module). A TPM provides several advantages when it comes to an Access Point. One of them is to ensure AP
integrity, such that no one can clone or tamper with the AP. Every AP is equipped with a factory-installed X.509 certificate. The
common name (CN) of this certificate is the LAN MAC address and serial number of the AP. The private key of...

See all 32 answers >>
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Vendor Directory
Adtran Adtran Bluesocket Wireless Extreme ExtremeWireless
Aerohive Aerohive Networks Fortinet Fortinet Wireless
Aruba Networks Aruba Instant Huawei Huawei Wireless
Aruba Networks Aruba Wireless Juniper Juniper WLC Series
Avaya Avaya Cloud Wireless LAN Arista Mojo Networks
Avaya Avaya Wireless Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess WLAN
Broadcom Broadcom Wireless LAN Ruckus Ruckus Wireless
Cisco Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN TP-Link TP-Link Auranet EAP
Cisco Cisco Wireless Ubiquiti Networks Ubiquiti WLAN
D-Link D-Link Wireless WatchGuard WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi
Dell EMC Dell Wireless
9
Top Wireless LAN Vendors, Weighted

Over professionals have used IT Central Station research. Here are the top vendors based on product reviews, ratings, and comparisons.
All reviews and ratings are from real users, validated by our triple authentication process.
Chart Key
Views Comparisons Reviews Words/Review Average Rating
Number of views Number of times compared Total number of reviews on Average words per review Average rating based on
to another product IT Central Station on IT Central Station reviews
Bar length
The total ranking of a product (i.e. bar length) is based on a weighted aggregate ranking of that product's Views (weighting factor = 17.5%),
Comparisons (17.5%), Reviews (17.5%), Followers (17.5%), and Average Rating (30%). Reviews and ratings by resellers are excluded from the
rankings. For each ranking factor, the score (i.e. bar segment length) is calculated as a product of the weighting factor and its position for that
ranking factor. For example, if a product has 80% of the number of reviews compared to the product with the most reviews in its category, then
the product's bar length for reviews would be 17.5% (weighting factor) * 80%.
1 Aruba Wireless
46,718 views 39,634 comparisons 30 reviews 322 words/review 8.5 average rating
2 Cisco Wireless
3 Ruckus Wireless
4 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
5 Aerohive Networks

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6 Fortinet Wireless
6,340 views 5,248 comparisons 4 reviews 1,638 words/review 9.0 average rating
7 Mojo Networks
8 WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi
112 views 18 comparisons 1 reviews 817 words/review 10.0 average rating
9 OmniAccess WLAN
962 views 462 comparisons 1 reviews 451 words/review 9.0 average rating
10 D-Link Wireless

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Top 5 Solutions by Ranking Factor

Views
SOLUTION VIEWS
1 Aruba Wireless 46,718
2 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN 26,653
3 Cisco Wireless 25,997
4 Ruckus Wireless 20,710
5 Aerohive Networks 11,868
Reviews
SOLUTION REVIEWS
1 Aruba Wireless 30
2 Cisco Wireless 29
3 Ruckus Wireless 15
4 Aerohive Networks 5
5 Mojo Networks 4
Words/Review
SOLUTION WORDS/REV
IEW
1 Fortinet Wireless 1,638
2 Mojo Networks 987
3 WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi 817
4 D-Link Wireless 528
5 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN 477

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About this report

This report is comprised of a list of enterprise level vendors. We have also included several real user reviews posted on ITCentralStation.com.
The reviewers of these products have been validated as real users based on their LinkedIn profiles to ensure that they provide reliable opinions
and not those of product vendors.
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Answers From the Community 8

Top Wireless LAN Vendors, Weighted 10-11

Top 5 Solutions by Ranking Factor 12

About This Report and IT Central Station 13

© 2019 IT Central Station

© 2019 IT Central Station

Top Reviews by Topic

Its ability to be cloud-managed is the most

© 2019 IT Central Station

Top Reviews by Topic

For some of our larger clients, it has enabled them

© 2019 IT Central Station

Top Reviews by Topic

Romal Amarkhail Stephen Biastock

The logging sometimes doesn't give us the

© 2019 IT Central Station

Answers from the Community

© 2019 IT Central Station

Aerohive Aerohive Networks Fortinet Fortinet Wireless

Aruba Networks Aruba Instant Huawei Huawei Wireless

Aruba Networks Aruba Wireless Juniper Juniper WLC Series

Avaya Avaya Cloud Wireless LAN Arista Mojo Networks

Avaya Avaya Wireless Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess WLAN

Broadcom Broadcom Wireless LAN Ruckus Ruckus Wireless

Cisco Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN TP-Link TP-Link Auranet EAP

Cisco Cisco Wireless Ubiquiti Networks Ubiquiti WLAN

D-Link D-Link Wireless WatchGuard WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

Dell EMC Dell Wireless

Top Wireless LAN Vendors, Weighted

Views Comparisons Reviews Words/Review Average Rating

4 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

© 2019 IT Central Station

8 WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi

112 views 18 comparisons 1 reviews 817 words/review 10.0 average rating

© 2019 IT Central Station

Top 5 Solutions by Ranking Factor

1 Aruba Wireless 46,718

2 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN 26,653

3 Cisco Wireless 25,997

4 Ruckus Wireless 20,710

5 Aerohive Networks 11,868

1 Fortinet Wireless 1,638

2 Mojo Networks 987

3 WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi 817

4 D-Link Wireless 528

5 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN 477

© 2019 IT Central Station

About this report

About IT Central Station

IT Central Station helps tech professionals by providing:

• A list of enterprise level vendors

Use IT Central Station to:

• Read and post reviews of vendors and products

© 2019 IT Central Station

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