We performed a comparison between Aruba Wireless and Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Of the two solutions, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is the more popular choice with PeerSpot users. While both have great features, users of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN seem to find fewer things lacking with it and are generally satisfied. In regards to service and support as well, Cisco users are happy with the service they receive. However, users do feel that it is an expensive solution.
"The most valuable feature of Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) is the ability to troubleshoot ports on the network. Additionally, when there is an update on the APs they are able to reboot quickly reducing downtime. Other solutions have a longer downtime when updates are done."
"The AI capabilities of Mist Wireless are superior to other OEMs."
"Overall, we've been very pleased with the performance."
"It provides private network access, helping us protect our company’s devices."
"With Mist, every Wednesday they roll out new features."
"The solution is stable."
"Juniper Mist offers valuable features like comprehensive network insight, granular policy control, fast device setup, strong security, and efficient SSL traffic management."
"In terms of reporting, in terms of all the user reports, it's very rich."
"For my organization, the most critical feature of Aruba Wireless is guest management."
"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."
"HA: Apps failover without reboot."
"I have found the Access Point (AP) group profile feature extremely useful. It makes deployments look easy."
"It delivers constantly, there is no break in the internet using these devices. It also automatically gets connected when the internet comes back. Failure is very low."
"Ability for a student or teacher to be able to roam freely from classroom to classroom, no matter the floor, without dropping a signal."
"ClearPass is a unique product that contains multiple solutions like BYOD, Guest, NAC, AAA, UEBA, etc. There is also quick support from Aruba TAC."
"Aruba Wireless is reliable, and the signal strength is pretty good."
"This product has allowed us to easily create custom SSIDs for clients and carve out the necessary bandwidth for clients needs."
"Provided reliability and a good price."
"The most valuable feature is that the solution is friendly to manage."
"Its ability to be cloud-managed is the most valuable feature so if there's a reconfiguration or an issue, we have excellent visibility into the network and we can usually resolve the problem online without having to go onsite."
"Allows for cloud-based management of your Wi-Fi network."
"The single dashboard of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is the most valuable feature for me."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The initial setup of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN was very easy."
"It would be helpful to have even stronger security features to help protect against interference from other nearby access points that aren't part of our network."
"The pricing should be made cheaper."
"The product should include adaptive Wi-Fi to show a more accurate location."
"Enrolling into the tool is a tedious process."
"Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points’ support services need improvement."
"I need a bit more time with it before criticizing the features."
"Improving third-party integration is key for Juniper Mist's next release."
"There is room for improvement in terms of support and installation."
"They need to increase the number of routers on the controller."
"The solution's documentation could be better organized in an information portal."
"Not cost-effective."
"The latest design of their APs removes the console port and requires purchasing an expensive proprietary cable just to access the console."
"When we connect to Wi-Fi devices it could be easier because sometimes, it takes a lot of time to complete."
"There is a long queue whenever we reach out to support, and we have to wait for them to answer calls. Once we get in touch with them, we have to coordinate with different teams, so our engineers struggle to understand who are the correct team members. I think support is another area where Aruba needs to improve."
"Improvements to the GUI, such as being able to search in the Mobility Master, would be nice."
"The new 8400 failed at Lab, plus its integration with Aruba Central."
"The annual maintenance is something that needs to be changed."
"Unfortunately, we have to deal with European privacy laws and as far as we can see, the solution is not compliant with these. It's why we're not able to continue with Cisco Meraki. They need to become compliant with GDPR laws."
"The price could be slightly better, but then again, we negotiate deals every time so the market price isn't really relevant."
"The cost of the devices and the solution itself could be more competitive."
"The product doesn't effectively do its job anymore since some issues crop up in it once you run out of your subscription licensing...Improvements are needed in the licensing part of the tool."
"The biggest pain point is that they limit you through firewall throughput. I understand why they do it, but that really grates me. For instance, for 450 Mbps throughput, you're looking at £800 for a router, whereas if you look at the one gig connection, for some of us are lucky enough to have a gig connection, you could almost be spending £3,000 for the option to have one gig connectivity. That's one of the pain points I've got. I don't mind paying for throughput, but I should at least have the option to be able to update that throughput, maybe through extra licensing or something else. It is crazy expensive to jump through to the next one."
"The licensing could be a bit better."
"The only thing that always causes problems with Meraki is the license. It's a bit of a bugbear with Meraki, and it remains today. So it's an unusual concept compared to the other products in the marketplace, but then it does cause a bit of a nuisance from time to time."
More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Pricing and Cost Advice →
Aruba Wireless is ranked 1st in Wireless LAN with 138 reviews while Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is ranked 4th in Wireless LAN with 115 reviews. Aruba Wireless is rated 8.4, while Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Aruba Wireless writes "The portal for centralized management and virtual controller for APs are very valuable". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN writes "Offers good mobility, stability and scalability ". Aruba Wireless is most compared with Cisco Wireless, Ruckus Wireless, Ubiquiti WLAN, Huawei Wireless and Mist AI and Cloud, whereas Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is most compared with Ruckus Wireless, Ubiquiti Wireless, Mist AI and Cloud, Cisco Wireless and Huawei Wireless. See our Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN report.
See our list of best Wireless LAN vendors.
We monitor all Wireless LAN reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
Pricing is different based on region; it depends on Aruba's and Cisco's strategy in the region. You must contact the respective partners to get an accurate price for comparison.
That being said, in MENA where I live, as of a few months ago (21H1), Aruba pricing was cheaper than Cisco.
Aruba licensing for the AP's is much cheaper compared to Meraki.
You can get a 1/3/5-year cloud license per AP.