Aruba Airwave is a comprehensive network management tool known for its multivendor support and robust monitoring capabilities. It provides centralized control, cloud management, real-time monitoring, error logs, and visualization tools, making it a preferred choice for managing complex network environments.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Aruba Airwave | 3.3% |
| Cisco DNA Center | 8.7% |
| OpenText Network Node Manager | 5.4% |
| Other | 82.6% |
| Type | Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Network Management Applications | Jun 22, 2026 | Download |
| Product | Reviews, tips, and advice from real users | Jun 22, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | Aruba Airwave vs Cisco DNA Center | Jun 22, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | Aruba Airwave vs Cisco Catalyst Center | Jun 22, 2026 | Download |
| Comparison | Aruba Airwave vs Fortinet FortiManager | Jun 22, 2026 | Download |
| Title | Rating | Mindshare | Recommending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetScaler | 4.2 | 2.9% | 91% | 107 interviewsAdd to research |
| Cisco DNA Center | 4.0 | 8.7% | 90% | 44 interviewsAdd to research |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 11 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Large Enterprise | 11 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 84 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 36 |
| Large Enterprise | 92 |
Aruba Airwave offers an intuitive interface that simplifies network management and monitoring. Its ability to integrate with major vendors like Cisco enhances its functionality, making it adept at handling large-scale, high-density networks in challenging environments. Users can effectively manage and configure Wi-Fi networks while gaining detailed insight into performance and connectivity issues through efficient troubleshooting tools. Although some desire improvements in interface stability and error reporting clarity, Airwave's features like Clarity, VisualRF, and centralized access make it an asset in network operations. Challenges include pricing, scalability, and device compatibility, with users also seeking better integration with systems like IMC.
What are the key features of Aruba Airwave?Entities such as hospitals, universities, and financial institutions typically deploy Aruba Airwave to manage their extensive network infrastructures. The platform is crucial for overseeing access points in high-density areas, leveraging detailed performance metrics for enhanced decision-making. Its capabilities for SNMP device management and access to a unified interface facilitate efficient operation across different network brands, supporting the rigorous demands of industry-specific applications.
| Author info | Rating | Review Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Network Consultant at Data Market | 3.5 | I've used Aruba Airwave for years, but we now rely on it mainly for reporting due to limited updates and support, favoring Aruba Central despite its higher cost and challenges with license migration from on-premises. |
| Senior Network Engineer at Auckland University of Technology | 3.5 | I use Aruba Airwave minimally due to our predominant Cisco setup, mostly as a proof of concept. It offers beneficial network monitoring features, but troubleshooting is challenging. Integration with Aruba Central and AI improvements could enhance its utility. |
| TI at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees | 4.5 | I manage Aruba products using Aruba Sense from version 2.5 to 8.10, finding its real-time monitoring and troubleshooting valuable. While supportive of multiple models, hardware upgrades posed technical issues. We also used SolarWinds for network management alongside Airwave. |
| IT Network Operations Manager at KEDS | 4.5 | We use Aruba Airwave primarily for troubleshooting our wireless network and find it efficient, especially with the capability to monitor Cisco switches and create templates. We haven't encountered significant issues, although I'm not extensively familiar with all features. |
| Senior Presales Consultant - Networking Solutions at Mannai | 5.0 | We use Aruba Airwave for network management due to its valuable multivendor support, allowing us to manage different products seamlessly. Improvement is needed in manageability and device onboarding. While it requires three years for ROI, it was chosen over SolarWinds and Cisco DNA. |
| Executive at a government with 201-500 employees | 3.5 | I use Aruba Airwave to manage our Wi-Fi network for around six thousand users, providing real-time analysis and visibility of access points and signal behavior. However, copying floor plans is cumbersome, requiring redrawing compared to other design software. |
| Server Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees | 4.0 | I've used Aruba Airwave for over a year to manage company-wide Wi-Fi through access points; it's easy to deploy, cost-effective, cloud-based, and centralized, though there are minor glitches and IoT features could be improved. |
| Project Manager at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees | 4.0 | I find Aruba Airwave easy to manage as a virtual controller and appreciate its user-friendly NMS. Its valuable features include usage tracking, bandwidth existence, and device utilization, but I feel the pricing could be better. |
| Solutions Architect Infrastructure and Security Manager at Jumbo Electronics Co. Ltd. LLC. | 5.0 | Aruba Airwave effectively manages devices via SNMP, offering a live heat map for network monitoring and efficient device management. While it's costly, it significantly reduces troubleshooting time, enhancing productivity. Transition planning is vital as its replacement is anticipated. |
| Subject Matter Expert at Orange | 5.0 | I primarily use Aruba Airwave for monitoring and managing devices, finding its monitoring, management, and zero-touch provisioning features most valuable. However, I seek greater compatibility with third-party devices. I acknowledge a potential ROI, making it worth the investment. |
In Aruba Airwave, it depends on the customers. For example, if you're managing a huge hospital or university, you can use VisualRF. VisualRF is a valuable feature. If you install the floor plan or field plan in Aruba Airwave, you can find or view which access point is in that place.
Sometimes customers want to know how many users did use the Wi-Fi, how many gigabytes, and how long they were connected.
We don't use Aruba Airwave too much nowadays because the population is reducing, as almost all customers are trying to move to Aruba Central. Aruba or HPE doesn't want to invest too much in Airwave. It is useful, especially if customers create reports. We only use it to create reports because we also use the Mobility Master, which functions similarly to Airwave. We can monitor all wireless and wired clients.
The powerful features we can put forward in Aruba Airwave are clarity, report creation, and VisualRF. These are three good abilities I can state about Aruba Airwave.
The biggest problem for not using Aruba Airwave extensively now is that HP is not upgrading this tool. They're not investing money and time into it, which is why we're not using it.
I find the price of Aruba Central compared to Aruba Airwave to be more expensive. Customers start to complain and get annoyed about the license price. For example, when customers have 500 access points and features about access point licenses, moving to Central requires purchasing new licenses. This makes customers annoyed and complaining about this situation. It's hard to move from on-premises to Central because they always compare costs. If Aruba gave free licenses, they could move. But going to cloud and Central means more investment, and their budget doesn't cover the new investment. This creates problems for local partner companies.
I have been working with Aruba Airwave for almost nine or 10 years, but honestly, we don't use it too much now.
We didn't purchase Aruba Airwave independently. We always buy Aruba features license; we always offer the enterprise license. The enterprise license covers Aruba Airwave.
For scalability, we use Mobility Master scalability. I don't use Aruba Airwave much for scalability. Aruba Airwave gives good information about SNR value, signal value, and you can get extensive information.
In my opinion, Aruba can no longer provide good support for Aruba Airwave. Technical support, knowledge about TAC team, and the engineer support team are average. I would give them a rating of six out of ten or seven out of ten.
Neutral
I find deploying Aruba Airwave to be easy. It's completely straightforward. Sometimes, updating causes problems.
The deployment time depends on the customers. The base Airwave install takes about half a day or one day to integrate their customer's active directory infrastructure. The next day, you can add the controller and access point. It takes approximately two or three days on average.
We used to offer Aruba Central, which Aruba pushes for Wi-Fi 7. Wi-Fi 7 doesn't work on-premises. Aruba Central is an on-premises solution. I'm not sure if HP Aruba integrated Airwave in Central. In Turkey, there's a regulation about banking and finance departments where only bank customers must use on-premises solutions. Other customers try to move to Central.
I would recommend using Aruba Central over Aruba Airwave if they don't care about regulation, cloud, or the budget.
The deployment time depends on the customers. The base Airwave install takes about half a day or one day to integrate their customer's active directory infrastructure. The next day, you can add the controller and access point. It takes approximately two or three days on average.
In the current time, discussing Wi-Fi 7, I would rate Aruba Airwave a six or seven. I cannot rate it nine or ten because Aruba Central is pushing too much. Aruba Airwave appears to be solely an on-premises solution. My overall rating for this solution is 6 out of 10.
I haven't worked with Aruba Airwave much because most of our Wi-Fi is Cisco. We only use it with minor impact, as maybe 5% of Wi-Fi is Aruba.
We just use Aruba Airwave in one small building as a proof of concept.
We use Aruba Airwave for our operations.
The feature that proved most beneficial for our organization's network monitoring is the virtual four, which we use frequently when working with Aruba.
My general opinion on Aruba Airwave is that it's acceptable, but it's not ideal because we are accustomed to Cisco. We didn't use Aruba much, but once you set it up, you probably don't need to worry about it too much.
The version we are using is quite old now, probably around version four. I can't remember the version exactly because a lot of the products require Aruba Central, but we haven't used Aruba Central yet.
I face challenges with Aruba Airwave, particularly with troubleshooting. When someone has a problem, we try troubleshooting, but the end-to-end users' messages show some details that are not always up-to-date, and sometimes the information from the GUI is not exactly aligned with what's on the website.
If Aruba Airwave can apply AI capabilities, that would be even more perfect.
I'd appreciate integration with Aruba Central; it would be great if they could incorporate it into Airwave.
The technical support for Aruba Airwave is good. Once you log tickets, their technicians are quite good.
I would rate their technical support as a nine or ten, as it's quite good.
Positive
I haven't seen the return on investment with Aruba Airwave, as we only use Airwave version 8.2.2.
The pricing for Aruba Airwave is acceptable because compared to Cisco, it's slightly cheaper, but not significantly - maybe 5% or 7% less expensive.
Cisco has advantages over Aruba Airwave because we are used to Cisco, and their hardware is more classified into different zones, different areas, and various models.
I would recommend Aruba Airwave to others depending on the company. If they are small and don't need many features, it might be suitable.
For a bigger company, I wouldn't recommend it, as they might need more features and on-premise updates.
Aruba Airwave is still capable and scalable enough for a bigger business.
On a scale of 1-10, I rate Aruba Airwave a 7.
I use Aruba Sense version 2.5 and migrated through versions until 8.10. I manage Aruba products and implement solutions involving Aruba's wireless controllers with AccessPoints when the version was 2.4. I have over 12 years of experience managing these solutions.
The monitoring and administration allow configurations for checking the association of the user to the network, then to the AP, then to the switch, and back to the controller. It has troubleshooting and history capabilities.
The monitoring and reporting capabilities help with network management, including planning and addressing VLAN or switch issues. These are beneficial features of Airwave. It provides near real-time monitoring using AIMON and AURO protocols, which is robust with multiple models and brand support.
I submitted some requests for improvement or ideas through support, though I am unsure if they were accepted. When upgrading hardware, there were technical issues with network interfaces and Red Hat, which required escalation to developers.
I've used the solution since 2004.
The customer service is good. Angie was very kind and communicated well in both Spanish and English, making it pleasant to connect with her.
We used SolarWinds for network management alongside Airwave. SolarWinds supports SNMP version three, similar to Airwave.
For me, it was very easy due to my extensive experience. However, it could be complex for new users and it might require some time to understand the product thoroughly.
The pricing is comparable to the competition, such as SolarWinds.
We evaluated and used SolarWinds for network management together with Airwave.
I would rate the overall solution nine out of ten.
We are using Aruba, specifically ClearPass. It was provided to us with some licenses. We are using it mainly for troubleshooting, and we do not experience many problems. We are wireless, and we utilize it extensively to troubleshoot.
The most helpful feature I noticed, yet did not utilize, allowed us to add our Cisco switches for monitoring. We also created templates for configurations.
Additionally, it facilitated creating floor maps. I need to open it for more extended periods. It is more about troubleshooting and checking the coverage problems of wireless.
We cannot identify any problems. I am not deeply familiar with the solution, so if I mention a feature, it might already exist, yet I may be unaware of it.
We have a contractor handling JobStack, so we are mostly using it.
We have reached the maximum device count in our HQ. We may extend to our regional offices or small offices we have in Aruba, but for now, it suffices.
All the technical support goes through our contractor. It is a local support, and it is perfect.
Neutral
The initial setup took a couple of days.
Our contracted Aruba service did the implementation for us.
Since I am not using it frequently, I would rate the product nine out of ten.
We use Aruba Airwave for network management. Regardless of your product's brand, you can manage everything together in a similar place using Aruba Airwave.
The most valuable feature of Aruba Airwave is the multivendor support, which enables you to manage and monitor different vendors or products.
Aruba Airwave should have manageability for monitoring and configuration. More devices or vendors should be onboarded to Aruba Airwave.
I have been using Aruba Airwave for a few years.
I rate Aruba Airwave ten out of ten for stability.
Aruba Airwave can scale up to 4,000 per device. More than 100 users are using Aruba Airwave.
Aruba Airwave's initial setup is straightforward. You just have to connect, put in your IP address, and the devices will connect.
The solution's deployment time depends on how big your network size is. If you have a larger number of devices, it takes little time, but it can be done faster. You can do a discovery mode; it takes 15 to 20 minutes to discover the network.
Aruba Airwave can be deployed in five to seven steps, including mounting the servers, configuring SNMPs, discovering the devices and IP range, and configuring it to the appropriate groups.
It takes three years to see a return on investment with Aruba Airwave because the hardware is a little expensive.
Aruba Airwave's licensing cost is not that expensive. You need to have one license per device for Aruba Airwave. If you need to have redundancy, then there is a redundancy license. Otherwise, you don't need to have a separate license.
Before choosing Aruba Airwave, we evaluated other solutions like SolarWinds and Cisco DNA. We chose Aruba Airwave because of its multivendor support feature.
Aruba Airwave is an on-prem solution, so you have to manage it with your servers to be deployed. You can also deploy it on the cloud if you have your own private cloud.
All the configuration guides and the different types of designs you need are available from Aruba Airwave's portal.
I would recommend Aruba Airwave to other users.
Overall, I rate Aruba Airwave ten out of ten.
Neutral
For Aruba Airwave, I am using the wireless devices for the Wi-Fi for the full company with access points. This is the top product I feel, and I see in the Gartner also. It is a good product and easily manageable. It is a cloud solution.
The best features in the product are that it can be easily managed, it is centralized, and a cloud solution is also available.
I am using it as a customer of Aruba, of HP.
The wireless devices are being used for Wi-Fi throughout the company with access points. It is the top product according to Gartner. It is a good solution and easily manageable as a cloud solution.
The product features excellent management capabilities, centralized control, and cloud solution availability.
Regarding real-time monitoring, it has its own dashboard. It is helpful for viewing live monitoring, how many users are connected to the Wi-Fi, and how much data bandwidth has been utilized. Everything is visible.
The solution is beneficial as everything is easily manageable and centralized. Device provisioning is straightforward. When you connect, Central will provide all the settings for the access point.
They have other sensors which can manage and control all the sites. There is an IoT component where we can restrict internet services such as Facebook and YouTube. These things can also be managed.
The main concern is about the IoT part.
The installation of Aruba Airwave is easy to complete.
Sometimes there are some glitches; some access points will behave a little differently, but it is manageable.
As it is centralized, sometimes it disconnects from the cloud, and I need to reboot. These are small glitches.
For scalability, it is performing well. I have been using it for one year, and so far, it has been good.
The technical support from HP is good.
Positive
I have used Cisco previously.
The installation of Aruba Airwave is easy to complete.
Cost-wise, it is good, so I do see some ROI.
I think the solution is quite affordable.
In comparison with Aruba, Cisco pricing is higher. The Cisco product is stable, but they need to improve the features in Cisco Meraki.
For device provisioning, if you know the clear procedure, it will be easy; otherwise, it can be a little difficult. After learning the process, it is easy to do the access point management. Because I use the cloud centralized solution, it is easy to manage and device provisioning becomes straightforward.
I am not sure about advanced alerting, but there are many features inside Aruba Central, including a periodical report.
On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this solution an 8.
It becomes a virtual controller and is very easy to manage along with the Airwave. It's an NMS thing, which is very easy and convenient.
The solution's most valuable features are its usage, bandwidth existence, device capacity, and utilization.
The solution’s pricing could be improved.
I have been using Aruba Airwave for ten years.
The solution's stability is good. If connected, the system can work with the existing things for the next 48 hours. It is a reliable tool that has failover configurations.
Our clients for Aruba Airwave are usually small businesses.
I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.
The solution provides good technical support.
I rate the solution’s technical support eight and a half out of ten.
Positive
The solution's initial setup is not complex, but it's not easy. Since we are installing the solution on a VM instance, the installer should have knowledge about VMs and servers. The solution can be deployed in a day or two.
Aruba Airwave is an expensive solution. Aruba charges more money for small things, which could be reduced.
Aruba Airwave supports our network troubleshooting activities well because we have the entire monitoring on that. If we face big issues, we have the technical expertise to handle the situation. Aruba Airwave is really helpful because it shows everything, like the utilization, feasibility, and particular laptop or wireless node connectivity.
I would recommend the solution to other users. Other services include Virtual Controller, Aruba Central, and Aruba Airwave. You will get more visibility if you spend more. We even work with Aruba Controller. Aruba Airwave is a better solution if you have multiple branches.
Overall, I rate the solution eight and a half out of ten.
Aruba Airwave is a unique site tool. It manages all devices that support SNMP, enabling you to manage and monitor these devices. For native solutions, the onboarding API provides detailed actionable insights, which helps a lot when troubleshooting issues.
The most beneficial feature for network monitoring in Aruba Airwave is the Live Heat Map. It helps identify interferences, coverage issues, and user connectivity issues. The device management capability of Aruba Airwave is good. It provides end-to-end visibility from the user to the access point, the switch, and the internet breakout. From a monitoring, management, and orchestration standpoint, it is very effective and can manage any scale of deployment.
The main challenge we've faced with Aruba Airwave is its high cost, especially regarding high availability and failover licenses, which can be relatively expensive for customers. As for recommendations for improvement, considering that Aruba is planning to retire Airwave soon and introduce a new solution, it's crucial that the new product meets or exceeds the current Airwave's feature set. Customers expect a seamless transition without losing any functionality, so Aruba needs to ensure that the new solution is ready with all the essential features and capabilities from day one to avoid any gaps or dissatisfaction among users and partners.
I have experience using Aruba Airwave for more than four years.
It is stable and I would rate it 10 out of 10.
It is a highly scalable solution.
There are challenges with support. In particular, the escalation of issues to the next level can take time for engineers to get the necessary support to troubleshoot problems. But if Aruba Airwave itself experiences downtime, it doesn't directly impact business operations.
Positive
I would rate the setup a nine out of ten. The deployment takes two to three hours.
Aruba Airwave has significantly reduced troubleshooting time for system engineers, cutting down the time from one hour to about fifteen to twenty minutes. This improved efficiency not only enhances productivity but also saves money by reducing downtime.
The licensing is on a yearly basis.
Aruba Airwave leverages AI features through its cloud-based platform, Aruba Central. While there are also on-premise options, the focus is on the cloud environment. The AI capabilities are seen as mature, though not necessarily leading-edge, and they contribute to enhancing network management by addressing potential roadblocks and improving overall efficiency.
I highly recommend using Aruba Airwave due to its complete 360 user experience insights and clear visibility into wireless infrastructure. It's user-friendly compared to other tools.
Overall, I would rate it ten out of ten.
Most customers use Aruba Central Solution. However, we only have a few customers where we've implemented Aruba Airwave for monitoring and managing other devices.
The most valuable features are monitoring, management, and zero-touch provisioning.
We're looking for more device compatibility. Like compatibility with third-party devices.
For the last 15 years, I've been working with the Aruba portfolio, including wireless LAN, ClearPass, AirWave, and more.
I've been working with Aruba Airwave for the last four years. We work with different customers. For WLAN, we use version 8. And for tier-first customers, we work with Aruba Airwave version 6.11.
I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. Currently, I'm not experiencing any bugs, but it depends on the integration with the OEM and its scalability with other OEM technologies.
I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. Enterprise businesses are our primary focus.
For me, it's quite easy because I've worked with the portfolio before.
So, I would rate my experience a ten out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.
We have implemented both cloud and on-prem solutions. It's typically a hybrid cloud, like Google or Amazon kind of.
The deployment time depends on the number of devices and servers. But for a single server, one day is usually enough.
We are the implementors.
There is an ROI. We can invest in it if it makes sense.
I would rate the pricing a nine out of ten, with one being low (like, really cheap and affordable) and ten being high (really expensive).
The device requires a license if it was onboarded earlier or if we need to onboard it now. Similarly, if we need to onboard or switch a device, we request a switch license. So, it's device-based licensing. One device requires one license.
Overall, I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.
