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Managing Director at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Excellent features, good security, and easy to integrate
Pros and Cons
  • "This is a very solid product. It is very powerful."
  • "They should enhance reporting and add more features."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for connecting to our WiFi network. We use it to communicate with our internal network. It connects everything - telephones, tablets, et cetera. It's our company network.

What is most valuable?

This is a very solid product. It is very powerful.

The product offers a single management point.

Its features are excellent. 

The solution helps us to communicate internally effectively.

The administration functionality is very easy. It's very easy to configure. Plus, it has a lot of functionality in general.

The security is very good.

We have found the solution to be very user-friendly, especially compared to other products. 

It is easy to integrate with your network.

You can look into your network and see its health and usage very easily.

Troubleshooting problems is very simple.

The product is very simple to set up.

It can scale well.

The solution is stable and reliable. 

What needs improvement?

In general, they've done a very good job with the solution. 

However, we would like to see more done in the reporting. They should enhance reporting and add more features. 

We're always looking for more features and functionality. They should continue to do regular updates and continue to add to its capabilities, specifically around cloud functionality. It would help us be ready for what's next in the industry.

Technical support response times can be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for six or seven years. 

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Aruba Instant
June 2025
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable and reliable. I'd rate it nine out of ten. If you do the right setup and there are no misconfigurations, it will run for years without any problem. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale. I'd rate it nine out of ten for its ability to expand. 

We have around 12,000 or more end-users. We're a big company.

How are customer service and support?

We've dealt with technical support and they are fine. However, response times could be faster. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've had experience with Cisco. However, Aruba is more manageable. It also offers faster support.

How was the initial setup?

The product is very simple to set up. It s not complex at all. If you have some prior knowledge, it is very simple to implement. 

There is very little maintenance. Often, no one needs to do anything, and it is stable for years. If you do the right setup, you don't need to worry about it. 

What about the implementation team?

We have consultants that assist with the implementation process. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is okay. However, it depends on the project. If you have a big project, you can get a good price. Also, you have lifetime support from Aruba, which is great. That can save a lot of money over time. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm a partner with Aruba.

The solution offers a lifetime warranty.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. It is an exceptional solution. 

It is a solid, easy-to-use product with very good features. You can size it to fit your needs regardless of the size of the company. On top of that, it is simple to troubleshoot and is very fast to deploy. If you have an SLA with a two-hour support time, you will get faster support. It's good to consider SLAs at the outset.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
JesseMachill - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Executive at Intelys Technology Africa
Real User
Top 5
Has an easy initial setup process, but there could be more security features
Pros and Cons
  • "It is easy to use, manage, and implement."
  • "They could provide a centralized system to manage switches incorporated into multiple branches."

What is most valuable?

The product is cost-effective. It is easy to use, manage, and implement. It can be installed with an app on the phone as well. It is built and designed for users who do not have the necessary skills to implement enterprise cloud networks.

What needs improvement?

The product could have more security features integrated into enterprise data. They could provide a centralized system to manage switches incorporated into multiple branches.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Aruba Instant for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the product’s stability a seven out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We can only incorporate about 27 IPs and switches in a particular bandwidth. It needs to be more scalable. It is suitable for small and medium businesses. I rate the product’s scalability a four out of ten.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy. We have deployed physical infrastructure on-premises, managed via the cloud. It took us a few minutes to complete the process.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I rate the product’s pricing a two out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Aruba Instant a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Aruba Instant
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Aruba Instant. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Abdelfattah Bencheikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Networks and Security Engineer at MUNISYS
MSP
Top 5
An affordable solution with good security
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Aruba Instant is security."
  • "Aruba Instant should not have a limit on users for future releases."

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Aruba Instant is security. 

What needs improvement?

Aruba Instant should not have a limit on users for future releases. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the solution for four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the solution's stability an eight out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My company has 15 users for the product. I rate the tool's scalability a ten out of ten. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We chose Aruba Instant because of its price and service. 

How was the initial setup?

Aruba Instant's deployment is easy and takes eight hours to complete. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Aruba Instant is affordable. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate the product an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
FranklinSanguina - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Consultant at TD SYNNEX
Real User
Easy to manage with a good user experience and excellent flexibility
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution provides a very good end-user experience."
  • "They could offer a new model for access points that are outdoors."

What is our primary use case?

I primarily use the solution for my WiFi.

What is most valuable?

The solution provides a very good end-user experience. 

It's easy to manage the wireless. I can make a mesh. I can make connections to other access points without wires. I have several WiFi routers and can connect them seamlessly.

It's very transparent. I can see how my bandwidth is being used and I can control that.

The access point has a firewall inside to see my applications and the kinds of applications I am using.

The most valuable aspect is the potential to have it cover all my devices and I can see the applications and make a policy around them. The monitoring is very good as it does help me build out policies around the access points. 

The security features are very good. 

What needs improvement?

They could offer a new model for access points that are outdoors. They don't have an outdoor WiFi Six in their portfolio right now.

They should maybe make the sites bigger. While you can have extension nodes, you can only have 25 devices only. That is too small for some companies. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for a year and a half. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability depends on the cloud and what stability the cloud has. I haven't had any issues where the service has gone down. The stability has been 100% stable for me. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You can have 25 devices on one site. 

For example, in the case of a hotel, you might have one site for the lobby and one site on another floor. You might have WiFi for one site yet you won't have roaming. You need to have sites.

If a company needs more, it can buy an enterprise solution. This one has limited scalability.

How are customer service and support?

I've never contacted technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have not really used another solution, aside from an offering from my ISP. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. You do not need a specialist. You just have to open the box and read some documentation. I have to download an app on my phone and scan a QR to enter a website. I gain access to a Wizard. Through that, I look for my device and start the process. I go through it step by step. Even if you have no expertise in technology, it's very simple.

I'd rate the ease of setup ten out of ten. 

The full deployment took about five minutes. You only have to configure the first IP. After that, you don't have to configure anything. It's very fast. Even if you have 25 IPs, you only have to configure one, and then the others you just have to power up.

What about the implementation team?

I handled the setup myself. I did not need any outside assistance. Everything I needed was in the box. 

What was our ROI?

I have seen a good ROI. I've been more productive working from home and this solution facilitates that. It ensures we are safe and protected and the network can help us to be more stable.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is reasonable. I'd rate it seven out of ten. 

Whether it is affordable to other people depends on who is buying it and what they need it to do. It's not like TP-Link or something like that. There are a bit more features. 

There are also other solutions that are cheaper than this, however, they may not work the same. 

There are no additional costs. We pay just one price for the device itself. I'm not sure of the exact price. It might have been around $100.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did evaluate other solutions previously. I understand what other solutions can do, more or less, however, I choose to use Aruba since I know what it can do and it offers a good price. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm a user and also a distributor. 

It has devices that are switches and access points and it is managed via the cloud and the cloud is free. It's all unified. 

This solution can integrate other solutions, such as Clear Pass. You can easily configure it to connect to a radio server, for example. There are a lot of great advanced configurations.  It's very flexible. It's a very capable product. 

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Marija Lakić - PeerSpot reviewer
Sistem Administrator at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A satisfactory solution with a straightforward setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is stable, and we are satisfied."
  • "There is an issue with flooding to the Aruba access point on the ports."

What is our primary use case?

Our company has about 25 access points, and they integrate Aruba Instant. We have authentication integrated with Windows in the main controller for each employee. We also have a guest net portal.

What is most valuable?

We like that we can assign our employees based on authentication over Windows in the main controller. We couldn't do that with Cisco, so we switched to Aruba for that feature. Other solutions have end of life for devices, but Aruba does not. Cisco becomes completely useless at the end of life.

What needs improvement?

There is an issue with flooding to the Aruba access point on the ports. The flooding comes from the file transfer, but the two hosts that do the file transfers are on wire, not a wireless connection. So it's strange that we can see that graphic on the access point. We still don't know what is causing the issue. It may be a setting in Aruba, but we don't know. So we are trying to resolve the issue first before contacting technical support.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for about three years, and I believe we're using version 8.0.9.2. It is deployed on-premises.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Apart from some of the issues we are currently facing, the solution is stable, and we are satisfied.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution, and we have about 120 users and clients connected to wireless daily and management of the networks are done within by company.

How are customer service and support?

We have not contacted technical support before.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward, and the deployment was completed in-house.

What was our ROI?

We have a return on investment.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did not evaluate other solutions before choosing Aruba Instant. We attended a presentation by Aruba, spoke with some Aruba engineers and then decided to try the solution.

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution a nine out of ten, and I would recommend this solution to others.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Sreejesh S - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Specialist at COPYCAT LIMITED
Real User
A secure and stable solution on a minimum budget
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Aruba Instant is its cloud capability, which allows us to manage it through the cloud."
  • "It would be better if Aruba Instant could provide more security for customers."

What is our primary use case?

One of my government customers has multiple offices across the city, while their IT team is stationed in their central office. So we positioned Aruba wireless solutions across all their offices, and their IT team was able to access and operate APs from their central office.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Aruba Instant is its cloud capability, which allows us to manage it through the cloud. All management payloads can be accessed from anywhere, even through our hand-held devices when our IT person is traveling somewhere. When it comes to Aruba Instant, we are getting a more secure and stable solution on a minimum budget.

What needs improvement?

It would be better if Aruba Instant could provide more security for customers.

It would be better if Aruba Instant could provide a graphical prioritization of application data or application bandwidth.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Aruba Instant since its launch, especially in my region.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Compared with the normal Aruba series, Aruba Instant provides easy deployment and a wide range of coverage. However, there is some latency issue when accessing high latency applications like SAP, SAP HANA, and the Aruba Wi-Fi network.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Aruba Instant is a scalable solution.

What about the implementation team?

To deploy Aruba Instant, we first have to create our portal or customer portal and then deploy APs or profiles in the central or cloud console. Discovering APs might take some time, especially from a remote site.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In my region right now, Aruba Instant comes with a default two-year cloud access license. From the third year, we have to renew the solution.

What other advice do I have?

It is not at all difficult to maintain Aruba Instant. I always suggest Aruba Instant, which comes with a three-year subscription or licensing features, because most government customers require a minimum three years upfront license and warranty for all their procurements.

Overall, I rate Aruba Instant a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Teacher at a university with 10,001+ employees
Real User
The setup is straightforward and the product is easily deployed
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of this product is that it is easily deployed."
  • "The product can be improved by adding a clear interface."

What is our primary use case?

The product is used for user segmentation, server segmentation, WiFi segmentation, and printer server segmentation.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this product is that it is easily deployed.

What needs improvement?

The product can be improved by adding a clear interface. You can use the Web Green interface however an interface similar to Cisco Catalyst 29 that allows the user to simply configure the product would be useful.

I would like to see clear interface coverage for older models such as 1930.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for one and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable. There has been no need for reconfiguration or re-setup.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. It has the ability to connect to other sites.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Cisco Catalyst 29. 

How was the initial setup?

It was a straightforward setup.

I built a duplicate network on the product that allowed me to replace all the Cisco equipment by simply unplugging the cables from Cisco and plugging them into the new product. The total setup time was about 15 days.

What about the implementation team?

The implementation was done in-house.

What other advice do I have?

I give the product a nine out of ten.

The product comes with all the necessary technical documentation for support. Only one person is required for maintenance.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Luca Brunetta - PeerSpot reviewer
Administrator at Eurotel S.r.l.
Real User
Reliable, easy to expand, and helps improve functionality
Pros and Cons
  • "You don't have to deal with licenses."
  • "It is a software characteristic, and it is during the reboot. During the startup of the AP, the AP tells you that you are using the wrong password. However, I have realized that this is not true."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for our wireless network.

How has it helped my organization?

It has improved the functionality of our company. It is quite handy.

What is most valuable?

Aruba Instant is very useful. Even if you just have one device you can create a larger network with just a few configurations. 

You don't have to deal with licenses. 

What needs improvement?

There is one particular thing that I see that needs improvement. It is a software characteristic, and it is during the reboot. During the startup of the AP, the AP tells you that you are using the wrong password. However, I have realized that this is not true. The AP sees that it's not ready to get the login, and it replies you wrote a wrong password, yet that is not true. The real issue is that the AP is not ready. You get the right login, if you wait five minutes with the same password, it will work. The login is successful. This "wrong password" message should be "Wait, the AP is rebooting."

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is relatively stable. We had some bugs on some occasions, however, after you are configured, the system is quite stable. It doesn't crash or freeze.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product can scale. It is definitely good. You just have to add a similar AP sourcing the same version and same model. My wireless networks are quite small, so I don't have more than 100 APs.

The amount of people using it under us is 300 people.

We are integrators, so in the next month, we are going to install some other instant systems.

How are customer service and support?

I've dealt with technical support. How well the response is depends. In general, I feel good with the support and with the professionality and their ability as well. The one thing that I want to be improved is the engineers.

They have to read the entire description. I usually write all of the parameters, for example, the version, my devices, and a description of my infrastructure. And then I received an email, "Please, tell me the version. Please, add a particular file." Yet when I open a case, I add this information from the beginning. They just have to read and get the information. I'd estimate that in at least 50% of the cases, the technicians do not read the notes I send at all.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup depends on the configuration that the user wants. The instant infrastructure is relatively straightforward, however, it depends on the environment - including what kind of antenna you have to use if you have an external antenna. The web configuration is quite straightforward depending on the configuration.

We only need three or four people for the installation and the configuration. Once it depends on the environment. 

What about the implementation team?

My company is a system integrator, so we install devices.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's not easy for me to talk about the cost since I am a technician. I'd rate it a two out of five in terms of affordability. It's more on the expensive side. There might be some extra costs involved depending on the infrastructure. 

What other advice do I have?

We are an integrator, and we have many customers. Then we have a partnership with the distributors, with the sellers.

We work with Aruba devices and Aruba Access Points and Switches. We work with Access Point using Instant Infrastructure, Wireless Controller, or Aruba Central.

There is some confusion about using the website due to the integration with HP. Sometimes you have to go to the HP website and sometimes to Aruba. Also, now, there is the integration with HP GreenLake and you have to log in to an HPE website and then go to the Aruba portal, which is quite confusing. This confuses me. There are too many portals, and it just jumps from one to the other. It's not so handy.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Aruba Instant Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: June 2025
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Buyer's Guide
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