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Aruba Airwave vs Cisco Prime [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Airwave
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (4th)
Cisco Prime [EOL]
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmet Bulbul - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Consultant at Data Market
Reports generation remains efficient while support and updates require attention
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.
AR
Network Engineer at Edmonton Catholic School Board
Has an easy implementation process, but the performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive
The project implementation was easy overall. Adapting Cisco's solutions to our specific environment required effort, as their documentation only covers some network scenarios. The deployment didn't happen all at once; it was staged and controlled to ensure a smooth transition. We started with a small test environment before gradually rolling it out to all campuses. This gradual approach helped mitigate the risk of any issues arising across multiple locations simultaneously, especially on a critical day like Monday morning. We have a team of three executives working on the process. Their job roles included network specialists and a manager. It requires maintenance, which is included in the annual cost. We receive updates and support as part of the renewal process.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support services are good."
"The cost is perfect because the devices have a lifetime warranty, and the licensing is good as well."
"It has improved my organization by increasing troubleshooting opportunities which makes things more efficient."
"It facilitated creating floor maps."
"The powerful features we can put forward in Aruba Airwave are clarity, report creation, and VisualRF."
"It's scalable because it's licensed per device and we bought licenses with each device. I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability."
"We are a solution provider and Aruba Airwave is one of the products that we implement for our customers, and most of our customers use this product to manage and monitor their networks."
"ROI is good, and the technology has a good life span."
"The solution's configuration management tool is amazing because it centralizes and pushes configurations which saves a lot of volume and effort."
"The solution provides data that allows us to time travel through logs and perform remote operations or troubleshooting."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management."
"The solution helps with the management and support of the enterprise network."
"What attracts customers to Cisco Prime is it is readily available."
"The most valuable is the assistance for network support."
"Cisco Prime is helpful as it provides us with real-time monitoring, which allows us to be proactive in our environment."
"The customer service and support for this solution is good."
 

Cons

"We sometimes have problems with troubleshooting between the GUI and the CLI manipulation."
"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."
"When upgrading hardware, there were technical issues with network interfaces and Red Hat, which required escalation to developers."
"They should make it cheaper. By doing that, they can replace Cisco, which is also very expensive. If it is equivalent to Cisco in the features, with a reduced price, they can sell it more than Cisco."
"We're looking for more device compatibility. Like compatibility with third-party devices."
"I want a management solution to manage and monitor everything from a single dashboard. This is not there with Airwave."
"I would like to see is “AAS”. Not only Aruba APs with central, but NAC/ClearPass, AirWave, and everything licensed as a Service."
"My general opinion on Aruba Airwave is that it's acceptable, but it's not ideal because we are accustomed to Cisco."
"Now, the complexity has increased, so the quality of work also has taken a slight hit with respect to their TAC support especially."
"Cisco Prime's initial setup is complex."
"I would rate the scalability of Cisco Prime a six out of ten. To scale up from a hundred to a thousand devices, the platform needs to be rebuilt logically. This process might require a downtime window and may involve changing the hardware or upgrading to a larger appliance."
"Cisco Prime could improve the graphical user interface."
"I want the tool to improve data visibility."
"That is unacceptable and it's the biggest downfall of the solution."
"They could consider offering more flexible pricing options for their customers."
"Cisco Prime is slow at times, we often have to restart the database to run reports or to gain access."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Run a 90 day free Proof of Concept (PoC) for each product by implementing and using it fully in your environment. This way you will be educated on its features, functionality, and manageability."
"It's device-based licensing. One device requires one license."
"It is an expensive solution."
"AirWave is a very expensive solution. If you implement it in a wide range network, it will cost a lot. There is no option to sell it outside that price segment, which is a problem."
"We must buy a new license to connect more devices to scale up the solution."
"The tool is expensive. If one is bad or expensive, and ten is very good or cheap, I rate the product's price as a six."
"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."
"Aruba Airwave is an expensive solution."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"Cisco Prime is an expensive solution."
"We update the license every five years."
"The solution is not inexpensive but is worth it for large-scale environments."
"The cost is quite high."
"The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
"The price of Cisco Prime was reasonable because we purchased it as part of a Cisco One package. The package was a bundle of Cisco solutions together, such as Cisco ISE and CMX. The price is reasonable com compared to other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
12%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Aruba Airwave?
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....
What is your primary use case for Aruba Airwave?
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 eas...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

No data available
Cisco Prime Infrastructure
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa
Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.