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Aruba Airwave vs Cisco Prime [EOL] comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Cisco are both solutions in the Network Management Applications category. Additionally, 92% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Cisco users who would recommend it.
Aruba Airwave
Read 26 Aruba Airwave reviews
  • 1,379 Views
  • 1,310 Comparison Views
92% willing to recommend
Cisco Prime [EOL]
Read 35 Cisco Prime [EOL] reviews
    91% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive Summary
    We performed a comparison between Aruba Airwave and Cisco Prime [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Management Applications.

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    To learn more, read our detailed Network Management Applications Report (Updated: August 2025).
    Buyer's Guide
    Network Management Applications
    August 2025
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    Helped 867,370 peers since 2012

    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 (3rd)
    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
    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.
    Read full review
    ZeeshanAli1 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Robust, cost-effective, and provides good visibility, but the scalability could improve
    We are extremely satisfied with the reliability and robustness of Cisco Prime Infrastructure, which we have been using for many years. Compared to newer products such as DNS centers or others, it has proven to be much more stable, which is important for large-scale operations. Stability is a primary concern for us, and we are glad that Cisco Prime Infrastructure meets our expectations in that regard. Furthermore, in regards to Legacy Plus new hardware, Cisco Prime has proven to be a reliable and adaptable solution thus far. Not only can it support older hardware, but it also has the capability to handle new features with the latest updates. If we consider new solutions such as DNS Center, we may have to sacrifice some legacy features that we still rely on. We may need to continue using these legacy features for a few more years due to various reasons such as budget constraints or the site not being a high priority. However, if we switch to a new product at this stage, we may lose a lot of the monitoring and other capabilities that we have with Cisco Prime. We have a close relationship with Cisco and understand that they are not prioritizing investments in Cisco Prime as they are encouraging customers to adopt the Cisco DNA Center. This means that we don't anticipate many new features to be added to the product in the future. While we know that we will eventually have to transition to a new solution, in the meantime, we plan to do a quick refresh of our legacy products.
    Read full review

    Quotes from Members

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

    Pros

    "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."
    "It contains valuable features for engineers to C-level executives, who want visibility, performance, statistics, and a platform which can take action for them without manual intervention, saving time and money.​​"
    "I would rate the stability a nine out of ten."
    "All the technical support goes through our contractor. It is a local support, and it is perfect."
    "One of the main advantages is its ability to draw building floor plans and analyze Wi-Fi signal behavior in real-time."
    "It can interact with other vendors better than Cisco, which is a good point of AirWave. It is easy to use, and its reporting is good."
    "The most valuable features are the error log and intrusion log. It also provides an overview of your assets. It gives a good database for wireless coverage."
    "It facilitated creating floor maps."
    More Aruba Airwave pros
    "The solution's configuration management tool is amazing because it centralizes and pushes configurations which saves a lot of volume and effort."
    "Cisco Prime is a good tool for inventory monitoring and wireless management."
    "The most valuable feature of Cisco Prime is the heat map."
    "The product's most valuable features are monitoring and configuration."
    "The solution provides data that allows us to time travel through logs and perform remote operations or troubleshooting."
    "It gives you the ability to upgrade switches remotely, schedule the upgrade time, perform backups, and monitor the health of all networks."
    "We use this solution to troubleshoot our wireless systems, specifically regarding signal strength."
    "The interfaces are a valuable feature."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pros
     

    Cons

    "I would try to integrate more products from different vendors in future releases. Because that's really good features that Aruba Airway has, but it's so limited."
    "The overall monitoring of this solution could be improved."
    "We sometimes have problems with troubleshooting between the GUI and the CLI manipulation."
    "We're looking for more device compatibility. Like compatibility with third-party devices."
    "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 encounter delayed ETAs in the manufacturing of hardware."
    "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."
    "Its pricing and support could be improved."
    More Aruba Airwave cons
    "The solution is not easy to configure."
    "Lacking in integration with a SIEM tool."
    "I would love for Cisco Prime to show bandwidth usage and consumption, but I can't monitor bandwidth usage at a given time."
    "Cisco can only be used for Cisco environments and is not compatible with other vendors."
    "There is room for improvement in the Access layer."
    "The product's pricing can be cheaper."
    "The onboarding process could be improved and developed to enhance compatibility for non-Cisco devices."
    "The product needs to improve its stability."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] cons
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "Aruba Airwave is an expensive solution."
    "It is an expensive solution."
    "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."
    "The cost is perfect because the devices have a lifetime warranty, and the licensing is good as well."
    "This product is not expensive."
    "I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."
    "Licensing and pricing are extremely straightforward."
    "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."
    More Aruba Airwave pricing and cost advice
    "You need to get special quotes from the company for each order."
    "If we have a license for Cisco DNA, we can use the same license for Cisco Prime."
    "I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
    "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."
    "I would rate the pricing of Cisco Prime a seven out of ten."
    "The product is expensive compared to other vendors in the market."
    "We update the license every five years."
    "The cost is quite high."
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] pricing and cost advice
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    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    Computer Software Company
    11%
    Manufacturing Company
    10%
    Government
    9%
    Educational Organization
    8%
    Computer Software Company
    15%
    Government
    13%
    Manufacturing Company
    8%
    Healthcare Company
    6%
     

    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 Enterprise4
    Large Enterprise23
     

    Questions from the Community

    What do you like most about Aruba Airwave?
    I would rate the stability a nine out of ten.
    See all answers
    What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Airwave?
    I think the solution is quite affordable.
    See all answers
    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....
    See all answers
    What do you like most about Cisco Prime?
    The most valuable features of Cisco Prime include its comprehensive functionality as a one-stop solution for basic SNMP port management.
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco Prime?
    The product's performance monitoring feature could be more intuitive.
    See all answers
    What is your primary use case for Cisco Prime?
    We use Cisco Prime for centralized configuration management backups and monitoring.
    See all answers
     

    Comparisons

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    Compared 15% of the time
    Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista vs Aruba Airwave Logo
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    Compared 10% of the time
    Cisco Catalyst Center vs Aruba Airwave Logo
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    Compared 10% of the time
    More Aruba Airwave Competitors
    NetMaster Network Intelligence vs Cisco Prime [EOL] Logo
    NetMaster Network Intelligence vs Cisco Prime [EOL]
    Compared 100% of the time
    More Cisco Prime [EOL] Competitors
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    Aruba Airwave
    September 2025
    Aruba Airwave reportDownload Aruba Airwave product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Prime [EOL]
    September 2025
    Cisco Prime [EOL] reportDownload Cisco Prime [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    No data available
    Cisco Prime Infrastructure
     

    Overview

    Offering granular visibility into wired and wireless networks, AirWave is the only management platform designed with mobile devices and apps in mind. By proactively monitoring the health and performance of all things connected, AirWave lets IT gain the insights they need to support the digital workplace.
    Hewlett Packard Enterprise

    Cisco Prime products deliver next-generation management by supporting an intuitive workflow-oriented user experience and integrated lifecycle operations across Cisco architectures, technologies, and networks.

    Cisco
     

    Sample Customers

    Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa
    Mohawk Industries, Universidad EAFIT, Halton Healthcare
    Buyer's Guide
    Network Management Applications
    August 2025
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