No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Aruba Airwave vs SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper 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
Ranking in Network Management Applications
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Network Topology...
Ranking in Network Management Applications
13th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
2.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Network Management Applications category, the mindshare of Aruba Airwave is 3.3%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper is 2.6%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Management Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Airwave3.3%
SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper2.6%
Other94.1%
Network Management Applications
 

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.
reviewer2687874 - PeerSpot reviewer
Design Engineer at a wholesaler/distributor with 501-1,000 employees
Effective tools simplify network mapping and analysis
I can't really articulate any areas that could be improved with the product right offhand. Just as long as they keep it around, since I know things are going into subscription models. One thing we do appreciate about the tool is that it's essentially a perpetual tool. Once you purchase it and the Engineer's ToolBox, it's been beneficial, serving as another utility tool on the network. I can't think of anything specific offhand for how SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper could improve, because I treat it as a simple utility tool that serves those needs. It scans the network for SNMP and ICMP echoes to map the topologies of the existing network. It's a small utility tool that's very helpful and beneficial, another option for us to utilize, and while there's always room for more features, that typically comes with a cost that we have to weigh.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The cost is perfect because the devices have a lifetime warranty, and the licensing is good as well."
"All the technical support goes through our contractor. It is a local support, and it is perfect."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba Airwave is the multivendor support, which enables you to manage and monitor different vendors or products."
"The Clarity feature makes it easy to use and understand what is going on with your network in a nice dashboard, and 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."
"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."
"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."
"The powerful features we can put forward in Aruba Airwave are clarity, report creation, and VisualRF."
"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."
"It's user-friendly."
"One of the best features of SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper is that it has over 60 utility tools to utilize, so it offers a lot of different features, more than I have time to discuss at this moment, making it a good extra set of utility tools that we can incorporate onto our network."
 

Cons

"Pricing for Aruba Airwave could be cheaper, which is an area for improvement in the solution."
"The integration with other platforms like Cisco needs to be improved."
"Stability of GUI Stability of instant access point management"
"Its pricing and support could be improved."
"More devices or vendors should be onboarded to Aruba Airwave."
"Cost is always a big issue for partners."
"I want a management solution to manage and monitor everything from a single dashboard. This is not there with Airwave."
"Support is good, but it is not as good as Cisco. Cisco's support is faster."
"This is a relatively expensive product."
 

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."
"Aruba Airwave's licensing cost is not that expensive."
"I rate the product’s pricing a five out of ten."
"The licensing cost for Aruba Airwave increased from $72 to $210 within a few months. It would be better if the pricing for the solution were cheaper."
"This product is not expensive."
"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."
"It is an expensive solution."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Network Management Applications solutions are best for your needs.
902,417 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Educational Organization
12%
Government
11%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise14
No data available
 

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...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper?
I can't really articulate any areas that could be improved with the product right offhand. Just as long as they keep it around, since I know things are going into subscription models. One thing we ...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper?
In general, I use it for scanning IT and OT devices for networks and laying out their topology mapping. The industry I use it for is manufacturing. We specifically don't use it as our network manag...
What advice do you have for others considering SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper?
The Engineer's Toolset is something I use hand-in-hand with the Topology Mapper, and it complements it well. Regarding pricing and licensing with SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper, I haven't faced...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SolarWinds NTM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henkel, University of Findlay, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Iowa
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Airwave vs. SolarWinds Network Topology Mapper and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,417 professionals have used our research since 2012.