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Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Fortinet FortiWLC comparison

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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

Cloudflare Web Application ...
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Web Application Firewall (WAF) (6th)
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Pl...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (9th), WAN Edge (9th)
Fortinet FortiWLC
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (27th)
 

Mindshare comparison

WAN Optimization Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform13.9%
Steelhead15.6%
Cato SASE Cloud Platform12.8%
Other57.7%
WAN Optimization
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiWLC1.0%
Aruba Wireless12.9%
Ruckus Wireless10.3%
Other75.8%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

DB
CTO at PlayNirvana
Advanced security reporting has protected high-traffic betting platforms from constant attacks
I don't see room for improvement to Cloudflare Web Application Firewall. One thing I don't know much about because we have a dedicated IT team for that, and I'm not involved with Cloudflare much anymore. But if I were to compare them to F5, I would like to see more features that F5 offers. F5 has an option to bring the whole infrastructure, the whole WAF and all their packages, Bot Management, and everything else on your infrastructure. You need to install certain services from their side, and then you can choose if you would like requests to hit your servers immediately or if requests need to be proxied through F5 backbone. That would be a nice addition because we have 90% of the traffic as legit traffic coming from whitelisted servers. If it comes from whitelisted servers, I don't need to go every request through the backbone; I could easily just IP whitelist everything. Then I could maybe have Bot Management on my infrastructure that drastically reduces the price of Cloudflare. I would like to see Push CDN more improved in the next release of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall. And maybe something similar to Pushpin that Fastly has, which is an option where you can push messages that then can be scaled globally over the network. From our perspective, if we have a listener that listens for stock updates, I would just need to have one processor that pushes those updates to the Cloudflare API, and then Cloudflare would broadcast that message to all listeners. Cloudflare will check the order of the message, and if you, as a customer, are not connected or have some kind of network issue, when you reconnect, you will receive the latest state and missing updates.
SatishKumar13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy Manager at Savex Technologies Pvt Ltd
Reliable features and exceptional tech support enhance user experience
The Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is a fantastic solution based on my experience. The Zero-Touch Provisioning feature is one of the best features I have seen so far. While there are some aspects that need improvement on the technical side, when comparing it with other products and solutions, it performs well but still has room for enhancement.
Md.Mehedi Hassan - PeerSpot reviewer
Team Lead Manager at Blue Pill Ltd
Offers a seamless and secure WiFi experience with outstanding customer support
FortiWLC is valuable due to its security features and the seamless WiFi experience it provides. Our customers benefit greatly from the security aspect, especially since they are already using Fortinet for Firewall services. The security features are crucial for their requirements. The stability and ease of use of FortiWLC also add to its effectiveness.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a SaaS solution unlike much of the competition."
"There is a huge signature repository"
"This is a good product; it's reliable and scales well."
"I have not had any issues with this solution, and I would recommend it to others who are interested in using it."
"The most valuable part of the solution for us overall is exactly that it is a Software-as-a-Service product."
"In general, it's a very good product: the solution is very stable, the performance is great, the product offers very good scalability, the pricing is very reasonable, the installation is very straightforward and quite simple, and technical support has a very fast response time and is helpful."
"The product has improved our security posture by blocking bad actors."
"Some of the most valuable features of Cloudflare Web Application Firewall include its DNS zone setup and the zero trust policy."
"The main differences between these solutions are that the pros of Aruba EdgeConnect are that it is easy to use, easy to implement, and has full ZTP with full coverage, whether it's SaaS or on-prem; they integrate with the SSC solutions."
"The most valuable feature of Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect is the boost."
"The platform is valuable for bandwidth reduction."
"The most valuable feature is the support for asymmetric lines."
"Aruba EdgeConnect has an inbuilt next-generation firewall, advanced routing capabilities, and one compression capacity."
"The best features of the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform are capacity management and network capacity management."
"I had to deal with them on a couple of issues, but the tool's technical support is top-notch...The product's initial setup phase is straightforward and the easiest."
"Many features are valuable for automation, connectivity, and throughput."
"FortiWLC is valuable due to its security features and the seamless WiFi experience it provides."
"It's easy to set everything up during implementation."
"The security within the access point and the controller is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiWLC is the overall high quality."
 

Cons

"I have experienced some difficulties with Cloudflare's support as a customer based in India."
"The learning curve was steep initially."
"The platform's control features related to real-time authentication and response time need improvement."
"It would be ideal if the solution offered better log integration and more integration with different platforms."
"They need to improve their support because getting a response for basic requests took around 48 hours, which is too long."
"Cloudflare should update the version of the ModSecurity core rule set that they run on."
"The notification part could be improved. It's very much connected to Web Application Firewall, rate-limiting, and DDoS protection."
"Its stability could be better."
"One area for improvement is the Intel support integration. The security could also improve."
"Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform needs to improve integrations with other vendors."
"The license features should improve in the solution. For example, when you purchase VMware, it starts at a low level that has some functionality. When you want to expand, the difference in the price is substantial. I purchased the lower functional version for $4,000, and now if I want to upgrade, they ask me for $80,000. This is a $76,000 difference, there's no logic, but this is VMware."
"I guess the tool should give you a little more flexibility on what you can show on the main window, which can be an area of improvement."
"The security can be improved, with the firewall for example, because they supply a basic one but not a UTM."
"There are some functional limitations that could improve."
"I expect automation in the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform's next release."
"The room for improvement for the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is pricing, as people are purchasing this product less and less because of pricing where I give connectivity."
"Fortinet FortiWLC is not simple to configure when compared to other solutions. The design could be better."
"However, for massive implementations, Fortinet should consider reducing the price to make it more affordable."
"One thing that is lacking is, compared with some other brands, the signal is a bit weaker. Ruckus has much wider signal coverage."
"The price of Fortinet FortiWLC is high. The solution will be out of the market for us because the price is too high for the features it provides."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The annual licensing fee is $10,000 USD."
"We pay $210 per month for CloudFlare WAF."
"It is not too pricey."
"The solution is expensive."
"The pricing model is very straightforward compared to the competition. You just pay per month for the product and usage."
"Cloudflare offers different types of subscriptions for businesses, enterprises, and personal users, and the pricing is negotiable."
"It starts at $20 and can easily go up to $200 monthly"
"Cloudflare Web Application Firewall is more affordable than other solutions."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high, I rate the pricing around five to six."
"The pricing for this product is good."
"You typically will license the hardware and you license the software to access the hardware capabilities. The price will range anywhere from a hundred to $300 a month. There are no additional costs."
"The price of Silver Peak VX is reasonable but could improve."
"You can get both yearly and monthly options in licensing. It is not expensive."
"Compared to other solutions, I think it is a cheap product in the market."
"There is an annual license required to use Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect."
"The licensing fees depend on the bandwidth. As an example of what we charge our customers, for 100MB without Boost, the price is approximately $2,000. That includes the licensing and the unit."
"The price of Fortinet FortiWLC is high. The solution will be out of the market for us because the price is too high for the features it provides."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise11
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?
I don't see room for improvement to Cloudflare Web Application Firewall. One thing I don't know much about because we...
What is your primary use case for Cloudflare Web Application Firewall?
We are using Cloudflare Web Application Firewall's advanced reporting and analytics tools with their Zero Trust, so e...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Silver Peak NX?
The pricing is on the higher side compared to the competition when discussing experience with pricing, setup cost, an...
What needs improvement with Silver Peak NX?
The room for improvement for the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is pricing, as people are purchasing this product ...
What is your primary use case for Silver Peak NX?
A typical use case for the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform is high latency connectivity, which is why I or my clien...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWLC?
I cannot disclose the license price, however, I recommend Fortinet reduce its pricing for massive implementations.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWLC?
Until now, I have not observed any issues. However, for massive implementations, Fortinet should consider reducing th...
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiWLC?
We are resellers of FortiWLC, and our customers mainly use it in enterprise settings, particularly for chemical compa...
 

Also Known As

Cloudflare WAF
Silver Peak NX, Silver Peak VX, Silver Peak Unity EdgeConnect
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

crunchbase, udacity, marketo, okcupid, zendesk
Group Dekko, Kingston Technology, American Student Assistance, Ares Management, Charlotte Metro Credit Union, Colonial Savings, Community Bank, Denali Credit Union, Bed Bath & Beyond, Breweries of Cameroon, Carnival Australia, Coastal Beverages, Toshiba Electronics, Tru Blu Beverages, WAXIE Sanitary Supply, Charleston Area Medical Center, Community Health Plan, Healthcare Company, Mercy Health, Linklaters, Miles & Stockbridge, Thomson Snell & Passmore
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Riverbed, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cato Networks and others in WAN Optimization. Updated: July 2026.
909,647 professionals have used our research since 2012.