Aruba Instant On Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN comparison

Aruba Instant On Access Points vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

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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 Instant On Access Points

Ranking in Wireless LAN

10th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Ranking in Wireless LAN

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

119

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Access Points is 0.9%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 12.7%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

Ricardo Quintero

Infrastructure/Telcom Coordinator at Schnellecke Group AG & Co. KG

Affordable and offers an easy setup phase

I was working on the on-premises solutions, like IronNet, Aironet, and some other tools from Cisco, but not with Meraki. The last Aironet model that we have here in Mexico, in the corporate office, and in some of the other regions of Mexico is Cisco Aironet 3700 and Cisco Aironet 3800, so it is just two or three devices. Aruba Instant On Access Points was working with Aruba 2540 and Cisco 3850 In Cisco, I found some issues. I was working well with a vendor. I was working with Cisco Catalyst 9200 and Cisco Catalyst 9300, along with Cisco Catalyst 2916M XL Switch. With all devices, we got a report. During the immigration, we choose another vendor, which Aruba. We have some issues with Aruba Instant On Access Points in iOS that are targeting the devices, and I have seen some problems with the DHCP solution.

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RezaPradipta

Sr. Officer Network Managed Service Product Management at PT. Indosat Tbk

Streamline network management with a unified dashboard for seamless device integration

The primary use case for Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is mostly for enterprise wireless, including guest Wi-Fi and enterprise Wi-Fi. I use it across various industries with a focus on retail Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers a single pane of glass management. It only comes with a controller on the…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The configuration is very simple."

"It's a good solution and a good technology."

"Aruba is much better than other vendors like Cisco and NETGEAR in terms of quality, price, and value for money."

"The product's initial setup phase is too easy."

"The virtual Controller feature is valuable."

"I would recommend Aruba Instant On Access Points to others."

"The roaming feature and connectivity during disconnections are valuable."

"Its technical support is excellent."

More Aruba Instant On Access Points pros

"The solution provides good coverage and identity management. Additionally, the user interface is straightforward."

"Integrating with the router, firewall, and Wireless Controller is advantageous."

"For Meraki, the ease of deployment and management is most valuable."

"It is cloud-based. It has a GUI rather than a command line, and it just works."

"Its management is most valuable. It is the major feature of Meraki."

"I like the record that is being kept and multiple SSDs."

"The most valuable feature is cloud management."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the application visibility, which is one of the main features."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

Cons

"The solution's range could be better."

"I would like to see a feature that blocks, increases, or decreases bandwidth capacity for devices."

"When there are a lot of people connected, especially during video streaming demonstrations, the connection can get a bit choppy."

"The solution can be more integrated with other brands."

"The tool is priced high."

"The customer service and support are terrible."

"In terms of financial benefits, the Aruba project is a high-cost solution, and I haven't seen specific financial returns."

"The product's machine or equipment can cater to around 20 connections and cannot go beyond 50 simultaneous connections, because of which I think the tool's scalability is limited."

More Aruba Instant On Access Points cons

"They're great. If there's anything that they need to change, it is just simplifying the site to which you go to make changes on the admin side."

"We face a bottleneck on the gateway while using the solution for large enterprises."

"Currently, with Meraki, a controller is required to direct guest and user traffic to the internet. Improvement is needed in the portal for enhanced visibility into activities. Additionally, addressing multiple bugs, especially those arising with new releases, is crucial to ensure system stability."

"The wireless infrastructure scalability has room for improvement."

"The only thing that always causes problems with Meraki is the license. It's a bit of a bugbear with Meraki, and it remains today. So it's an unusual concept compared to the other products in the marketplace, but then it does cause a bit of a nuisance from time to time."

"The only concern is when the license has expired and it will no longer function, the entire network goes down, without any notification, or warning."

"Initially, I liked some of the filtering features, but that's one of the components that we ran into problems with."

"We would like the solution to work on the pricing of the solution. It would be ideal if it could bring the overall costs down."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's price falls on the cheaper end of the spectrum. The price of the product is one of the biggest benefits that it offers."

"Aruba Instant On Access Points are license-free. It's a very good and cheap solution for wireless networks. It can be compared with solutions from Ubiquiti and TP-Link, but it is in a different class. Aruba Instant On Access Points are cheaper than those from Cisco, Ruckus, and Motorola. It's perhaps the cheapest one. They do not use licenses, so it is a solution from the box. You don't need to pay extra money or deal with hidden payments."

"It needs a license."

"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

"It is expensive."

"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the standard licensing charges associated with the product. There are some additional costs associated with the product since I have seen customers who purchase three-year or five-year plans."

"I rate the product's pricing a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."

"The price of Aruba Instant On Access Points is reasonable. They are competitively priced. I've even used it in my home at one time because of the low price."

More Aruba Instant On Access Points pricing and cost advice

"Its price is okay for an enterprise. Its licensing is the most painful. If you hear anything bad about Cisco, it's about that. We're supposed to be one of the resellers but had to come back down to become a user. It's really bizarre."

"Pricing could be better."

"I would say that they have adequate pricing."

"The price of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN could be improved, it is too expensive. We pay for the solution on an annual basis."

"This solution is reasonably priced."

"The product is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."

"The platform is more expensive than other solutions."

"Users have to pay a yearly license fee for the solution."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

58%

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Instant On Access Points?

It's really easy to set up. And, you don't have to pay for the cloud solution. That's really interesting for our clients. And the other thing is, the roaming is also quite good.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Instant On Access Points?

The cost of Aruba Instant On Access Points is reasonable; however, I do not have information on the exact pricing, such as cost per user or annual license fees.

What needs improvement with Aruba Instant On Access Points?

We can improve Aruba Instant On Access Points by tuning some of the parameters of the radio. The default configuration can be overridden to enhance performance beyond the default settings.

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?

Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...

Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...

How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...

Fortinet FortiAP vs Aruba Instant On Access Points

Comparisons

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Cambium Networks Wireless LAN vs Aruba Instant On Access Points

Compared 16% of the time

Omada Access Points vs Aruba Instant On Access Points

Compared 13% of the time

Aruba Instant vs Aruba Instant On Access Points

Compared 12% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs Aruba Instant On Access Points

Compared 9% of the time

More Aruba Instant On Access Points Competitors

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 32% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 15% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 11% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Product Reports

Aruba Instant On Access Points

Download Aruba Instant On Access Points product report

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Also Known As

No data available

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN

Overview

Ingredients for success.

Fast 802.11ac Wave 2, secure employee and guest access, easy-to-use web, and mobile app management.

Say yes to secure Wi-Fi access.

Pre-built access control lists (ACLs) and built-in firewall in the access points prevent malicious traffic from entering your network – we call it “hassle-free” security.

Never drop an important call.

With Instant On, voice and video business applications are automatically prioritized, so you stay connected with your peers.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Cisco Meraki access points are built from the highest grade components and carefully optimized for a seamless user experience. The outcome: faster connections, greater user capacity, more coverage, and fewer support calls. The Cisco Meraki dashboard gives visibility into the network users, their devices, and their applications. Armed with rich analytics, administrators can quickly create access control and application usage policies, optimizing both the end-user experience and network security.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins

Aruba Instant On Access Points vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN