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

8th

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

4th

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 June 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Access Points is 1.0%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 12.6%, up from 12.3% 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 product's initial setup phase is too easy."

"Its performance is very good. It suits small and medium sites very well."

"The advantages of Aruba Instant On Access Points include using a mobile application to control various aspects, making it a user-friendly solution for home use."

"The initial setup is very simple."

"The coverage Aruba provides across the physical area is much better. Most probably because of the new technology, the 4x4 antenna, and everything around it. It's just a much better, easier to use, and easier to manage product."

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

"The app and the provisioning are the best features of the product. It was really impressive that I was able to just provision it remotely. I didn't have to be on-site with my friend, and we were just able to get everything up and operational. So, the app is great. It sends me notifications when things are down, and it tells me how everything is doing."

"I would rate the stability of this solution a ten out of ten."

More Aruba Instant On Access Points pros

"The most valuable thing to me is the stability of the product."

"The most valuable feature is the stability. It works and doesn't stop."

"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."

"The most valuable features of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN are the ease of use and the ability to manage it from the cloud."

"The monitoring device enables you to see the network health."

"It makes the process much easier by providing visibility and centralized control over the network."

"It is very stable, very resilient, and very robust."

"The captive portal feature is my favorite. It allows us to keep track of how many people are entering our client's businesses."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

Cons

"The customer service and support are terrible."

"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."

"In future updates, more AI for intelligence and the option for a separate network could be beneficial."

"The challenging point for Aruba Instant On is the roaming capability, as it doesn’t perform as strongly as enterprise solutions."

"The solution's range could be better."

"The pricing could be a little cheaper."

"The security aspect needs improvement."

"The tool's pricing is not good."

More Aruba Instant On Access Points cons

"In the next release, I would like to see a third-party high tech center to connect multiple users to a particular network."

"The biggest pain point is that they limit you through firewall throughput. I understand why they do it, but that really grates me. For instance, for 450 Mbps throughput, you're looking at £800 for a router, whereas if you look at the one gig connection, for some of us are lucky enough to have a gig connection, you could almost be spending £3,000 for the option to have one gig connectivity. That's one of the pain points I've got. I don't mind paying for throughput, but I should at least have the option to be able to update that throughput, maybe through extra licensing or something else. It is crazy expensive to jump through to the next one."

"There's nothing that special about it."

"if there is a better feature, they write it as beta so you have to be careful."

"Concern when there are a number of concurrent users."

"The issue primarily revolves around failure to renew the license on time, leading to service termination."

"The wireless infrastructure scalability has room for improvement."

"There is a processing limitation when you have multiple SSIDs, above three or four."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

"It is competitively priced. It was at a price point that made sense for me to put in my home, and that says something. The cost of the solution includes everything we need to manage and upgrade our Wi-Fi network, including the mobile management app. Having the licensing and all the functionality built into the base price of the product is really important for me. There are no extra costs for the security feature or automatic software/firmware updates, which is really important to me."

"Its price is fair. It is not really cheap, and it is also not expensive. It is in the middle."

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

"You buy it for $165 an AP, which is what we paid."

"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."

"It is expensive."

More Aruba Instant On Access Points pricing and cost advice

"It is a relatively expensive solution compared to traditional network alternatives."

"You have to renew your contract every year, or for three or for five years. If you do not pay right away they will suspend your subscription."

"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is not a reasonably priced product for home use. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is a reasonably priced product for enterprise-sized businesses."

"The pricing is based on a subscription and is a bit high at the moment."

"The cost of both the hardware and licensing is high, and it is more than what I would prefer to spend currently."

"The price of the product could be cheaper."

"Since it's been acquired by Cisco, it's an even higher cost."

"We do a three-year or five-year license and support. Its price could be better, but overall, we get competitive prices. A lot of times, Cisco puts itself out of range, especially with Meraki. I've dealt with a lot of business development from Cisco, and they have always been accommodating, especially in dealing with hospitals or government. There is also a right time to buy it. July is when they are eager to sell a lot of things because that is the end of their calendar year."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

44%

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

18%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

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

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Compared 32% of the time

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Compared 14% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 11% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 6% of the time

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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