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Aruba Instant On Access Points vs Ruckus Wireless comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Ruckus Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
104
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 Ruckus Wireless is 14.2%, up from 12.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Ricardo Quintero - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Xander Janse Van Rensburg - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable and high-performance wireless networking with exceptional stability, scalability, and robust feature set
One of the most valuable features I appreciate is auto channelization, facilitated by a proprietary product called ChannelFly. This feature enables APs in a specific zone to automatically adjust their channels, optimizing performance. Additionally, Ruckus Wireless stands out for its ability to reuse certain beams, resulting in smaller data spots. In my experience with various products, Ruckus Wireless consistently delivers unparalleled throughput, coverage, and reliability in wireless networking across different environments. As a noteworthy point, the newly launched WiFi 7 standard is measured against Ruckus's WiFi 7 AP, establishing it as the global benchmark. When it comes to WiFi, Ruckus sets the standard, outperforming competitors with its superior performance and capabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's most valuable features include a simple deployment phase, easy management, and scalability."
"The solution has fast deployment and easy setup. There is no security PIN for this account."
"Aruba is much better than other vendors like Cisco and NETGEAR in terms of quality, price, and value for money."
"Its performance is very good. It suits small and medium sites very well."
"Its technical support is excellent."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba Instant On Access Points is they are easy to manage."
"The mobile app is good. We have many things that are connected through mobile. Most users use mobile to connect to the Wi-Fi."
"The most valuable feature of Ruckus Wireless is the simple interface of the SmartZone platform."
"I'm not on the technical side, so I personally haven't configured Ruckus Wireless. We've got some staff that manages that for us. But if I had to say a most valuable feature from my perspective, it would maybe be Ruckus Analytics."
"Unproblematic"
"The most valuable feature of Ruckus Wireless is its AI capability, which automatically scales up and down the coverage areas."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Our IT staff can quickly issue guest passes for vendors and the instructions are very straightforward, requiring very little effort to get connected."
"Good connection quality."
"It gives you the whole user session, and you can tell that the client connected at the traffic post."
 

Cons

"The setup is not very easy. It requires some experience with Wi-Fi, especially with cloud connection and security."
"The limited functionality of the mobile app restricts its use primarily to small and medium-sized setups, making it less suitable for enterprise-level solutions."
"The challenging point for Aruba Instant On is the roaming capability, as it doesn’t perform as strongly as enterprise solutions."
"With Aruba, the documentation on the website is not too easy to use, and some information is not found."
"The solution should include higher speed and lesser cost."
"Software-wise, I would like to have a way of moving APs from site to site and wish there would be a way to add more APs to one site. I know the limit is 25 APs per site and I wish there were more."
"If there's a way to get a floor map of our office space so we can place the access points on a map to be able to see what's what, where everything is going, where the most traffic is being connected, that would be a nice feature."
"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."
"Their support has been lacking a little bit and needs to be improved. I have had a ticket open for a month, and it is really hard to get a resolution out of them. They haven't really come out with anything that is much of an improvement in a long time. It has mostly just been fixes and things like that. We used to have a ZoneDirector or a physical controller for the wireless network, and that was kind of end of life. It was very old, and at the time, we were expanding the wireless network, and we didn't want to rely on one piece of hardware that was pretty old. So, we went to SmartZone Cluster, which has two VMs in a cluster. Unfortunately, we lost the feature ability for guest networks and other things that we were using before, and Ruckus just kind of told us that they weren't supporting that feature in the newer product, which is not really great. I was told initially that SmartZone was an upgrade to ZoneDirector. It is the logical thing to think that it is going to have all the same features, but it didn't. The issue that we have right now is onboarding BYOD devices. It is not really great for us, and we're looking for a new product to make that easier. We did have Cloudpath, which was a product that Ruckus purchased from another company that was an onboarding solution, but it just didn't really work very well for us. So, we discontinued using it, and it actually created more confusion for people. They should make BYOD or guest network portals a lot easier and better. In some areas, we have been having issues because there are just so many WAPs that are so close that we had to manually turn down the radio of power because the automatic feature of the AP wasn't really doing it right. It should also have a little bit better RF analysis capability to be able to see on the controller side. The front end for our staff, students, and guests has also not been quite as good as we had hoped."
"We would like to see a better licensing model for our customers."
"The cloud solution is not mature enough."
"I have not got any major problem using Ruckus, but the price and technical support could be better."
"The product is very expensive."
"They have so many products that there are so many different part numbers for the US and other countries. That means it's easy to make a mistake with the licensing. You have to have somebody knowledgeable on the other end with the licensing. If you make one mistake, it can be a $2,000 mistake."
"I think it would be nice if Ruckus offered the option of a cloud interface for easy configuration of Ruckus Wireless."
"I suggest more controlling features on the controller. The menu of the performance must be improved, as well."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"You buy it for $165 an AP, which is what we paid."
"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."
"Its price is fair. It is not really cheap, and it is also not expensive. It is in the middle."
"It needs a license."
"I rate the product's pricing a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The price of Ruckus Wireless is less expensive than other solutions, such as Cisco."
"If you walk into any restaurant or hotel you will find Ruckus Wireless solutions because it is economical when it comes to pricing. There is a basic subscription for the license and support."
"Ruckus Wireless is not an expensive solution."
"The reason we picked Ruckus, in addition to our long-standing relationship with Ruckus, is pretty much that the RFS characteristics of it seem to be the best."
"The only complaint I have about Ruckus is the price, but considering other enterprise WiFi products are similarly priced, I feel Ruckus is a superior product."
"This is a very expensive solution."
"Ruckus is an expensive solution."
"Cost-wise, the product is priced above average, considering its competitors in the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
58%
Computer Software Company
6%
Construction Company
4%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

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.
Aruba Wireless or Ruckus Wireless?
At my organization, we researched Ruckus Wireless among other solutions but ultimately chose Aruba wireless. What did we like about Ruckus? First, it was very easy to use, and anybody with minimal...
Which is better - Ruckus Wireless or Cisco Wireless?
Ruckus Wireless offers users the benefit of being both easy to set up and get running as well as being very user friendly. This user-friendly quality also renders it easy to learn how to use and ma...
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...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
American University of Sharjah, Baruch College, Centro Escolar Liceo Santo Tomšs, Chevalier College, Chico Unified School District, Colegio de Fomento El Prado, Columbia Public Schools, Delta School District, Dordt College, Douglas County School District, Drew University, Armonea, Central Utah Clinic, Grove Hill Medical Center, Inner South Community Health Service, Midwest Surgical, Satilla Regional Medical Center, Lyndoch Living, Polonus, Roaring Fork School District, Sonora State, Vivid, Sydney, Players Club, Sandals, Scandic Hotels, Sheraton LAX, Sunbird
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant On Access Points vs. Ruckus Wireless and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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