Aruba Instant On Access Points vs SonicWall SonicWave Access Points comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and SonicWall are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.6, while SonicWall is ranked #19 with an average rating of 10.0. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 0.9% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to SonicWall’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Aruba Instant On Access Points

Read 32 Aruba Instant On Access Points reviews

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941 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

SonicWall SonicWave Access ...

Read 4 SonicWall SonicWave Access Points reviews

552 Views
402 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Aruba Instant On Access Points

SonicWall SonicWave Access ...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

SonicWave Access Points and Aruba Instant On Access Points compete in network solutions. SonicWave offers pricing and support advantages, while Aruba Instant On provides superior functionality and features.

Features: SonicWave Access Points offer robust security measures, consistent performance, and enhanced customer support. Aruba Instant On Access Points provide seamless cloud management integration, enhanced device coverage, and extensive connectivity options, making them ideal for businesses requiring reliable connectivity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SonicWave Access Points offer a straightforward deployment process with detailed customer support, aiding ongoing maintenance. Aruba Instant On Access Points have an intuitive deployment model for quick setups and simplified customer service.

Pricing and ROI: SonicWave Access Points offer competitive initial investment and attractive long-term ROI due to stable security features reducing maintenance costs. Aruba Instant On Access Points may have a higher upfront cost but provide substantial savings through scalability and minimized operational disruption.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Instant On Access Points vs. SonicWall SonicWave Access Points Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Instant On Access Points vs. SonicWall SonicWave Access Points

April 2025

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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

SonicWall SonicWave Access ...

Ranking in Wireless LAN

19th

Average Rating

10.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

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 SonicWall SonicWave Access Points is 0.5%, up from 0.4% 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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Winsley De Oliveira

Owner at ANOC

An industry-leading security and wireless solution packaged in one box

We make our customers SonicWall clients. We have a solution package: If you have a contract to network with us, we will deliver SonicWall firewalls, access points, VPN clients, and all the other equipment with the SonicWall solution. We have been selling this solution for the past 30 years. We had a customer three months ago struggling with a Fortinet solution. We convinced them that the Fortinet solution would not work perfectly during renewal. We made a bet and delivered SonicWall equipment for free for one week, and if they had no more issues, they would buy it. That's precisely what happened. The customer ended up purchasing an $80,000 SonicWall solution. The SonicWall SonicWave Access Points are a good product compared to Cisco, Sophos, and Fortinet. In Brazil, Ruckus is taking market share in some key areas, such as hotels and hospitals. They are into big solutions with thousands of access points. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

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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 most valuable aspect of Unifi switches is the Unifi Controller."

"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 product is scalable. It has 20 users."

"Its technical support is excellent."

"The virtual controller feature is very beneficial because it removes the need for a physical controller."

"The configuration is very simple."

"The solution is scalable."

"The most valuable feature of Aruba Instant On Access Points is they are easy to manage."

More Aruba Instant On Access Points pros

"The security features of SonicWall are highly valued."

"I rate SonicWall a nine out of ten."

"Unlike the Cisco solution that needs a dedicated wireless controller outside of a firewall, SonicWall has everything in one box. Fortinet is close to it."

"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability to provide cloud access to configure and manage devices."

"A good management tool that can be managed through the cloud or firewall."

Cons

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

"The setup is not very easy. It requires some experience with Wi-Fi, especially with cloud connection and security."

"It is scalable to a certain degree but not nearly as scalable and robust as your enterprise-grade solutions."

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

"Stability largely depends on how access points are installed and managed. While Aruba cannot entirely ensure connection reliability, the deployment approach can minimize wireless link downtime."

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

"It is suitable for smaller organizations, but it may not be the best choice for large enterprises."

"The tool is priced high."

More Aruba Instant On Access Points cons

"The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration."

"They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration."

"We have a lot of overlapping wireless networks with a lot of cheap equipment that does not run on any rules or regulations. The best way to improve the wireless network, like in SonicWaves, is to defeat these networks by isolating, preventing them, or overcoming their wireless signal. We try to do that, but I live near an airport, and the AirPortRadar glitches my wireless network every nine seconds."

"Integrating with the firewall and management console was a little complex."

"The product's pricing is high and could be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive."

"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."

"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."

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

"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 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."

"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."

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

More Aruba Instant On Access Points pricing and cost advice

"The pricing of the SonicWave Access Points solution is different in the US and Brazil. In the US, the solution is priced more competitively than other vendors. In Brazil, the exchange rate is a problem. To address this, SonicWall managers in Brazil are running several sales promotions and improving the price of new units."

"The platform offers yearly licenses."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

55%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

18%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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.

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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.

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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.

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What do you like most about SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?

The platform's most valuable feature is the ability to provide cloud access to configure and manage devices.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?

The platform offers yearly licenses. We receive all the support services through our partners. Thus, there are no extra costs involved. However, some partners might charge for deployment services.

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What needs improvement with SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?

The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration.

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortinet FortiAP vs Aruba Instant On Access Points

Compared 17% of the time

Cambium Networks Wireless LAN vs Aruba Instant On Access Points

Compared 15% 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

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Aruba Instant On Access Points

Compared 11% of the time

More Aruba Instant On Access Points Competitors

Ruckus Wireless vs SonicWall SonicWave Access Points

Compared 40% of the time

Ubiquiti WLAN vs SonicWall SonicWave Access Points

Compared 34% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs SonicWall SonicWave Access Points

Compared 26% of the time

More SonicWall SonicWave Access Points Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Instant On Access Points

May 2025

Download Aruba Instant On Access Points product report

Buyer's Guide

Wireless LAN

April 2025

SonicWall SonicWave Access Points report

Download SonicWall SonicWave Access Points product report

Also Known As

No data available

SonicWave 200 Series, SonicWave 200 Series Access Points, SonicWave 400 Series, SonicWave 400 Series Access Points

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

SonicWall SonicWave series wireless access points (APs) combine high-performance IEEE 802.11ac Wave 2 wireless technology with flexible deployment options. These APs can be managed via the cloud using SonicWall WiFi Cloud Manager (WCM) or through SonicWall's industry-leading next-generation firewalls.

SonicWall

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

St. Dominic's School for Girls

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Instant On Access Points vs. SonicWall SonicWave Access Points

April 2025

Free Report: Aruba Instant On Access Points vs. SonicWall SonicWave Access Points

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