Aruba Instant On Switches vs Cisco FabricPath comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Cisco are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2, while Cisco is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 9.8% mindshare in LS, compared to Cisco’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Aruba Instant On Switches

Read 29 Aruba Instant On Switches reviews

1,726 Views
583 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cisco FabricPath

Read 31 Cisco FabricPath reviews

354 Views
145 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Aruba Instant On Switches

Cisco FabricPath

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Cisco FabricPath and Aruba Instant On Switches compete in the network management domain. Cisco excels due to its top-notch security and seamless integration, while Aruba shines in cost-effectiveness and ease of use for SMBs.

Features: Cisco FabricPath is known for its advanced security features, protocol flexibility, and robustness in handling high data traffic. It allows integration into existing infrastructures with minimal errors, making it ideal for enterprises seeking resilient solutions. Aruba Instant On Switches emphasize centralized management, cost-effectiveness, and include cloud capabilities, making them suitable for SMBs. The intuitive interface and comprehensive package at an attractive price point are additional strengths.

Room for Improvement: Cisco FabricPath could improve its documentation, incorporate better pricing strategies, enhance its security features further, and provide more manageable GUIs. These improvements can make it more accessible. On the other hand, Aruba Instant On Switches can work on scalability, introduce more advanced features, and enhance AI capabilities. Users specifically seek more L3 functionalities and improved switch management tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco FabricPath excels in robust on-premises deployments and provides reliable technical support, leading to high customer satisfaction. Its support is widely appreciated by users. Aruba Instant On Switches offer hybrid cloud deployment options, praised for their user-friendliness, though users see room for a more intuitive setup process. While support is solid, increased technical assistance accessibility would enhance user experiences.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco FabricPath presents a premium offering, reflecting in its pricing. Despite the high cost, it delivers strong ROI through high network management value and stability. Aruba Instant On Switches stand out with competitive pricing, appealing to budget-conscious customers while ensuring high value with its comprehensive package, including free licenses. Aruba's cost-effective pricing aligns better with budget constraints, offering substantial returns over time.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco FabricPath Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco FabricPath

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 857,028 peers since 2012

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 Switches

Ranking in LAN Switching

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco FabricPath

Ranking in LAN Switching

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Switches is 9.8%, up from 9.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco FabricPath is 2.5%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

LAN Switching

Featured Reviews

MashukThakur

Senior Wireless Engineer at FASTtelco

A centrally managed switches ideal for small and medium businesses but does not have any console access

The solution does not have any console access. For example, if you do not have internet access on your side and you need to configure anything, you should at least have CLI access to do something or manage the solution to put to some IP. It will only work if we have a TSCT on the network. We can port and configure the initial settings before we get the Instant On Switches. I am not working deeply on Instant On devices. I have only installed it in a couple of accommodation sites. Even today, one customer has ordered to install 80 pieces of Instant On. I’ve to order additional 94 access points. I was confused about whether to go with Aruba Instant On or AP-505. Instant On has limited accessibility but AP-505 have cloud or local access on normal infrastructure. This would be better and easier to configure. So, there are further improvements in regard to console access and some limitations with access.

Read full review

SanjitAchary

Program Manager at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

Delivers comprehensive assessments and superior post-procurement service

In Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, and in the Latin America region, delivery times can be quite lengthy. This is challenging in terms of logistics and customs. Additionally, parts availability in these regions needs improvement to address hardware failure situations, such as the availability of parts like a power cable.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability is fine. I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. Almost a ten on a ten."

"The product's initial setup phase is very simple."

"Aruba Central provides various AI features that we can use. It collects data on health and performance issues for wireless and wired clients."

"Its customer service is good."

"It is easy for deployment and configuration."

"The dashboard for clients is very nice."

"The solution is suitable for small businesses and small offices."

"The solution is plug-and-play and auto-configured."

More Aruba Instant On Switches pros

"The product's most valuable feature is its ports."

"The tool makes it easy to manage multi-layer networking and increases network efficiency. I haven't faced any challenges in integrating it into our existing infrastructure."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to migrate VMs between data centers."

"The solution has excellent stability."

"The most valuable features are the lead time and the high quality of the product."

"Cisco FabricPath is highly beneficial for network performance and relatively easy to implement. It also offers straightforward monitoring capabilities."

"The best features of Cisco FabricPath is performance and reliability."

"We can also enhance our service line with disaster recovery."

More Cisco FabricPath pros

Cons

"In general, mostly in Instant On series, if we could have much more control on the switches, at least. We'd like a CLI access so that, when we want to do some advanced configurations we could."

"The price has room for improvement."

"In the next version, they should add a firewall from a single source."

"If Aruba can provide guidance on features through sessions or explanations, it would be helpful. We have to search and work online."

"Improvements are required in the product's price. I want it to be cheaper."

"The support needs improvement."

"Its scalability needs improvement."

"They don't have a lot of diagnostics tools, which could be an area for improvement."

More Aruba Instant On Switches cons

"I would like one management console to control the network."

"Layer 3 does not have higher availability."

"Cisco FabricPath can be integrated into data centers and remote sites. For example, in a bank, we can extend the architecture to remote branches by implementing switches connected to the first and second spine for redundancy. This setup allows for VXLAN, VLAN, and SGT for user authentication. We can also use wireless technology through the data plane and route it on L3. This setup provides scalability and visibility. This technology is deployed in the USA, France, and Europe. For instance, BNP Paribas in France uses this technology."

"The solution is costly."

"While Cisco products are excellent, the problem is the cost. Cisco products are product, Cisco products are very expensive. I rate Cisco FabricPath three out of 10 for affordability."

"The cloud version of Cisco Fabric Path could be improved."

"I would like to see better interoperability with other IT solutions."

"The pricing could be adjusted to make it easier to sell to clients."

More Cisco FabricPath cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing is competitive, and there are no supplementary fees."

"If one is very bad, and ten is a very good price, I rate the tool's price as a six."

"Aruba Instant On Switches is slightly cheaper than Cisco."

"I give the price seven out of ten."

"Aruba Instant On Switches is not expensive."

"The product has good pricing."

"Aruba Instant On Switches is cheaper than Cisco and expensive compared to some Chinese brand products."

"The license for Instant On Switches is free."

More Aruba Instant On Switches pricing and cost advice

"FabricPath is very reasonably priced."

"The pricing for this product is good."

"I rate the product's pricing a ten out of ten. Cisco switches cost around 15,000 dollars, and DNS licenses cost around 25,000 dollars. The total amount is 45,000 dollars, which is too expensive."

"The price of Cisco FabricPath could be reduced, it is expensive in the market here in Sri Lanka. The solution is subscriptions based, if the customer wants any future integrations, or if there are any future enhancements they will have to pay. There are different license options available, such as one or three years purchases."

"I rate it seven out of ten on pricing as it's a bit expensive. It would be better if the price were lower, but we prioritize quality over cost."

"The solution falls under the pricier category, but it provides value for the price charged."

"It is very expensive."

"Cisco is expensive but offers good-quality features, so I would rate it high on the pricing scale."

More Cisco FabricPath pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which LAN Switching solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

University

Government

19%

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Instant On Switches?

The solution has a simple deployment and zero border.

See all answers

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

I think the pricing for the switches is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Aruba Instant On Switches?

I have run into a couple of problems with the switches. Recently, one of the newer stacks stopped working and had to be rebooted individually. They don't have a lot of diagnostics tools, which coul...

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco FabricPath?

The tool makes it easy to manage multi-layer networking and increases network efficiency. I haven't faced any challenges in integrating it into our existing infrastructure.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco FabricPath?

Cisco is somewhat expensive, but it provides good quality products and operations, so I can't complain about licensing cost and setup costs. There is room for improvement in terms of pricing for th...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco FabricPath?

In future updates, I would prefer to see features such as more AI functionality or better integration added to Cisco FabricPath; more AI would be useful.

See all answers

Comparisons

HPE ProCurve vs Aruba Instant On Switches

Compared 49% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Aruba Instant On Switches

Compared 37% of the time

NETGEAR Switches vs Aruba Instant On Switches

Compared 15% of the time

More Aruba Instant On Switches Competitors

HPE ProCurve vs Cisco FabricPath

Compared 34% of the time

Juniper QFabric vs Cisco FabricPath

Compared 34% of the time

Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Cisco FabricPath

Compared 32% of the time

More Cisco FabricPath Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Instant On Switches

June 2025

Download Aruba Instant On Switches product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco FabricPath

June 2025

Download Cisco FabricPath product report

Also Known As

Aruba Instant On 1930 Switches

FabricPath

Overview

The Aruba Instant On 1930 switches features advanced, smart-managed, fixed configuration Gigabit switches designed for small businesses that are easy-to-deploy and affordable. They’re made to handle today’s bandwidth-heavy applications like voice and video conferencing, enabling consistent connectivity to enhance performance. Using either the Instant On mobile app or the cloud-based web portal, you can quickly set up, monitor and manage the 1930 switch series from anywhere at any time. What’s more, up to 30 W PoE power delivery is available out-of-the-box for your class 4 PoE devices, like access points, surveillance cameras and VoIP phones, all easily managed from the same platform.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Cisco FabricPath is a Cisco NX-OS software innovation combining the plug-and-play simplicity of Ethernet with the reliability and scalability of Layer 3 routing. Using FabricPath, you can build highly scalable Layer 2 multipath networks without the Spanning Tree Protocol. Such networks are particularly suitable for large virtualization deployments, private clouds, and high-performance computing (HPC) environments. The benefits of Cisco FabricPath include: Minimal commands per switch ease configuration and operation, Autodiscovery simplifies addition of new links and switches, Provision additional network bandwidth without impacting network, Supports one-, two-, or three-tier architectures, VLAN extensibility across the data center.

Cisco

Sample Customers

KEMET, Vestavia Hills City Schools, Dropbox

Bellevue, Calligaris, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Management Science Associates, Multi-Customer, Oediv, Roper St. Francis, SNAM

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco FabricPath

June 2025

Free Report: Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco FabricPath

Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco FabricPath and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco FabricPath report.

See our list of best LAN Switching vendors.

We monitor all LAN Switching reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.