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Aruba Networks Wireless WAN vs Cisco Wireless WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.8
Aruba Networks Wireless WAN reduces LAN costs significantly, achieving up to 50% savings, despite complex ROI calculations and varying priorities.
Sentiment score
7.5
Cisco Wireless WAN is reliable and cost-effective, offering strong ROI despite high costs, with significant productivity and efficiency gains.
It delivers everything we need for our wireless network, including security, authentication, and integration with other platforms.
Cisco's licensing structure is more expensive than FortiNet, as it requires different tiers of licenses to access advanced features.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Aruba Networks Wireless WAN's support sees mixed reviews; responsiveness varies, with paid support offering faster, direct assistance.
Sentiment score
6.6
Cisco Wireless WAN support is praised for expertise and RMA services, though response times and engineer consistency vary.
I would rate the direct support an eight out of ten.
If an engineer's shift ends, I have to re-explain everything to a new engineer, which is challenging.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is scalable, flexible, and extends networks efficiently, preferred for reliable, expandable wireless solutions despite limitations.
Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Wireless WAN is scalable and adaptable, efficiently managing users across various sectors despite some licensing challenges.
There isn't a limit to scalability, but for deployments exceeding five thousand equipment, it requires opening a case with Meraki support to increase capacity.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is highly praised for strong stability, offering reliable performance with minimal bugs, crashes, or downtime.
Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Wireless WAN is stable and reliable, with minor configuration issues and responsive support, rated 8-10 by users.
 

Room For Improvement

Aruba Networks Wireless WAN requires enhancements in setup, integration, scalability, pricing, support, and cloud performance for better user satisfaction.
Cisco Wireless WAN needs enhanced compatibility, affordability, user-friendliness, and improved security, support, and management features.
The licensing scheme and price could be improved.
Walmart is interested in using electronic tags instead of paper labels for easier price changes on products.
 

Setup Cost

Aruba Networks Wireless WAN pricing is seen as costly but offers competitive features valued over rivals like Cisco for small businesses.
Cisco Wireless WAN is seen as costly due to licensing, with some seeking cheaper alternatives like Aruba and Ruckus.
The price is a little bit expensive.
The cost is one of the higher in the industry.
 

Valuable Features

Aruba Networks Wireless WAN provides easy installation, centralized management, and advanced security, enhancing reliability, scalability, and connectivity.
Cisco Wireless WAN provides high-speed connectivity, strong security, scalability, and reliability with easy management and comprehensive integration features.
We are very satisfied with the solution as it delivers everything we need for our wireless network, including security, authentication, and integration with other platforms.
The main value of using Cisco Wireless WAN with Meraki is that the technology is cloud-based, making it more accessible for the customer to troubleshoot and implement changes remotely.
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Networks Wireless WAN
Ranking in Wireless WAN
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Wireless WAN
Ranking in Wireless WAN
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Wireless WAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is 4.6%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Wireless WAN is 3.8%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless WAN
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Colly - PeerSpot reviewer
Reasonably priced and offers a good GUI
The product is very scalable. When it comes to some schools, they start with the solution's proof of concept in certain sections. My company aims to improve the throughputs in the schools where the product is installed. If the rest of the School wants the product, it is easy to set up the solution. My company uses Aruba Networks Wireless WAN for schools and warehouses but not in the retail sector. The product offers reliability and uptime twenty-four hours and seven days a week. My company gets notified if the reliability offered by the product goes down. My company also gets notified if we are getting hacked.
LalanChowdhury - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhances network reliability, offers device longevity and offers open authentication
The device longevity is a factor. enhances network reliability. Specifically, the handoff feature for WAN, when a customer moves from one access point to another in a building or office, is much easier and more reliable if it's controller-based. So, in those cases, we recommend the traditional controller-based solution. Cisco is adding AI features; they've already started in SD-WAN. But in Bangladesh, people are still new to AI. Cisco is including AI capabilities in their devices, so people are gradually adopting them. If they need AI-driven devices for industrial purposes, they can use them. So, Cisco is forward-thinking with these features. Even though they're not being used extensively now, they may be used in the future for things like RFID or automation. That's why Cisco's solution is logical and adaptable.
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865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Do you recommend Aruba Network Wireless WAN?
I recommend Aruba Networks Wireless WAN. I have been using Aruba for approximately a decade. It has a great centralized management system, which means we don’t need wireless LAN controllers at ever...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Networks Wireless WAN?
The price is a little bit expensive. On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the most expensive, I would place them at seven or eight.
What do you like most about Cisco Wireless WAN?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Wireless WAN?
Initially, Cisco comes up with high prices, but when competition starts with Huawei or HP Aruba, they provide good prices. Initially, they try to come up with large prices and huge numbers.
What needs improvement with Cisco Wireless WAN?
Cisco Wireless WAN has room for improvement in WiFi coverage. Sometimes, their coverage is normally good, but at the same area where the access points are deployed, people face continuous disconnec...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Pittsburgh Golf Club, Rio Rancho Public Schools, Amwaj Rotana - Jumeirah Beach Residence - Dubai, Trevecca Nazarene University
Aegean Motorway, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Brunel University London, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Chartwell School, Children's Hospital Colorado, Cisco Live Milan, City of Biel, City of Mississauga, Dundee Precious Metals, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Erickson Living, Goldcorp, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS)
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Networks Wireless WAN vs. Cisco Wireless WAN and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.