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Aruba Networks Wireless WAN vs Fortinet FortiWLM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Networks Wireless WAN
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
Wireless WAN (5th)
Fortinet FortiWLM
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is designed for Wireless WAN and holds a mindshare of 4.0%, up 1.8% compared to last year.
Fortinet FortiWLM, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless LAN, holds 1.9% mindshare, down 2.1% since last year.
Wireless WAN
Wireless LAN
 

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.
Zachary Wheeler - PeerSpot reviewer
Impressive manufacturing quality, highly durable, and very easy to deploy
They need to do more with their marketing. That's what's wrong with them. Nobody knows they do all this other stuff. I love the product. For an enterprise-level system, you never have to explain why you're recommending Fortinet, whereas you might have to do that if you want to use the Ubiquiti Professional or the new Netgear line, but you don't have to explain Fortinet. It has been remarkable to work with. It would be nice if they had some smaller switches or hubs. They should offer two-port, three-port, or four-port devices so that you don't have to buy an eight-port switch, and you don't have to use an unmanaged element, but their product line is very complete, and I can't say enough about it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"An engineer with enough experience can tune the network however they want. It's crucial. It's good to customize our information security how we like it and configure the solution to achieve the level of stability we need."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the streaming of screen sharing."
"The most valuable feature is reliability."
"The initial setup of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN can be done quickly, and everything functions smoothly."
"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."
"Aruba Wireless's best feature is that it's very, very robust."
"The most valuable feature of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is centralized management capability. You don't have to have wireless LAN controllers at every location."
"What I like most about Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is seamless integration from an endpoint perspective. Another valuable feature of the product is that it supports certificate-based authentication."
"At the moment, particularly with the COVID-19 situation, the most valuable feature is probably the IPsec VPN, which is easy to implement with Fortinet."
"Fortinet FortiWLM is good for tracking assets, monitoring, and overall management."
"The solution is controlled from one device and one GUI for all devices."
"Security is the feature we like most from Fortinet. In general, their security architecture is really great, because it involves everything: firewalls, wireless LANs, the user. Everything is really secure."
"Although there are a few steps, the initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"We're using SD-WAN at all of our locations now, which helps increase and aggregate and lower response time and improve application performance."
"The most valuable features are central management and the many other features available."
"If you do have a FortiGate Firewall somewhere in the network, you can connect the wireless controller to that... You get 100 percent visibility from a single point... You can see everything that's connected to the FortiGate, whether it's a switch or a wireless AP or a wireless controller or any other Fortinet product."
 

Cons

"Right now, the integration between the support that you are getting from Hewlett-Packard, which is the parent company, and Aruba, they're not meshing together."
"It would be better for customers if Aruba provided more license options, like 5-year licenses"
"The solution has bugs. It really has bugs, and you have to wait until it happens, then you realize it."
"If they provided more updates that would be ideal."
"The price for the license could be a bit improved since it is the only area with an issue."
"The issue is that we are unable to update it because we lack the necessary permissions. We set up the website, but we don't have permission to download the software."
"Sometimes, the configuration part of Aruba Networks Wireless WAN can be complex, and if you fail to understand the product at once, you may not even know about some features that you can apply to your network, and they may go unused."
"When it comes to configuring rules for file security tests, any issues that arise can be referred to as "glitches". Despite the extensive configurations required, the process itself is not overly complicated."
"Areas for improvement would be the compatibility with Apple products and cross-platform integration."
"The pricing model can be improved to encourage use by small business and individuals and the hardware could stand to be redesigned."
"Improving support and firmware upgrades is necessary. Firmware upgrades and bug improvements need to be tested well."
"The solution should improve user capacity."
"When using the FortiGate as the wireless controller, you cannot have automatic user registration, which is something that they should offer."
"The guest management features need to be improved by adding automation."
"One of the main features that I see as lacking in any of the Fortinet products is the reporting. If you want to have proper, end-to-end reporting, you must purchase the FortiAnalyzer... If Fortinet could offer some better, built-in reporting, that would be a point of improvement."
"Cost is something that could be improved, but you have to pay for what you get."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Aruba Networks Wireless WAN is cheaper than Cisco, and the web experience is great."
"The pricing is cheaper in comparison to similar products."
"That's really subject to the type of environment you're deploying. If you're doing a full controller model with 200 APs, the initial deployment could be 150 grand. Maintaining that or maintaining support for that per year could be something like 10 to 15 grand per year. In the cloud sense, the cloud is by the number of APs. So, everything is readily available."
"I rate the pricing a seven or eight on a scale of one to ten, where ten is the highest and one is the cheapest."
"You will need to pay an annual subscription cost."
"It is more affordable than Cisco."
"I rate the product's price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is the lowest ,and ten is the highest."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."
"The solution is expensive. I give the solution a one out of ten for the price."
"The solution is fairly priced."
"For indoor access points, there is a one-time cost, upfront, whereas outdoor access points have an annual fee."
"The price of Fortinet FortiWLM is reasonable compared to the other vendors. We are using a five-year license."
"Fortinet would do something with their pricing model to attract smaller business users and eliminate the mandatory service contracts."
"Support contracts typically cost approximately $100.00 per year."
"To save yourself from increased setup and maintenance costs, I highly recommend undertaking a proper site survey from the beginning."
"Licensing costs are reasonable. There are so many different types of licenses with Fortinet, but the licensing and the 24/7/365 support are so reasonable that I automatically include it with every transaction. I never line item it without it. There are no additional costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Real Estate/Law Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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?
I am not paying anything more apart from the licensing. The only thing I am paying for is the implementation cost.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWLM?
While the pricing of Fortinet FortiWLM is a bit high, it remains effective. However, the cost could be better if reduced.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWLM?
In terms of improvements, the price is higher than I would like. A reduction in pricing would be beneficial.
 

Also Known As

No data available
FortiWLM, FortiAP, Fortinet AP/OAP, Meru Wireless LAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

The Pittsburgh Golf Club, Rio Rancho Public Schools, Amwaj Rotana - Jumeirah Beach Residence - Dubai, Trevecca Nazarene University
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Ubiquiti Networks, Ruckus, Cambium Networks and others in Wireless WAN. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.