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Aruba Remote Access Points vs Fortinet FortiClient comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 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 Remote Access Points
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiClient
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (10th), Endpoint Compliance (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Aruba Remote Access Points is 1.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 5.1%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Fortinet FortiClient5.1%
Aruba Remote Access Points1.1%
Other93.8%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

Theesula Majuwanagamage - PeerSpot reviewer
Head Of ELV and ICT at Intec Systems Solution Pvt Ltd
Efficient Setup and Strong Performance Highlight Versatile Capabilities
In terms of areas for improvement in Aruba Remote Access Points, when planning for the customer's end, you need to highlight the precautions against EMF emissions and environmental emissions, as well as power management limitations. If the user is in one direction and you're transmitting everywhere, that's not good power management. Currently, all access points provide the same power requirement to the client, but we should explore what extra mile we can go. We are facing energy crises and climate issues, along with GHG and SDGs protocols. If we highlight the alignment with these protocols, it can enhance the product quality as an environmentally friendly option. Apart from that, service-wise, every unit is the same. Users can only distinguish those requirements using spectrum analyzers; otherwise, minor data delays of one or two seconds do not matter, but for high-security or high-speed needs, it becomes significant.
KL
Senior Technical Manager at Flexaccel
Remote access has become seamless and secure while deployment remains simple for our users
Performance could be improved today. People are now moving toward SASE, which stands for Secure Access, Secure Edge Solution. Fortinet also has that offering, which would be easier since it operates through the cloud, acting as a first line of defense. When the user connects to the internet, they connect to the cloud first for posture assessment and monitoring before connecting to the outside world. The impact is significant because nowadays people are adopting SASE. During COVID time, many users were trying to connect back to their office, causing the performance or CPU utilization of the firewall to increase tremendously, which slowed down performance. I have not worked with endpoint telemetry in Fortinet FortiClient that could have been helpful for threat mitigation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It provides good Spectrum Analysis and troubleshooting."
"The tool's most valuable features are its ease of configuration and deployment."
"We deploy ClearPass from Aruba in our company on VMware, which integrates well and works without issues."
"The product is very flexible. So far the stability of the solution has been good."
"The stability and performance of Aruba Remote Access Points with minimal issues in an IT environment are worth a recommendation."
"The product is very flexible."
"The most valuable features of Aruba Remote Access Points are the easy configuration, straightforward installation, and secure security features."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is experienced by those working at home since they get a secure Wi-Fi connection."
"I would recommend FortiClient; this is a really good security product in the market."
"Compared to other similar solutions, it is faster in connecting."
"What I find valuable in FortiClient is its patch management capabilities, allowing remote updates efficiently."
"The EMS server gives us good control and central management."
"It's simple, downloadable, and there's usually no problem."
"Fortinet FortiClient is not disruptive, and its interface is great. It has an in-built VPN, which is very useful."
"The most valuable features of FortiClient are that it can be integrated with Active Directory to the central authentication and that I can manage the permissions."
"The interface of Fortinet FortiClient is clean and easy to use."
 

Cons

"I don't really have any critiques at this time."
"To make the solution better, the cloud solution should be more integrated as it has too many different menus, and it would be preferable to have it more cohesive in one solution."
"The product is not user-friendly."
"The security side of Aruba Remote Access Points could be improved."
"The price of Aruba Remote Access Points could be better. It is a little expensive."
"The solution's technical support has some shortcomings that need improvement."
"In terms of areas for improvement in Aruba Remote Access Points, when planning for the customer's end, you need to highlight the precautions against EMF emissions and environmental emissions, as well as power management limitations."
"But the hardware needs to be revamped when we compare the Meraki solution."
"The software inventory part is not yet up-to-date. It doesn't have a great interface, which is a disadvantage. I wish we could leverage it, but we don't use it at all because it's not that reliable."
"Fortinet technical support requires a little bit of effort to improve their services."
"The reports could be easier to set up."
"Its stability can be improved. It is not as reliable as I would like it to be. There are times when things don't work quite right. Our biggest pain point is not related to Fortinet FortiClient and the whole scheme of things. It is related to one of the additional services called FortiGuard. They are the arm that does all of the updates to definitions, keeps all the signatures updated, and responds to new threats and whatnot. What we have found is that they react quickly, but sometimes their solutions aren't compatible with all of the components of the Fortinet security suite, specifically around FortiSandbox."
"I feel that this product is more to bolster their marketing, rather than its use for actual synchronization."
"There is lagging in some of the authentication tools to support the newer versions, this is happening because they are not supported."
"An area of improvement could be better integration with the active directory. I did not find it easy to configure."
"The solution requires skillful users."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are no other expenses than standard licenses for the product."
"Aruba pricing is not very high. They offer competitive pricing for what they provide."
"Price-wise, Aruba Remote Access Points is in the middle, so my rating for its pricing is three out of five."
"The price of Aruba Remote Access Points could be better. It is a little expensive."
"In terms of pricing, we've found Aruba's offerings to be very competitive."
"You require no separate licensing to convert an access point to RAP."
"Aruba Remote Access Points' pricing is good and affordable."
"It is not that expensive. It was within the range. A dollar per user per month is nothing."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten."
"Licensing was free up to ten users and after that, it was pretty reasonable."
"The price is okay and competitive."
"Anyone can download this product for free, but you have to have a FortiGate gateway that you are connecting to."
"The cost per port is very less as compared to the other technologies."
"The price is reasonable compared to competitors, it is very good."
"Pricing is an area that I would like to see improved, as it could be lower."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
17%
Construction Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Remote Access Points?
We do not use Zero Touch Provisioning with Aruba Remote Access Points because the Aruba device being expensive compared to cheaper Cisco options holds us back.
What needs improvement with Aruba Remote Access Points?
The device requires reconfiguration if we use a standalone setup because the battery fault leads to all configurations resetting. This is a significant area for improvement, especially when the dev...
What is your primary use case for Aruba Remote Access Points?
We have a solution that is completely Aruba, including the controller, access point, and switch. We deploy ClearPass from Aruba in our company on VMware, which integrates well and works without iss...
How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and security. It has a very fast connection rate and has a built-in VPN. With this solution...
What's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection because it continually scans servers for emerging vulnerabilities, which gives...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiClient?
The solution is not cloud-based; it comes from the firewall itself.
 

Also Known As

Aruba RAP
FortiClient
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Trafford Metropolitan Borough
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Remote Access Points vs. Fortinet FortiClient and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,495 professionals have used our research since 2012.