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Aruba Remote Access Points vs SonicWall SMA 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
SonicWall SMA
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of Aruba Remote Access Points is 1.0%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 2.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Remote Access Points1.0%
SonicWall SMA2.7%
Other96.3%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

AmrIssa - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Information Officer at Mobica Advanced
Remote access has provided secure site connectivity and supports centralized on‑prem operations
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 issues. Aruba Remote Access Points are critical for our construction company because we have many sites…
BA
Owner at ThinkEzIT
Security enhances through autonomous protection and strong support while multi-factor authentication secures access
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, as I haven't been looking at what they're releasing. We're a small shop, so we drop stuff in and manage it and do what we need to do to maintain it. If we run into an issue, we contact support. There's a learning curve, but it comes down to getting support to train you on the product, and then once you have the training you need, you're able to make the changes and updates that you need to.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It’s very light."
"Once we got things set up properly, we just need to do updates, and it just runs."
"It is a very stable tool."
"The product is very flexible."
"We have many government colleges here and provide a wireless network to all students, faculty, and teachers, so we have deployed their security access network and firewall security."
"Overall, I would rate Aruba Remote Access Points nine out of ten. I can definitely recommend them to other users."
"What I like best about Aruba Remote Access Points is that it's pretty easy to set up."
"We deploy ClearPass from Aruba in our company on VMware, which integrates well and works without issues."
"We are in Thailand and I'm very happy with the technical support."
"The SonicWall SSL-VPN solution offers the best protection with the least effect on services."
"SonicWall SMA allows us to provide CML-based access to any user."
"Secure remote access is now available from home offices."
"SonicWall SMA has the most valuable feature of proprietary security technologies like Capture ATP."
"These are very nice appliances and they give us all that we need for our work in the hospital."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is they have IT consultants that know SonicWall."
"Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security."
 

Cons

"The product is not user-friendly."
"I use the controller when using Aruba Remote Access Points, particularly during configuration. Hence, room for improvement in Aruba Remote Access Points is for its web UI to be easier to control."
"The product needs an increased level of security for the end user."
"One thing that would be beneficial is for the Aruba Central mobile app to work more effectively. Currently, it does not function as expected when I really need it."
"There is room for improvement in terms of pricing. If they can be more competitive."
"I would rate stability as five out of ten. Sometimes it is stable, and sometimes it is not."
"The security side of Aruba Remote Access Points could be improved."
"It could have better monitoring features. Not all features are available on the monitoring dashboard."
"The problem is that when combined with what the client already has, there are two different logins and two different management systems, and these should be consolidated into a single interface."
"Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface."
"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan. The login mechanism should be improved. It would be helpful if the client could use an agent to log in. An agent-server model would improve the performance of the RDB, which consumes a lot of bandwidth."
"The product itself is very good, but Dell needs to work on product visibility in their advertising."
"There are some features that are available on Palo Alto or Cisco that don't exist. The solution could integrate better with other platforms."
"I'd like to see the product maybe polish keyboards in Bookmark."
"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."
"The pricing for the solution could be a lot less."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of pricing, we've found Aruba's offerings to be very competitive."
"The price of Aruba Remote Access Points could be better. It is a little expensive."
"Aruba pricing is not very high. They offer competitive pricing for what they provide."
"Aruba Remote Access Points' pricing is good and affordable."
"There are no other expenses than standard licenses for the product."
"You require no separate licensing to convert an access point to RAP."
"Price-wise, Aruba Remote Access Points is in the middle, so my rating for its pricing is three out of five."
"The platform has medium pricing."
"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."
"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."
"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."
"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."
"All the costs are included in a bundled license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
17%
Construction Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Construction Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
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 Business12
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

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...
What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, a...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall SMA?
I have experience with the SonicWall SMA; we have rolled it back into our stack. We use SonicWall SMA for all of our clients that need VPNs, including doctor's offices and lawyer offices. Our clien...
 

Also Known As

Aruba RAP
SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Trafford Metropolitan Borough
UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Remote Access Points vs. SonicWall SMA and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.