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Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

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 Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
148
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Ranking in Wireless LAN
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
119
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 17.1%, down from 23.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 12.7%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad_Faisal - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience seamless connectivity with top-notch roaming capabilities
The Aruba Wireless solution has excellent roaming capabilities, ensuring seamless connectivity. Once installed, Aruba Wireless works robustly without overheating issues. This is particularly effective compared to other products I've used, like FortiMonitor and FortiAPs, which sometimes heat up. I am very satisfied with the roaming feature, as it ensures connectivity when moving from one location to another. The product's stability, after setting it up, adds to its value.
RezaPradipta - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamline network management with a unified dashboard for seamless device integration
The primary use case for Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is mostly for enterprise wireless, including guest Wi-Fi and enterprise Wi-Fi. I use it across various industries with a focus on retail Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers a single pane of glass management. It only comes with a controller on the…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Aruba Wireless has many features, especially their state-of-the-art controller, which can be connected to the cloud."
"I would rate their scalability as ten out of ten."
"What I like best about Aruba Wireless is that it doesn't need a controller. The product also has a GUI that's easy to navigate."
"Reasonably priced and great for small to medium size organizations."
"All features are useful for me. It lets me perform some specific configurations depending on the site or the client. All WAN features are valuable."
"It offers an easy initial setup."
"The initial setup was very simple."
"The initial setup was very easy and intuitive."
"The most valuable features include key elements like creating SSIDs, networking configurations, and the ability to manage all devices through a single console."
"The solution's most valuable features at that time were the ease of managing on the cloud without having a server and the authentication using RADIUS integrated with the server on the cloud."
"It has good security with its Layer 7 protections."
"I like the status page Cisco added that shows you the health of the wireless connection."
"The solution provides good coverage and identity management. Additionally, the user interface is straightforward."
"The most valuable feature is that the solution is friendly to manage."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"The tool's most valuable feature is report generation. Its dashboard helps me a lot with user analytics."
 

Cons

"Configuration for this solution could be made easier, so people could benefit from being able to configure it within a quicker amount of time."
"The price could be better. In the next release, I would like to have more analytics features."
"There needs to be better visibility on the day-to-day monitoring."
"Aruba’s poor performance and random upgrade issues caused too much time consuming maintenance and troubleshooting."
"The vendor should include multiple additional protocols"
"We have had issues with the availability of the equipment."
"Lacks a heat map analysis and a cloud-based wireless controller."
"I had some problems with Wi-Fi coverage in the workshop, which required purchasing more devices."
"The most important improvement needed is to eliminate the limitation of uplinks."
"In some cases, they could include enhanced features in the product, such as a firewall console and traffic analysis."
"The price could be slightly better, but then again, we negotiate deals every time so the market price isn't really relevant."
"Recently I have seen that the Meraki access point, maybe due to congestion, just kicks off my customers, mostly when they are in Zoom meetings or Teams meetings and they have to reconnect."
"There's nothing that special about it."
"It is expensive. Juniper seems to have a lot more to offer for future expansion. Juniper has some features that are not there in this solution."
"Updating the equipment and the scheme they use to bill for the license could be improved."
"The price could be slightly lowered to make it more competitive in the market."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It offers a lower cost compared to other products, which is a significant advantage."
"Cisco is more expensive than Aruba or Juniper."
"​AP signal strength and price. I know this is a competitive market, but APs should not cost so much if they do not cover a large area. ​"
"I am aiding in transitioning my organization to a different wireless solution due to the cost. We need to expand our network and the cost of new APs and an upgraded controller have proved to be prohibitive compared to similar solutions on the market.​"
"We have some licenses for the solution, and we need not renew licenses. But we need to pay a hundred thousand if you want to renew our subscription and renew the hardware."
"If you compare it to other solutions then it's reasonably priced."
"In terms of pricing, the pricing for Aruba Wireless is not bad for large-sized companies, but for medium-sized companies, it's on the higher end, but because Aruba has a good company image, medium-sized companies still go with Aruba Wireless."
"The support pricing for Juniper Mist is higher than Aruba."
"There are multiple licensing options including three months, six months, and one year."
"It is expensive."
"This solution is slightly more expensive than others, such as Ruckus Wi-Fi."
"Negotiate the deal put in front of you!"
"The solution's pricing is a little higher."
"The platform is more expensive than other solutions."
"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is an expensive solution."
"Pricing could be better."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
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Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 24, 2015
Cisco vs. Aruba Wireless Solutions
Cisco or Aruba Networks? If you are considering wireless access solutions, this is a common question that you are probably asking. You probably have sales people knocking at your door. How do you make sense of all the stories that you are presented with. If you have done any research, you are…
 

Answers from the Community

CK
Aug 17, 2021
Aug 17, 2021
Pricing is different based on region; it depends on Aruba's and Cisco's strategy in the region. You must contact the respective partners to get an accurate price for comparison. That being said, in MENA where I live, as of a few months ago (21H1), Aruba pricing was cheaper than Cisco.
See 2 answers
AA
Aug 17, 2021
Pricing is different based on region; it depends on Aruba's and Cisco's strategy in the region. You must contact the respective partners to get an accurate price for comparison. That being said, in MENA where I live, as of a few months ago (21H1), Aruba pricing was cheaper than Cisco.
JF
Aug 17, 2021
Aruba licensing for the AP's is much cheaper compared to Meraki.  You can get a 1/3/5-year cloud license per AP.  
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?
Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...
Aruba Wireless or Ruckus Wireless?
At my organization, we researched Ruckus Wireless among other solutions but ultimately chose Aruba wireless. What did we like about Ruckus? First, it was very easy to use, and anybody with minimal...
How does Cisco Wireless compare with Aruba Wireless?
On the most basic level, Cisco Wireless can offer a rather straightforward initial setup. In the span of about three hours, the basic framework can be set up. Step-by-step instructions are availabl...
Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...
How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...
Which is better - Ubiquiti Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Ubiquiti Wireless offers a wide range of WLAN products. We tested their devices before ultimately choosing Cisco Meraki. Ubiquiti devices have good outdoor performance and the connection is very st...
 

Also Known As

Aruba WLAN, HP WLAN, HP Wireless, Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Point
MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Consulate Health Care, Los Angeles Unified School District, Science Applications International Corp (SAIC), San Diego State University, KFC, ACTS Retirement-Life Communities
Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.