We performed a comparison between Aruba Wireless and Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Of the two solutions, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is the more popular choice with PeerSpot users. While both have great features, users of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN seem to find fewer things lacking with it and are generally satisfied. In regards to service and support as well, Cisco users are happy with the service they receive. However, users do feel that it is an expensive solution.
"The most useful feature of Juniper Wireless AP is the reporting Marvis."
"The simplicity is great."
"The solution is pretty generic and easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) is the ability to troubleshoot ports on the network. Additionally, when there is an update on the APs they are able to reboot quickly reducing downtime. Other solutions have a longer downtime when updates are done."
"We were able to increase capacity very easily."
"Price is one of the most important factors. We have a solution that's reasonably cost-effective when balanced against all the areas we need to cover."
"The web-based GUI is much simpler to use than similar products by Cisco."
"Aruba is easier than Juniper."
"One advantage is the built-in Zigbee-based IoT functionality. You don't need an additional dongle to enable that option."
"The most valuable features of Aruba Wireless are the seamless feature and the concurrent user."
"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."
"Overall, it's a very strong solution."
"The emailing of statuses is the most valuable feature."
"The solution is easy to use."
"It's a stable product."
"It is cloud-based. You can manage it remotely from anywhere in the world, and you don't have to be on-site, which is a very big advantage."
"If you're trying to identify one of the switches or pinpoint a computer or pinpoint something, you could find it just like that and change the IP address. It's easiest to do it that way."
"The solution is easy to install."
"The most valuable thing to me is the stability of the product."
"The network security the solution provides is its most valuable aspect."
"If you want to do more specific stuff, it's a bit limited."
"I need a bit more time with it before criticizing the features."
"Juniper Wireless AP can improve by continually improving its reporting and integration with other systems."
"Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) could improve if the MIST platform had a built-in master key. This would be an advantage."
"I would like to see the management improve."
"I believe that Aruba's support could be improved."
"The bad things about the product are the price, the information about the product, and the time it takes to deliver the product."
"The pricing could always be better."
"The reliability could be improved."
"The console is difficult to use. The firewall settings could be improved."
"Aruba Wireless is a good product, but it still has some issues, especially at the beginning, where there's inconsistent syncing between the cloud and the APs. Sometimes, there's also a little lag when accessing the query."
"We need security features to recognize the traffic source and to apply Zero Trust security."
"They're great. If there's anything that they need to change, it is just simplifying the site to which you go to make changes on the admin side."
"The only thing that always causes problems with Meraki is the license. It's a bit of a bugbear with Meraki, and it remains today. So it's an unusual concept compared to the other products in the marketplace, but then it does cause a bit of a nuisance from time to time."
"The annual maintenance is something that needs to be changed."
"We have used technical support for some issues but not many times."
"The only concern is when the license has expired and it will no longer function, the entire network goes down, without any notification, or warning."
"Some of their first level support staff does not seem to be well-versed in the solution, so support for Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN needs improvement."
"They could also add some more controls for guest access. For example, when you have a captive portal, it would be nice to limit the amount of time users can stay connected per day. Right now, you can only configure the splash frequency. And you can set the connection for one hour, but you have to use the billing feature."
"There could be more functionality."
More Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) Pricing and Cost Advice →
Aruba Wireless is ranked 1st in Wireless LAN with 49 reviews while Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is ranked 3rd in Wireless LAN with 51 reviews. Aruba Wireless is rated 8.4, while Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Aruba Wireless writes "Simple to install, easy to use, and cost-effective". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN writes "Highly reliable, effective site blocking, and beneficial reports". Aruba Wireless is most compared with Cisco Wireless, Ruckus Wireless, Ubiquiti WLAN, Fortinet FortiWLM and Mist AI and Cloud, whereas Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is most compared with Ubiquiti Wireless, Cisco Wireless, Mist AI and Cloud, Ruckus Wireless and Fortinet FortiWLM. See our Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN report.
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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.
Aruba licensing for the AP's is much cheaper compared to Meraki.
You can get a 1/3/5-year cloud license per AP.