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Aruba Wireless vs SonicWall SonicWave Access Points comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 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 Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
151
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall SonicWave Access ...
Ranking in Wireless LAN
25th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Aruba Wireless is 13.2%, down from 18.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SonicWave Access Points is 1.0%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Wireless13.2%
SonicWall SonicWave Access Points1.0%
Other85.8%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

UM
IT Infra Deputy Vice President at ESFB
Strong performance supports network team effectively but guest access compatibility needs improvement
We connect the network using Aruba Wireless. We connect our office network, and we use it primarily within our network team Aruba Wireless has many features, especially their state-of-the-art controller, which can be connected to the cloud. They also have an unlimited lifetime warranty, which is…
Winsley De Oliveira - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at ANOC
An industry-leading security and wireless solution packaged in one box
We make our customers SonicWall clients. We have a solution package: If you have a contract to network with us, we will deliver SonicWall firewalls, access points, VPN clients, and all the other equipment with the SonicWall solution. We have been selling this solution for the past 30 years. We had a customer three months ago struggling with a Fortinet solution. We convinced them that the Fortinet solution would not work perfectly during renewal. We made a bet and delivered SonicWall equipment for free for one week, and if they had no more issues, they would buy it. That's precisely what happened. The customer ended up purchasing an $80,000 SonicWall solution. The SonicWall SonicWave Access Points are a good product compared to Cisco, Sophos, and Fortinet. In Brazil, Ruckus is taking market share in some key areas, such as hotels and hospitals. They are into big solutions with thousands of access points. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The performance and the application monitor. You can select the applications you want to use and block on your network"
"The solution has been helpful in improving the way our company functions."
"When support is needed, the Aruba engineers are normally quick to respond to problems."
"Ability for a student or teacher to be able to roam freely from classroom to classroom, no matter the floor, without dropping a signal."
"Aruba Wireless is easily scaled between a lot of devices and a lot of endpoints. When we decided to use it as our solution, we had planned to use it exactly for its ability to scale."
"We can use Aruba Wireless everywhere and manage it effectively, it is doing everything we need it to do and it's giving me the flexibility to go where I want to go."
"Denies inter-user traffic: It easily blocks traffic between users."
"AirWave is a valuable feature."
"Unlike the Cisco solution that needs a dedicated wireless controller outside of a firewall, SonicWall has everything in one box. Fortinet is close to it."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability to provide cloud access to configure and manage devices."
"This is a very good management option that can be managed through the cloud or firewall, is a very good solution for controlling or managing the device, and offers good integration with many capabilities."
"I rate SonicWall a nine out of ten."
"A good management tool that can be managed through the cloud or firewall."
"The security features of SonicWall are highly valued."
 

Cons

"The user interface could be improved in Aruba Wireless. This would make the setup easier."
"Additional detailed reporting for client traffic would be a great addition."
"For a more senior tool, a local application monitoring related to IoT vendors would be useful."
"When we connect to Wi-Fi devices it could be easier because sometimes, it takes a lot of time to complete."
"The bad things about the product are the price, the information about the product, and the time it takes to deliver the product."
"The speed could be better. I heard that Aruba is trying to shape the speed inside the wireless controller, but that has not been adopted yet. If they put some kind of mechanism inside the wireless controller for the speed such that, "Okay, this many users will have 20 by 20 - 20 in the upload, 20 in the download. Just this many users. And this many users will have that type of speed." I think it would be very good if they actually bring that functionality inside the wireless controller."
"I'm not entirely sure about deeper functionalities because almost our vendors handle that."
"Aruba is missing some features that are available in other solutions, such as the email notifications. It's a bit complex to configure the notification part. Mainly I'm talking about the rogue WiFi detection. This email notification is crucial for us, but it isn't possible to configure with the built-in software. You need something else, like an external system log collector or another Aruba software. These notifications are essential in hospitality for PCI compliance. My colleagues in famous luxury hotel chains need that report."
"The product's pricing is high and could be improved."
"We have a lot of overlapping wireless networks with a lot of cheap equipment that does not run on any rules or regulations. The best way to improve the wireless network, like in SonicWaves, is to defeat these networks by isolating, preventing them, or overcoming their wireless signal. We try to do that, but I live near an airport, and the AirPortRadar glitches my wireless network every nine seconds."
"They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration."
"The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration."
"Integrating with the firewall and management console was a little complex."
"Integrating with the firewall and management console was a little complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It offers a lower cost compared to other products, which is a significant advantage."
"Get multiple bids/quotes, and talk to the representatives about the limitations of the product; pretty standard."
"The price point is pretty high compared to Ubiquiti and other equipment."
"Partner had been using Cisco. They switched to Aruba, because of price and functionality, also with an option for adding a SW, like AirWave, Meridian, ClearPass, and Central."
"I think they should lower their prices."
"​We will be buying the ClearPass solution, which will be pricey. However, in the trial version, it has even more tools to manage a busy network.​"
"Pricing is competitive. Licensing is needed to maintain access to the latest firmware, which wasn't made clear originally when we started with Arbua (or things changed, I'm not sure which). I would just say, make sure you budget for it."
"There is so much licensing, you literally pay for every solution, add-on, or cool feature. Compared to others, we were in the middle with pricing, but as you start to invest more into features it will get very pricey."
"The pricing of the SonicWave Access Points solution is different in the US and Brazil. In the US, the solution is priced more competitively than other vendors. In Brazil, the exchange rate is a problem. To address this, SonicWall managers in Brazil are running several sales promotions and improving the price of new units."
"The platform offers yearly licenses."
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Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
President at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business77
Midsize Enterprise47
Large Enterprise75
No data available
 

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...
What needs improvement with SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration.
What is your primary use case for SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
I am using the SonicWall SonicWave Access Point for our Proof of Concept (POC) to our customers.
What advice do you have for others considering SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
I rate SonicWall a nine out of ten. It should provide training to end users to enhance their knowledge.
 

Also Known As

Aruba WLAN, HP WLAN, HP Wireless, Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Point
SonicWave 200 Series, SonicWave 200 Series Access Points, SonicWave 400 Series, SonicWave 400 Series Access Points
 

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
St. Dominic's School for Girls
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Wireless vs. SonicWall SonicWave Access Points and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.