Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Points vs. Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Points
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Aruba Networks offers the Instant On AP series of wireless access points, with models designed for indoor and outdoor access points.N/A
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Score 9.8 out of 10
N/A
The Cisco Catalyst 9800-80 is a modular wireless controller with optional 100 Gigabit Ethernet (G) modular uplinks boasting seamless software updates for large enterprises and campuses, and security with ETA and SD-Access.N/A
Pricing
Aruba Instant On AP Series Access PointsCisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Aruba Instant On AP Series Access PointsCisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Aruba Instant On AP Series Access PointsCisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Considered Both Products
Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Points

No answer on this topic

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Chose Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers perform very well and allow all infrastructure to be local instead of cloud hosted. This is an important feature, especially when different regions of the world use different clouds, creating disparate configuration locations.
Chose Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
the cisco catalyst 9800 wireless lan controller series is much more structured than the aruba solution and it can easier manage a larger number of devices. it's quite easy to add a new location, a new access point or to change and manage policies across the wireless network of …
Chose Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Compared to older Cisco WLC, Catalyst 9800s are easier to manage and SSO HA is more reliable. Compared to Aruba IAP, the number of features is greater. Meraki is easier to set up but having a central controller gives greater control.
Top Pros

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Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Aruba Instant On AP Series Access PointsCisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Small Businesses
Ubiquiti WLAN
Ubiquiti WLAN
Score 9.3 out of 10
Ubiquiti WLAN
Ubiquiti WLAN
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Score 9.8 out of 10
Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point
Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Score 9.8 out of 10
Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point
Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point
Score 9.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Aruba Instant On AP Series Access PointsCisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(1 ratings)
8.2
(35 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(34 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(35 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Aruba Instant On AP Series Access PointsCisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Likelihood to Recommend
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Points are well suited for a small to mid-size setup (i.e., from 20 users to 500 devices that need to connect to WiFi). Aruba provides access points for both indoors and outdoors (e.g., commercial spaces and offices, and manufacturing units as well). Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Points can also support controller-based architecture, and I would recommend going for that when the AP devices are more than 30.
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Cisco
If we are thinking about replacing old Cisco AireOS controllers with a new technology, we can only choose Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers. Configuration based on Profiles and SiteTag is convenient and easier compared to the previous configuration. You can see that the entire controller has been designed from scratch. Support for new AccessPoints in Wifi 6 offers great possibilities.
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Pros
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • Controllerless solution
  • Users connect to different APs seamlessly (soft handoff) when moving from one region to another
  • Stable--we have never faced any downtime with any APs
  • Different SSID to segregate internal and guest networks
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Cisco
  • Easily manages a large number of APs.
  • It can push out settings or a new OS to a large group of APs at once.
  • The GUI is very intuitive, and follows the model Cisco has created for many of their products.
  • It integrates well with our ISE environment for handling RADIUS requests.
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Cons
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • Aruba Instant On AP Series Access Points miss having OTP generation--this is must, for guest users at least
  • Pricing is high
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Cisco
  • add more sub-genres to the main menu
  • make the product easier for people to use, that aren't working with it all day
  • make the initial setup menu, where policies can be attached to Tags etc. more accessible
  • When selecting APs from the Landing Page, make it possible to rename them immediately without having to switch to "Configuration" -> "Access Points"
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Reliability and Availability
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
The availability of the cisco 9800 wireless lan controller depends on several factors including deloyment mode of the controllers itself, network size and architecture and the maitenance and support factor. It is designed to meet the needs of a large enterprise and together with a cisco support contract any outages will be covered
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Performance
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Fully robust and well-built solution. The solution fully is able to support a full campus WiFi environment without having any issues. There is no slowness to setting up a WiFi solution or any delays when changes are made. The product [can handle] beyond the listed specifications, but Cisco has kept performance and throughput to allow for a robust and smooth experience.
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Support Rating
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Great contact to Wireless Innovate Program Team and TAC to solve our problems.
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Alternatives Considered
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
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Cisco
We original worked with a Linksys based wireless system. Cisco improved our network reliability and speed which were the key reasons we upgraded our hardware in the first place. It appears that Cisco is better suited in a Business environment than its competitors are. I look forward to completing the network and to see it fully functional.
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Return on Investment
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • Our users' productivity has increased, as they can now connect wirelessly
  • We are now centrally controlling users' traffic from firewall and blocking or limiting use of unwanted web apps
  • Has helped us in improving monitoring of user traffic
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Cisco
  • We did replace several WLCs in our site with a redundant [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] and saved the cost
  • [Cisco Catalyst 9800-L Wireless Controller] with IOS-XE enable us to manage APs in our branches easily, easier than AireOS
  • ISSU enable us to do firmware upgrade with minimum downtime, a site with 24/7 activity will not be interrupted anymore
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