Aruba Instant Wi-Fi Access Points vs. Cisco Mobility Express (discontinued)

It is possible that we have a bad luck with the deployment. However, It is capable to perform enterprise-level security to fit some of the organization's standards. With Airwave and other tools, it's easy to manage and administrate your wireless environment. Make aware of the IPsec tunnel from each user to the controller if you are using Clearpass for NAC. If you have a remote office with local resources, you will need controller or IAP to route traffic locally. If you have many remote offices, you will need to deploy controllers or IAP in each office, which lead to additional cost and management.

As it provides virtual WLC functionality, it has incredibly amazing built-in features that perfectly suit small to medium companies. It has the capability to manage the entire organization network seamlessly. It might be possible that it won't work smoothly and elegantly for large firms where there is a bulk amount of data bandwidth used.

Incentivized

• They offer both a controller-based and controller-less option. This allows customers of all sizes to deploy a wireless network without the upfront cost of controller hardware. A controller can be added later.
• Aruba also offers Airwave which is a single management point for all AP swarms in the environment. It offers many reporting features as well as visual RF maps displaying heatmaps of the AP signals and client positioning.
• The Aruba Access Point we have (224s and 225s) also offer both PoE and external power supplies for those smaller deployments that may not have PoE capable switches.

Incentivized

• Easy to setup
• Less maintenance
• Less disconnection

Incentivized

• We have had a bunch of these stop working after a power outages. We are guessing a surge or something caused them to stop working.
• Some of the documentation is outdated. It seems they like to make changes to how things work and it usually mean less access and insight into the devices you manage.
• The auto signal strength feature could use a little work. It seems like even when we turn it down all the way it tries ot increases the signal strength.

Incentivized

• Honestly, I haven't found very many issues since we started using it, and I'm glad for that!

Incentivized

Aruba Networks Wireless LAN is very intuitive to use. After the initial learning curve for the Aruba OS platform, it is straightforward. Day-to-day tasks, such as deploying an access point with a configuration, are very straightforward. Standard incremental system upgrades are also very intuitive. If you have any past experience with Aruba network switching or Cisco switching, the command structure is relatively similar.

Incentivized

We are using it 24x7 and it never hangs or create problems in connectivity.

Incentivized

After initial configuration and fixing minor issues with the firmware, the system worked really well, without any downtime. We were also satisfied with the throughput and range.

Incentivized

It is a reliable and complete solution for providing wireless network to users. I had no technical problems during those years. The Aruba controller and access points have always worked very well and we have greatly improved the relationship with customers and we now have absolute control over the wireless network traffic. It has quality assurance and support with efficient service as well.

Incentivized

Cisco Aironet did not even compare to Aruba, Aruba was so far advanced from Cisco back when we used them. Aruba solved several business problems all in one ecosystem, all Cisco did was acted as somewhat intelligent Access Points. Aruba enabled us to leverage VoIP, use APs as VPN endpoints/devices, manage individual devices as assets, etc.

Incentivized

Cisco Mobility Express is far better than other products. It is a renowned brand in network products, and they are reliable and efficient as compared to other products that I have used so far. It is highly recommended.

Incentivized

• Excellent uptime and reliability
• If licensed properly, failover is easy
• The newest version upgrade is somewhat cumbersome as they want us to replace hardware, which seems silly, so we are on the most current legacy supported version. Once unsupported, we will need to replace hardware.

Incentivized

• It has given our IT team time back from not having to fix issues everyday with the network.
• It makes it easy for visibility of the network and allows those who are new to it to learn it quickly.

Incentivized