We performed a comparison between Aruba Wireless and Ruckus Wireless based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Ruckus Wireless seems to be the superior solution, based on the parameters we compared. Our reviewers found Aruba Wireless to have stability issues and mentioned a poor ROI because of issues that needed fixing caused by the solution. Ruckus Wireless did better in these categories.
"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."
"Juniper Mist offers valuable features like comprehensive network insight, granular policy control, fast device setup, strong security, and efficient SSL traffic management."
"It provides private network access, helping us protect our company’s devices."
"The simplicity is great."
"The solution is pretty generic and easy to use."
"Overall, we've been very pleased with the performance."
"The AI capabilities of Mist Wireless are superior to other OEMs."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is Marvis, the AI-driven network management system."
"Overall, it's a very strong solution."
"The main features of Aruba Wireless in my country is its popularity, long hardware warranty when compared to other solutions, and it integrates well with our network access control solution."
"The tool's most valuable feature is Aruba Central, which offers centralized management. You can manage its switches, APs, and data access. It is easy to manage the entire switches and APs. The solution is the best in terms of security and manageability."
"As we have acquired a few companies, having the ability to have multiple RADIUS connections has helped us."
"If we really want to know where a specific user is connected, it gives us the ability to see that and how that user is actually receiving. We can know the speed and their IP, their MAC address and, most of the time, how much bandwidth they're using per day."
"What I like most about Aruba Wireless is its stability, functionality, and performance."
"ClearPass is a unique product that contains multiple solutions like BYOD, Guest, NAC, AAA, UEBA, etc. There is also quick support from Aruba TAC."
"The stability is the best. It's very reliable."
"Because of Zero-IT, it is easier to get people connected to the correct SSID without providing a passphrase."
"For me, the most valuable features are good integration with the customer's existing network and the ease of deployment and configuration. Ruckus products are also easy to learn to manage and deploy for not only our own staff, but also for the IT workers in the customer's organization."
"The solution is very user-friendly."
"The product is extremely easy to manage after it is implemented."
"There can be the same SSID for several devices."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable feature is that Ruckus offers better coverage."
"One of the most valuable features I appreciate is auto channelization, facilitated by a proprietary product called ChannelFly."
"The pricing is very high in the Indian market."
"Enrolling into the tool is a tedious process."
"If you want to do more specific stuff, it's a bit limited."
"The pricing should be made cheaper."
"It would be helpful to have even stronger security features to help protect against interference from other nearby access points that aren't part of our network."
"The solution is expensive."
"There is room for improvement in terms of support and installation."
"The price could be better."
"The latest design of their APs removes the console port and requires purchasing an expensive proprietary cable just to access the console."
"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."
"We need security features to recognize the traffic source and to apply Zero Trust security."
"The network times for protocol synchronization can be improved."
"Aruba Wireless could improve the dashboard. It is not straightforward or intuitive to use and could be more user-friendly. For IT employees the dashboards are fine but when it comes to the end-user it is difficult. The Mobility Controller dashboard is not meant for non-IT employees."
"The stability and management could be improved."
"I used to have issues with DHCP. It is extremely buggy and difficult to upgrade with different firmware versions/models."
"Because it's cloud-based, it takes time for the floor maps and the heat map to load."
"The cost could be slightly improved. It's not on the low end, and it's not in the high end. It's in that middle area, which can be a deciding factor between someone going with this solution versus another one."
"Having support available that is more compatible with time zones in the United States would be helpful."
"We use this solution in a certain way, and it works very well. So, I don't expect it to do a lot more, but to do what it's doing probably better or faster. But it's not a problem with the features; it's more the operations."
"Ruckus seems to have removed the built-in help from the appliance, urging the user to log on to the support web site to obtain it. This is simply a nuisance if one wishes to look up what a particular field on the configuration page does, for example."
"I would like the option to not have my logs deleted when I shut down the device so that I will be able to troubleshoot."
"Could be more user friendly."
"They could add more flexibility for switching over to another radio if a radio is poor. I am not able to change the radios from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz. I am yet to figure it out. I want it to be a bit more explicit or a bit easier to change radios. When you shut it down, you lose some of the information. It would be good to have a controller where I can store the information, and later on, I can retrieve the information. There should be some form of small storage to keep the information. Its price should also be improved. Its price is currently quite high."
"Ruckus is a bad solution in general. It's pretty old and outdated."
More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Pricing and Cost Advice →
Aruba Wireless is ranked 1st in Wireless LAN with 138 reviews while Ruckus Wireless is ranked 3rd in Wireless LAN with 97 reviews. Aruba Wireless is rated 8.4, while Ruckus Wireless is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Aruba Wireless writes "The portal for centralized management and virtual controller for APs are very valuable". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Ruckus Wireless writes "Great wireless, good reliability, and excellent connectivity". Aruba Wireless is most compared with Cisco Wireless, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, Ubiquiti WLAN, Huawei Wireless and Mist AI and Cloud, whereas Ruckus Wireless is most compared with Cisco Wireless, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, Ubiquiti WLAN, ExtremeWireless and Omada Access Points. See our Aruba Wireless vs. Ruckus Wireless report.
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We monitor all Wireless LAN reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
1 Ruckus
2 Aruba
3 Cambium
It depends on your enviroment.
Greetings
Here's my recommendation in order.
#1 Aruba
#2 Ruckus
#3 Ubiquiti
Hi Vinny,
I recommend you the following devices:
1. Ruckus: Easily to deploy. Expensive but effective. Don’t ask for the advanced license - you don’t need it. Buy only the basic one. A great option for hard users performance and large venues.
2. Ubiquiti: Easy to deploy, cheap but limited hardware. This is an option for basic performance.
3. Aruba: Easy to deploy, expensive, bad UX experience.
4. Cambium networks: A good option, between Ruckus and Ubiquiti.
5. Huawei. Never. Never. Never. Bad UX, bad support experience, bad hardware, bad everything.
6. Meraki. Too expensive. Don’t!
Regards!
If you want high performance and stability, you should definitely go with Ruckus Wireless.
Ruckus Wireless APs have:
- Adaptive antenna technology (called BeamFlex)
This technology analyzes different paths to reach the client and electronically turns itself to a directional antenna, choosing the path that gives the best performance to reach each specific client. If the client is mobile or if the environment changes (such as a warehouse) the selection of paths/direction also changes instantly.
Transmitting in a directional way allows a good Signal-to-Noise Ratio and also causes less interference for other nearby APs outside the path of the directional transmission.
- ChannelFly technology
This technology chooses the best channel based on performance rather than background scanning for noise.
- Polarization Diversity
This technology allows the clients not to lose signal strength when held at different angles (important for mobile devices such as tablets and telephones).
- Better receive sensitivity compared to the competitors
All these features make Ruckus Wireless a better choice than any other competitor (better performance, better coverage area, more stable and surprise-free communication especially in not so easy conditions such as noise, too many clients, too much traffic).
Selecting an AP depends upon a couple of factors which include (the number of users per AP, coverage area and required speed/throughput)
My recommendations are:
1. Ruckus
2. Aruba
3. Cisco
Ruckus:
Performs well in a high-density environment, with unique adaptive antenna technology & PD-MRC gives more coverage and interference mitigation. Ruckus offers a reliable Wireless network solution.
Aruba:
Good but not the best with better security features.
Cisco:
Complex deployment, is costly but it has better compatibility.
I have a smaller venue where I am using Unifi: Dream Machine UDM, Aggregation Switch, U6-Lite APs and Pro Switches...fiber optic backbone.
I am extremely satisfied with its performance. I can't tell about the other brands.
Have a look at Juniper Mist solution - it used in large retail stores and corps as well as a full integrated AI suite.
You can implement hundreds in just a few hours using foundation staff as it can all be programmed up on the cloud, no need for expensive network engineers to deploy
https://mist.com
Malcolm
Hi Vinny,
I'm biased toward Ubiquiti Unifi, but successful Wi-Fi deployment is hugely dependant on the type and number of Wi-Fi users, and more importantly, the layout and environment of the area you would like to cover.
Please feel free to PM me to discuss your application.
Regards,
Steve Pender