Cisco Wireless AP vs. Aruba Wireless AP

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As the one of the top networking companies in the market, Cisco provides us many wireless access points to meet various business needs. However, Aruba AP also is the popular brand in the market.

Which is better or more suitable for your needs?

In this article, let’s compare.

Cisco Wireless AP

Cisco provides an intent-based architecture to meet customer expectations and scale for growing business demand. It provides the latest Wi-Fi 6 Aps (Catalyst 9100 Aps), and provides other 802.11ac Wave 2 Aironet access points (Aironet 4800, 3800, 2800 and 1800), outdoor APs, SMB APs, etc.

cisco wireless ap

 Table 1. The comparison of Cisco Wireless vs. HPE vs. Huawei.

Brand Cisco HPE Huawei
Innovations
Recognize and service

1400+ apps

Differentiate between non-encrypted and encrypted apps to help ensure appropriate treatment of business- critical traffic.

Cisco access switches

can inspect traffic and application flows to enforce network access policy and protect against attacks via Cisco IOS Flexible NetFlow, DNS-AS, NBAR, and Cisco DNA Center.

2300 Apps

HPE switching platforms are limited to basic traffic classification and policy enforcement via ACL. HPE dynamic segmentation requires centralized data-plane architecture using tunneled node, which

can dramatically reduce system performance and add CapEx.

1900 Apps

Huawei offers limited SLA monitoring with iPCA. Huawei NetStream is still limited on some platforms, and most of the time it is still sampled. Full NetStream is taxing to switch performance.

Track users on location via BLE or Wi-Fi

Get a realistic and granular view of customer locations, whether tracking via BLE or Wi-Fi.

Cisco DNA Spaces supports the tracking of BLE and Wi-Fi devices with location accuracy up to 1-2 meters.

Separate platforms for tracking BLE (Meridian) and Wi-Fi (ALE)

HPE has limited support with Bluetooth in the access points but lacks precise Wi-Fi-based location. Unlike Cisco, HPE does not

support Virtual BLE beacons or precise location based on Wi-Fi angle of arrival.

Huawei has no support for Virtual BLE beacons. Huawei Wi-Fi location based on Angle of Arrival (AoA) is an unproven solution.

Engage with customers on location

Make relevant business decisions while providing a more personalized experience.

The Cisco DNA Spaces solution offers an understanding of how users interact with the environment so businesses can make better decisions.

(only using BLE)

HPE provides BLE location in its access points, tags, and Meridian application for wayfinding and customer engagement.

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(Info:https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/wireless/competitive-comparison.pdf?oid=otren017426)

Aruba Wireless AP

Aruba Access Points deliver fast, reliable Wi-Fi performance, boost network efficiency, and support the growing mobile and IoT density demands on your network.

Aruba provide these hot series:

In these series, the Aruba 510 series also provides 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), like the Cisco Catalyst 9100 APs.

aruba ap

Table 2. Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Point vs. Aruba 510 Series Access Point

Series Aruba 510 Series Access Point Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Point
Wi-Fi radio specifications Indoor, dual radio, 5GHz 802.11ax 4×4 MIMO and 2.4GHz 802.11ax 2×2 MIMO Indoor, dual radio, 2.4 GHz (4×4), 5 GHz (8×8 and 4×4), 802.11ax
Antenna Internal (AP-515) and External Antenna (AP-514) Internal and External Antenna

(Catalyst 9130, Catalyst 9120, Catalyst 9115)

Or only Internal Antenna (Catalyst 9117)

GPL Price

(GPL Check Tool)

Miss $1,245.00 – $1,695.00

This two company provides 802.11n/ac AP and we can compare somethings.

Table 3. Cisco Aironet 2800 and 3800 vs. Aruba AP-335

Models Aruba AP-335 Cisco Aironet 2800 & 3800
Processor, Memory 1.4-GHz dual-core processor,

256 MB RAM

1.8-GHz dual-core processor,

1 GB RAM

Wave 2 RF Support Single-User (SU) and Multi-User (MU)

MIMO

Single-User (SU) and Multi-User

(MU) MIMO

Wi-Fi standards supported IEEE 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac IEEE 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac
Antennas 12 internal, omnidirectional,

dual-band antennas

i and e models support internal or external antennas
Channel support 20, 40, 80 and 160-MHz channels 20, 40, 80 and 160-MHz channels
Dual-band radios 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 2.4/5 GHz and 5 GHz, both radios can run in 5 GHz concurrently
Auto assignment of radios Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) FRA (Flexible Radio Assignment)
1000BASE-T interfaces Two; supports LAG (aggregation of both links) Two; supports LAG (aggregation of both links)
Higher-speed uplink over Cat 5e Supports a Smart Rate uplink port; can negotiate up to 2.5 Gbps (Model 3800 only) Supports

Multigigabit Ethernet (mGig), which can negotiate up to 5 Gbps

Special features USB 2.0 port, Bluetooth Low Energy Side-loading module port for future modules (i.e., security), USB 2.0 port

(Info: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/solutions/collateral/enterprise-networks/802-11ac-solution/miercom-report-cisco-aruba-wave.pdf)

Both of Cisco AP and Aruba AP provide various choices for customers’ business need. According to the budget and networking needs, we can choose the right one from them.

If you want to order Cisco AP or Aruba AP, please contact us:

E-mail: sales@router-switch.com

Telephone: +1-626-239-8066 (USA) / +852-3050-1066

Fax: +852-3050-1066 (Hong Kong)

Or visit our online shops:

Cisco Wireless Products

Aruba Access Points

Related Topics:

Selected Aruba Wireless Access Points and Mobility Controllers

Available 802.11ac APs from Cisco, Aruba, HP and Ruckus Wireless

Cat2960-X vs. Aruba 2930F vs. Aruba 2920

802.11ax? What is 802.11ax?

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