Aruba Wi-Fi equipment - any experience?
Discussion
I'll start by saying I'm a huge Ubiquiti fan and I install many of their Wi-Fi products for a living, but I'm getting tired of the supply shortages so I'm looking at alternatives. I mostly do fairly small scale installations in large homes and smaller businesses. The Aruba "instant on" range has caught my eye and just wondering if anyone here uses them or has any experience with Aruba generally?
If anyone has any other recommendations on par or similar to Ubiquiti then I'd also be keen to hear them. Must be proper managed Wi-Fi equipment though, not consumer grade stuff!
If anyone has any other recommendations on par or similar to Ubiquiti then I'd also be keen to hear them. Must be proper managed Wi-Fi equipment though, not consumer grade stuff!
There's a comment here that they don't support manual channel setting: https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=3962... and two posts up that it is only manageable via a phone app :-(
I don't have much experience of Aruba other than vaguely considering them alongside Cisco/Aerohive etc in big corporate deployments.
However, for what you're after, check out the TP-Link Omada range. https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/oma...
I've done several Ubiquiti setups for friends and family, but in the last couple of years discovered Omada stuff and only use that now.
I've found the management stuff to be more 'idiot proof' than Ubiquiti. Sometimes with Ubiquiti I've had to do manual firmware updates, or they 'forget' the controller and you have to manually set it and that sort of thing. Zero problems with TP-Link, they 'just work'.
Like Ubiquiti they have free controller software (that you can run on whatever hardware you have) or they also provide a 'cloud controller' (called the OC200) which is the equivalent of the Ubiquiti CloudKey.
I like that it can be completely 'on-prem' if you like, a cloud account isn't necessary. Anecdotally I've found the roaming support to be a bit more robust that Ubiquiti (ie; clients tend to be on the 'right' access point more often).
It has a nice Android/IOS app which is nice if you are setting it up for somebody and they want to have a poke around themselves. The web 'back end' which runs on the OC200 is a bit more feature rich, but mostly unnecessary most of the time.
I literally can't think of anything bad about it!
ETA: I thought of a downside vs Ubiquiti. Roaming requires the controller to be online. Ubiquiti roaming still works if the controller goes offline. But the OC200 seems bullet proof in my experience, so not that big of a deal.
However, for what you're after, check out the TP-Link Omada range. https://www.tp-link.com/us/business-networking/oma...
I've done several Ubiquiti setups for friends and family, but in the last couple of years discovered Omada stuff and only use that now.
I've found the management stuff to be more 'idiot proof' than Ubiquiti. Sometimes with Ubiquiti I've had to do manual firmware updates, or they 'forget' the controller and you have to manually set it and that sort of thing. Zero problems with TP-Link, they 'just work'.
Like Ubiquiti they have free controller software (that you can run on whatever hardware you have) or they also provide a 'cloud controller' (called the OC200) which is the equivalent of the Ubiquiti CloudKey.
I like that it can be completely 'on-prem' if you like, a cloud account isn't necessary. Anecdotally I've found the roaming support to be a bit more robust that Ubiquiti (ie; clients tend to be on the 'right' access point more often).
It has a nice Android/IOS app which is nice if you are setting it up for somebody and they want to have a poke around themselves. The web 'back end' which runs on the OC200 is a bit more feature rich, but mostly unnecessary most of the time.
I literally can't think of anything bad about it!
ETA: I thought of a downside vs Ubiquiti. Roaming requires the controller to be online. Ubiquiti roaming still works if the controller goes offline. But the OC200 seems bullet proof in my experience, so not that big of a deal.
Bikerjon said:
I'll start by saying I'm a huge Ubiquiti fan and I install many of their Wi-Fi products for a living, but I'm getting tired of the supply shortages so I'm looking at alternatives. I mostly do fairly small scale installations in large homes and smaller businesses. The Aruba "instant on" range has caught my eye and just wondering if anyone here uses them or has any experience with Aruba generally?
If anyone has any other recommendations on par or similar to Ubiquiti then I'd also be keen to hear them. Must be proper managed Wi-Fi equipment though, not consumer grade stuff!
I've been buying direct from Ubiquiti via their 'eu' store - shipping to UK is seamless and takes about 2 days - no supply problems either. Seems to be just the UK re-sellers who have supply issues at the moment.If anyone has any other recommendations on par or similar to Ubiquiti then I'd also be keen to hear them. Must be proper managed Wi-Fi equipment though, not consumer grade stuff!
Thanks for the comments. I know I could order from the Ubiquiti EU store but some of my orders are a fair amount and I get nervous about the distance, returns and also import duty aspect! They also run out of stock on the EU store too.
Brands like Meraki and Ruckus are too high end for me. I use quite a lot of Draytek routers so their Wi-Fi products might be an option to explore.
I hadn't considered TP-Link and to be honest, apart from the occasional powerline adaptor or 5 port switch, I tend to not use that brand much. I've had some issues in the past where I've wasted too many hours trying to fix, but that said the Omada system sounds like it could be worth a look.
Brands like Meraki and Ruckus are too high end for me. I use quite a lot of Draytek routers so their Wi-Fi products might be an option to explore.
I hadn't considered TP-Link and to be honest, apart from the occasional powerline adaptor or 5 port switch, I tend to not use that brand much. I've had some issues in the past where I've wasted too many hours trying to fix, but that said the Omada system sounds like it could be worth a look.
Bikerjon said:
Thanks for the comments. I know I could order from the Ubiquiti EU store but some of my orders are a fair amount and I get nervous about the distance, returns and also import duty aspect! They also run out of stock on the EU store too.
Brands like Meraki and Ruckus are too high end for me. I use quite a lot of Draytek routers so their Wi-Fi products might be an option to explore.
I hadn't considered TP-Link and to be honest, apart from the occasional powerline adaptor or 5 port switch, I tend to not use that brand much. I've had some issues in the past where I've wasted too many hours trying to fix, but that said the Omada system sounds like it could be worth a look.
If you want to try Draytek APs, I have a pair of AP903's looking for a new home which are mesh enabled.Brands like Meraki and Ruckus are too high end for me. I use quite a lot of Draytek routers so their Wi-Fi products might be an option to explore.
I hadn't considered TP-Link and to be honest, apart from the occasional powerline adaptor or 5 port switch, I tend to not use that brand much. I've had some issues in the past where I've wasted too many hours trying to fix, but that said the Omada system sounds like it could be worth a look.
I'll be open and say that I found them hopeless, forever reconfiguring (example, AP2 meshing via AP1 rather than direct to router even though they were the same distance from the router in opposite directions), APs disappearing completely then randomly reappearing. Your experience may be better and/or there may be better firmware now.
Replaced the Draytek router Wifi and two AP903 with just two Ubiquiti AP-AC Lites and so much more reliable and stable. Wifi off on the router now.
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