When it comes down to Wi-Fi networks, a wireless access point has become an important part of the infrastructure. This is because it’s a networking device that allows the users to connect the wireless devices to the wired networks. These devices are extremely easy to use and install, but for this purpose, you’ve to choose a high-quality WAP. For this purpose, we are sharing Aruba Wireless vs. Cisco comparison as these two are the most popular devices out there!
Aruba Wireless vs Cisco
Aruba Wireless
It’s one of the best ways to achieve Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and it’s an affordable networking device that’s perfect for small and medium-scale businesses. It has been designed to deliver top-notch performance and promises seamless cloud management. It is designed with smart mesh technology, which makes it suitable for extending the network. It has easier management since you can control it through the cloud on your smartphone app and web portal.
The app is designed to discover the access point quickly and offers a wizard that allows the users to add the access point to the account and create a wireless network. It is designed with two-by-two MU-MIMO, which promises an internet throughput of 1200Mbps on the 5GHz channel and 574Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. The best thing about this access point is that it supports Wi-Fi 6 devices. When it comes down to the design, it’s extremely lightweight and convenient to mount on the wall.
The access point comes with the base kit, which also comes with a universal mounting bracket for easier installation – it can be fitted on the t-rails. There is a gigabit Ethernet port on the device, which supports PoE+ as well as PoE power sources. As far as the management is concerned, you can use the smartphone app and web portal. Be it a smartphone app or web portal, both of them have a simple dashboard and four panes that help gain information about the active and available networks, total data transfers in the past twenty-four hours, equipment inventory, and connected devices.
Clicking on the network pane will help you gain information about the current network, and you can also configure over eight SSIDs. As far as the guest networks are concerned, there is an L2 isolation feature that allows the users to provide internet access to the users without connecting them to the local resource. In addition, we recommend that you invest in an Aruba switch to create the wired network with unique VLAN identifiers.
Cisco Wireless
Cisco is another company that’s offering access points, and 240AC is one of them. It is designed with Wi-Fi 5 technology and is available at a competitive price. Its features are sufficient to meet regular internet browsing needs, and there is an intuitive app that can be used to configure the access point. In addition, it’s integrated with the mesh extender that helps extend the internet and network. It’s extremely easy to install, and you can configure and monitor it through the web interface or smartphone app.
It is designed to support the 802.11ac WAVE2 standard, which improves the internet throughput. On the 5GHz band, it provides an internet throughput of 1733Mbps, and the 2.4GHz band offers 600Mbps internet throughput. The best thing about this access point is that there is a lifetime warranty available, so you can get the issues repaired for free. It has a small footprint, and the mounting parts are added to streamline the installation.
Many people don’t know this because there is a flat Ethernet cable that comes in the package, which can be utilized to power the access point when it’s connected to the Ethernet switch. It has a white plastic design and weighs only 427g. On the right side, there is a hole that can be used to anchor the access point to the wall. In addition, there is a single LED indicator on the front, which also works as a status indicator.
On top of everything, there is a recessed mode button that allows the users to reset the access point to the factory default settings. As compared to Aruba Wireless’s one Ethernet port, there are two Ethernet ports on the top to help you create a wired connection. Last but not least, there is a Qualcomm quad-core CPU for efficient performance!