ray648•5mo ago

Debate: Aruba Central vs Meraki cloud management for a 10 site rollout

We're migrating from on-prem controllers for our branch offices. I'm stuck between Aruba Central and Meraki. We have 3 guys who know Meraki from past jobs and love it, but our rep says Aruba Central gives us better AP density per controller. Anyone done a multi site cloud deployment recently? What broke or surprised you?

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paige_harris5mo ago

I heard from a buddy that Aruba Central's licensing got more strict last year, so watch out for hidden costs. The AP density thing is real though, I read their controllers scale better than Meraki on paper. Both platforms work fine for 10 sites, but you'll probably have a smoother rollout with what your guys already know.

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nelson.gavin5mo ago

lol my buddy told me the same thing about Aruba Central's licensing getting tighter and I still haven't seen it cause any real headaches for anyone I know. People love to freak out over contract changes but half the time it just means you gotta read the fine print for five minutes. Controllers scaling better on paper is one thing, but in the real world for ten sites I doubt anyone's really pushing the limits where it matters. Meraki's licensing is famously upfront about what you pay, and that predictability alone saves a lot of surprise invoices. Feels like folks overthink this stuff way too much for setups that aren't running a stadium or a hospital.

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