Compare Ubiquiti, HPE Aruba and Cisco Meraki, Ruckus and Aerohive

Ubiquiti

Ubiquiti Wireless Network provide cost effective networking solutions provide various products including UBNT Access Points, wireless controllers, antennas and wireless bridge, etc. for various needs.

HPE Aruba

Aruba was acquired by HPE. HPE Arub a Wireless Access Points deliver fast, reliable Wi-Fi performance, boost network efficiency, and support the growing mobile and IoT density demands on your network.

Cisco Meraki

Meraki was bought over by Cisco. Cisco Meraki MR series delivers WiFi 6 AP, faster AP deployment, simplified administration, and richer visibility.

Ruckus

ruckus wireless network

Brocade was purchased in a major acquisition by Broadcom. But then Broadcom spun off Ruckus. Ruckus is best known for their BeamFlex wireless technology.

AeroHive

aerohive wireless network

Aerohive has also been a large OEM player, partnering with the likes of Dell and others. Aerohive has 2 controller platform, namely Aerohive Connect (Free - Lite) and HiveManager NG (Paid - Full)

Compare Ubiquiti, Cisco Meraki, HPE Aruba, Ruckus and Aerohive

Function/Feature	Ubiquiti	Cisco Meraki	HPE Aruba Central	Ruckus	Aerohive Connect	HiveManager NG
Application Visibility	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Application Throttling	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
SSID Throttling	Yes	Yes	Yes	No, but canb limit per AP	No	Yes
Client Throttling	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Firewall	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not yet	Limited	Yes
Guest Network	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PPSK support	No	No	No	Yes, Through Guest Pass	No	Yes
Location Analytics	No	Yes	Only Thru paid ALE Addon	No	Limited	Yes
RF Visibility	Yes	Yes	AP are capable, but not in Central	No	Limited	Yes
IEEE Standard: 802.1x support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
IEEE Standard: 802.11k support	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
IEEE Standard: 802.11r support	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
IEEE Standard: 802.11v support	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
IEEE Standard: 802.11w support	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Available Support	Limited. Primarily User Forum	Part of Subscription	Part of Subscription	Yes	Optional	Yes
On-Prem Controller Option	Free	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
SSID Scheduling	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Subscription Expires Policy	Free	30 day grace period before devices shut down	Fails back to "instant”	AP halt until reconfigured as Autonomous pointed to a controller	Lifetime Subscription	Equipment still runs, but you lose cloud managability.

Apple take on Wi-Fi: 802.11r, 802.11k and 802.11v

There have been some advances in roaming beyond the crude min-RSSI and basic rate manipulation. There are 3 amendments to Wi-Fi: 802.11r, 802.11k and 802.11v. To quote Apple's simplified description:

802.11k
The 802.11k standard helps iOS to speed up its search for nearby APs that are available as roaming targets by creating an optimized list of channels. When the signal strength of the current AP weakens, your device will scan for target APs from this list.

802.11r
When your iOS device roams from one AP to another on the same network, 802.11r uses a feature called Fast Basic Service Set Transition (FT) to authenticate more quickly. FT works with both preshared key (PSK) and 802.1X authentication methods.

iOS 10 and later includes support for adaptive 802.11r on Cisco wireless networks. Adaptive 802.11r offers FT without the need to enable 802.11r on the configured Cisco wireless network.

802.11v
iOS supports the basic service set (BSS) transition-management functionality of 802.11v on certain devices. BSS transition management allows the network’s control layer to influence client roaming behavior by providing it the load information of nearby access points. iOS takes this information into account when deciding among the possible roam targets.

When you combine 802.11k and 802.11v’s ability to speed up the search for the best target AP with FT's faster AP association, apps can perform faster and you get a better Wi-Fi experience in iOS.

Source: Wi-Fi network roaming with 802.11k, 802.11r, and 802.11v on iOS