I recently took over a single-site network with nine Aruba AP-535 access points managed through HPE Aruba/GreenLake. The foundation subscription is expiring, and I may be able to extend it for another year. The APs are a little over seven years old, so I'm also considering replacing them instead of renewing the service. We have a FortiGate firewall, but it is co-managed by our provider, and I'm not sure I want to make the wireless network dependent on that arrangement. Since we only operate one site and don't manage multiple customers, is centralized Aruba management still worthwhile? Should I keep updating the existing APs, or move to another platform?
3 Answers
Before replacing everything, check whether those AP-535s can be moved from the current AOS 10 and Central-managed setup to an Aruba Instant cluster. In that mode, one AP acts as the virtual controller, which may reduce or eliminate the recurring management cost. Verify the exact licensing and software compatibility first, but keeping the existing hardware could be the least disruptive option.
The AP model and installation age matter more than whether you manage one site or many. Central management is common even for small deployments, so nine APs alone isn’t a strong reason to abandon Aruba. Since these are over seven years old, I’d check their support status, firmware eligibility, Wi-Fi requirements, and hardware condition. If they still meet your capacity and security needs, renewing for a year while evaluating replacements is sensible. If you do replace them, UniFi would likely be adequate for this environment, but compare features such as VLAN handling, roaming, guest access, monitoring, and long-term support rather than choosing only on price.
I’d be cautious about switching to FortiAP just because you already have a FortiGate. They can work, but they may require more tuning than expected. UniFi is a reasonable alternative for a small single-site deployment: the hardware is affordable and management is straightforward. You could run the controller on a small Linux VM or use a CloudKey, rather than relying entirely on the mobile app.
UniFi has worked well for several offices I’ve supported. If wireless meshing is disabled, the newer models can support more SSIDs than the lower limit people sometimes mention.