PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Aruba (HPE) Aruba 9106 Gateway
Aruba (HPE) Aruba 9106 Gateway
★ 4.3 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Wi-Fi Standard: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
  • Spatial Streams (MIMO): 4x4 MU-MIMO
  • Aggregate Throughput: 2.4 Gbps
  • Radios: Dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
  • 2.4 GHz Throughput: 574 Mbps (802.11ax)
  • 5 GHz Throughput: 1.2 Gbps (802.11ax)
  • Uplink Port Speed: Multi-Gigabit (10GBase-T capable with optional modules)
  • Max Clients: 250+
  • PoE Requirement: 95W (High Power PoE)
  • Form Factor: Compact wall-mount or ceiling-mount
  • Security: WPA3, 802.1X, Built-in WIPS

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Exceptional Wi-Fi 6 performance with high client density support; Integrated wireless controller reduces infrastructure complexity; Strong enterprise security features with WPA3 and threat detection; Flexible deployment (wall/ceiling mount); Excellent range and coverage
  • ✘ Cons: High power consumption requires robust PoE infrastructure; Limited to wireless access point role, not a standalone gateway/firewall; Expensive upfront licensing for management and analytics; Proprietary controller integration required; May be overkill for small deployments
  • Est. Price: $1,200 - $1,800

Compare Against

Aruba (HPE) 9004 Gateway
Aruba (HPE) 9004 Gateway
★ 3.4 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Firewall Throughput: 4 Gbps
  • Threat Prevention Throughput: 1.1 Gbps (IDS/IPS)
  • IPsec VPN Throughput: 4 Gbps
  • Max Sessions: 128,000
  • New Sessions/sec: 5,000
  • Interfaces: 4x 10/100/1000BASE-T (RJ-45)
  • Form Factor: Compact / Desktop

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: High performance (4 Gbps firewall/VPN) in a fanless compact design; Integrated IoT support (BLE/Zigbee) for device tracking; Unified cloud management via Aruba Central for SD-Branch; Supports identity-based Dynamic Segmentation for automated security.
  • ✘ Cons: Limited physical connectivity with only 4x 1GbE ports and no 10GbE support; Requires paid Aruba Central subscriptions for SD-WAN and advanced security features; IDS/IPS performance is significantly lower than the base firewall throughput.
  • Est. Price: $1,100 - $1,500

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