Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Reviews

We sent everybody home because of the new variant. People were trying to be safe, so we decided if you want to connect to our network, use this solution.

The solution is deployed on a private cloud. The cloud provider is Microsoft Azure.

Instead of having to go the old-fashioned dinosaur way and look for the computers, you could just look in the cloud, find the computer, and change the IP address. That helped so much. I was like, "This is the Mac address. Find it up there, change the IP address from A to B," and then we could continue doing work from there.

You can monitor traffic so you can see if the network is having issues or laggy or what people are doing. You can point them out and say, "Stop doing that." If you're trying to identify one of the switches or pinpoint a computer or pinpoint something, you could find it just like that and change the IP address. It's easiest to do it that way.

Documentation could be improved, but everything else has been spot-on.

I have been using this solution for a couple of years.

There have been no issues with stability. The solution is being used every day in my organization.

The solution doesn't require a lot of maintenance. It's easy to do. If you go on the cloud, you can just push the updates from there.

The solution is scalable. There are 200-300 users in our organization. There are plans to increase usage in the future.

Implementation was straightforward. It took a couple of months to set up, implement, and start using.

For initial setup, you have to do the access once and then you have to go to the cloud to make sure they connect.

We used a consultant from Cisco.

I would rate this solution 10 out of 10. 

It makes life easier. You don't have to go cabling. It saves time. It saves man hours. It's just better. My advice is to use this solution instead of using the old-fashioned one. It will save you headaches.

I think the IoT integration is the most valuable. I started applying IoT solutions 12 years ago on location-based services. Aruba had implemented this at the time. So I think the integration, particularly into the applications and stuff, is pretty interesting in Meraki. It's a substantial network from my point of view. It's good.

You're starting to see CO2-type sensors come into the classrooms and stuff like that. So it would be nice to build some "if-then" functions into IoT-type sensors. For instance, if a classroom has high CO2 levels, you could automatically open the Windows and use heat exchange to bring in fresh air into the room. At the same time, you could have the temperature control adjust automatically so it doesn't get too hot or too.  So you would need to plug in some configurable where you collect the output from the sensors and have it carry out some small actions based on that. I think it's well within Meraki's capabilities. 

I've been working in IT for 40 years. I was working on Nortel products even before Cisco, so I have more than 20 years of experience in WiFi alone.

Everything works. I can't knock the product. I know a lot of the senior management within Meraki and used to work with them at Nortel. I know many people who work on the product side, and I've never had a problem. I've deployed Meraki for one customer with 2,500 sites in the UK, and I don't think I've ever had a wireless AP go faulty on me. We've just never had a failure, to be quite honest. That's unusual.

The only thing that always causes problems with Meraki is the license. It's a bit of a bugbear with Meraki, and it remains today. So it's an unusual concept compared to the other products in the marketplace, but then it does cause a bit of a nuisance from time to time. The license they sell is difficult.

I've worked on Meraki and other Cisco products as well as Hewlett Packard, Aruba, Siemens, and Aerohive. Aruba's first-class product is easy to work with, and I've done a lot of the complicated location with services on the Aruba kit. Most of the WiFi solutions are pretty good. The main difference between products is the application integration for location-based or IoT services, and Meraki has a good lead. You can buy IoT centers that work. So I know they're pretty basic sensors, and they are a bit expensive. However, I don't think you can beat Meraki when you're talking about multiple deployments, particularly in retail and stuff like that. It's very good for that. With loads of different sites and small amounts of kit, it works perfectly. I haven't had many problems, and in the many times I've worked with the kit, it's never failed me. That's unusual.

I rate Cisco Meraki WLAN mine of 10. However, it would be a 10 out of 10 if it could apply some conditional logic where the result from a sensor triggers an action on another IoT device, such as a motorized heat exchanger, to bring fresh air into the building. If you were able to do something like that, it would improve things even more. It's a good LAN, but there's always room for improvement. There are some things that I'd like to see, such as more applications, integrations, and stuff like that, but apart from that, it's pretty good.

When you look at the benefits, some wireless solutions are more flexible than others. Meraki is easy to configure and monitor. The best thing Meraki can do is give them a test AP on their network because there is some problem with APN allowing other kits on the network and letting people test, but handover between the APs is satisfactory. I've got four APs in my home that go between the office, workshop, and high space, and the handover is still seamless. The coverage is brilliant from my point of view. I deployed it in a large warehouse, and handover was seamless. It was covered. To me, the easiest way is to get a customer to test their network with two, so they can do a handover and allow them to test and configure. That's plug-and-play.

I work for an elementary school and Meraki's used to cover the entire building with wifi. It's not just a specific location. We're a kindergarten through sixth-grade school — an elementary school.

In terms of the product, it's been very good for us. They don't have all of the tools built-in that we would like to have such as heat mapping, but when it comes to managing it, it is straightforward and easily operated. We're able to automate as well as manually control as necessary.

This solution could benefit from a heat mapping ability so that you can tell where the hotspots are, and where the good signals are. To have that be available from within the management software would be fantastic.

We've been using this solution for four years.

Stability-wise, it's excellent. However, the software cannot tell us where there are issues. It would be nice if it could point them out to us, but without that event's information, it's more of a challenge. In terms of when we see that it's working, we know that it will be working, period. It's simply reliable.

It's very scalable. We could increase the system we have, but because of its age, we actually need to replace the entire thing at once. So instead of doing it piecemeal and having some of the older products remain while we put in a new product, we would rather replace the whole system. 

We have not used Meraki support directly. We haven't had any problems that were so horrible that we needed their assistance.

We're looking at whether to replace Meraki or go with ruckus or Aruba. There are all sorts of options for us. The signal coverage has been quite good with Meraki, but we just simply are in need of a stronger system than what we have now. 

I was very surprised. The initial setup was very straightforward. 

We had a company (reseller) install this solution because we needed so many access points. Once they put it in place and did the initial configuration, everything was straightforward and easily managed.

I don't recall the licensing cost. There is a hardware cost and separate licensing. We did buy the free lessons, but I can't recall how much it cost.

In terms of caution, I don't have any advice. In terms of a recommendation, it's been a very stable system for us. However, because our needs grew exponentially when we had to go one-to-one for students, this has made things too complicated. That's why we're looking into upgrading and replacing the whole system. Still, Meraki is not off of our list while we're considering new solutions.

Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of ten.

We mainly are in retail, and we provide all kinds of wireless solutions. We use Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN for all kinds of use cases, and we are using its latest version.

Its flexibility, ease of management via the portal, and the variety of access points are the most valuable features.

I would like to see integration with sensors.

I have been selling this solution for five years.

It is very stable.

It is very scalable. Our customers have around 200,000 users.

Their technical support is really good. I just have to give them a call. They are there almost 24/7.

It is easy to install. I set up my own network within half an hour.

The cost is not so much for Wireless LAN, but when you have to get the security license, it costs a lot.

I would absolutely recommend this solution. We will keep selling this solution.

I would rate Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN an eight out of ten.

I use it both at my home office, and we just installed it for one of our clients with about 11 different units in their building. We have been pretty impressed with it.

It has improved our organization immensely. We were using:

1. Not enough access points at one of my clients. They did not have enough.
2. They were using Ubiquiti, which was getting overloaded with traffic. Therefore, it has been a big speed improvement, as well as in coverage.

I find it very easy to manage because of the cloud management, so I can update all my buildings at once and see all of my clients from one spot. That is probably one of my favorite features, as well as it has good security with its Layer 7 protections. It has a lot of overall functionality.

At this price point, I would not mind seeing a four-way channel, instead of a 3x3 or a 4x4, like they do in the Cisco Aironet system with their other brand. For the same price point in this other Cisco brand, it is a lot cheaper, and you can get a slightly better throughput than you can with these. It does not have the cloud-base. This would be something that I would like to see, and they do have it in their bigger units, just not at the price point we were at for the MR 42s.

So far, there have not been any issues. 

The only ones that we did have were with some wiring in the building. 

The products were fine. The only time they have gone down is when they first had to do firmware updates. It has only been three weeks, but so far, they have worked very well.

I have not had any issues with scalability. If we need any more, it is literally just plug and play. It will immediately go in the network, because it is cloud-based. Everything from the network is on the cloud, so it just pushes right into the new device.

I have not yet talked to technical support. 

I talk to our rep if I have any questions because I have a direct Cisco rep.

We had Ubiquiti UniFi and the standard APs. They were not the ACs; they were the standard APs. Their coverage was always rough. We had a lot of dropouts due to speed issues, and this particular client of mine was putting in a new system in their building, and we knew this was going to push the WiFi really hard. Therefore, we knew we would have to upgrade it when we put the system in.

It was very straightforward. I did all the setup on it.

If you are wondering if Meraki can work for you, contact one of their representatives because they will do onsite trials where you can set up their system. If it does not work, you can send it back to them for no charge.

We were looking at improving the system that we currently had with Ubiquiti. We also did consider Ruckus and Cisco (the standard Cisco units). 

The reason I went with Meraki was mainly for its ease of setup and control of multiple locations, which this client has. It will allow me to integrate another system very quickly, as we continue expanding for them. Being an offsite vendor, and having remote access into it, the simplicity of that made a big difference in choosing their system.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: The device needs to hold up to what they are telling me it can do. I want to see good throughput from it, as well as that it has security and protection. 

Usability is a big one. How simple it is, easy it is to set up, use, and for the client to understand. Finally, it would be the technical support. They have to have a good technical support base.

We are a reseller, and because we're doing mostly refreshes, we have its latest version.

Its interface is not as daunting as others, which makes customers a bit more at ease.

For Meraki, the ease of deployment and management is most valuable.

Meraki leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to the technical capabilities in terms of throughput, spectrum, management, higher-level functions, etc.

I have been using this solution for eight years or so.

Its stability is a five out of 10.

Its scalability is a five out of 10. 

I would probably rate them a six out of 10.

Meraki is probably the most straightforward. 

For its deployment and maintenance, just one engineer is required for a medium-sized company.

The return on the investment with Meraki isn't from scalability, rollout, or saving in hardware costs or software costs. The save is either in terms of the ability to keep the number of technicians that you hire or in terms of being able to outsource it all together to an organization that specializes in it. The higher costs of Meraki are offset by the cost of the people you may have to bring in, depending on your Wi-Fi airspace.

I would advise knowing your use case and matching it to the technology.

I would rate it a six out of 10. It provides ease of management to customers, but it is not for throughput and availability. 

I haven't deployed it for myself. I have deployed it for customers. I work for a systems integrator.

We use it for Branch-type of installations where you have a small branch. You just need to manage it via the internet. You don't need a controller-type of environment there, for a small office-type of deployment.

It's a cheaper resource that helps manage a company's WiFi network.

The solution's ease of use is great.

The ease of management has been great.

The initial setup is easy.

The product has been very stable over the years. 

Technical support is okay.

The pricing is reasonable. 

Meraki is still very much a small office type of solution. It is not a fit for large enterprise networks, as it doesn't have tunneling functionalities. 

If you are configuring Meraki as a RADIUS client, you have to add individual 100 or whatever devices on the site as a RADIUS client. There is no RADIUS proxy option. Therefore, it is pretty much still a good use case for small networks, however, it's not a great use case for larger networks. 

The product needs to offer role-based access. 

I've been using the solution for more than ten years now. It's been a decade or so. I have quite a bit of experience with it.

The solution is very stable. As long as your internet links are stable, Meraki works perfectly fine. There are no bugs or glitches. it doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

Meraki is not a very scalable solution. It has its own limitations on the number of devices you can deploy. I would say it's not a very scalable solution.

I've contacted technical support a couple of times. They were okay. I didn't have any issues with them; they are fine.

I've used Cisco EROs, Cisco Meraki, Catalyst 9800, Aruba, and Instant Aruba, controller-based.

The initial setup is not complex or difficult. It's very straightforward. 

The pricing is okay. However, they don't have a perpetual license option. Regardless of what type of functionality a customer is looking for, they have to go for subscription-based licensing.

I'm a Cisco partner.

Meraki is a public cloud. With Meraki, you don't have a private cloud solution.

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten.

We are a Cisco reseller and the Meraki Wireless LAN is one of the products that we provide to our clients.

From a security perspective, this product has several advantages.

The user interface needs to be improved.

We would like to see the DNS Proxy and some additional security enhancements in the future.

We were using Cisco Wireless and are now migrating to Cisco Meraki.

Having a good price is important when we are providing quotations for projects.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.