Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Fortinet FortiAP comparison

Cisco and Fortinet are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Fortinet is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.3. Cisco holds a 13.1% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to Fortinet’s 3.4% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Read 118 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN reviews

18,236 Views
14,660 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Fortinet FortiAP

Read 11 Fortinet FortiAP reviews

1,700 Views
1,513 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Fortinet FortiAP

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 8, 2024

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and Fortinet FortiAP compete in the wireless networking space. Cisco Meraki has the upper hand with its cloud management and ease of use, appealing to small and medium enterprises. However, Fortinet's emphasis on security makes it a strong contender for security-focused businesses.

Features: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers cloud-based management, high visibility from a centralized dashboard, and seamless scalability. Fortinet FortiAP provides strong security features integrated with Fortinet's ecosystem and robust traffic management capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is criticized for its expensive licensing model and needs better security features for larger deployments. Fortinet FortiAP could enhance its default access point configuration, automation capabilities, and performance in outdoor environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN supports versatile deployment across cloud environments with straightforward management. Fortinet FortiAP focuses on simpler deployment primarily within on-premises settings, benefiting from its centralized management but lacking cloud-based flexibility.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is generally priced higher, highlighting operational efficiency but posing a challenge to budget-conscious clients. Fortinet FortiAP is more cost-effective, appealing to security-driven users but may not match Meraki in feature depth, potentially affecting performance in larger deployments.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Fortinet FortiAP Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Fortinet FortiAP

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Ranking in Wireless LAN

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

118

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Fortinet FortiAP

Ranking in Wireless LAN

13th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 13.1%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAP is 3.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

Mageshwaran S

Solution Architect at Bharti Airtel ·

Enables organizations to control many sites globally with a lean IT team and provides visibility into the user activities

The solution can handle only medium and small businesses. We face a bottleneck on the gateway while using the solution for large enterprises. The solution must be able to expand to larger enterprises. Currently, the MX device can support only up to 10,000 users. It would be good if it can go beyond 1 lakh users. Catalyst 9300 is coming on the Meraki Dashboard. The vendor must also bring in the 9400 and 9600 Catalyst series. It will be very helpful. We will not have any choke on the gateway. There is no active-active concept. It will be very helpful if the solution provides active-active. Now, we are doing an active-passive setup, which is a warm spare. If it is an active-active setup, the gateway bottleneck issue can be resolved. I would be able to segment the Wireless LAN IPs. It will help support 20,000 devices at a go. Meraki does not have a single dashboard. I need to port an on-premise controller. There is a bottleneck while scaling the product. I need to consider a lot of things.

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Yati Gharat

Chief Technology Officer at Litmus

Integrates well with Fortinet products, but there are signal issues in the outdoor environment

FortiAP is very good in an indoor environment, but we are struggling with the outdoor environment. That is where we are having certain issues. We are not 100% happy with it. With the indoor environment, we are okay, but we are facing some issues when certain voice-related calls go from wireless points. There are certain drops, and we have faced these issues on an ongoing basis. We also have other vendors such as Aruba and Meraki, and we do not face any issues when there is a Teams or Zoom meeting going on. It could be that FortiAP is okay, but that particular device or appliance is not capable of handling that much load of voice and video. This might be the issue. RF Spectrum Analysis helps to understand what is the coverage and hotspots related to a particular access point, but then when we bought it, we did heat mapping through different vendors. If there are any rogue APs, we can identify them with RF Spectrum Analysis. We can see what the coverage area is, but there are some issues with that. Some of the offices have thick glasses, or the cabins are different, so in the RF coverage, what is shown is not what we get on the practical grounds. There are some issues with signal performance. It has the basic functionality that is mostly used, but there are certain devices that are not able to interconnect. When there is any issue or problem, if the administrator can get some information about that, that will be good. With Meraki and Aruba, we get certain beautiful things. If those can be integrated into this solution, it will be more beneficial, but we understand that being a security company, Fortinet's focus is on security.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Cloud managed wireless LAN product that's stable and scalable. It's an easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot solution."

"This product offers cloud-based configuration, so you can set it up from anywhere."

"The solution is stable and reliable."

"The solution's most valuable features at that time were the ease of managing on the cloud without having a server and the authentication using RADIUS integrated with the server on the cloud."

"The monitoring device enables you to see the network health."

"The most amazing part is that their Access Points have the ability to connect to multiple conference devices at different times, and it shows you the very in-depth Wi-Fi analytics through their dashboard."

"Great architecturally based dashboard and the solution is accessible from anywhere."

"We can deploy it and check in on our customers without having an on-site connection or an on-site infrastructure for elderly customers."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

"I like FortiAP's performance and stability. The reporting is also quite good."

"We really don't need to call technical support. Any time we have had to call, they've been great."

"If we have FortiClient installed on multiple devices, it is seamless to connect with FortiAP. It supports passwordless authentication as well. That is a great thing about it."

"The product's deployment phase is very easy since its documentation part is available in the public domain."

"The most valuable aspect of Fortinet FortiAP is the support."

"The pricing is reasonable for what it offers."

"The product's initial setup phase was easy, especially with FortiGate or your FortiManager in place."

"The solution supports recent security components like encryption or hashing algorithms. We can control the APs from FortiGate Firewalls and integrate those APs into FortiGate. You don't have to purchase a separate controller for it."

More Fortinet FortiAP pros

Cons

"We would like the solution to work on the pricing of the solution. It would be ideal if it could bring the overall costs down."

"The user interface needs to be improved."

"We haven't had any issues with the solution. We like the way it works. There isn't anything I can think of that makes me worry that it might be lacking in a certain area."

"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."

"Overall the solution needs to have more time to mature."

"I'd like better integration with security providers."

"Updating the equipment and the scheme they use to bill for the license could be improved."

"There is only one particular thing that needs improvement. Sometimes, for example, when you need to open a ticket, although it's under the umbrella of Cisco, you still need to go to the Meraki support."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

"Technical support is a pain. Fortinet has to get its act together. If you don't pay for premium service, you will have issues."

"FortiAP could be a little cheaper."

"The product fails to offer default access points to deal with the areas revolving around configurations."

"The security integration between the network and firewall has room for improvement."

"The wireless functionality is not the best."

"The support offered by the solution has certain shortcomings, making it in areas where improvements are required."

"I would like to have automation capabilities that would help us reduce the configuration steps."

"The improvement factor could be in APs. Also, it could have a control, like MAC address."

More Fortinet FortiAP cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is quite costly and there are costs in addition to the licensing fees."

"The price is good, but it could be improved."

"It is expensive, but it is a good product."

"I haven't conducted a price comparison yet, but based on information, it appears to be more affordable than the current environment. Therefore, I consider the price to be reasonable."

"It's not super expensive and it's not super cheap."

"It is expensive."

"You have to renew your contract every year, or for three or for five years. If you do not pay right away they will suspend your subscription."

"Higher subscription fee may be necessary if extra features are required."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

"Fortinet FortiAP offers a more cost-effective solution compared to Palo Alto and Check Point."

"FortiAP is more expensive than some other options."

"The product is available at a very comfortable price for my company compared to the other products available in the market. The prices of products from Meraki and Aruba are high compared to those of Fortinet."

"The devices under Fortinet are not expensive. The solution's licensing part is expensive."

"We purchased perpetual licensing, and additional costs may vary depending on the services acquired from Fortinet."

"On a scale of one to ten with ten being the most expensive, I would rate FortiAP a six."

"If I compare it with the other enterprise products, the price is good."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?

Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...

See all answers

Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...

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How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?

Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...

See all answers

What do you like most about FortiAP?

If we have FortiClient installed on multiple devices, it is seamless to connect with FortiAP. It supports passwordless authentication as well. That is a great thing about it.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiAP?

The pricing for Fortinet FortiAP is good compared to other competitive vendors.

See all answers

What needs improvement with FortiAP?

The radio band support could be improved, especially for legacy devices. We have faced issues where older devices are not able to connect to the access point, often receiving messages that the pass...

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 32% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 18% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 10% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Fortinet FortiWLM vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Ruckus Wireless vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 26% of the time

Ubiquiti WLAN vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 21% of the time

Aruba Access Points vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 11% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 6% of the time

More Fortinet FortiAP Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

January 2025

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiAP

January 2025

Download Fortinet FortiAP product report

Also Known As

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN

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Cisco

Fortinet

Overview

Cisco Meraki access points are built from the highest grade components and carefully optimized for a seamless user experience. The outcome: faster connections, greater user capacity, more coverage, and fewer support calls. The Cisco Meraki dashboard gives visibility into the network users, their devices, and their applications. Armed with rich analytics, administrators can quickly create access control and application usage policies, optimizing both the end-user experience and network security.

Fortinet FortiAP provides wireless network access for industries such as banking, healthcare, and logistics. It enhances connectivity with FortiGate and FortiSwitch, ensuring secure data exchange in settings like offices and malls.

Fortinet FortiAP is integral for managing connected devices across sectors. It integrates seamlessly with Fortinet products, enhancing security and connectivity. Users benefit from a unified console that simplifies configuration and monitoring without additional controllers. The support for passwordless authentication and cloud visibility adds value, while its use in environments like shopping centers and offices facilitates secure data sharing and access.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiAP?

Integration with FortiGate and FortiAnalyzer: Simplifies network management and monitoring.
Passwordless Authentication: Enhances security and accessibility.
Cloud Dashboard: Provides comprehensive visibility over network activities.
Direct Control from FortiGate: Eliminates the need for separate controllers.
SSID Customization: Supports tailoring of wireless access.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiAP?

Efficient Network Management: Centralized control and configuration simplify operations.
Comprehensive Reporting: Transparent insights for improved decision-making.
Secure Access: Protects data through advanced security measures.
Seamless Connectivity: Improves user experience with simplified networking.

In industries like banking and healthcare, Fortinet FortiAP is deployed to enhance network security and provide reliable access. Retailers leverage its capabilities in shopping centers, while warehouses benefit from its reliable connectivity to support seamless operations. Managed service providers use it to deliver tailored solutions, ensuring effective network segmentation and coverage.

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins

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Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Fortinet FortiAP

January 2025

Free Report: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Fortinet FortiAP

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Fortinet FortiAP and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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