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 13.0% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to Fortinet’s 3.0% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Fortinet users who would recommend it.

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: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Fortinet FortiAP

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Juniper Mist Wireless Acces...

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points is 5.7%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 13.0%, up from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAP is 3.0%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

Gyan Sharma

Assistant Programmer at Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha

Offers good performance, good solution and smooth implementation

I do have a suggestion: it would be helpful to have even stronger security features to help protect against interference from other nearby access points that aren't part of our network. If there are access points from other brands installed nearby; they can cause interference and disrupt the range of our Mist access points. So, the security features could be stronger, especially in terms of authentication. The connectivity is excellent, but security needs improvement. In future releases, integrating more AI features would be beneficial. If Mist had stronger AI features, it could provide better security against network threats and cyberattacks. So, this solution still needs to improve its AI capabilities. It would be great if the AI could improve the range of the access points, and auto-protect functionality should be there to avoid interference by other nearby access points and enhance threat detection. In the future, I'd like to see stronger threat detection features integrated with Mist, as well as better detection of nearby access points that might cause interference.

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Danila Fradeani

Strategie, Innovazione e Customer Experience â€“ Analytics & Customer Experience (CEX) Manager at Telecom Italia

Simple-to-use platform with a centralized management system

Deploying Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is relatively easy for our colleagues in the delivery department. They face challenges in planning, learning critical issues, and finding solutions during deployment. However, our team has gained valuable experience handling such deployments over the past three to four years. Currently, I am not directly involved in the configuration, design, or delivery analysis. However, maintenance may present more challenges for us. Our primary proposal for network solutions typically involves Cisco Meraki because our team has a long-standing familiarity and confidence in Cisco technologies. However, we also work with Fortinet, depending on the specific requirements of our customers. We offer both options to ensure we meet the diverse needs of our clients. I rate it an eight out of ten.

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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

"The simplicity is great."

"The solution is stable."

"The most valuable feature of Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) is the ability to troubleshoot ports on the network. Additionally, when there is an update on the APs they are able to reboot quickly reducing downtime. Other solutions have a longer downtime when updates are done."

"Overall, we've been very pleased with the performance."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is Marvis, the AI-driven network management system."

"The solution is very secure."

"The solution is pretty generic and easy to use."

"For the most part, it does what it's supposed to do, and I like it. It's a great product."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points pros

"It is easy to set up. You can do everything on the GUI. You don't need to trace cables. You don't need to connect to the switch. Everything is there, right in front of you."

"The most valuable features of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN are the ease of use and the ability to manage it from the cloud."

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

"The single dashboard of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is the most valuable feature for me."

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

"The settings of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN can be very granular. You can lock down and block devices with the controls. For example, we have four different wireless settings, such as guest, employee, security, and backup. For example, the settings for the employees, if they use laptops, they're required to have certain settings, such as an antivirus installed. If they do not then Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN will not let them connect. This is very good protection because the network works on the bringing your own device(BYOD) principle. It's a BYOD environment now, and you also don't want them to bring infection into the environment because these people are connecting to the LAN via wireless connections. We have to be careful because we're managing it, we have to be very strict with regards to the rules and policies."

"Meraki WLAN is easy to deploy, includes a cloud controller, and updates continuously. It also offers high visibility."

"Multiple access ID capabilities, meshing, and the quality of the product itself are all valuable features."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

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

"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."

"FortiAP's integration using SSID configuration for the input/output makes deploying permission rules easier."

"The setup was straightforward."

"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."

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

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

More Fortinet FortiAP pros

Cons

"The pricing is very high in the Indian market."

"Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points’ support services need improvement."

"The product should include adaptive Wi-Fi to show a more accurate location."

"If you want to do more specific stuff, it's a bit limited."

"The price could be better."

"They should include SD-WAN features to it."

"Juniper Wireless AP can improve by continually improving its reporting and integration with other systems."

"Supporting multiple protocols would be beneficial."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points cons

"It would be good to integrate with ISE in the future."

"There needs to be some work done on security because, with time, some viruses may emerge that one may not know about."

"The licensing model is a terrible idea."

"The throughput of the switches for wireless could be improved."

"It is not a very stable solution."

"This solution could benefit from a heat mapping ability so that you can tell where the hotspots are, and where the good signals are."

"The technical support for Meraki needs improvements made to the waiting times."

"An area for improvement would be that Meraki doesn't work well in a warehouse environment. The device is too sensitive to other wireless devices, which provokes noise and can require a reboot to erase this."

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."

"There is room for improvement in the product by expanding the number of SSIDs that can be broadcast."

"FortiAP is very good in an indoor environment, but we are struggling with the outdoor environment."

"The wireless functionality is not the best."

"FortiAP could be a little cheaper."

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

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

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

More Fortinet FortiAP cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay maybe 1000 SEK per year, per access point."

"The pricing is something Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) can work on. The pricing is very high compared to the competition."

"The pricing is fair."

"Juniper Wireless AP's price is a little more expensive than other solutions, but you get what you pay for."

"I rate the pricing an eight out of ten."

"I rate Juniper Mist's pricing a ten out of ten since it is expensive."

"If a customer has a budget of around five lakhs in Indian currency, they can afford Juniper products."

"The solution is expensive."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points pricing and cost advice

"Its price is higher than other products. It is above the expectation of customers. So, every time we need to fight for a good price."

"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."

"The cost of both the hardware and licensing is high, and it is more than what I would prefer to spend currently."

"The price of the product could be cheaper."

"The solution's pricing is a little higher."

"We pay a yearly license fee for the solution."

"Meraki is a very good solution, but the price is quite high for small markets."

"We do a three-year or five-year license and support. Its price could be better, but overall, we get competitive prices. A lot of times, Cisco puts itself out of range, especially with Meraki. I've dealt with a lot of business development from Cisco, and they have always been accommodating, especially in dealing with hospitals or government. There is also a right time to buy it. July is when they are eager to sell a lot of things because that is the end of their calendar year."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

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

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

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

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

"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."

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

"FortiAP is more expensive than some other options."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series)?

The solution is very secure.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series)?

Juniper Mist is cheaper than Meraki, placing it in the middle of the pack.

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What needs improvement with Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series)?

Supporting multiple protocols would be beneficial.

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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 h...

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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...

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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...

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What do you like most about FortiAP?

If we have FortiClient installed on multiple devices, it is seamless to connect with FortiAP. It supports passwordles...

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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...

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba Wireless vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 18% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 4% of the time

Ubiquiti WLAN vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 4% of the time

ExtremeWireless vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 2% of the time

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Competitors

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 32% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 10% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

ExtremeWireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 1% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Ruckus Wireless vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 28% of the time

Ubiquiti WLAN vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 22% of the time

Aruba Access Points vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 17% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 11% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs Fortinet FortiAP

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiAP Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

December 2024

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points report

Download Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

December 2024

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiAP

December 2024

Download Fortinet FortiAP product report

Also Known As

Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series), Mist Access Points

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

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Juniper

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Cisco

Fortinet

Overview

Juniper Wireless Access Points work in conjunction with Juniper Mist Cloud Services and Mist AI to deliver premier wireless access capabilities. The Juniper Mist Edge extends microservices to the campus to bring agility and scale while enabling new applications at the edge.

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

Information Not Available

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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Fortinet FortiAP

December 2024

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: December 2024.

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