Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Juniper WLC Series comparison

Cisco and Juniper are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Juniper is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.4. Cisco holds a 13.1% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to Juniper’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Juniper users who would recommend it.

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Read 118 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN reviews

17,496 Views
13,994 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Juniper WLC Series

Read 13 Juniper WLC Series reviews

999 Views
1,107 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Juniper WLC Series

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and Juniper WLC Series are strong contenders in the wireless network market. Cisco Meraki has the upper hand in ease of use due to its centralized cloud management, while Juniper WLC Series excels in performance and security for more technical enterprises.

Features: Cisco Meraki offers centralized cloud management, easy network segmentation, and user-friendly tracking and reporting tools, making it ideal for both small organizations and larger enterprises seeking intuitive solutions. Juniper WLC Series provides high-speed connectivity, strong security, and templates that ensure network consistency, appealing to technically inclined enterprises.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Meraki could improve its error logs, support process consistency, and connectivity to European privacy laws. Pricing and limited customization options are also concerns. Juniper WLC Series needs enhancements in traffic monitoring, ease of use, and security, along with assurance of future development for reliability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Meraki's deployment is straightforward across different cloud environments, with generally reliable technical support. However, some users mention delays. Juniper WLC Series provides on-premises solutions with efficient support, directly connecting users to technical staff, though integration with other products could be improved.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Meraki's pricing is seen as high, with concerns about the subscription model impacting budgets. Despite this, its robust features deliver a positive ROI. Juniper WLC Series, also considered pricey, provides reliability and performance that justify the investment, with upfront and ongoing costs catering to varied business needs.

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

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Juniper WLC Series

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

Juniper WLC Series

Ranking in Wireless LAN

18th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 13.1%, up from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper WLC Series is 0.8%, down from 1.1% 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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Matilda Elwell

Technical Team Leader - Network &Security at STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Offers visibility and cost benefits

The tool has given us more visibility, but I'm not very technical, so I can't comment on specific features. However, the diagnostic tools for identifying system issues have greatly improved, which we appreciate. We still use Cisco ICE for authentication on the Juniper network, as we did before. We've seen cost benefits with the Juniper WLC Series, which was a key factor in our decision-making during the proof of concept. Besides cost improvements, we've also noticed better resolution of issues and faults in our help desk, thanks to the enhanced features.

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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 most valuable feature is the technology of the security that is offered."

"The dashboard to keep track of 30 or so APs, switches, routers and logs, is invaluable. I liked the UX on this."

"The most valuable features are the multiple types of user groupings and access management."

"The most valuable features include key elements like creating SSIDs, networking configurations, and the ability to manage all devices through a single console."

"What I liked about these is that they worked. I didn't touch them or do anything with them. They were up and running when I came here. Once they are set up and running, you don't have to worry about them."

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

"There are many valuable features of Cisco Meraki, including the switches, stacking, and layer 3 routing."

"The product is super stable. I would rate the stability a ten."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

"The installation process is nice and easy."

"It is a very stable solution."

"It prevents a large number of unauthorized modifications of access point devices."

"There weren't any scalability issues, the product did what it had to do."

"Juniper Wireless is reasonable, with a bit of complexity compared to Alibaba and SQL."

"It's easy to set up, and I feel it's very secure. I also prefer its reporting feature. The devices are quite good."

"The Artificial Intelligence on offer is very useful."

"Juniper WLC Series is a very high-performance device designed for indoor wireless deployment."

More Juniper WLC Series pros

Cons

"Meraki should share their viability roadmap. It is really hard to know which functionality will appear or when they will be available. It is also hard to know which features are available now but are not visible on the dashboard."

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

"The integration options with third-party applications need enhancement."

"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."

"The solution should be more secure."

"Currently, only a limited number of clients can connect to these devices."

"The most important improvement needed is to eliminate the limitation of uplinks."

"It is not a budget-friendly solution."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

"Juniper lacks a network access control agent similar to solutions like Alubakya Path and Cisco ISE."

"The network coverage of Juniper WLC Series and Cisco is different. We need to add additional access points."

"We would prefer it if the solution could be less expensive."

"There could be more information from the controller, and it could be easier to work with the controller lights. It's not easy to bring up the upgrades."

"The biggest issue was that Juniper stopped developing, so we had to look for another solution."

"Juniper WLC Series has certain shortcomings in traffic monitoring."

"The support on offer to other vendors switching - like Aruba or Ruckus - could be improved."

"The solution should create configuration documentation."

More Juniper WLC Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is not a reasonably priced product for home use. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is a reasonably priced product for enterprise-sized businesses."

"My client has made comments on the price, indicating it is expensive, however you do receive a lot for the money that you did spend on the solution. The price of the annual renewal of the licensing of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is a little high. We wish the price would drop."

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It can be for three, five, or ten years. I'm happy with the pricing. You basically pay for what you get. It is that simple. When you look at Ubiquiti or Aruba, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN far outweighs what you get. If you're in the UK, Ubiquiti gives a three-year or five-year warranty, whereas here in the UAE, they only give a one-year warranty, which is no good to me. Who buys a piece of equipment with only one year warranty on it? It doesn't make sense."

"The price of the product could be cheaper."

"We are on a SmartNet contract. All of our Cisco products are licensed under one contract. I do not think there are any additional costs."

"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."

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

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

"There is a certain amount that needs to be paid towards the licensing charges associated with the product, but though I am not sure, I feel the licenses that we have in our company are for three years."

"The licensing cost is quite high, but considering it's an enterprise solution, the complexity justifies the price."

"The product is relatively affordable for enterprise companies."

"Juniper WLC Series is a bit pricey but worth its cost."

"The solution's pricing is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

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...

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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 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...

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What do you like most about Juniper WLC Series?

Juniper WLC Series is a very high-performance device designed for indoor wireless deployment.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Juniper WLC Series?

The network coverage of Juniper WLC Series and Cisco is different. We need to add additional access points.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Juniper WLC Series?

Our main uses include corporate connectivity for our 4,500 staff, guest access, Wi-Fi for about 20 public libraries, partner Wi-Fi, gov Wi-Fi for government organizations, and Eduroam for the educa...

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Comparisons

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 32% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 17% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 11% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Cisco Wireless vs Juniper WLC Series

Compared 44% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs Juniper WLC Series

Compared 28% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Juniper WLC Series

Compared 22% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Juniper WLC Series

Compared 5% of the time

More Juniper WLC Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

February 2025

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Wireless LAN

February 2025

Download Juniper WLC Series product report

Also Known As

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

Juniper WLAN

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.

Cisco

WLC Series Wireless LAN Controllers deliver and manage wireless local area networks with the highest level of reliability, performance, security, and management in the industry. They integrate secure, wireless LANs with any size wired infrastructures, from small branch offices to the largest enterprise or university campus.

Juniper

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

Apollo Hotel Papendrecht, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Bajaj Capital, Baloise Insurance, BAS Group, Borealis, Danish Crown, Deloitte Belgium, Jan Yperman Hospital, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, MercaSID, S.A., NHTV Breda University, Parklands College and Christopher Robin Pre-Primary, San Antonio Community Hospital, Sandia National Laboratories, Springfield Public Schools (SPS), St. Catherine University, TalkTalk, The Education Village, University of Copenhagen, University of the Highlands and Islands, University of the West of Scotland (UWS), Valdosta State University, Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), zulily

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Juniper WLC Series

January 2025

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