Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Ruckus Wireless WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
119
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (3rd)
Ruckus Wireless WAN
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Wireless WAN (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is designed for Wireless LAN and holds a mindshare of 12.9%, up 12.2% compared to last year.
Ruckus Wireless WAN, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless WAN, holds 37.5% mindshare, up 37.1% since last year.
Wireless LAN
Wireless WAN
 

Featured Reviews

RezaPradipta - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamline network management with a unified dashboard for seamless device integration
The primary use case for Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is mostly for enterprise wireless, including guest Wi-Fi and enterprise Wi-Fi. I use it across various industries with a focus on retail Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers a single pane of glass management. It only comes with a controller on the…
Udit Narayan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers robust outdoor connectivity, but signal strength and support need improvement
In Cisco, there is a configuration where it automatically switches from the 2.4 GHz to 5.2 GHz frequency. But with Ruckus, usually, we need to manually define whether we want to use the 2.4 GHz or 5.2 GHz. Another point is that its penetration power is low when we are using it in any location with more walls, as the signal strength diminishes. So, the signal strength and the penetration power of the signal should be improved. It is not like Cisco. We are using Cisco APs also, but Cisco APs perform better when we compare them with Ruckus. In future releases, I would like to see automatic switching between 2.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz frequencies. We should not have to set it manually. It should automatically change its frequency based on the load. For example, if the number of users increases, then its frequency should change automatically, switching to the less congested band.

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 cloud management."
"It improved the installation time."
"With Cisco products and third-party products, integration of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is good."
"The product's cloud controller is easy to use."
"The management and upgrades are very simple and straightforward."
"It is easy to manage and configure. The dashboard of Meraki is easy to use."
"The visibility of the site is most useful."
"This product offers cloud-based configuration, so you can set it up from anywhere."
"Its benefits include efficient zone deployment and access point distribution, simplifying network management."
"Wireless six is the most valuable feature of this solution right now. It has supported the most recent laptop model."
"The best feature of Ruckus Wireless WAN apart from its seamless roaming feature where you roam beautifully on the network is its analytics tool that gives you so much insight into your deployment, so it has become more of a business intelligence type of tool as well. I also like that Ruckus Networks, in terms of WiFi security issues on the WiFi protocols, is also the first company to give you notices of security issues, and also the first to provide patches for those issues. Ruckus Wireless WAN is very proactive and much, much faster than Cisco, Aruba, and Meraki."
"The analytic solution is good and should be improving further."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the size of the outdoor access points. It's great and you can disguise them quite well."
"Ruckus has multiple radios. Therefore, it supports high speed for users and clients. Other vendors have fluctuations in speed. The main thing about Ruckus is that you can trust it and rely on its speed. I am simply satisfied with it."
"I have seen a good return on investment from the use of the product."
"One of its notable advantages lies in the superior performance of its antennas and radios."
 

Cons

"It is not a very stable solution."
"The most important improvement needed is to eliminate the limitation of uplinks."
"I would like to see Cisco Meraki improve the accessibility by region level here in Latin America."
"The biggest pain point is that they limit you through firewall throughput. I understand why they do it, but that really grates me. For instance, for 450 Mbps throughput, you're looking at £800 for a router, whereas if you look at the one gig connection, for some of us are lucky enough to have a gig connection, you could almost be spending £3,000 for the option to have one gig connectivity. That's one of the pain points I've got. I don't mind paying for throughput, but I should at least have the option to be able to update that throughput, maybe through extra licensing or something else. It is crazy expensive to jump through to the next one."
"It would be nice to have licensing that stays in place while the system is being renovated or changed."
"The customization needs to be improved because it's pretty locked down."
"If there are advanced features that you can have enabled, they should allow users access to that in an easier manner."
"The graphics and call management could be better."
"The pricing needs to be reconsidered because it's expensive."
"I would not consider this solution to be stable."
"They could include a firewall feature in the next release but even there it's not really necessary"
"There could be more power supply for the radio features."
"In comparison to Cambium, I find Cambium to be more robust in terms of performance."
"The controller could be made less complicated, so those who are less technically sound can maintain it."
"Ruckus Wireless WAN we have a lot of component shortages in the world. This has impacted deliveries. We have large back orders of the solution."
"Of course, we'd always like it to be cheaper, but that's for every product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing could be better."
"The price of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN could be improved, it is too expensive. We pay for the solution on an annual basis."
"The cost of both the hardware and licensing is high, and it is more than what I would prefer to spend currently."
"This solution is slightly more expensive than others, such as Ruckus Wi-Fi."
"Users have to pay a yearly license fee for the solution."
"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."
"As is always the case, the price could be better, although I do not recall exactly how much this comes out to."
"It could be more affordable than other solutions."
"This is a wonderful product for the price."
"This solution offers a yearly subscription. The price is not high, other solutions are much higher than Ruckus."
"In general, it is a packaged solution with analytics, support, and a cloud license. The pricing is acceptable for licensing the cloud for a bundle."
"Compared to big brands, the tool is quite competitively priced."
"I am not satisfied with the pricing of the solution."
"It possesses a favorable balance between quality and price."
"We have to pay annually for the cloud licenses, so I think it'll be about 5,000 pounds a year moving forwards."
"Compared with Cisco Wireless WAN, the pricing for Ruckus Wireless WAN is two out of five. Ruckus Wireless WAN is twice the price of Cisco Wireless WAN."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
847,862 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

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...
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...
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...
Is Ubiquiti Wireless better than Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ubiquiti Wireless is extremely easy to set up and is an excellent option for small businesses, offering enterprise features for a one-time fee and no ongoing licensing fees. Ubiquiti Wireless is ve...
What do you like most about Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ruckus Wireless WAN is an easy-to-use solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ruckus Wireless WAN?
The price is always on the higher side, which impacts the perception of return on investment.
 

Also Known As

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
American University of Sharjah, Dordt College, Drew University, Lamar University, Raroa School
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ruckus, Cisco and others in Wireless LAN. Updated: April 2025.
847,862 professionals have used our research since 2012.