Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Ubiquiti Wireless comparison

The compared Cisco and Ubiquiti Networks solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #4 in Wireless LAN , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 13.1% mindshare in the category. Ubiquiti Networks is ranked #1 in Wireless WAN , with an average rating of 7.9, and holds a 40.1% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Ubiquiti Networks users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 8, 2024

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and Ubiquiti Wireless are strong competitors in the wireless networking category. Cisco Meraki has a slight advantage due to its comprehensive cloud management and in-depth networking features.

Features: Cisco Meraki offers exceptional centralized management, facilitating the handling of multiple access points, routers, and switches via a cloud-based dashboard. Key features include RADIUS, SSO, and simplified network segmentation. Ubiquiti Wireless is highly valued for its ease of setup through the Unifi Controller and excellent stability, providing a flexible solution for smaller networks with crucial configuration simplicity.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Meraki could improve in logging capabilities, feature granularity, and technical support. Users also seek enhancements in licensing policies. Ubiquiti Wireless could benefit from better security features, multi-device management, and enhanced integration capabilities, specifically with third-party products.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Meraki adapts well to various environments, including cloud and on-premises deployments. It generally receives high marks for customer service, with some suggestions for more responsive support. Ubiquiti Wireless focuses on straightforward on-premises installations while supporting hybrid configurations, with stable customer service yet occasional critiques on technical support channels.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is typically higher-priced with required licensing fees, justified by some due to its robust performance and feature set, providing significant ROI through management efficiencies. Ubiquiti Wireless is known for being cost-effective with no licensing fees, presenting a strong value proposition for budget-conscious buyers with a solid feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed Wireless LAN Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Wireless LAN

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Juniper Mist Wireless Acces...

Mindshare comparison

Wireless LAN

Wireless WAN

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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Brian Massey

Network Administrator at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees

It's cheap and easy to use but isn't suitable for large deployments or complex use cases

Ubiquiti isn't as good for larger networks as any of the other wireless solutions. It lacks performance, coverage, and some of the advanced capabilities other solutions have. Take, for example, integration with FortiNAC. Cisco, HP, and the other big names can move devices from one wireless subnet to another with FortiNAC on the fly, but Ubiquiti cannot. When we connect them to this special network, I have to turn them off and on, disconnect them from the wireless, and then reconnect. Then, it can be put into the correct location, but that's it. It's a small thing, but it's noticeable, It's hard to describe it in terms an end user would understand, but on the back end, it lacks some of those capabilities. It's not a true large enterprise solution. They're fantastic for small and medium-sized businesses, especially for the price, and they perform well when needed. For my part, I would actually like to move to something more appropriate for the size of our network, but again, Ubiquiti is so cheap.

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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 useful feature of Juniper Wireless AP is the reporting Marvis."

"The artificial intelligence feature is very good."

"With Mist, every Wednesday they roll out new features."

"The most valuable feature of Juniper Mist is the Virtual Network Assistant, powered by artificial intelligence."

"The product is quite user-friendly and easy to deploy, so one should definitely consider buying it."

"In terms of reporting, in terms of all the user reports, it's very rich."

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

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

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points pros

"It is very stable, very resilient, and very robust."

"We're able to automate as well as manually control as necessary."

"The solution is easily scalable. There are not really any limits for the customer in terms of expanding if they need to."

"I really don't have any problems with the stability of the product."

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

"It makes the process much easier by providing visibility and centralized control over the network."

"It's simple to manage when there's a problem."

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

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

"Setting it up wasn't so complicated. It is reliable. Security-wise, we didn't have much trouble, but that could be due to our environment. We haven't had so many attacks, at least up till now."

"In general, the setup process is straightforward."

"They are reliable in terms of wireless connectivity."

"This is a high-quality solution that allows us to provide wifi access points in challenging areas."

"I have found the most valuable features to be how user-friendly it is and how simple it is to do the configurations."

"I like that it's very easy and very stable. It's easy to install as well."

"We use the solution for many of our smaller customers and the cloud management aspect of the solution is very good. If you compare it to other vendors that have a controller, it's much easier to manage the cloud-based solution because we travel a lot. It allows us to manage everything from any place."

"One of the nice features is the backup version control."

More Ubiquiti Wireless pros

Cons

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

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

"Juniper should make the products more affordable."

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

"Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) could improve if the MIST platform had a built-in master key. This would be an advantage."

"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."

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

"Though certain security features are integrated into the product, my company has to always look forward to tightening certain security functionalities in the solution."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points cons

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

"The solution's pricing could be improved."

"I would like to see more cybersecurity. I would like the ability to go in and enhance security. Because WPA2 is becoming obsolete, many devices are now WPA3, but the challenge is that a lot of devices are not yet there. I would like to be able to go in and do monitoring, similar to ASPM. ASPM has the ability to monitor who's joining and who's active. It supports two-step monitoring. The stability of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN can also be improved."

"I would like to see Cisco Meraki improve the accessibility by region level here in Latin America."

"Concern when there are a number of concurrent users."

"The customization needs to be improved because it's pretty locked down."

"The technical support from Cisco is good, but they can improve themselves in some areas. Sometimes it takes a while to provide a solution or an answer to our problem."

"When we are using SSID roaming, it is not flexible in terms of which AP it connects to."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

"The documentation and support provided by the solution areas of concern where improvements are required."

"I would like to see more cloud features that some of the other competitors such as Cisco Meraki have that are very nice."

"This might not be the best solution for a very large organization."

"We tried to create an access point with built-in voice and sound that we could use in schools, for example. We tried to create something that could play sounds or messages out of the access points. We wanted to, for example, use it as a school bell instead of using other equipment. It didn't work very well. It turns out when you connect to the Ubiquiti Wireless access point, it's not possible to send simple messages (like what is going on in the canteen, or some news update for the school, etc.). We had to use the on-premises version, as the cloud version wouldn't allow for this."

"Better third-party integration would be helpful because often, Ubiquity is a product that customers choose after they already have something else from another vendor like HPE."

"The strength of the routers could be improved. When it comes to serious routing, the solution doesn't measure up to the big guys like Juniper and Cisco, but we don't expect it to."

"We use different models of the solution but in some cases, the security could improve in the adaptive portal, be a little more robust, and easier to use."

"Ubiquiti is also slow to adopt new technologies. We are transitioning to Wi-Fi 6, and there aren't many products. They have mostly Wi-Fi 5 products, but there are only two Wi-Fi 6 products. It's okay for places we have already equipped, but it's a bit hard for new places."

More Ubiquiti Wireless cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

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

"I rate the product price as a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is inexpensive, and ten is expensive. It is a reasonably priced tool."

"The pricing is too high."

"The pricing is fair."

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

"The solution is expensive."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points pricing and cost advice

"I would say that they have adequate pricing."

"The solution could improve the licensing structure and the price is expensive."

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

"I don't deal with pricing directly, however, it's my understanding that it is around $40 per unit."

"As is always the case, the price could be better, although I do not recall exactly how much this comes out to."

"This solution is reasonably priced."

"There are multiple licensing options including three months, six months, and one year."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

"From a pricing point of view, Ubiquiti is excellent."

"Ubiquiti Wireless is affordable."

"For €100, you have Wi-Fi and you don't have to worry about a license."

"The product is expensive."

"We don't have any licensing costs in our use-case. It's low cost, perhaps not the leading edge in the industry, but for the type of industry we work in, the cost suits us perfectly. It's aggressive on price so we can make a margin deploying it, and we can make money managing it for our clients."

"We mostly use Ubiquiti solutions due to their affordable price."

"Right now the product is less expensive and of higher quality than other solutions."

"Ubiquiti Wireless has reasonable pricing."

More Ubiquiti Wireless pricing and cost advice

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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

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

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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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 fe...

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Which is better - Cambium or Ubiquiti Wireless?

For me, Ubiquiti was easy to install, configure, set up, and maintain, while also providing solid coverage and better...

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

Ubiquiti Wireless offers a wide range of WLAN products. We tested their devices before ultimately choosing Cisco Mera...

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Comparisons

Ruckus Wireless vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 16% of the time

Aruba 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

Fortinet FortiAP vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 4% of the time

Ubiquiti WLAN vs Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points

Compared 4% 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 11% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 5% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Ruckus Wireless WAN vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 45% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 18% of the time

Cambium Networks Wireless WAN vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 8% of the time

ExtremeCloud IQ vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 5% of the time

Fortinet FortiWLM vs Ubiquiti Wireless

Compared 2% of the time

More Ubiquiti Wireless 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

Ubiquiti Wireless

December 2024

Download Ubiquiti Wireless 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

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Ubiquiti Networks

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.

Ubiquiti Wireless refers to the wireless networking solutions provided by Ubiquiti Networks, a leading technology company specializing in networking and wireless communication products. Ubiquiti Wireless offers a range of innovative and cost-effective wireless networking solutions designed for various applications, including enterprise networks, service providers, small and medium-sized businesses, and home users.

Ubiquiti Wireless products are known for their reliability, performance, and ease of use. They encompass a wide range of devices and technologies, including wireless access points, wireless routers, antennas, bridges, mesh networks, and point-to-point or point-to-multipoint wireless links.

Ubiquiti Wireless Features:

Scalability: Ubiquiti Wireless products are designed to scale easily, allowing organizations to expand their wireless networks as needed without significant infrastructure changes.
Flexibility: Ubiquiti Wireless offers a range of products suitable for various deployment scenarios, including indoor and outdoor environments, long-range connectivity, and mesh networks.
Centralized Management: Ubiquiti provides a centralized management platform called the UniFi Controller, which allows administrators to configure, monitor, and manage their entire wireless network from a single interface.
Seamless Roaming: Ubiquiti Wireless solutions support seamless roaming, allowing wireless devices to maintain connectivity while moving across different access points within a network.
Advanced Security: Ubiquiti incorporates security features such as encryption, authentication, and firewall capabilities to protect wireless networks and data transmissions.
Cost-Effective: Ubiquiti Wireless products are known for their affordability without compromising performance, making them an attractive option for organizations with budget constraints.
Community Support: Ubiquiti has a vibrant community of users and enthusiasts who actively contribute to knowledge sharing, troubleshooting, and expanding the capabilities of Ubiquiti Wireless products.

Ubiquiti Wireless Components:

Ubiquiti Wireless encompasses a range of components that work together to provide reliable and scalable wireless networking solutions. Here are some key components commonly found in Ubiquiti Wireless deployments:

Wireless Access Points (APs) for providing wireless connectivity.
Wireless Routers as central network hubs for managing traffic.
Wireless Bridges for creating wireless connections between networks.
Antennas to enhance wireless range and coverage.
Mesh Networking Devices for seamless coverage across large areas.
Network Switches for wired connectivity within the network.
Management Software like the UniFi Controller for centralized management and monitoring.

Reviews from Real Users

George Ferns, Solution Architect - Networking and IoT at a wholesaler & distributor, states that Ubiquiti Wireless has "Attractive pricing and good for home use and small businesses, but it is not easily scalable and lacks security features".

Walter Shelver, Owner at CableWeb, writes that "The most valuable aspect of Ubiquiti is the ease of setup. It's easy to set up, secure, and use. It works on an adoption basis. I can pull the system up, design a network, and pull 20 different Ubiquiti units into it".

ThomasWilke, CEO at CITOM, says that “You can almost do everything with Cisco products for a much better price with a significantly lower learning curve”.

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

NASCAR Grand-AM, Maritime Parc, Outdoor Music Festival, British Armed Forces, Arcadia School District, Moscow - Enforta

Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ruckus, Cisco and others in Wireless LAN. Updated: December 2024.

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We monitor all Wireless LAN reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.