Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Ubiquiti WLAN comparison

Cisco and Ubiquiti Networks are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Ubiquiti Networks is ranked #7 with an average rating of 7.8. Cisco holds a 13.1% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to Ubiquiti Networks’s 5.1% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of Ubiquiti Networks 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

Ubiquiti WLAN

Read 42 Ubiquiti WLAN reviews

8,118 Views
7,795 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Ubiquiti WLAN

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 8, 2024

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and Ubiquiti WLAN compete in the wireless networking category. Cisco Meraki seems to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive cloud-based centralized management and strong security features, while Ubiquiti stands out for its cost-effectiveness and straightforward setup.

Features: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is valued for its cloud-based centralized management, ease of configuration, and robust security features. It offers Layer 7 protections and seamless integration with other Cisco products. Ubiquiti WLAN is notable for its cost-effectiveness, simple deployment, and reliable stability with single-view WLAN management. It also provides good signal reach and penetration.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN could improve error logs, radio features, and dashboard security. Users have concerns about the licensing model and desire enhancements in support and dashboard usability. Ubiquiti WLAN could enhance troubleshooting tools, support more advanced management features, and improve signal robustness and security. Incorporating a unified platform for management and adding 5GHz support is suggested.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers deployment across public, private cloud and on-premises with strong technical support and documentation. However, support experiences vary. Ubiquiti WLAN offers straightforward on-premises deployment with accessible pricing, though its support is less comprehensive compared to Cisco.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Meraki is a higher-cost solution linked to annual licensing, increasing expenses if not renewed. It provides operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as ROI. Ubiquiti WLAN shines in cost-effectiveness with a one-time purchase model, offering good ROI for budget-conscious buyers in medium to small environments.

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

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Ubiquiti WLAN

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

Ubiquiti WLAN

Ranking in Wireless LAN

7th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

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 Ubiquiti WLAN is 5.1%, down from 7.7% 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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Geoff Rubin

CEO at Forward Thinking Network Consultancy Ltd

Useful for network management and far more competitive than the other leading American brands

As an importer and distributor, we don't spend any time installing Ubiquiti WLAN products ourselves. We only resell the products to installers and don't do any installations directly. From my knowledge, though, the installation process is extremely straightforward. We get very few technical questions from our customers who do the installations. Based on our experience as distributors, I can say that virtually every installation we deal with now is centered around the UniFi Gateway. Although we don't handle installations directly, more companies rely on Ubiquiti gateways instead of standard options like FortiGate switches as routers. With the new UDM Pro Max product, Ubiquiti WLAN has covered the whole spectrum from home installations to the largest possible enterprise installations.

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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

"We rarely encounter any issues. The solutions have been very stable."

"The interface makes it easy to manage."

"I think the IoT integration is the most valuable. I started applying IoT solutions 12 years ago on location-based services. Aruba had implemented this at the time. So I think the integration, particularly into the applications and stuff, is pretty interesting in Meraki."

"Its ability to be cloud-managed is the most valuable feature so if there's a reconfiguration or an issue, we have excellent visibility into the network and we can usually resolve the problem online without having to go onsite."

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

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

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

"Provided reliability and a good price."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

"Ubiquiti WLAN is a reliable, stable, and robust solution."

"The main advantage of Ubiquiti WLAN is the network management. The whole concept has one complete range of products from end to end, with very basic and effective management systems. That's a key benefit in my mind. But the main thing is that it's so competitive—far more competitive than the other leading American brands."

"The management features are valuable."

"You can save backups of this controller locally and then I can export it to wherever I want."

"The solution is very easy to install."

"Ubiquiti WLAN has good performance."

"Ubiquiti WLAN has good availability, and it is much cheaper."

"The solution has a lot of great features."

More Ubiquiti WLAN pros

Cons

"There could be more functionality."

"The dashboard could be a bit better. I'd like to see more information about the whole controller and APs. It should be as simple and convenient."

"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."

"In the next release, I would like to see a third-party high tech center to connect multiple users to a particular network."

"I would like to see integration with sensors."

"There's nothing that special about it."

"The licensing could be a bit better."

"The licensing isn't very customer-centric. They may have improved it, but previously, if you forgot to pay on a certain day, your service would be shut off."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

"Ubiquiti WLAN would be improved with the addition of individual AP configuration, which would allow for fine-tuning of individual access points and logins."

"I think the main area for improvement with Ubiquiti WLAN is that they need to be far more specific in explaining the advantages of one product versus another. They have many access points - over 30. We often get questions about the right product for specific circumstances, and it's difficult to answer them clearly."

"The solution should support a larger bandwidth or distance between the access points and the main stations."

"When they release new products, you should know if there backward compatibility, or do you have to replace the entire forklift, It is useful to understand their strategy and where they are headed."

"Ubiquiti WLAN only supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio and would be improved by including support for 5GHz."

"The product’s bandwidth could be better."

"The product could be improved with more extensive documentation or resources for network engineers."

"Ubiquiti lacks troubleshooting tools. For example, there aren't tools that your clients can use to gather input on the AP itself. There's no visibility in the application layer or reporting. It doesn't have a lot of management features."

More Ubiquiti WLAN cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's a pretty good value, but not great. Pricing is on a yearly basis for the Meraki solution."

"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."

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

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

"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."

"Users have to pay a yearly license fee for the solution."

"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."

"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."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

"The tool's licensing costs are life-time charges."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is expensive, and ten is cheap, I rate Ubiquiti WLAN's pricing a five to six out of ten."

"This product is more cost-effective than some others on the market."

"It is a cost-effective solution."

"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."

"Ubiquiti WLAN is less expensive than Ruckus, but its price could be improved to make it more affordable and accessible."

"There is no licensing cost for this solution."

"The tool's price is very friendly."

More Ubiquiti WLAN pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

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...

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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 features for a one-time fee and no ongoing licensing fees. Ubiquiti Wireless is ve...

See all answers

Which is better - Ubiquiti WLAN or Aruba Instant?

We researched Ubiquiti and Aruba when looking for a WLAN solution. Ubiquiti offers good WLAN access both indoors and outdoors. It provides an enterprise-level WIFI while remaining cost-effective. U...

See all answers

What do you like most about Ubiquiti WLAN?

Anyone can buy the product off the shelf and configure it.

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

Mist AI and Cloud vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Aruba Wireless vs Ubiquiti WLAN

Compared 18% of the time

Fortinet FortiAP vs Ubiquiti WLAN

Compared 17% of the time

Huawei Wireless vs Ubiquiti WLAN

Compared 16% of the time

Cisco Wireless vs Ubiquiti WLAN

Compared 9% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Ubiquiti WLAN

Compared 8% of the time

More Ubiquiti WLAN Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

January 2025

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Ubiquiti WLAN

December 2024

Download Ubiquiti WLAN product report

Also Known As

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

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Cisco

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Ubiquiti Networks

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.

UniFi is a revolutionary Wi-Fi system that combines Enterprise performance, unlimited scalability, a central management controller and disruptive pricing.

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

NASCAR Grand-AM, Maritime Parc, Outdoor Music Festival, One Republic Tour, British Armed Forces, Arcadia School District, Bartlett School District, Universidad del Azuay, Estelar Hotels, Intercontinental Bali, Moscow - Enforta, Miami - Sling Broadband, Manhattan - MST, Ecuador - Aire.EC

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Ubiquiti WLAN

January 2025

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