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Cradlepoint NetCloud vs Meraki SD-WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

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

Cradlepoint NetCloud
Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)
6th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (15th), WAN Edge (16th)
Meraki SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category, the mindshare of Cradlepoint NetCloud is 6.3%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Meraki SD-WAN is 24.0%, up from 23.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined Networking (SDN)
 

Featured Reviews

Robert-Gardner - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy to setup solution, but it is missing useful configuration options
I use this solution to manage Cradlepoint wireless routers It lets us know whether it is online or not, and lets us do a speed test to see how quick the speed is. These are valuable features. They should change some of the configuration settings to enable it to act more as an SD-WAN box to view…
Martyn Walker - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables productivity in terms of users and has ease of management
Scalability could be improved. Yes, you can add more than 300 or 400 sites onto it, but because it's not a true SD-WAN and, effectively, it's just a Multi-VRF, it's all hub and spoke at that point. That's the nature of the design, but that's what keeps it simple to administer. So, it's a trade off.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Cradlepoint provides real value in its focus on wireless WAN connectivity."
"I rate the overall solution as ten out of ten."
"Cradlepoint NetCloud is very stable."
"It is easy to set up and requires a single administrator to maintain it."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the automatic failover."
"This is a high availability solution that is easy to configure and has a nice GUI."
"The tool is easy to use."
"Zero touch configuration onsite based on the manager system's pre-configuration and the VPN automation set."
"The solution operates via zero-touch configuration."
"The most valuable feature for me is the security functionality."
"What I found most valuable in Meraki SD-WAN is its simplicity. I also like its manageability."
"Meraki SD-WAN is scalable."
"The Meraki SD-WAN solution is simple to deploy."
 

Cons

"The performance of group-based clouds should be enhanced."
"It is missing important settings options."
"There are areas for improvement, particularly at the lower end of the medium enterprise market."
"In our situation, the initial setup was complex."
"Cradlepoint's portfolio is lacking budget-friendly options."
"They need to offer proper integration of the security features."
"The solution lacks a certain amount of functionality and features."
"The solution is scalable for mid-tier deployments, but not for major ones."
"Meraki SD-WAN could be improved by including full feature routing functions similar to a normal Cisco router."
"An area for improvement would be to add 4G bonding and allow Meraki devices to support dual 4G SIM cards."
"It's a matter of cost and expenses that we may take some issue with."
"I would like to see more flexibility in our choices of customization for our needs."
"Scalability could be improved. Yes, you can add more than 300 or 400 sites onto it, but because it's not a true SD-WAN and, effectively, it's just a Multi-VRF, it's all hub and spoke at that point. That's the nature of the design, but that's what keeps it simple to administer. So, it's a trade off."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Yearly licenses are available."
"Cradlepoint's prices are on par with similar solutions."
"The annual cost is less than $200,000 yet more than $150,000.00."
"The pricing is reasonable and we can choose the software or the feature."
"The licensing fees are approximately $1,000 USD annually."
"Meraki solutions come with a choice of several different subscription options including one year, three years, five years, seven years, and ten years."
"The price can vary depending on the challenges that you need to address. When you look at the stability and reliability against the price, you absolutely get the value for the price."
"From the perspective of the customer, the price is not terribly cost-effective."
"They have a baseline software license, and then they've got an SD-WAN software license, and then they've got an advanced security software license. They're low cost, and they'll provide any amount of flexibility that you want from a modeling perspective for payment. Typically, it's either annually or multi-year, but they are a lower-cost company. They're not the most expensive by far."
"The product is not very expensive."
"The solution offers yearly licenses and product lines or prices are readily available on their website."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Retailer
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cradlepoint NetCloud?
It is easy to set up and requires a single administrator to maintain it.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cradlepoint NetCloud?
Cradlepoint's pricing is viewed as market competitive, offering good value for the money invested. While some customers are price sensitive, others recognize the efficiency and smooth operation as ...
What needs improvement with Cradlepoint NetCloud?
There are areas for improvement, particularly at the lower end of the medium enterprise market. Cradlepoint's portfolio is lacking budget-friendly options. The company realizes that there's a need ...
What do you like most about Meraki SD-WAN?
The auto VPN feature is important because it automates many tasks, making things simpler and faster. It helps with setting up devices and changing configurations without manual effort.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki SD-WAN?
The price is a little bit higher than local vendors, for example, Huawei ZTE or H3C. However, some customers require the best quality and performance, thus needing solutions and products from Cisco.
What needs improvement with Meraki SD-WAN?
They have to ask us many questions about configurations. It could be improved with some automation to trigger, for example, telemetry data, so we can determine the state of the deployment as of day...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City of San Antonio, Statue Cruises, Tour Dubai, St. David's Foundation, JBT, DSC Dredge
École Jeannine Manuel
Find out what your peers are saying about Cradlepoint NetCloud vs. Meraki SD-WAN and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
842,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.