Huawei Ethernet Switches and Meraki MS Switches are network hardware products competing in the enterprise market. Data shows Huawei Ethernet Switches have a pricing advantage, while Meraki MS Switches are preferred for their advanced features.
Features: Huawei Ethernet Switches offer robust network management, versatile usage across multiple scenarios, and scalability without extra fees for additional features. Meraki MS Switches feature easy cloud management integration, simplified configuration and monitoring, and excellent remote management capabilities.
Room for Improvement: Huawei could improve the complexity of its deployment process and provide more intuitive user interfaces. Additionally, enhancing its cloud management capabilities and integration could broaden its adaptability. Meraki MS Switches could be improved by lowering costs and offering more flexible pricing models. They could also enhance offline configuration options and further develop advanced automation features for better customization.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Huawei's deployment can be complex, but it provides strong technical support, which is beneficial. Meraki excels in deployment, with cloud integration cutting setup time significantly. The online resources stretch customer service efficiency and make deployment straightforward.
Pricing and ROI: Huawei Ethernet Switches provide a cost-effective setup, offering affordability. However, Meraki MS Switches deliver greater operational efficiency, providing a higher ROI over time despite their initial higher cost.
The support is almost perfect, and I would rate it highly.
Local support in Singapore is fine, and I would rate the support from Huawei at eight out of ten.
If the devices are licensed, the support team will assist you depending on the severity level of the case.
Cisco's tech support is pretty good, and I would rate it an eight out of ten.
The scalability of Huawei Ethernet Switches is satisfactory, with good scalability and tracking features.
If something happens to the device or hardware, Cisco will automatically change the device by the next business day.
We faced issues following firmware updates, which we now handle by performing updates outside of working hours.
There could be improvements in Huawei, such as adding features that Cisco has and Huawei currently lacks.
Huawei should focus more on security.
Meraki should also consider improvements in stacking features, particularly in the lower-end models like NS130, where stacking isn't supported, unlike with Cisco traditional switching.
There are compatibility issues with certain Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices, which we would like to see resolved.
Most people are familiar with the Cisco commands, and it would be beneficial if the switch could be accessed by GUI configuration and by normally accessing the console.
Huawei is cheaper compared to Cisco, with a significant cost advantage.
Huawei Ethernet Switches offer very competitive and aggressive product pricing compared to other brands.
Meraki pricing is a little premium compared to other vendor products.
Pricing is affordable, and licenses for the cloud need to be purchased every three to five years.
The performance of Huawei is good, and it provides security capabilities.
Huawei offers a wide range of products to choose from, which provides flexibility in deployment.
The most valuable feature is the ability to access devices from anywhere in the world through the cloud.
The control plane is in the cloud, and the data plane is local, allowing manageability from anywhere.
One of the most valuable features of Meraki MS Switches is its precise traffic analytics capabilities, allowing us to query the system for any place at any time.
Meraki MS Switches are first-line cloud-managed access and aggregation switches that combine the benefits of cloud-based centralized management with a reliable access platform. With cloud management, thousands of switch ports can be configured and monitored instantly over the web.
Meraki MS Switches Features
Meraki MS Switches have many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:
Meraki MS Switches Benefits
There are many benefits to implementing Meraki MS Switches. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:
Reviews from Real Users
Meraki MS Switches is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are its accessibility, application visibility, and flexibility features.
Jóhann T., IT Manager at Sund Upper Secondary School, says, “Accessibility is what I find most valuable in Meraki MS Switches, because I'm able to check things and see if they're working, without being on-site at all times.”
A Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company mentions, "The top feature of Meraki MS switches for me is Layer 7 application visibility. Another positive in general is that you don't need to set up a console to the switch itself; it dials into a single dashboard where you can completely manage all your network devices."
John M., user at Baseline Consulting, LLC, comments, "I like the flexibility of the Meraki firewall. It gives you the ability to lock things down. Having multiple VLANs is helpful for the switching infrastructure and firewall. It's crucial when you have a public-facing VLAN, a private-facing VLAN, and a secure VLAN."
PeerSpot user William M., Consulting Engineer at IV4, expresses, "It is easy to deploy, maintain, and update. It has been trouble-free so far. I am still a Cisco command-line bigot, but the web interface makes it a lot easier for our help desk to interact with a client. When the clients call in and say that they aren't able to connect, it takes the help desk 10 minutes or less to look at everything in the enterprise or location. They can look at the firewall, switches, or access points in the dashboard. That's why I like the dashboard."
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