Meraki Dashboard vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer comparison

The compared Cisco and SolarWinds solutions aren't in the same category. Cisco is ranked #20 in NMS , with an average rating of 8.5, and holds a 1.4% mindshare in the category. SolarWinds is ranked #5 in NTA , with an average rating of 7.9, and holds a 5.6% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 82% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Meraki Dashboard

Read 55 Meraki Dashboard reviews

2,529 Views
1,859 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...

Read 41 SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer reviews

1,060 Views
623 Comparison Views

82% willing to recommend

Meraki Dashboard

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Meraki Dashboard and SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Network Monitoring Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Report (Updated: September 2020).

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

September 2020

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Helped 849,190 peers since 2012

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

Meraki Dashboard

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (20th)

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic ...

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (5th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Meraki Dashboard is designed for Network Monitoring Software and holds a mindshare of 1.4%, down 2.1% compared to last year.
SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, on the other hand, focuses on Network Traffic Analysis (NTA), holds 5.6% mindshare, down 7.1% since last year.

Network Monitoring Software

Network Traffic Analysis (NTA)

Featured Reviews

Bilal-Ahmed

IT Manager at Fawaz

Seamless connectivity and comprehensive control over network devices

All of the features we are looking for are already in control. I think those features, which we are not currently utilizing, are already there. For example, the control for the cameras and everything else. The cameras are not connected through Meraki, but all other devices are on Meraki networks.

Read full review

DeepakVyas

Global-Manager Network & communications at Secure Meters Limited

Utilization alerts enhance monitoring with good alerts

The tool itself is very complicated, so training is required to handle it effectively. Configuration and the streamlining process are very complex. In my view, it is a good product if properly configured and streamlined according to your IT infrastructure. For enterprise-level organizations, SolarWinds is more appropriate than for small and medium enterprises. I would rate the solution eight out of ten.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The hardware of Meraki is very good quality."

"What I love most about the Meraki Dashboard are its user-friendly features."

"The most valuable feature of Meraki Dashboard is we can manage our switches and access point in one place."

"Easy to configure with great troubleshooting feature."

"The most valuable features are the ease of use and a single-pane-of-glass that allows us to identify issues across the entire network from one dashboard."

"Some of the features I have found valuable are the ease of access, simple configuration, and monitoring."

"There are some whitelist blacklist capabilities in the MX dashboard, which is very helpful."

"The initial setup was easy."

More Meraki Dashboard pros

"With SolarWinds, we are now able to accurately gauge bandwidth consumption."

"The most helpful feature of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is bandwidth analysis, which lets you see who's hogging your network."

"What I like the most is the bandwidth assessment."

"I find this tool very helpful in identifying the top traffic paths from source to destination, and determining which routes are consuming the most resources."

"The most valuable features are the bandwidth analyzer, the monitoring, the network analyzer, it has overall good performance, and an easy deployment."

"For stability, I would give SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer a rating of ten out of ten."

"What people found most valuable in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is its report customization feature."

"This tool provides insights into top utilization applications or it identifies which circuit or application is consuming the most on the complete one-gig circuit traffic path."

More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer pros

Cons

"Something that needs to be improved, is the fact that you if you don't renew the subscription license, it stops working. I would also like to see SSL BPM support for anything else."

"The pricing for this solution needs to be improved."

"I am concerned about the fact that once your licensing expires the devices stop working and become a brick."

"I would like to receive decent notification alerts regarding the license's expiry. Or any help on correcting or optimizing licenses, because in certain circumstances you can add a license but it's the wrong licensing. However, the Dashboard adds the license in some way, and you do not utilize it. You can simply extend the license's expiration date."

"They could improve the product by providing enhanced utilization reports and more detailed independent access reports."

"The one issue that we have had is that the VPN tunnel would go down unless you worked out with the ISP that you would be using a static IP address on the WAN interface."

"An area for improvement in Meraki Dashboard is licensing management because it's a little complex. Product licensing can be made a little bit easier through license concurrency and a more straightforward approach to applying the license to products and services."

"The wait time to speak with a Meraki support engineer is always long, but they get the job done."

More Meraki Dashboard cons

"I would like to see better customization capabilities."

"As people always complain about the pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, it's an area for improvement in the solution. People find it expensive. Another area for improvement in SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is support, as it could be better."

"It is a scalable solution, but it is costly to scale. Therefore, I would rate scalability at eight out of ten."

"If your network is on SolarWinds, and you notice that the traffic is bad because it says "user downloading a heavy file," it doesn't indicate which endpoint is downloading those heavy files. SolarWinds doesn't have the tools to be able to handle this kind of situation. You can just notice through your network device that the traffic is becoming overwhelming or heavy, but you cannot go inside and get more details related to the endpoint where it is happening. We would like SolarWinds to be able to handle this kind of situation and even manage the traffic inside a network from the endpoint to the network device. These would be good enhancements. It is mostly stable. The problem comes only when we want to add another SolarWinds model. SolarWinds has so many models, and sometimes when we want to add other models on the platforms that are reserved for our firm, it freezes. When this happens, we have to create a new VM for that model."

"The solution needs better log management and log coordination with tools."

"I would like to see more artificial intelligence capabilities."

"Deployment needs improvement. The process is complicated, requiring attention to infrastructure settings and installation of components like the origin application server, platform, close storage, and policy agents."

"The plotting of the device on the map is not appropriate."

More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Meraki Dashboard's pricing is reasonable. It is sold yearly, typically for one, three, or five years. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."

"The pricing of the tool is relatively high compared to other solutions. It comes with a premium that exceeds that of its competitors by approximately 25 percent."

"The pricing for a small setup is only a few hundred dollars a year. The fee is subscription-based."

"From a pricing perspective, they are still expensive."

"You don't have to pay for the dashboard."

"Licensing is around under 1000 pounds. The licensing is either one year, three years, five years or ten years and during the licensing, we can choose to renew it per year or per every three years. We've got a license for three years. It's about 160 or about 200 pounds each."

"The solution is currently the most expensive on the market."

"It is said to be expensive."

More Meraki Dashboard pricing and cost advice

"The licensing for this solution is based on the number of nodes."

"We pay yearly, and we are happy with its price."

"NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is reasonably priced."

"Licensing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is paid yearly, and there are no additional costs that you need to pay apart from the standard licensing fees because you don't need to purchase another solution to make SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer work. Pricing for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer is more expensive than other solutions."

"The pricing is really good."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"The solution's licensing is high-priced."

"The price of this solution is exceptional."

More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

23%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

66%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Meraki Dashboard?

We greatly utilize the network because we can plug it into the DNS, VPN, or equipment. It's very good. Meraki Dashboard enhances wireless network management. We appreciate its flexibility, as it al...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?

The cost of the Meraki solution is high, which may not be affordable for smaller companies, especially in developing countries.

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What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?

There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high. Additionally, it would be beneficial if Meraki Dashboard could integrate more Cisco devices such a...

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What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

I have worked from 1973 with all kind of systems in large enterprises across the world. And have experience with all kind of software in monitoring from infra to end to end, it depends on the funct...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?

Prices care comparable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer?

The plotting of the device on the map is not appropriate. It should be like a Meraki cloud, where if you are familiar with Meraki devices, you can locate any device directly on the world map.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco DNA Center vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 22% of the time

ThousandEyes vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 13% of the time

Zabbix vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 13% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 6% of the time

More Meraki Dashboard Competitors

Zabbix vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Compared 13% of the time

Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Compared 9% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Compared 8% of the time

Darktrace vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Compared 8% of the time

Plixer Scrutinizer vs SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Compared 7% of the time

More SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard

April 2025

Download Meraki Dashboard product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

March 2025

SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer report

Download SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer product report

Also Known As

No data available

Netflow Traffic Analyzer

Overview

Meraki Dashboard is a comprehensive cloud-based platform that offers centralized management and control for all Meraki networking and security products. It provides a user-friendly interface, allowing administrators to easily monitor and configure their network infrastructure from anywhere. With real-time visibility, troubleshooting becomes effortless, ensuring optimal performance and minimizing downtime.

The intuitive dashboard offers a holistic view of the network, enabling quick identification of potential issues and proactive measures. It simplifies network deployment and scaling, with zero-touch provisioning and automatic firmware updates. The robust security features include advanced threat protection, content filtering, and VPN connectivity.

Meraki Dashboard also offers powerful analytics and reporting capabilities, providing valuable insights into network usage, application performance, and user behavior. With its seamless integration and scalability,

Meraki Dashboard is the ideal solution for organizations of all sizes, ensuring efficient network management and enhanced productivity.

Cisco

SolarWinds Netflow Traffic Analyzer enables you to capture data from continuous streams of network traffic and convert those raw numbers into easy-to-interpret charts and tables that quantify exactly how the corporate network is being used, by whom, and for what purpose.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe

Oceaneering International, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, 335th Signal Command, Immofori

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

September 2020

Free Report: Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer

Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and other solutions. Updated: September 2020.

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