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Meraki Dashboard vs SolarWinds Network Device Monitor comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

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
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Network Device M...
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
31st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 1.7%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Bilal-Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
GurinderSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
A powerful and affordable tool designed to help you achieve comprehensive monitoring
It would be beneficial if SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could provide a feature to monitor CRC errors specifically on individual interfaces rather than the entire device. This would help in detecting intermittent issues and packet drops on main links more accurately, especially when there are CRC errors. It's important for us to be aware of these issues to avoid any voice quality problems or interruptions on our MTS links.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 allows for easy suite configuration. We can handle everything on there when there's a policy or any other requirement."
"We have found the client dashboard to be very simple to use, especially in our Meraki environment."
"Meraki dashboard deserves an Oscar."
"It is a reliable product. It provides a lot of information that is easy to read."
"Everything is in a single pane and you can look at your network in one centralized place."
"I would say the ease of use is the most valuable feature. It's very easy to set up and get up and running."
"The user-friendly interface facilitated a quick and efficient setup process."
"The most valuable feature is knowing the wireless and switch are healthy."
"I rate the product's initial setup process a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a difficult phase and ten is an easy process."
"SolarWinds is flexible and works with multiple vendor devices."
"Link monitoring is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"The most valuable features of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor are the reports. We are configuring the reports, and the first reports are only about the devices. We are configuring the thresholds in order to monitor all the devices."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is it can alert you when a device is not working."
"The alerting functionality in SolarWinds Network Device Monitor helps us stay informed during off-hours by sending alerts if our main links or devices are impacted, allowing us to quickly address any issues."
"I like the mapping that you could do and the dashboards were very pretty."
"In terms of general network monitoring features, I find SolarWinds Network Device Monitor very flexible and comfortable to use. The software itself is extremely useful when it comes to monitoring how our data moves between different networks and environments."
 

Cons

"The wait time to speak with a Meraki support engineer is always long, but they get the job done."
"They could offer API functionality for Meraki Dashboard. It will help us develop software immediately using available solutions."
"This solution can be quite complicated to configure and manage, unless you have a technical person with specific knowledge working on it."
"There are some issues with the NAT configuration, it is now impossible to some operations with the solution."
"More integration would be an improvement."
"There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high."
"For instance, you should be able to see if something has been blocked by a firewall rule by looking at a live log of traffic moving through the device. It helps you troubleshoot issues and understand if your rules are working. You need to ensure the firewall is blocking the right things. That's unavailable in the Meraki Dashboard. You have to send the logs to a log server. We use SolarWinds locally, but it's not natively built into Meraki. We're also using Cisco ISA and another tool called Smoothwall."
"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."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could improve by being more user-friendly. The network has so many features which make it difficult to find how to configure how to use it. It is not simple to customize."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor could improve the features. We don't have the complete model for the database, and the monitoring for the database is up and down. We expect that we could monitor the blocking items on the database but we don't have that feature."
"When an organization's network grows, the complexity of the dashboard becomes an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The security needs improvement, which is why we are moving away from Solar Winds. We have security concerns."
"The reporting feature needs improvement because we are unable to configure reports that were included during initial implementation."
"The solution is not user-friendly."
"The solution lacks in performance monitoring."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor lacks the granularity of other monitoring tools like LiveNX."
 

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 solution is currently the most expensive on the market."
"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."
"Meraki Dashboard is a utility and portal that's part of the Meraki solution."
"The pricing for a small setup is only a few hundred dollars a year. The fee is subscription-based."
"The licensing fees are $180 USD, per AP, for three years."
"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."
"Licensing for Meraki Dashboard is paid every year, and it's on a per-device model that costs roughly $300 to $400 per device, but that comes with full support and troubleshooting, etc. Compared to similar products, Meraki Dashboard is quite high-end, but the costs you pay are all-in."
"The enterprise license is good for the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor. However, it is expensive, they should reduce their price."
"SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is not an expensive solution."
"Well, we had a perpetual license and the renewal was $20 to $25,000."
"The price of the SolarWinds Network Device Monitor is good."
"Thankfully, it doesn't take a lot of manpower to install and deploy."
"When compared with other solutions SolarWinds is more expensive."
"The product is expensive."
"I find the cost of SolarWinds Network Device Monitor reasonable for our company. Though, I'm not aware of the exact licensing cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
8%
 

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...
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.
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...
What do you like most about SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
I rate the product's initial setup process a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is a difficult phase and ten is an easy process.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
The more devices you add, the more expensive the licenses become. SolarWinds has a premium cost associated with it.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Device Monitor?
The solution lacks in performance monitoring. Although it identifies that everything is operating correctly across silos, it fails to demonstrate where a problem might be occurring within the servi...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Network Device Monitor
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe
Air Rarotonga
Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds Network Device Monitor and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.