Meraki MS Switches Reviews

Meraki is a cloud-based solution that can be accelerated to clients and compensate for the entire gamut of networking, switching, wireless, and gateway security. Everything can be managed and monitored from the cloud. It's a multidimensional scenario where clients might have many locations and need infrastructure to be deployed quickly and remotely. If there's no local manpower available at those sites, then these are the ideal use cases for Meraki.

For me, management and security is the most valuable feature. Moreover, Meraki has a beautiful management console from where you can manage the entire solution.

From an enterprise level, too, their pricing is reasonable. Being the Cisco umbrella, they are on the higher end but pretty okay.

The challenge we face, not only with Meraki but maybe with all vendors, is the delivery timeline because of our global issues. There is a lead time issue that we are facing, specifically on the Cisco or Meraki. If Cisco can work on something with better lead times, they could regain the edge they lost due to delivery delays that have happened for the last two years.

If it's a greenfield kind of opportunity, Meraki does make sense. But, if they can look at opening up a bit of their management portfolio to other vendors, too, maybe it will be more useful because many clients might already have some solutions as part of their environment. In case they have a few switches of some other brand, Fortinet, or they could have switches from HP. If Meraki can also address this point of managing those components as part of their cloud offering, that will help the future upgrade.

There is definitely room for improvement in the delivery lead time. In case someone wants to procure something new, inherently, Cisco was having a challenge even for Cisco hardware to get all the components. Even now, as we see, the delivery lead time is close to four to five months. Clients are not ready to wait for five months for a business to start. They want it immediately. They placed the order today, and in another two to three weeks, they need the hardware.

I have been using this solution for eight years.

Stability had some issues early on, but now it's more or less stable. I have not received many complaints from clients using the Meraki MS Switches. It's pretty okay now and has reached that level of stability.

It is a scalable solution. It's a cloud-based solution, so you can add as many devices as you want.

Initially, there were some challenges related to dependencies. However, since Cisco TAC has taken over, I have noticed a significant improvement in the speed at which issues are resolved. The call is now diverted to the same tag, which has made the process faster and more efficient.

The initial setup is fine. The device is manageable console-wise and has a user-friendly GUI.

When it comes to implementation, it's just a matter of plug-in and start working. A branch could be up and running in half an hour, provided the necessary parameters are set and available.

Meraki MS Switches is neither too expensive nor too cheap, but yes, opex-wise, Meraki is not too cheap. Again, if you want me to rate it on a scale of zero to ten, with ten being the most expensive, I would rate Meraki around six and a half.

Price can be better because if there are other offerings in the market, they are also scaling up, gearing up, and giving most of the functionality similar to what Meraki is able to give. To be competitive in the market, it's better that some pre-thinking can be done from the pricing front too.

The pricing model is based on a yearly renewal because everybody is in the subscription world. But we generally ask clients to go for a three-year upfront purchase. Then, after every three years, they need to renew.

Depending on the customer's overall solution, we also work with other networking components, such as Fortinet and other cybersecurity solutions.

If it's a single-location kind of environment, definitely, you have got other options to look at. But if you have a multi-site kind of environment and you need all inherent functionalities starting off from the basic networking, going on to security, and going on to your SD-WAN and other functionalities to be part of the same solution, then it's the right solution that you can look at because it has all these as part of the inherent OS itself. And the biggest benefit that you get is that it is manageable. It's a cloud-based offering, and you can very well manage the entire setup without even being at the site, provided that the environment is on the network.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We use the solution for our networking.

The most beneficial features of Meraki MS Switches are the visibility and convenience they provide. We have a single-pane-of-glass and a cloud-based management dashboard, so we do not need to manually configure each device. This is the greatest advantage. Additionally, they are easy to deploy with zero-touch provisioning, meaning that even those with limited technical knowledge can connect the devices.

Meraki MS Switches do not offer as many features as their competitors, so we are quite limited in what we can configure on the switches and firewalls. They are meant to be simple, but perhaps they should offer advanced features for more experienced users who would like to opt for them. I would suggest improving the price as well, as Meraki MS Switches are quite expensive due to their Cisco branding.

Perhaps in a future release, we could implement security technologies that are not yet available, such as SAC. To do this, we may need to purchase different types of switches; for example, Cisco has an access switch for data centers that allows for virtual port channeling, which cannot be done with a regular switch. However, this is a different market and use case.

The price of the solution has room for improvement.

I have been using the solution for almost four years.

The solution is stable and we have not encountered any issues. Meraki MS Switches have a familiar life cycle, so we are not required to upgrade. Everything can be done automatically as long as we adhere to the most common scenarios; we should be good. We have 150 locations where we use them and we have not experienced any stability issues.

The solution is scalable. The solution is suitable for all organization sizes, except for those that are very large and require a service provider or data center, footage. Meraki should be a good fit as long as a reasonable price can be negotiated and the technology is compatible.

Technical support is quite satisfactory. It may not be as great as Cisco support, but it is much better than other vendors I have had to work with. Response times are still quite fast and we can call someone if we have an urgent problem, with reasonable waiting times. Whenever I have needed help, I either get the answer or am being pointed in the right direction. Overall, it is quite satisfactory.

Neutral

The pricing varies. If we start with this small eight-plus switch, it is quite inexpensive. However, if we need some ten gig switches, it can be very expensive, ranging up to $10,000 or $18,000. Additionally, we also need to purchase the license, making it more costly than the regular Cisco Catellis.

I evaluated Ubiquiti UniFi.

I give the solution an eight out of ten.

It makes sense to purchase Meraki MS Switches if we already have other Meraki devices, such as IPs. Getting the switches is a good choice, or if we plan to use the full Meraki stack, including the firewall, switch, and AP, then we will benefit from visibility in the dashboard. If we mix and match equipment, then it is not ideal as support may not be as good, and we may have difficulty identifying the source of any issues. If we use Meraki, then they will take responsibility for any issues on the network.

Ubiquiti UniFi Switches are the main competitor to Meraki MS Switches because they offer a range of products, including switches, access points, security appliances, cameras, and more. However, Ubiquiti is primarily focused on small-to-middle-sized businesses, and their prices are lower than Meraki's. However, they do not provide the same level of support or documentation as Meraki, and their warranty is much shorter - only one year compared to Meraki's lifetime warranty on data devices.

I use Meraki MS Switches for cloud-based management and web visibility, which I can control from a single pane of glass. I have a controller that lets me manage all devices.

I found the cloud-managed dashboard most valuable in Meraki MS Switches.

Management from a single dashboard is what I want to see from Meraki MS Switches.

The level of stability of Meraki MS Switches would depend on the environment.

My rating for Meraki MS Switches is nine out of ten in terms of scalability.

The Meraki MS Switches technical support is good, so I rate it nine out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup for Meraki MS Switches was straightforward and had no problems. The product is easy to manage and deploy. Deployment only took one week.

My company deployed Meraki MS Switches based on requirements. That was the only deployment strategy.

My company pays for Meraki MS Switches yearly. Pricing-wise, the product is relatively inexpensive.

My company is both a reseller and user of Cisco Meraki solutions, including Meraki MS Switches.

I work on different models of Meraki MS Switches.

My company has multiple clients using Meraki MS Switches.

I recommend the product to others for cloud-based management. You can manage everything from the cloud.

My rating for Meraki MS Switches is nine out of ten.

For our customers, there are multiple locations, around 3,500.

My configuration is to do the configurations on Cisco Meraki Dashboard. There are MS Avant switches, MS switches, MS routers, et cetera. Mostly, I work with all the switches, switch modems and routers, and access points also.

The switches are very stable. 

It's able to expand.

The product is easy to set up. 

Sometimes, when we plug the new switch into the internet, they will upgrade there and it'll take time. At times, we didn't know whether the switch was operating or not so we have to take the console and we have to do some troubleshooting. In the console, we can find out there if the Cisco Meraki switch is not connected with the Meraki cloud. 

The MG21 is not working on a 5G SIM card. It requires 4G SIM cards. Therefore, we are using two links, an internet broadband link and one for MG21 that is on SIM card based for small sites. We all suffer a lot of issues for MG21. 

I've been using the solution for five years. 

It is stable as a product. The solution is reliable. There aren't any bugs or glitches. 

It is a product that can scale. It's not a problem.

Typically, if I run into issues, I'd run them by my team lead. I don't reach out to Cisco directly. It's a good solution. We don't run into many issues. 

I previously used Cisco and HP switches. 

I've also used an Alcatel switch.

The solution is very straightforward, actually. It is not complex. This is a simple product to configure.

In terms of the ease of setup, I'd rate it a nine out of ten. 

I'm not familiar with the exact cost of the solution. 

Our organization has a partnership with Meraki.

It is a good product and it is scalable. It is not too complex in terms of configuration. It supports a lot of technology.

I'd rate the product eight out of ten. 

I've got the appliances and I've got the switches and I've got the access points.

I have switches for the phones and the access points. I have standard switches for the network. However, I'm doing the layer-two switching. I don't do any additional programming on them. The advantage that I have with them is the user portal. I can find the endpoints by port. Therefore, if I need to control it, I can do it from the portal and shut a port down, however, I don't do any additional programming beyond layer two.

I like that I can patch and manage them remotely from the user portal. It's easy to patch and manage from anywhere.

The initial setup is easy.

I don't see any need for any improvements for my particular use case. 

They could lower the price.

At my latest company, we've used the solution for three years. However, I've worked with the product for seven years. 

In terms of stability. they're as good as any other switches I've used. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

I don't know that you scale switches. You get them for whatever amount of ports they're on.

I have sites with 24 port switches and I have sites with 48 port switches. Their size is growing to meet the needs we have.

Before this, I had HP and Cisco and was actively buying HP switches. We switched, not that it is cheaper. I am required in our industry to always be on the current firmware. That would, in the past, require either working late hours or scheduling downtime to do those updates. Now I can schedule them for any time of the day in the off hours. It happens automatically. There wasn't much difference between any of the switches. 

It's a straightforward implementation. 

I just did plug-and-play.

I can maintain them from my desk. I'm a one-person shop. They are very easy to take care of.

For example, I can schedule patch management. The biggest concern is keeping them patched or updated so that the firmware is always current to avoid potential bad players or issues. I can schedule that and do that all from the console. I don't have to worry about staying up late at night to do it or taking it down in the middle of the day and scheduling downtime. In the middle of the night, I can say, "Patch it," and it'll be done.

The pricing is high and could be reduced. 

The initial cost is above HP and probably comparable to Cisco. HP, on their switches, still has a limited lifetime warranty. You buy it and you'll get support and replacement for the life of the switch. The maintenance on the Meraki is not that great. I buy it three years at a time. It's not a big number.

Visibility is part of the Meraki mindset or the culture. You manage your infrastructure from a single portal. I have visibility into what's going on from a single portal, and I can manage and update and maintain it from that single portal. I don't have to have multiple solutions. I don't have to log into the switches. Everything's managed from that single portal. It's great.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. 

We primarily use the solution for switching delivery. It's quite basic. It provides connectivity. They are ethernet switches.

We like the ability to perform data capture and open it with Wireshark in case of issues.

For me, the best functionality is provided by Meraki for any device. The ability to manage the devices for the dashboard online, from the online dashboard. It is great.

The product is very straightforward. 

The stability of the product is very good. 

The switch capacity needs to be improved. Today we deploy some MS switches for the data center. Previously, it was a small data center and we get the most powerful device into the portfolio of Meraki to respond to this subject. However,  it could be great to have a better capacity with 10 gigs or 40 gigs, for example.

As a physical device, it's not extremely scalable.

We started to resell Meraki devices to our customers around 2016. It's been around six years. 

The solution is stable. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. It is reliable. 

The product is not scalable. It's a physical device and therefore limited. 

It's possible when you have virtualization, for example. For VMX, maybe, by the deployment VMX by Terraform and configuration automation, it's possible. However, with the physical devices, and so the switches, with the stack, we have scalability with the ports, with the interfaces, through a new device. I did it to the stack, however, globally, the solution, it's not as scalable as it could be. However, it's just due to the fact that it is a physical device.

The support is very good. We are very satisfied with the technical support we get. They always resolve the issues we have.

Positive

I'm also familiar with Juniper or Huawei. The main differences between them are the facility to configure or deploy, and ease of use. Meraki is a real plug-and-play solution. That's why it's really good. With Juniper in particular you do need strong skills to get the most out of it. 

It's a straightforward setup. It's not overly difficult. That's why we continue to use Meraki. I'd rate the product four out of five. 

The deployment is very quick. It takes only a few seconds to a few minutes. It's very fast. We have developed some API applications to automate the configuration and deployment without using the dashboard. We only need to put up a .CSV file and everything is done automatically. 

It is a good solution, however, it is quite expensive. I'd rate the cost at a three out of five. You do have to pay for the license, however, the licensing is quite expensive. 

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. We are quite satisfied with the solution genera. 

We are working with Citrix and router, but in Cisco for Cisco vendor only. We are taking from them since 2015. 

The main use case involves some small business customers needing one router, one switch, and two to three access points. It is easy to handle the devices with just a small knowledge of switches.

Meraki MS Switches have allowed us to access devices from anywhere in the world through the cloud. This eliminates the need to be physically present, as I can troubleshoot and work on devices remotely.

The most valuable feature is the ability to access devices from anywhere in the world through the cloud.

It would be helpful to have more features like an iOS interface. 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.

We have been using the solution since 2015, and we began taking from Cisco in 2016.

The devices are reliable, and there is no indication of issues so far. If something happens to the device or hardware, Cisco will automatically change the device by the next business day.

Customer service and support are effective. If the devices are licensed, the support team will assist you depending on the severity level of the case.

Neutral

Pricing is affordable, and licenses for the cloud need to be purchased every three to five years.

We are recommending all of the features available in Meraki MS Switches.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

We use Meraki MS Switches for VLANs, remote configuration, and having a single interface for configuring all our sites. Additionally, we rely on 100% remote configuration.

Meraki MS Switches provide a single global management interface in the cloud, allowing us to access any switch configuration from a single interface.

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.

There are compatibility issues with certain Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices, which we would like to see resolved.

We have been using the solution for three years.

The solution is stable, but there is always room for improvement. We faced issues following firmware updates, which we now handle by performing updates outside of working hours.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate scalability as eight out of ten.

Cisco's tech support is pretty good, and I would rate it an eight out of ten.

Positive

We did evaluate other options. We chose Meraki switches because it provided the ability to manage remote switches effectively, offering good control over all our equipment remotely.

The setup process was pretty straightforward, and I would rate it an eight out of ten for ease.

It's difficult to calculate return on investment. The primary advantage is the centralized and online access to switch configurations.

The solution is a bit expensive as it is on the high end. The cost depends on the model and the number of years of usage.

We evaluated other options but Meraki was the only solution that offered good remote switch management.

I would recommend using Meraki MS Switches as it is good equipment, sturdy, and works well.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.