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Owner at Mar Consulting Services
Real User
Offers quality of service and provides good visibility, but the maintenance fees are too expensive
Pros and Cons
  • "This product has QoS, decent visibility of what's going on, and it's a managed switch."
  • "Mandatory maintenance is an area that needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

I use the MS series when I need to add power over ethernet (PoE).

What is most valuable?

This product has QoS, decent visibility of what's going on, and it's a managed switch.

What needs improvement?

Mandatory maintenance is an area that needs improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Meraki MS Switches for between five and ten years.

Buyer's Guide
Meraki MS Switches
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Meraki MS Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

These switches are really stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I've used their lower-end products, and I haven't really looked at the larger units with additional ports. As such, I can't really say, although I think that there are some level 3s and even some level 4s.

At each location, there are between 15 and 20 users.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is very good. They are responsible and knowledgeable. On the Meraki side, you get through right away, whereas, on the Cisco side, you put in a call, and then it is difficult to predict when they will return it.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I work with a variety of Meraki Switches including the MS series, MR series, and MX series.

Prior to using Meraki, I was using a lower-end switch from Cisco. It didn't have any support requirements and my boss wanted me to get rid of anything that required maintenance. For this same reason, we will be getting away from using Meraki switches, as well.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy.

What about the implementation team?

As a one-person operation, I manage 15 or 16 locations.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The yearly maintenance fee is $100 and you can purchase used switches for about $200 each.

What other advice do I have?

My advice is that this product may work well for a smaller shop, where they do not have many devices to pay maintenance fees for. I have 15 or 16 locations and combined, these have many switches and access points. For example, I have more than 45 devices in total, and paying $100 for each, annually, surpasses the amount of my initial investment. This is the reason that I am changing to another product.

In summary, this is a good switch but I just don't like the ongoing cost.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
PeerSpot user
reviewer1218795 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Provides Layer 7 application visibility with complete network control from a single dashboard
Pros and Cons
  • "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 in to a single dashboard where you can completely manage all your network devices."
  • "In my opinion, there's room for improvement cost-wise. With Meraki's licensing terms, you're required to pay an annual licensing fee, which can be for a one-year license or perhaps a five-year license. But if you analyze the costs involved, there are huge expenses incurred as far as the licensing is concerned."

What is our primary use case?

We are partners of Meraki and operate as a service provider for Meraki switches, notably the Meraki MS Series 410, 420, and 450. Our responsibility is to help customers deploy these solutions, which are always situated on-premises.

The main use cases for our customers include end-user connectivity, IP telephony, and security purposes such as for the cameras and access points.

What is most valuable?

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 in to a single dashboard where you can completely manage all your network devices.

What needs improvement?

In my opinion, there's room for improvement cost-wise. With Meraki's licensing terms, you're required to pay an annual licensing fee, which can be for a one-year license or perhaps a five-year license. But if you analyze the costs involved, there are huge expenses incurred as far as the licensing is concerned. It's very costly.

When you see the cost of the device and the cost of the license, they're almost the same. So let's say, for example, a device costs $4,200 and you go for a three or four year license, it will cost you the same. And that's for everything; for the wireless, the switches, the firewalls, everything.

Of course, the total costs depend on several factors, including the customer requirements, the service provider, and the service integrators (which may have their own partnership bias). With Cisco partners, there are gold level partners which will have different discounts to the silver partners, for instance. Given these factors, I always try to get the maximum discount from the vendor so I can offer a solution to my customers at the lowest margin.

Apart from costs, one improvement that I would like to see in terms of features concerns the mobile application. Most users of our switches are now on the web-based interface and I feel it's time for Meraki to start developing the mobile app more seriously, because it's currently not up to standard and a lot of people aren't using it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Meraki MS Switches for about six to eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For the cloud license model, the stability of the switches largely depends on your Internet capability. For example, you will want to have both primary and secondary backbone connections for the Internet, and that's it. The stability of the hardware is fine.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would say that it's scalable, especially in the sense that there are models up to at least 10 Mbps and at the upper range there are 10 Gbps copper switches. Then there are switches that support 1 Gbps fiber as well as 40 Gbps fiber (via QSFP). Thus, there are enough models to offer the scalability that you need as far as bandwidth is concerned.

There are fixed-model switches and also some older model switches to choose from, so it depends upon the customer's requirements to decide on their own solution. When it comes to scalability, there are various options available. 

How are customer service and support?

Cisco is always top-notch when it comes to technical support. It's reassuring to know that they will be there to assist you in solving your issues. Of course, there are sometimes priority cases, but even then they make sure to be available to help you resolve the issue. It doesn't matter if you're a customer, a partner, or a service provider, they provide an excellent technical support service.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The setup is very easy. It's typically a one-touch provisioning process and it's like not traditional switches where you have to put in a lot of effort bringing the switch up and running with a basic configuration. With Meraki switches, all you need is a status page where you can log in locally. As soon as you connect it to the Internet, the device is on board and on the cloud, and you can start playing around with it.

What about the implementation team?

You don't need a lot of technical staff to implement the switches. One engineer is capable of doing it alone and, in fact, most of the time it just takes a single team member to deploy. Naturally, this would be an individual who knows the product inside and out, to be able to deploy without anyone's help. You also need a few remote hands who can rack and stack the equipment, but as far as the configuration is concerned, only one engineer can do everything.

I had one scenario where I had 120 devices divided into three different models. Four of them were Layer 3 fiber switches which acted as the core switches and 16 of them were fiber switches for distribution, also with Layer 3 capability. Then we had almost a hundred devices acting as access switches, which is normally Layer 2 PoE-capable switches where we have a couple of SFP ports for the uplink. All of this a single person would be able to deploy in five working days, at eight hours a day.

When it comes to maintenance, it depends on the size of the infrastructure. In a retail mall, for example, you will have hardly 150 switches, compared to a big hotel or apartment building where you will have more than 200-300 switches. With those kinds of deployments, you will have to have multiple people to address the multiple issues with the guests.

What was our ROI?

There is a lot of scope for ROI with Meraki, mainly because your headcount will go down. With Meraki switches, you don't need to have too many people around to manage the infrastructure, and you don't have to travel much to maintain multiple branches across the globe.

Additionally, you won't need to spend much in terms of reporting tools, log tools (e.g. log collectors), or anything like that because everything is included in the product. There's a lot of sophistication and features that Meraki brings in terms of Layer 7 application visibility. You really have complete control over the end-users infrastructure.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

If you buy a license for one switch, it will include the licensing for the device RMA, device failure warranty, technical support, and everything else. Also covered is support for software updates for future releases. It's a single license for everything and there's nothing that customers need to pay in addition to the license.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Meraki MS Switches an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Meraki MS Switches
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Meraki MS Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer966840 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Easy to maintain and offers device tracking features
Pros and Cons
  • "he product is easy to integrate with other software tools."
  • "The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required."

What is our primary use case?

In my company, the solution is used to connect computers to a network.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of the solution is device tracking, which allows our company to know where the product is plugged into the environment.

What needs improvement?

I am sure that my company uses only some of the basic stuff attached to the solution. I don't know much about the higher models or ranges offered by the product.

My company knows how to carry out the setup of our networks and how it works in general. In short, everything in the tool works to meet our company's expectations.

The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Meraki MS Switches for over five years. I am an end user of the product.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a very scalable solution.

In Europe, around 2,000 people use the product.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have experience with TP-Link.

Meraki MS Switches is an enterprise-grade solution that is well managed over the cloud. TP-Link lacks the features that Meraki MS Switches offers, and it also fails to offer proper services and devices. Discussing Meraki and TP-Link is like comparing apples with grapes.

How was the initial setup?

Based on the years of experience I have with the tool, the product's initial setup phase is easy.

One device can be deployed in half an hour to configure the connection with the cloud, and then everything goes on as the product states. Adding one device to an existing environment is simple, but building everything from scratch requires a lot of preparation, so I am not sure about the time required for the deployment from a wider horizon.

Currently, I am not involved in the deployment process of the product in Poland. I was only involved in the deployment process around five years ago.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Securing licenses and devices for more than a year can make the product expensive. In general, the product is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

The product has simplified our network management tasks with a single console that provides our company access to an overview of our whole infrastructure.

The product has been helpful for our company in finding loops in the network. The tool also helps to identify some broken cables because there are testing tools available on the device.

The cloud management aspect of Meraki MS Switches has dramatically improved our company's operations because, previously, we had to go directly to the device to find it.

The product is easy to maintain as the updates happen automatically via the cloud.

The cost-savings from using the product stem from the fact that my company has experienced less downtime, so the business operates without any breaks.

The product is easy to integrate with other software tools.

I rate the product a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Christophe ANDRIEU - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Manager at Waycom International SASU
Real User
Top 10
A simple to use cloud managed Switch with a user-friendly portal
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the portal, it's really interesting."
  • "I like the portal, it's really interesting."
  • "The pricing can be made cheaper."
  • "The pricing can be made cheaper."

What is most valuable?

I like the portal, it's really interesting.

What needs improvement?

The pricing can be made cheaper.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Meraki MS Switches for ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I don't know about stability. But at present seven users are using it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution.

How are customer service and support?

I have not contacted the support, my team does.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is very very simple.

What about the implementation team?

It was done with the help of a technical team.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is very expensive so I want it to be cheaper.

What other advice do I have?

I give it an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
AnkurKumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at HCL Technologies
Real User
A very stable product with great network security features, fast speed, and low latency
Pros and Cons
  • "The switch supports various automation testing tools, and it's quite helpful for network troubleshooting as well."
  • "It is a compact switch, so there are a limited number of ports, and it needs improvement in terms of scalability."

What is our primary use case?

It's a cloud-managed, stackable access switch. It has various features, like providing quality of service to prioritize critical traffic, such as voice and video. It has various levels of support for simplified voice deployment. We also use this switch for multicast traffic. In addition, we use the switch for high capacity trunking where we require link aggregations. 

What is most valuable?

This switch is enabled with network security features. We use it for port security and MAC whitelisting, as well as DHCP snooping to prevent users from adding unauthorized DHCP servers to the network. The switch supports BPDU guard, root guard, and rapid spanning tree protocol for the loop prevention mechanism.

Moreover, now with the advent of automation in our environment, the switch supports various automation testing tools, and it's quite helpful for network troubleshooting as well.

The switch has a good speed and low latency. I will not say it's the market leader of low latency, but it competes with Arista switches in terms of latency. 

What needs improvement?

It is a compact switch, so there are a limited number of ports, and it needs improvement in terms of scalability. The number of ports should be increased. I would love to see modular capabilities, and various security features, like the ones provided by Palo Alto and various emerging cybersecurity solutions. I would like this switch to match that level of competency.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This switch is robust. It's never, ever gone down. It has not been rebooted during the last two years in my environment. In terms of stability, I don't see any challenges. I haven't seen any bugs associated with the current IOS. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution, but compared to competitors' technology, I still see some gaps. There are a lot of scalability improvements needed in this particular model.

There are 500+ on-prem users. Counting business employees altogether though, there are about 2,000. 

How are customer service and support?

The support is quite easy and handy. No one can compete with Cisco's tech support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very straightforward. I have been in the IT industry for the last 16 years so I didn't have any challenges with the configuration or deployment. It is a plug and play solution, and needs basic configuration during the initial setup. We pushed the configuration and provisioned this switch immediately. 

What was our ROI?

I see a return on investment in terms of manageability because a single employee can easily manage the switch. I don't need to hire additional resources for taking care of the vulnerability assessment or anything else.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't know the exact price, but in terms of comparison, I know that Extreme switches are more cost-effective than Cisco Meraki Switches. Cisco should have some switches that are more cost-effective.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

There are some other competitors nowadays, like Extreme switches. They are cost-effective and have many security features embedded in the switches. We want to see that level of competency for modular capabilities in Meraki switches soon. I still see Cisco as the market leader because no one can compete with Cisco's fast tech support.

What other advice do I have?

To someone considering this solution I would say that compared to other switches, like Arista, Meraki switches are quite robust. In terms of performance, we haven't faced any issues or vulnerabilities in the last two years. 

I would rate this solution as a ten out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
IT Manager at IMP Bautest AG
Real User
Offers ability to configure multiple switches in one step which is an incredible feature
Pros and Cons
  • "This is a sophisticated product with easy configuration that can save time and effort."
  • "The pricing needs to be more competitive with other products on the market."

What is our primary use case?

We've chosen the Meraki product because the configuration is very simple. They are Cisco products, so we are sure of their reputation, the quality, the brand, the performance, and the support.

What is most valuable?

What we like best is that the product makes configuration easy. We can configure a whole bunch of switches or ports at the same time. For example, if we select 200 ports and change some parameters, these options will be applied two minutes later on every branch anywhere in the world where we have selected the switches. This ability to configure multiple switches in one step is an incredible feature.

What needs improvement?

One simple way to improve the product is to reconsider the price. They are more expensive than their competitors. You have to take into account that it is Meraki by Cisco and they know they are the best and that if you need a less expensive solution you can buy other products. If you want the best, you have to pay for it. But certainly they are a bit more expensive than the competitors.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for one-and-a-half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For us, this product has been very stable. We have had zero problems concerning stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is currently serving about 270 users within our company. I think the product is very scalable and it would not matter how many users we add.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have been in touch with technical support. The support is of course in English because they are an English speaking company, but the support was all very clear to me. The resolution of our issue was easy and it took maybe about 30 minutes for issues I called about. With any problems or questions that we had, they were there to help and we had a fast resolution every time. So personally I am very happy with the support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Before we switched to Cisco Meraki, we were using Hewlett Packard Enterprise Switches. They are not cloud-managed and it's not a software-defined network solution. I don't know if we can compare these one-to-one. But we did make the change because we thought it was a better fit for our network model and the solution was a better fit for our ultimate goals.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very easy. We deployed eight switches with about 350 ports. Configuration of that took about two days.

What about the implementation team?

We did not need help from the vendor or an installation team. I did it by myself.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I know that Cisco is a bit more expensive than its competitors. I know that we bought a license for a three-year term and that you can get discounts based on the length of the term. However, I do not know the exact amount that we pay.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Actually, we did not consider other solutions when we decided to make the switch. I had read many things about Cisco Meraki and a lot of my colleges are using this solution. I went to visit some places that were using the solution and they showed me what it could do. I was satisfied with what my colleagues showed me about the solution when I was at their businesses and we bought the solution based on that impression.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to other people who are looking into this solution is that if they need a fast, scalable and easy-to-manage solution, they can buy a Cisco Meraki product. They pay the price for the quality of the product and the ease of use. It is not the cheapest, but it is the best. Maybe the time you save in configuration and use over other products is worth the extra cost.

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate Meraki Cisco as a nine. It is not a ten because of the price and if you give ten of ten points there is no room for improvement. Everything can improve, even the best.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Joseph Sidhom - PeerSpot reviewer
Telecommunication Group Leader at SCG
Real User
Problem-free installation, but there is poor support for outdoor switches
Pros and Cons
  • "We have no problem with technical support from Cisco."
  • "Meraki should include an application to assist users with the design of access points."

What is our primary use case?

We are a technology consultant and we work with a variety of products, including Meraki MS Switches. We have installed these switches in certain hotels in Egypt.

One of the hotels we work with has standardized on Meraki.

What needs improvement?

Meraki's support for outdoor switches is something that we're facing problems with. This is an area that needs to be improved.

Meraki should include an application to assist users with the design of access points.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with Meraki MS Switches for perhaps two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a good switch for a small installation, such as a hotel, but it's not an enterprise-level solution. In that regard, it is not very scalable.

The hotel network has almost 300 rooms.

How are customer service and support?

We have no problem with technical support from Cisco. They have good support, although it's not cheap. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have experience with switches from different vendors including Cisco and HP.

HPE Aruba is very popular in my country, and we have done a lot of these installations. Most people, given the choice between Aruba and Cisco, choose to implement Aruba.

One of the advantages to Aruba is that the switches have a lifetime warranty. They are also cheaper than Cisco.

How was the initial setup?

We have not faced any problems with respect to installation. They just need internet connectivity for the cloud configuration.

What about the implementation team?

Installation is done by the system integrators.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Meraki is not an expensive switch, like Cisco. However, the cost of technical support is expensive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have researched different Cisco solutions. One of the things that we have found is that Stealthwatch for Cisco has the sensors built into the switches. We are interested in knowing whether that feature is compatible with other hardware because we don't want to be tied to a single vendor.

What other advice do I have?

Some companies in Egypt are not allowed to use cloud-based services, so the use of this type of product has not been popular.

I would rate this solution a six out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
JoelCloutier - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer - Operations Technologies Individual Contributor at Innergex
Real User
Not very scalable and the feature set is less interesting than other equipment but easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "The product offered a lower CapEx cost for the appliance."
  • "We had issues with the stability, issues with the pricing, and the total cost of ownership."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily used the solution as a switch.

What is most valuable?

The product offered a lower CapEx cost for the appliance. That's why they tried that infrastructure.

It was easy to set up.

What needs improvement?

We didn’t like the performance, which is why we ended up stopping usage.

We had issues with the stability, issues with the pricing, and the total cost of ownership.

The feature set is less attractive than other or similar equipment from other companies.

You can’t really scale the solution.

We’d like to have on-premises management in the future versions of the product.

It would be great if there were industrial protocols with more on them for an IT environment.

For how long have I used the solution?

We’ve used the solution since 2018.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We faced some stability issues when using the product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It’s not a very scalable product.

It’s used for energy generation, and we only really need 5% of our team managing it, so it doesn’t really require that many users per se.

How are customer service and support?

I recall technical support being good. They were pretty helpful and responsive.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used Cisco switches, among other options.

How was the initial setup?

The solution was relatively easy to deploy. It was straightforward and not overly complex.

The deployment itself only took a couple of hours.

You only need one person to handle the deployment tasks.

What about the implementation team?

We used an integrator. They helped us manage the initial setup.

What was our ROI?

We’ve removed all of the switches. We didn’t really witness an ROI.

In the long term, we likely did not get any ROI as we had to buy the switch. We should have bought it a couple of years ago. At this moment, it was a good return on investment in the sense that we had a switch working. However, it was not doing everything we wanted, yet we had it quickly working for low pricing. In the beginning, it seemed reasonable; however, in the end, it was not, as we have to replace everything.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution offered low Cap-Ex pricing.

However, it ended up being expensive. We purchase dit as a package from an integrator. There were some extra fees, for example, for maintenance.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We didn’t really evaluate any other options. A company approached us about the product, and we decided to try it out.

What other advice do I have?

We are currently removing our Meraki switches. I’m not sure which version we were using. The latest was likely MS 120. We replaced the switches with others, and we’re bringing in ways to interconnect with other systems, which was providing us with more stability.

I’d rate the solution a four out of ten and advise potential users to go with a different product.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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Download our free Meraki MS Switches Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2025
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