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HORACIO ELMAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Administrator at Jushi
Real User
Straightforward to set up with good speed and good added security
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is stable."
  • "It's a matter of cost and expenses that we may take some issue with."

What is our primary use case?

The solution has the ability to jump from one ISP to another with minimum downtime.

What is most valuable?

The speed at which we can change from one provider to another has been great.  

The added security has been useful. However, we are barely using all the capabilities of SD-WAN.

It's easy to set up. 

The solution is stable.

The scalability has been good.

What needs improvement?

The feature that we are interested in is working perfectly. It's a matter of cost and expenses that we may take some issue with.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've used the solution for a while.

Buyer's Guide
Meraki SD-WAN
December 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

As far as we can tell, the stability's great. The speed is great. We didn't experiment with it that much to have the opportunity to really see any faults. We've just come in and tried to catch up with everything that was going on.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale well. 

We plan to increase it as much as can once we feel comfortable with the features of the product.

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

We did not previously use a different product. We tried Meraki first.

How was the initial setup?

It is very straightforward to set up. We have two firewalls connected to the device. We're using Meraki since we're a Meraki user, and it makes sense to start with what we have. Basically, we take it from there. We have all our sites on Meraki, so it's the basic starting point.

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

The licensing is very expensive. 

The fact that it does not recognize our cost from the previous licenses is a big drawback. The price covers the licensing and the box itself. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are looking at other options right now. 

What other advice do I have?

We deal with a reseller. We have 58 different networks. However, none of them has a particular server. We're using it to interconnect. We're using it all over the state. 

I'd advise potential new users to understand the costs that are likely involved first. 

I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1125069 - PeerSpot reviewer
VP of Information Technology at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 5
Bandwidth throughput insights and remote management enhance network control

What is our primary use case?

I use Meraki SD-WAN in various corporate environments. It's implemented in both small offices, accommodating about twenty people, and larger offices with four hundred to five hundred people. Primarily, it's used to connect corporate networks to the Internet and occasionally between locations.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features include understanding the throughput of bandwidth, traffic shaping, alerts and outages, and the integrated VPN. These elements are crucial for managing the network effectively. Additionally, the remote management is essential for our model, allowing us to handle multiple locations easily.

What needs improvement?

From a dashboard perspective, identifying issues can be challenging if one or two individuals experience trouble. Another area for improvement is in wireless management, where external tools might be needed to troubleshoot noise and environmental factors causing network issues.

For how long have I used the solution?

I started using Meraki SD-WAN about ten years ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable, and there are no major issues reported with its performance in our network environments.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution scales well, catering to both small and large office environments without requiring major changes to deployment.

How are customer service and support?

Customer service and support are strong. Meraki provides good assistance which makes them reliable partners, thus earning a strong nine or eight rating from me.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

In the past, I've used solutions like Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks. However, I find Meraki more suited to our internal enterprise environment.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy, as you just set it up with PoE and connect it, which takes about half an hour at most.

What about the implementation team?

The setup does not require a large team; it's mostly a one-time job that requires minimal staffing since everything is managed remotely.

What was our ROI?

It's hard to provide a percentage, but the solution effectively reduces costs due to its capabilities, allowing network management from anywhere in the world.

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

Even though it is more expensive than other options, it's reasonable when factoring in the remote management capabilities which eliminate the need for additional staffing.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have used Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks in the past, but found Meraki better for internal environments.

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate Meraki SD-WAN between eight and nine for its performance within controlled environments. If you're working in a closed ecosphere, it's an excellent choice. For more open scenarios, Fortinet or Palo Alto might offer more flexibility.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Meraki SD-WAN
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Meraki SD-WAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Support Specialist at ICMTEL Pty Ltd
Reseller
Top 20
Effortless multi-site VPN connectivity with straightforward setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the ease of setting up Meraki SD-WAN."
  • "Meraki SD-WAN could be improved by including full feature routing functions similar to a normal Cisco router."

What is our primary use case?

I use Meraki SD-WAN for multi-site VPN connectivity. It is mainly used for creating a mesh kind of site-to-site connection across different industries.

How has it helped my organization?

It offers ease of setup and ongoing maintenance without needing to have a public or static IP on all the sites.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the ease of setting up Meraki SD-WAN. It simplifies the process and does not require having a public or static IP on all the sites.

What needs improvement?

Meraki SD-WAN could be improved by including full feature routing functions similar to a normal Cisco router. It would also benefit from self-healing capabilities, where it can automatically reboot or reset if the VPN stops working.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Meraki SD-WAN for many years, more than ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Meraki SD-WAN is quite stable, and there have been no significant complaints regarding its stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate its scalability as eight out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

Customer service is quite good, and there are no complaints about the support.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy, and I would rate it ten out of ten for ease.

What was our ROI?

We have not conducted a cost-benefit analysis; it is more about ease of setup and maintenance.

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

The cost depends on the size and the device. It is generally expensive, and the price varies.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend Meraki SD-WAN if the budget allows it. It is important to try it out and see if it suits your needs before making a decision.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

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

Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
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Ganesh Khutwad - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at Rich Products
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
A solution that needs a straightforward initial setup and offers good technical support to its users
Pros and Cons
  • "Meraki SD-WAN is a scalable solution because changes are being made to the solution, enabling it to work in different environments."
  • "I would like improved stability in Meraki SD-WAN."

What is our primary use case?

Meraki SD-WAN offers a platform where Cisco manages your database. The platform is cloud-based and accessible through the URL. This means that Cisco has access to all of your devices, but it also means that if you need to make changes, Cisco can control it. One of the benefits of this system is that if you experience any loss of connectivity, Cisco can support you.

What is most valuable?

Meraki SD-WAN provides an open platform for users, allowing them to tailor their bandwidth usage. Additionally, it allows you to monitor customer usage and distinguish between different types of URLs they use, which can be non-production, production, confidential, or non-confidential.

What needs improvement?

From my end, I cannot submit any details on the areas of the product that need improvement because I am currently on the audit format.

In terms of additional features that could be included in the next release of the solution, it would be useful to have proxy software that can be managed from a mobile device. As engineers, sometimes we need remote access, which can be a challenge, especially during off-shifts when we can't log in to our environment. If there was a platform that allowed us to access our credentials, it would enable us to provide support to the customer while also improving vendor productivity.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Meraki SD-WAN for three years now, and in my experience, it's one of the best solutions.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, I rate this solution an eight and a half out of ten. I would like improved stability in Meraki SD-WAN. Also, it is a very user-friendly solution. So, whenever you want to implement a new site, you can get options that are user-friendly and UI-based, which are very straightforward in nature. Basically, there are no complexities involved. So, a person involved in the solution's implementation can understand everything.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Meraki SD-WAN is a scalable solution because changes are being made to the solution, enabling it to work in different environments. In short, the perfect set of decisions is being made for the solution. I have experience working with the solution on a range of user scales, from 500 to 10,000 users.

Since I am a consultant currently, I won't be able to say whether I have plans to increase the solution's usage since I am presently not working on the solution.

How are customer service and support?

Meraki SD-WAN's technical support can be considered a very fast one. I rate the solution's technical support nine and a half out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I have previously used Viptela SD-WAN.

How was the initial setup?

Meraki SD-WAN’s setup is straightforward because Cisco has control over everything. The solution is deployed in a cloud environment from the first day, which has been my experience since 2013 when using cloud-based solutions was not as prevalent as it is now.

I won't be able to speak about how many days it took to deploy the solution since I am not involved in its technical part.

To deploy Meraki SD-WAN, you need to connect your devices with the Cisco cloud environment, for which you need to give the gateway from your devices, and that message needs to be connected with the Cisco environment. Once connected, Cisco will provide you with the platform to manage your devices. Since they have admin rights, everything will be managed by Cisco.

Regarding the personnel involved in the deployment and maintenance of the solution, if we consider the operations part, which includes a VCP and a person for DRP, four people are involved, including a lead and a manager.

What other advice do I have?

I believe Cisco offers some of the best solutions. Meraki's routers, switches, and wireless solutions are some of the best.

You need an open platform to work with Meraki SD-WAN, whereas Aruba can be a bit more complex. That's why Cisco Meraki SD-WAN is generally preferred. Overall, I rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Solution Architect at Posteo
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
A simple to use and scalable solution that offers easy access to the API
Pros and Cons
  • "The auto VPN feature is important because it automates many tasks, making things simpler and faster. It helps with setting up devices and changing configurations without manual effort."
  • "The tool has challenges with features like multiple-link support, which currently only supports up to three links. Additionally, it doesn't offer router integration, and forward error correction is another missing feature. The scalability of Meraki SD-WAN is good, but there are limitations to the performance of the concentrator devices, especially in larger deployments. While the cloud scale is not an issue, the performance of the devices in branches and data centres is limited."

What is most valuable?

The auto VPN feature is important because it automates many tasks, making things simpler and faster. It helps with setting up devices and changing configurations without manual effort.

Meraki SD-WAN helps save money by monitoring applications and ensuring service levels. This gives businesses a clear view of how well their operations are running and whether service providers meet their needs.

The Meraki SD-WAN has been mainly focused on Wi-Fi in the past, but with the introduction of the client, they're likely to enhance their AI-driven initiatives. This could mean providing more predictive insights to customers, but it might take time to develop fully.

What needs improvement?

The tool has challenges with features like multiple-link support, which currently only supports up to three links. Additionally, it doesn't offer router integration, and forward error correction is another missing feature. The scalability of Meraki SD-WAN is good, but there are limitations to the performance of the concentrator devices, especially in larger deployments. While the cloud scale is not an issue, the performance of the devices in branches and data centres is limited.

This can be an issue for larger customers with high traffic volumes. The roadmap includes plans to improve scalability, but progress may be slow.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the tool's deployment a ten out of ten. 

How are customer service and support?

The tool's support is not very good. The process is ongoing while they are not fully integrated with Cisco TAC. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

Regarding pricing, Meraki SD-WAN is quite competitive, especially compared to solutions like Fortinet. However, it's essential to consider that Meraki requires cloud orchestration, which adds to the overall cost. Overall, it's one of the most competitive solutions from Cisco for SD-WAN.

What other advice do I have?

Meraki SD-WAN is one of the best and easiest solutions to implement. It's very user-friendly, making it simple for users and partners to sell and deploy. Additionally, it offers a range of security features and the ability to integrate with SaaS platforms. However, compared to other vendors, it lacks some important features, and although they're on the roadmap, they're taking a bit longer to roll out.

The product is successful in various environments, especially in retail and specific industries like finance. Retail accounts for around 30 percent of its usage. I would rate the Meraki SD-WAN a nine on a scale of one to ten. It's simple to use, scalable and offers easy access to the API. However, it's not a perfect ten because it lacks some important features, and it is slow in terms of rolling out these features for customers. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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IT Manager at a construction company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5
Enhanced productivity and quick resolution through improved security and redundancy features
Pros and Cons
  • "The redundancy feature of Meraki SD-WAN has most significantly enhanced network performance."
  • "The configuration from the firewall side could be improved a little bit more."

What is our primary use case?

Apart from SQL, I used to work a lot with networking solutions. I am more of a network specialist, and then I started to do SQL after that. I'm experienced with networking rather than application experience for databases.

How has it helped my organization?

Meraki SD-WAN has improved productivity greatly. It is easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot, so problem resolution is quicker.

What is most valuable?

The redundancy feature of Meraki SD-WAN has most significantly enhanced network performance. Additionally, the security features are good on the MX devices.

What needs improvement?

The configuration from the firewall side could be improved a little bit more.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have about four to five years of experience working with Meraki SD-WAN.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability of the solution as eight out of ten. There were no significant troubles with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability of Meraki SD-WAN as ten out of ten. It is highly scalable.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate the customer service and support eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We did look at other solutions such as Fortinet and VeloCloud. However, we decided to go with Meraki SD-WAN because we were already a Meraki customer and saw the ease of deployment.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was quite straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment was done through a third-party integrator.

What was our ROI?

Meraki SD-WAN has contributed to cost savings by being easy to deploy and troubleshoot, making problem resolution quicker.

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

The pricing of Meraki SD-WAN is a little bit on the pricey side. However, it is still a valuable product despite the cost.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at Fortinet and VeloCloud. We chose Meraki SD-WAN because we were already a Meraki customer and appreciated the ease of deployment.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Meraki SD-WAN because it is easy to deploy, highly scalable, and easy to manage.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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reviewer2128749 - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Easy to use with a quick setup and excellent reliability
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is easy to use."
  • "Technical support could be more knowledgeable and responsive."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the access points and switches for remote locations for a client. We have 100 or more remote offices, and we connect those together to a data center in Florida.

What is most valuable?

We like that it is cloud-enabled.

The solution is easy to use. It's so simple to set up and connect the connection points. We don't require any static IPs or anything like that on our ISPs. It's very quick and easy.

It is stable and reliable.

The solution can scale so long as you are scaling Meraki products together. 

It offers a very good "single pane of glass," which helps with management and visibility.

What needs improvement?

I don't have any notes for improvement. 

Technical support could be more knowledgeable and responsive. 

You do have to pay for the solution in perpetuity. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for six or seven years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is pretty good. I'd rate it an eight or nine out of ten. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is very scalable as long as it is a Meraki-to-Meraki environment. 

I'd rate the scalability eight out of ten. 

How are customer service and support?

Technical support isn't the best. They aren't as responsive as we would like. The quality of the techs needs to be better. They need to be more knowledgeable. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The solution is very simple to set up, and we don't need any static IPs from our ISPs. This simplifies things. 

I'd give the ease of setup a ten out of ten. 

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

Meraki's a subscription service. You "pay forever," and in that sense, it can be a little expensive. That said, I'd rate it seven out of ten in terms of affordability. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm a customer and end-user. 

Other than warning people that it is a subscription, this does offer a single pane of glass which makes it easy to manage if you have multiple sites.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
David Fartouk - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at Trust-IT Solutions
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Simplifies management with easy setup but have moderate pricing
Pros and Cons
  • "It is secure, and some features, like work device management, are very useful."
  • "In some cases, like an Internet outage, this can make the solution unmanageable."

What is our primary use case?

Our connectivity was pretty good even before we used Meraki. After we used Meraki, everything worked fine and still does. The thing is that once we started using Meraki, our management became simpler. It's simpler for us to become simpler.

How has it helped my organization?

We have other solutions, and we wanted one that would integrate with our current ones. This product is pretty good and simple, so we learned the simplicity of a product.

What is most valuable?

We currently use some features. It is secure, and some features, like work device management, are very useful.

What needs improvement?

We selected this solution because it needs to be always connected. In some cases, like an Internet outage, this can make the solution unmanageable.

If the network disconnects, we have access to the device but cannot make any changes.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Meraki SD-WAN for the last six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

During the initial setup, it wasn't stable. It was very problematic, and we had a lot of issues. Now it's very stable.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution’s scalability is good. 2,000 users are using this solution.

We use the Meraki SD-WAN solution daily as users who consume the network. However, our involvement is very limited if you're asking about managing the devices or connecting to them. We barely manage it because it's largely automatic. It works well, so we typically only intervene about once a week.

I rate the solution’s scalability a ten out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is very cumbersome. It's not on point. It takes them a lot of time to understand the problems. It's very complex.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy. However, it took us a lot of time to work with an integrator and to declutter, and it took us weeks to deploy.

Meraki is a combination of cloud and on-prem, but most of our deployments are on-prem connected to the cloud. The management of Meraki is always on the cloud, but the devices are on-prem, and we have deployed multiple devices on-prem.

What about the implementation team?

We use a third party for deployment. It still took us a lot of time. 

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

The product's pricing is moderate.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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