Meraki SD-WAN Reviews

We are customers of Meraki and I'm the company product manager. 

Meraki has a sexy interface, they've done a great job with it. 

The solution sometimes drops VoIP calls, which is a nuisance. The solution is not true SD-WAN, rather L3 VPNs. All they do is put a wrapper around it so that you don't have to configure it, but it lacks controllers. 

The solution is stable, despite the occasional VoiP dropouts. 

The solution is scalable. 

The company provides excellent technical support. 

Positive

It is pretty easy to set up with the caveat that it's not really SD-WAN.

This is not a cheap solution. Cisco has never tried to be a price leader, it's not their focus.

If a company is looking for a true automated failover, it's important to ask some very pointed questions before purchasing it.

I rate the solution seven out of 10. 

We primarily use the solution for our branch offices.

The solution's ability to prioritize traffic is its most valuable feature.

The solution is easy to use.

The solution needs a multi-use provider portal.

I'm not on the technical side, so I don't know if there is an area of the solution that needs improvement. There is a wish button in the product, and we're fine with that. 

The pricing could be a bit lower.

I've been using the solution for two years now.

The solution is stable.

We've never had an issue with scalability. We have about 200 users on the solution.

We've only ever used the solution's technical support once and it was fine.

We didn't previously use a different solution.

The initial setup is straightforward.

We use the public cloud deployment model. We're a Cisco partner.

Due to its overall ease of use, I'd recommend the solution.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

We primarily use it to provide SD-WAN solutions for our customers.

The solution is a whole vertical solution, so it doesn't need any other components in order to provide basic features. 

The security of the solution needs to be improved.

The adoption of endpoint services or endpoint security should be developed in future releases.

The solution is relatively stable.

The solution is not scalable for high-end customers. Meraki is really flexible and can start from really small sites, so it's better suited to the SME market. When you reach a situation where you have a high number of sites with a high level of complexity, then Cisco Meraki probably lacks a bit of flexibility.

I've never had to reach out to technical support.

The initial setup is straightforward; it's not that complex. How long it takes to deploy depends on the customer's requirements and how complex their infrastructure is.

We're a distributor. We deploy the solution on-premises for our clients.

We did evaluate other options, but we're very happy with Cisco Meraki.

The advice I would give to others considering implementing the solution would be to start small and be patient.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

Meraki SD-WAN is used to manage traffic between customers. We can make traffic-shaping rules, limit or deny sites, etc. SD-WAN can also do load balancing.

SD-WAN is a complete enterprise solution for securing traffic. 

The blocklist on the Cisco Meraki side isn't complete or very large. We'd like to see them update and expand this. 

I have used Meraki SD-WAN for seven years. 

 I rate Meraki SD-WAN nine out of 10 for stability. 

Setting up Meraki SD-WAN isn't difficult, but it isn't simple. It was easy for me because I have worked with other SD-WAN solutions. 

Cisco Meraki firewalls have a 10-year license, but there is a three-year license for other equipment.  

I rate Meraki SD-WAN nine out of 10. Cisco Meraki SD-WAN works better than other solutions. I recommend using Cisco Meraki SD-WAN with the Cisco Meraki Dashboard to centralize all your equipment, such as access points, links, switches, etc., in one console. 

I'm a vendor. I sell the solution to clients. 

A lot of our customers really enjoy the Meraki Dashboard. It’s a single pane of glass. If you have their wireless, you have their switching; you have their cameras, you have their firewalls, then you do get a single pane of glass - which is a really strong talking point for us with our customers.

People are struggling a little bit with the lead times right now. It’s hard to actually get the hardware. There’s a long waiting list. That said, I’m unsure as to if that's anything that any manufacturer could really control right now.

Meraki is not viewed as an enterprise solution. It's more of a medium SMB-type solution. Although that really shouldn't be the case, I do see that it has that stigma associated with it.

I wish I was selling more of it, but I don't. We have a number of different types of vendors. It is something we sell. However, I have not personally sold a lot of it.

The solution is stable. There aren’t bugs or glitches, and it doesn’t crash or freeze. It is reliable.

The solution is quite scalable even though potential clients see it as a good solution for SMBs. It has the power to work for enterprises. It can scale.

Tech support is good. It's strong.

We sell Cisco access points and Meraki access points. With Cisco, the solution we deal with is called Viptela.

The initial setup is very, very straightforward. You set it and forget it. It’s probably easier than any other solution.

You probably don't have more than one or two people associated with maintenance. It would depend on the size of the environment. Obviously, for an enterprise customer like Starbucks, you’ve got to have hands-on people available. However, if you're just a local Chicago company like us, then I would say that it’s fine to have minimal people - usually admins - on maintenance.

We are a Cisco Gold partner.

I’d recommend the solution. I’d rate it eight out of ten.

It's typically a better solution for a company that has multiple locations. If you are a company with a headquarters and then you have locations across the country or the world, that would be the best time to look into SD-WAN. I would also say that SD-WAN is not just a wireless solution. It is also a security solution.

What we do is, we sell Meraki SD-WAN to our customers as a service and they use it for multiple purposes. For example, they use it for data, voice traffic, video, and services that are now in their data centers.

Meraki SD-WAN could improve on the lead time, but this is not a problem only with Cisco. there's a global shortage of chipsets. Additionally, the solution has limited features. It's quite a standard product and not very easily upgradeable or stackable. 

We have not been using Meraki SD-WAN very long.

Meraki SD-WAN is stable and the performance is good.

The scalability of Meraki SD-WAN is limited, it could improve.

I typically work with large business accounts which use Meraki SD-WAN. However, I have colleagues who have many accounts with smaller businesses that use Meraki SD-WAN. The solution is suitable for small to large businesses. We sell to small and medium businesses when they demand less complexity.

We have used the support from Cisco for our clients and they are very good. We know them quite well.

The implementation of the solution is rather standard. It is not difficult.

We do the implementation and support of the solution.

One of the most valuable aspects of Meraki SD-WAN is the price. It is highly cost-effective.

Meraki SD-WAN is a perfect fit for those customers who want to implement SD-WAN with competitive pricing. There is not much demand when it comes to complexity and additional features. If customers want a standard SD-WAN solution, Meraki SD-WAN is a perfect fit for those customers.

I rate Meraki SD-WAN an eight out of ten.

Meraki SD-WAN saves costs for our customers and provides better connectivity. The solution has good security features. Since it is a cloud-based solution, customers can manage the entire portfolio from one portal.

Regarding the integration part, the VPN connection for third parties needs to be elaborate.

Meraki SD-WAN is a scalable solution that can be used by small-scale and large enterprises. More than 500 users are using the solution.

The solution’s technical support is good.

Positive

The solution’s initial setup is easy and can be done in two days. The solution was deployed by me, an on-site engineer, and a remote engineer.

The solution needs around three to four administrators. Meraki SD-WAN enhances connectivity across various business locations, and our clients are satisfied with the tool. The solution can be used for multiple branches, connectivity, or small scale. Its implementation is also easy.

We can use Meraki SD-WAN for security purposes. We can identify traffic problems and connectivity issues from the solution's single console dashboard. A health report is also available in Meraki. We can identify and troubleshoot more issues from the Meraki dashboard. I would recommend the solution to other users.

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

One of my clients is using Meraki SD-WAN in their office to manage their internal desktops, internal servers, and laptops. Any connectivity for the home-based workers is managed by Cisco Meraki Switches.

I appreciate the cloud-based management feature the most. It's a crucial aspect for me because it allows me to manage the configuration remotely without having to visit the on-premise location. The ability to do this from my home is a major benefit. Additionally, security is good.

I have been using Meraki SD-WAN for approximately two years.

I rate the stability of Meraki SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

When we upgraded from the old Cisco models, we encountered very few challenges during the migration to Meraki SD-WAN. In the future, there may be a few challenges to overcome during migration.

This solution is used mostly in enterprise-sized companies.

I rate the scalability of Meraki SD-WAN a seven out of ten.

I rate the support from Meraki SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

The deployment time of Meraki SD-WAN can vary. For someone new to the process, it could take a couple of hours. However, for someone with hands-on experience, such as myself, it only takes approximately two to three hours to set up the entire configuration.

I rate the initial setup of Meraki SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

We used two people for the deployment of the solution.

I have received a return on investment using this solution. The manageability cost has been reduced.

Pricing is a significant concern for me. Amongst all the firewall brands, Cisco is one of the most expensive options. Despite its reputation and security features, many customers opt for other brands, such as SonicWall because of their lower prices. These other brands offer similar features to Cisco but at a lower cost. Cisco's pricing is something that could be improved to attract more customers. The brand has a good reputation, but when it comes to budgeting and pricing, it is not always the first choice.

The solution is very expensive.

I rate the price of Meraki SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

In my professional network, when people ask me about which brand of switches to use, Meraki SD-WAN is always the first recommendation. However, the final decision often comes down to budget. If a customer has the budget for Meraki SD-WAN, I recommend it, but if budget is a concern, there are other brands that can be considered.

I rate Meraki SD-WAN a nine out of ten