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Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Fortinet FortiAP comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

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

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Ranking in Wireless LAN
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
119
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiAP
Ranking in Wireless LAN
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 12.3%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiAP is 5.8%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

RezaPradipta - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamline network management with a unified dashboard for seamless device integration
The primary use case for Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is mostly for enterprise wireless, including guest Wi-Fi and enterprise Wi-Fi. I use it across various industries with a focus on retail Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers a single pane of glass management. It only comes with a controller on the…
JayPrajapati - PeerSpot reviewer
Room for improvement in customer support as overall satisfaction remains low
We earlier expected that Fortinet FortiAP could be managed through the cloud, which would be very good, but nowadays, FortiNet is providing FortiAPs with cloud management also. That requirement has been covered. Currently, I cannot see any areas for improvement because it fulfills my requirements, and I can do everything I need with it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's cloud controller is easy to use."
"Cisco Meraki is HIPAA compliant."
"Cisco provides 24/7 support"
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"The setup phase was very easy and user-friendly for me, not only for initial setup but also for ongoing management."
"The product offers HA solutions and redundancy features to ensure reliable operations."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the application visibility, which is one of the main features."
"I would give FortiAP a rating of ten out of ten so far."
"Fortinet FortiAPs are useful for small to medium-scale companies where there are budget concerns."
"The setup was straightforward."
"I like FortiAP's performance and stability. The reporting is also quite good."
"The solution supports recent security components like encryption or hashing algorithms. We can control the APs from FortiGate Firewalls and integrate those APs into FortiGate. You don't have to purchase a separate controller for it."
"The most valuable aspect of Fortinet FortiAP is the support."
"The product's deployment phase is very easy since its documentation part is available in the public domain."
"FortiAP's integration using SSID configuration for the input/output makes deploying permission rules easier."
 

Cons

"In the next release, I would like to see the central control plane have the flexibility to control and distribute policies to all LAN networks, balance the traffic, and the performance based on application monitoring."
"The solution cannot be looked upon for one year or short term because you will pay back all the discounts they offer the next time you pay for renewal."
"The annual maintenance is something that needs to be changed."
"They should introduce a grace period of 60 days after license expiry because as it is now, it automatically goes down and there is no grace period."
"The Meraki platform needs better on-premises management options."
"I would like to see integration with sensors."
"We'd like to have better mapping to showcase low-coverage areas."
"Initially, I liked some of the filtering features, but that's one of the components that we ran into problems with."
"There could be constraints where a product can't be scaled further without purchasing a new model."
"The wireless functionality is not the best."
"The security integration between the network and firewall has room for improvement."
"FortiAP could be a little cheaper."
"There is room for improvement in the product by expanding the number of SSIDs that can be broadcast."
"Technical support is a pain. Fortinet has to get its act together. If you don't pay for premium service, you will have issues."
"There is nothing that particularly comes to mind for improvement."
"The support offered by the solution has certain shortcomings, making it in areas where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is reasonably priced."
"It is expensive, but it is a good product."
"It is expensive."
"The platform is highly priced."
"The cost of both the hardware and licensing is high, and it is more than what I would prefer to spend currently."
"The price of the product could be cheaper."
"It is a relatively expensive solution compared to traditional network alternatives."
"The pricing is based on a subscription and is a bit high at the moment."
"The devices under Fortinet are not expensive. The solution's licensing part is expensive."
"On a scale of one to ten with ten being the most expensive, I would rate FortiAP a six."
"The product is available at a very comfortable price for my company compared to the other products available in the market. The prices of products from Meraki and Aruba are high compared to those of Fortinet."
"We purchased perpetual licensing, and additional costs may vary depending on the services acquired from Fortinet."
"Fortinet FortiAP offers a more cost-effective solution compared to Palo Alto and Check Point."
"If I compare it with the other enterprise products, the price is good."
"FortiAP is more expensive than some other options."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?
Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...
Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...
How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...
What do you like most about FortiAP?
If we have FortiClient installed on multiple devices, it is seamless to connect with FortiAP. It supports passwordless authentication as well. That is a great thing about it.
What needs improvement with FortiAP?
We earlier expected that Fortinet FortiAP could be managed through the cloud, which would be very good, but nowadays, FortiNet is providing FortiAPs with cloud management also. That requirement has...
 

Also Known As

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins
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Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Fortinet FortiAP and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.