Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Reviews

We use it for our office's wireless solution, allowing employees to connect to Wi-Fi within the office environment.

The most valuable features include key elements like creating SSIDs, networking configurations, and the ability to manage all devices through a single console.

The pricing structure could be improved.

We have been using it for approximately two years.

If my internet connection experiences disruptions, the Meraki registration on the internet goes offline, causing the device to also go offline. I would rate the stability nine out of ten.

It's highly scalable, receiving a perfect rating of ten out of ten. It is extensively used by over ten thousand users.

The technical support is prompt, knowledgeable, and customer-friendly.

The initial setup is straightforward.

The deployment is quick and straightforward, requiring minimal time and effort. We simply need to configure the IP and default gateway. The implementation strategy depends on our business needs and the modifications or deployments we undertake, whether it's for production or office use. 
Seven individuals are responsible for managing all the information.

The license is based on an annual subscription. It is a relatively expensive solution compared to traditional network alternatives.

Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

The majority of our Meraki sales focus on advising and implementing robust networks. In some instances, we complement these setups by incorporating Meraki switches into the infrastructure.

It is highly effective and user-friendly. The primary value lies in the ease of configuration; these products seamlessly integrate, and work well together. Deployment is straightforward and hassle-free.

It is not a budget-friendly solution. If, for instance, you invest in Meraki access points with five-year licensing keys, a significant downside is that once that licensing period expires, the devices cease to function unless you either renew the licenses or replace the hardware.

We have been working with it for approximately ten years.

It consistently maintains stability, ensuring a reliable and robust performance for our network infrastructure. I would rate it nine out of ten.

It offers excellent scalability, making it well-suited for medium-sized businesses like ours, with approximately ten clients. I would rate it nine out of ten.

I would rate its customer service and support nine out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward. I would rate it nine out of ten.

The deployment time varies, contingent on factors such as network size and complexity. Generally, assuming the access points are already in place, you can deploy around five access points in a couple of hours. This estimate considers a straightforward setup where the cabling is pre-installed, and the configuration process involves mounting the devices. However, the actual time may extend to three hours or more for more intricate networks with additional considerations like VLANs and user policies. Typically, we begin by ensuring the client has network points in the desired locations for the access devices, a responsibility that lies with them. We then proceed to configure the devices before they are sent to the site. An engineer is dispatched to install the access points, conduct network testing, and finalize the setup. To assess network coverage, our engineers employ software during on-site walks. The process involves creating a heat map, which is initially loaded onto the site to plan the optimal placement of access points. We share this anticipated coverage model with the client, keeping them informed about the expected outcomes. While we can't guarantee absolute accuracy due to factors like wall construction details, we work closely with the client to align their expectations. Following the installation, we use additional software tools to verify the actual coverage and performance, ensuring the client has a clear understanding of their investment.

The pricing is on the higher side. I would rate it eight out of ten. While it may be relatively expensive, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN justifies its cost with its high-quality features and performance.

My advice is to thoroughly assess and plan the placement of access points in your network. Planning is the key. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

Our primary use case for the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN solution is providing Internet access, particularly for guests and remote environments. It enables us to implement controls such as a hospitality landing page for guest authentication, enhancing security and user experience.

The product's coverage area could be expanded. It would help ensure better connectivity.

We have been using Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN for three months.

I rate the platform's stability seven out of ten. Sometimes, there might be network outages or power shortages. The SSID remains safe; however, you may need to switch off your Wi-Fi and switch it back on the network to resolve connectivity issues.

The scalability is quite satisfactory. I rate it around seven or eight, but not a perfect ten. I have deployed it for over 150 users.

The technical support services are good.

Positive

The product is easy to deploy. It took a few minutes to complete.

The platform is highly priced. We have purchased its five-year license.

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is quite helpful in supporting remote work environments. It's easy to manage and provides a clear network view, allowing efficient navigation down to the network details.

The most useful feature is the ability to determine and control traffic flow. Additionally, the reporting features are valuable. Since I manage the system through the cloud setup, the cloud management feature is quite easy to use. It has a network efficiency of 60%. The platform is stable and easy to deploy.

I rate it an eight out of ten.

We use Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN for wireless networks.

We use the solution's bandwidth shaping, URL filtering, and group policy configuration features.

The solution’s pricing could be improved.

I have been using Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN for six months.

I rate the solution ten out of ten for stability.

The solution's scalability is limitless and can meet our organization's growth. Around 200 users are using the solution in our organization.

I rate the solution ten out of ten for scalability.

The solution’s initial setup is easy.

Two people deployed Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN in our organization within a few hours.

On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten.

We use the solution to support the IT workforce in the wireless network. The solution has simplified management and seamless connectivity. The solution provides security from viruses and reduces my bandwidth overhead.

We have two types of monitoring. We use a third-party tool to monitor my entire network. In the Meraki dashboard, we use Meraki monitoring for the wireless client. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is deployed on the cloud in our organization. I would recommend Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN to other users.

Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten.

We use the solution for user-end connectivity. 

The tool's most valuable feature is report generation. Its dashboard helps me a lot with user analytics.

Despite being enabled, I've encountered an issue where the alert main dashboard fails to detect when any of the devices go down. Hence, the tool's notification feature should improve. We have also faced issues with integration. 

I have been using the product for five years. 

I rate the product's stability a ten out of ten. 

I rate Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's scalability a nine out of ten. My company has three users. 

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's tech support is problematic and takes time to respond. We don't even have contact numbers. 

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's deployment is simple. 

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's pricing is high. 

I rate the product a nine out of ten. 

We use the product to manage three SSIDs catering to different network traffic.

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN has a valuable cloud management feature. It is easy to manage and monitor cloud activities. It enables quick deployment within all branches for the users. It provides great performance even in 0℃ temperatures in some places.

In some cases, they could include enhanced features in the product, such as a firewall console and traffic analysis.

We have been using Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN for three years.

We encounter some issues related to DNS resolution once or twice a year. However, the stability works fine for almost 99% of the time.

The platform is easy and quick to scale. We can add up devices on SSIDs for every configuration or node.

We never contacted Cisco's technical support team directly. We receive services from an authorized partner.

We previously used Fortinet APs integrated with their UTM solution for security. It provides an efficient integration.

It is easy to set up, and we take assistance from a third-party engineer to execute the process. It takes a few hours to complete.

We take help from contractors. They assist us with any queries during implementation.

Cisco Meraki Wireless provides 20 ports and other components like switches at half the price of Aruba HP for the same features.

The platform is expensive. Its licenses for 20 ports cost around $1000, including one year of support services.

I rate Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN a nine out of ten.

The solution was deployed in five locations in The Netherlands. We are in K-12 education. Around 2000 students and 500 staff have used Meraki WiFi for the past seven years. 

Younger students have Apple iPads and older students use Microsoft Surface. Staff have a mixture of Dell laptops and Microsoft Surfaces, and can move between sites using the same SSID on all sites. 

Infrastructure is mostly Cisco Catalyst switches L2 and L3, with Sophos firewalls. The use of mobile devices is mainly internet browsing, with some local access to internal database applications.

Cisco Meraki is easy to set up and maintain, yet has issues with firmware updates breaking functions, and not being fixed for months - in one case more than one year. 

Roaming seems to be a function they break regularly with their updates, and then cannot find a solution for. They ask us to wait 18 months for a fix, whilst telling us to upgrade to fix other issues, and not fixing the roaming issue. 

If you don’t discover the problem within two weeks, they refuse to downgrade you to a working firmware version, leaving you with a non-working one. 

And putting the emphasis on you to prove you have a problem. We are a Microsoft school and don’t have Apple, and yet they asked us to find a personal Apple device to install packet capture software on, so they can troubleshoot their issues. It took more than a month to get them to admit there was a problem with their firmware and roll it back to a working version. All the time, students were having problems with roaming.

Licensing is obviously an issue with these devices. You need to buy a license to keep it working. If the license runs out you have no WiFi anymore.

For the last issue I reported, the response from the helpdesk was ‘use a less complex password’. Our password was ‘password’.

On the positive side, they will replace any broken hardware without question.

After five years we decided to replace our old Meraki APs, and Cisco gave a quote for 80 thousand euros, plus they wanted us to relocate every access point to a different position in the building. Another company gave us a quote for a quarter to this price, with no licenses needed and access points in every classroom. Needless to say, we ditched Meraki.

It is very handy to have a support number to call. They will replace the hardware the next day if you prove it is broken.

The dashboard has a lot of functions and is fast, and you can configure everything you need from the dashboard.

The app is handy - when it works and you can log in.

Firewall and traffic shaping are very useful. Also, application blocking is handy.

You can see exactly which clients are connected to which device and trace traffic going to that device.

Maps and floor plans are very useful to see where a client is connected.

The licensing model is a terrible idea. Don’t buy a license for seven years, you will be stuck with old hardware that doesn’t work properly anymore, and can’t be replaced and you are expected to pay yourself to replace in order to fix their issues. If they can't fix the issues anymore in 7-year-old hardware they should replace the hardware at their expense, however, all they say is you have to buy new hardware. A maximum of a five-year license is my recommendation. WiFi technology moves fast and seven-year-old hardware is no longer workable.

The limit of two weeks on rolling back a firmware update is ridiculous. If you report a problem that affects a whole location they should let you roll back the firmware after any amount of time, not limited to two weeks. Then you have to spend a month every day on the phone trying to persuade them that you have a serious issue with their firmware.

I've used the solution for seven years.

The stability is fine until you upgrade firmware and then discover something doesn't work. 

The solution is good and easy to scale if you keep the same settings everywhere.

The helpdesk is always available to help you, but their help is very limited sometimes. For example, if you have gone over the 2 weeks deadline with downgrades, they can refuse to downgrade you until you prove to them that your new firmware isn't working properly. So don't expect to have working WiFi for a few weeks, whilst you try and prove to the helpdesk you have a problem. Then after a month they finally admit there is an issue, and agree to downgrade you, and all the problems magically go away. Until the next time, you upgrade.

Neutral

We used Cisco's traditional WiFi with hardware controllers on all sites - AIR-CAP and AIR-LAP

We switched due to the fact that the cloud dashboard to manage all sites seemed like a great idea, no more controllers on-site to maintain, and support was built in to the licensing.

The setup was done by a reseller, who said 'this is a standard install, nothing special' until we had 1,000 students all come into the school after the holiday and discovered it didn't work properly. 

Then when talking with Meraki, we discovered the reseller had set it up with default settings, hadn't accounted for high density, and didn't do the channel planning properly. After several re-visits, they did a channel plan and set it up manually, which did help.

Through a reseller. Level of expertise = nil. Meraki had to tell them how to setup the correct channels.

High capital expenditure and licensing costs make it an expensive option compared to other vendors in the market.

The cost of the hardware and licensing is extreme compared to other vendors. The Meraki model would be great for small/medium businesses with many locations to manage in one dashboard. However, it's not good for education, the roaming often doesn't work and the rollback is difficult, especially if Meraki decide they are not going to help you, and not fix their issues for 18 months.

We might have looked at Ruckus and Aruba, however, Meraki seemed like the best option for us. It was also recommended by Oxford University at an education event.

Make sure it's the right solution for your business. Don't buy a seven-year license as seven years is too long in the WiFi space. 

Get a good reseller who will give you good support, not just say "contact Meraki" every time you have a problem.

We are transitioning away from Meraki to another vendor, with four sites down and one to go. There are no regrets so far.

EDIT: 7 years later, our new wifi vendor so much better. Cheaper, stable and much easier to manage.

The product's cloud controller is easy to use. 

The product's features for network analysis need improvement. It lags a bit in providing reports for Wi-Fi performance. Additionally, they should offer a higher-end firewall.

We have been using Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN for more than seven years.

I rate Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's stability a seven out of ten.

We have 800 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN users in our organization. I rate its scalability an eight out of ten.

We have used Cisco Aironet and Ruckus products before. Later, we switched to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN as we wanted more control of remote office administration. We are a small company that administers switches, configuration, and backup remotely. In comparison, the traditional Cisco switches need upgrading firmware.

I rate the initial setup process an eight out of ten. It takes 30 minutes to configure it and around two hours to complete the installation. We connect the switch to the LAN, which is already connected to the Internet. Once the device is seen on the Meraki portal, we configure it from there.

The product generates a return on investment for us.

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is expensive. I rate its pricing an eight out of ten.

I rate Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN a seven out of ten. I advise others to configure the product and then utilize the plug-and-play functionality.

It has limitations for pricing and supply of material. It takes around four months to be delivered. It is very time-consuming.