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Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches vs Cisco Meraki MX comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch E...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (23rd)
Cisco Meraki MX
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (8th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user689088 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Jul 18, 2017
 

Featured Reviews

MK
Operational Manager at Astrah Technologies
Has enabled reliable access control with good scalability
The primary use case is access control and normal LAN usage, including internet and email. For example, I have deployed the solution in airport scenarios where there are many users The most valuable feature for me is the stability of the switches. They do not hang often and are very reliable,…
ChrisYankajtis - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Cloud-managed firewalls have simplified clinic networks and have empowered rapid remote deployment
If there was anything I can say I don't about it, I wish the automation was a little bit more friendly. If someone doesn't know too much about automations, I wish it had the ability within the platform to say, 'I want to run this automation within this network. Here's the new network that's coming on board. I'm utilizing the same firewalls, the same switches, same MVs. Here's the subnet that I'm going to use. Here are the IPs for the devices.' It should be able to give me that run book and configure it. That would be my main thing within the automation. I don't have much else to complain about. Everything is pretty straightforward. Back in the day, about five years ago, I tried to run 10 terabytes of data on an MX95 with a gig fiber coming in. The firewall was doing all the routing at the time and all the Layer 3. I did see some degraded performance trying to push that data through my MS350 10 gig switch. Once I moved the Layer 3 off the firewall and placed it on my core switch, I saw a better improvement. However, that was five years ago, and I'm not pushing that type of data out now. If the splash page was a little bit more appealing and more configurable, I think that would be nice.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution doesn't have many proprietary protocols like Cisco's. It mainly uses standard protocols like VRRP (similar to Cisco's HSRP), Spanning Tree, and Rapid Spanning Tree, which can sometimes cause integration issues."
"The most valuable feature for me is the stability of the switches."
"The fibre ports that are 10 Gb capacity helped with the travel of a lot of regular as well as video data. Fibre can handle a lot more virtual data than copper twisted-pair, so we got a lot more data and a lot more traffic signals back through the fibre ports, faster, than with copper."
"We are able to customize this solution based on the customer's requirements."
"The product's initial setup phase is not complex. It is easy to install the tool."
"Enables direct access to clusters."
"Overall, everything worked as they said it would."
"The new web graphical interface is much better than before. We now have easy access to the command lines. They're all functional."
"Setting up Cisco Meraki MX requires only internet access, and the rest is very simple."
"Site to Site VPN: The device can establish a VPN connection to multiple sites in a mesh environment in seconds, and without complex VPN knowledge."
"Maintaining firewalls will never be joyful, but Meraki has made the quality of life for someone who has to maintain a firewall much better."
"It's an outstanding product with outstanding people on the team."
"The stability of Meraki is that we have to fight working readiness, Meraki MX firewalls are perfect and we have no problems."
"As a partner, I think the biggest advantage of Cisco Meraki MX is the centralized management."
"Features are straightforward to use as you switch them on or off, which can be advantageous from a simplicity point of view."
"Ease of management is the best thing about the solution."
 

Cons

"OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches would be improved if cloud-based technology was provided in the Gulf region."
"The network connection should be improved."
"My customer's team is not able to understand the loophole with Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches, but apart from that, there are no issues."
"I could see them possibly creating a more intuitive software. It's very user-friendly, but there are some things that aren't very intuitive when programming the switches."
"We had stability issues with Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches 6250. One issue is with licensing. When migrating from TDM to VoIP/ToIP solutions integrated on the same architecture, Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches don't have the same skill level or follow the same development path as companies like Cisco. They started integrating these solutions later, which is why there's a noticeable difference in advancement."
"I find the CLI hard to use. I wish we could do more in the GUI interface."
"The product would be better if it were completely compatible with other switching products."
"Sometimes I feel that the Alcatel switches are not working harmoniously with some of the Cisco switches."
"Improvements are required more on the side of troubleshooting."
"It can be improved in many areas, because it has many proprietary models for many different areas."
"I feel that Cisco Meraki MX is less of a next-generation firewall. In my assessment, compared to most next-generation firewalls from Fortinet and Palo Alto, it seems more like an application firewall and could be improved further."
"When we do API integrations with Meraki, they have always been hard as well as tedious to build."
"The only stability issue is in Content Filtering. Sometimes we need to report these types of issues to Cisco support."
"The security is not as strong as it could be"
"The IPS, the Intrusion Prevention System, can be improved."
"We have had issue with the load balancing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is reasonable compared to Aruba and HPE."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The licensing for OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches is a one-time purchase with no additional costs."
"Pricing is cheap compared to other vendors. When we benchmark the tool against Meraki, Cisco, and others, it is usually more affordable."
"The pricing could always be improved — especially with the shape the economy is in at the moment."
"Meraki is also expensive, but it's a little bit less expensive and it's easier to configure than Cisco ASA."
"I rate the tool's price a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is very expensive."
"The price varies depending on the hardware platform as well as the type of license and whether you're adding security or not."
"The license cost depends on the box. We acquired a different product line. We are dealing with MX appliance now, that is, MX6, MX54, MX100, MX250, MX450. Every box has got an identity, and it has got its own specification. Every box has got a different license fee. We deployed Meraki MX in UAE when it was not a mature product. We took a risk, but we were successful. We saved a huge amount of money after implementing and removing all the MPLS and leased lines. We got a broadband connection because Meraki MX could work on a broadband connection. We have drastically saved a very good amount of money, which was one of the successful things apart from the successful solution."
"In my country, the product is cheap compared to the UK because of the differences in taxes."
"The pricing for Meraki MX is all right, but as the hardware needs to be licensed, the cost depends on the complexity of the device and the term. Pricing could be $100 to $10,000 yearly or even more for a more complex device."
"The solution is expensive."
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Answers from the Community

it_user689088 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Jul 18, 2017
Jul 18, 2017
With a good diagram and keeping in mind the whole routing part, it is really simple configuration, I have no knowledge on Alcatel switches but you will not have any problems for compatibility ...
2 out of 13 answers
AB
Founder and Lead Network Consultant at Airowire Networks
Jul 12, 2017
Hi, Could you elaborate on your requirement. What do you mean by "integrate" ? What do you intend to do ?
AS
Deputy Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Jul 12, 2017
The Meraki MX100 is an enterprise security appliance designed for distributed deployments that require remote administration. It is ideal for network administrators who demand both ease of deployment and a state-of-the-art feature set. This security appliance provides the following new features: Two GbE SFP connections (requires optional Meraki SFP-1GB-SX transceiver). USB port, to support approved 3G/4G cards for failover to cellular networks. 1TByte cache storage for WAN acceleration. LAN 2 port can be configured to be a LAN or WAN connection, allowing support up to 2 WAN connections. Dedicated management port. Front-panel rack mounts. Now want to know about your issues. Is it a deployment factor with Alcatel switches ?
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business52
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches?
In terms of pricing, Alcatel is cheaper than Cisco, however, MikroTik is the cheapest. I cannot comment on the pricing reasonability as I am a technical person, and decisions are made by those who ...
What needs improvement with Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches?
The commands for the switches could be easier as I find them more complex compared to those of Cisco.
What is your primary use case for Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches?
The primary use case is access control and normal LAN usage, including internet and email. For example, I have deployed the solution in airport scenarios where there are many users.
Fortigate 60d vs. Meraki MX67 for a small company without a dedicated IT Department
We have Meraki Mx devices now, we are looking to replace them. But that is because the Meraki MX platform lacks SSL Inspection, Granular Firewall rules (Block only, no allow setting), client vpn re...
Which is better - Meraki MX or Cisco ASA Firewall?
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the operating software for the Cisco ASA suite. It supports network security and firewall options. We researched both Meraki and ASA. We liked t...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki MX?
I find the pricing for Cisco Meraki MX reasonable and competitive given the features provided and the target market. I believe it is acceptable.
 

Also Known As

Alcatel-Lucent Ethernet Switches, OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches
MX64, MX64W, MX84, MX100, MX400, MX600
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bayonette, California State University (CSU), Centre Hospitalier Carcassonne, Centro Universitšrio de Brasilia (UniCEUB), China Tianchen Engineering Corporation Co. LTD, Citta Della Speranza, City of Frankfurt, City of Ogden, City of Vila Franca de Xira
Hyatt, ONS
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