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Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Fortinet FortiWLC comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

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 FortiWLC
Ranking in Wireless LAN
25th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 12.6%, up from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiWLC is 0.2%, down from 0.3% 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…
Md.Mehedi Hassan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a seamless and secure WiFi experience with outstanding customer support
FortiWLC is valuable due to its security features and the seamless WiFi experience it provides. Our customers benefit greatly from the security aspect, especially since they are already using Fortinet for Firewall services. The security features are crucial for their requirements. The stability and ease of use of FortiWLC also add to its effectiveness.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The fact that Cisco Meraki is cloud based and is reasonably priced has been most valuable."
"Cloud managed wireless LAN product that's stable and scalable. It's an easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot solution."
"With Cisco products and third-party products, integration of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is good."
"The most valuable features are the management tools, including monitoring and reporting."
"There are many valuable features of Cisco Meraki, including the switches, stacking, and layer 3 routing."
"I can control any number of sites globally with a lean IT team."
"The solution is trustworthy. I find it easy and secure."
"The most amazing part is that their Access Points have the ability to connect to multiple conference devices at different times, and it shows you the very in-depth Wi-Fi analytics through their dashboard."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiWLC is the overall high quality."
"FortiWLC is valuable due to its security features and the seamless WiFi experience it provides."
"I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten."
"It's easy to set everything up during implementation."
 

Cons

"Meraki is still very much a small office type of solution. It is not a fit for large enterprise networks, as it doesn't have tunneling functionalities."
"I would like to see Cisco Meraki improve the accessibility by region level here in Latin America."
"The way Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN groups certain things, as far as the devices for either monitoring and or configuring them should be done better. They should be grouped a little bit differently because if I want to configure something, a different setting on an SSID, I have to go to their specific area where I would have thought it should be clumped as a dropdown menu in another area."
"The technical support for Meraki needs improvements made to the waiting times."
"Unfortunately, we have to deal with European privacy laws and as far as we can see, the solution is not compliant with these. It's why we're not able to continue with Cisco Meraki. They need to become compliant with GDPR laws."
"We're are not fully utilizing the features of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN to know a more in-depth analysis of what areas need to be improved. However, the security could improve. It would be a benefit to be able to lock out particular clients that are trying to connect from outside the building."
"In some cases, they could include enhanced features in the product, such as a firewall console and traffic analysis."
"I would like to see integration with sensors."
"For massive implementations, Fortinet should consider reducing the price to make it more affordable."
"Fortinet FortiWLC is not simple to configure when compared to other solutions. The design could be better."
"However, for massive implementations, Fortinet should consider reducing the price to make it more affordable."
"One thing that is lacking is, compared with some other brands, the signal is a bit weaker. Ruckus has much wider signal coverage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"At this price point, I would not mind seeing a four-way channel, instead of a 3x3 or a 4x4, like they do in the Cisco Aironet system with their other brand. For the same price point in this other Cisco brand, it is a lot cheaper, and you can get a slightly better throughput than you can with these."
"I haven't conducted a price comparison yet, but based on information, it appears to be more affordable than the current environment. Therefore, I consider the price to be reasonable."
"It is expensive."
"The pricing is based on a subscription and is a bit high at the moment."
"Its price is okay for an enterprise. Its licensing is the most painful. If you hear anything bad about Cisco, it's about that. We're supposed to be one of the resellers but had to come back down to become a user. It's really bizarre."
"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's pricing is high."
"It is super expensive for what you get. You also have to buy a license every year. Otherwise, it stops working."
"Pricing could be better."
"The price of Fortinet FortiWLC is high. The solution will be out of the market for us because the price is too high for the features it provides."
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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%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Non Profit
9%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiWLC?
I cannot disclose the license price, however, I recommend Fortinet reduce its pricing for massive implementations.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiWLC?
Until now, I have not observed any issues. However, for massive implementations, Fortinet should consider reducing the price to make it more affordable.
What is your primary use case for Fortinet FortiWLC?
We are resellers of FortiWLC, and our customers mainly use it in enterprise settings, particularly for chemical companies.
 

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
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Fortinet FortiWLC and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.