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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
3rd
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 May 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 12.7%, up from 12.2% 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

"Cloud managed wireless LAN product that's stable and scalable. It's an easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot solution."
"Integrating with the router, firewall, and Wireless Controller is advantageous."
"The management and upgrades are very simple and straightforward."
"The solution provides good coverage and identity management. Additionally, the user interface is straightforward."
"We're able to automate as well as manually control as necessary."
"I really don't have any problems with the stability of the product."
"It is easy to manage and configure. The dashboard of Meraki is easy to use."
"I like the status page Cisco added that shows you the health of the wireless connection."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiWLC is the overall high quality."
"It's easy to set everything up during implementation."
"I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten."
"FortiWLC is valuable due to its security features and the seamless WiFi experience it provides."
 

Cons

"The price could be slightly lowered to make it more competitive in the market."
"We would like the solution to work on the pricing of the solution. It would be ideal if it could bring the overall costs down."
"I would like to see Cisco Meraki improve the accessibility by region level here in Latin America."
"In a future release, they should offer a next-generation UTM, where you can manage all items and the network, and have it include a lot of security features like fingerprinting functionality."
"The technical support from Cisco is good, but they can improve themselves in some areas. Sometimes it takes a while to provide a solution or an answer to our problem."
"It would be nice to have licensing that stays in place while the system is being renovated or changed."
"I would like to see them improve their support where an assigned engineer can take the case all the way to closure. Usually, you get a different engineer calling regarding the same ticket."
"The biggest pain point is that they limit you through firewall throughput. I understand why they do it, but that really grates me. For instance, for 450 Mbps throughput, you're looking at £800 for a router, whereas if you look at the one gig connection, for some of us are lucky enough to have a gig connection, you could almost be spending £3,000 for the option to have one gig connectivity. That's one of the pain points I've got. I don't mind paying for throughput, but I should at least have the option to be able to update that throughput, maybe through extra licensing or something else. It is crazy expensive to jump through to the next one."
"One thing that is lacking is, compared with some other brands, the signal is a bit weaker. Ruckus has much wider signal coverage."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution could improve the licensing structure and the price is expensive."
"The price is good, but it could be improved."
"Negotiate the deal put in front of you!"
"This solution is quite costly and there are costs in addition to the licensing fees."
"These units cost between $800 and $900 per device and on top of that, you have to pay yearly fees for maintenance."
"Cost could be better."
"The tool is reasonably priced."
"It is super expensive for what you get. You also have to buy a license every year. Otherwise, it stops working."
"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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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Non Profit
10%
Real Estate/Law Firm
9%
 

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: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.