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Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs iBwave Unity 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
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
119
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (4th)
iBwave Unity
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Network Modeling and Simulation (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and iBwave Unity aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is designed for Wireless LAN and holds a mindshare of 12.6%, up 12.3% compared to last year.
iBwave Unity, on the other hand, focuses on Network Modeling and Simulation, holds 10.5% mindshare, down 11.6% since last year.
Wireless LAN
Network Modeling and Simulation
 

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…
Gopi R S - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced accuracy in design projects with advanced three-dimensional modeling and great support
I am using iBwave Wi-Fi for a project where we are designing on campus. It is used for large venue designs such as a university campus, and my work involves optimizing and validating the designs for accuracy before site surveys Using iBwave Wi-Fi, I am able to provide more accurate results for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is easy to manage and configure. The dashboard of Meraki is easy to use."
"The management and upgrades are very simple and straightforward."
"If you're trying to identify one of the switches or pinpoint a computer or pinpoint something, you could find it just like that and change the IP address. It's easiest to do it that way."
"Cisco provides 24/7 support"
"Meraki is a decent solution for a small company, and we use it in a pretty typical way. We need Teams and Zoom to work, and we need a high level of security because we want our business to remain confidential."
"It is very stable, very resilient, and very robust."
"Its management is most valuable. It is the major feature of Meraki."
"The product's cloud availability feature is the most valuable for network management."
"It can speed up design."
"Compared to other tools, iBwave Wi-Fi provides 95% accuracy and generates heatmaps."
"The solution's 3D imaging is amazing."
"I find the high-quality Heatmap generation, multi-floor, and wire mapping features to be most valuable."
"The 3D Coverage is a good feature that shows the signal propagation in three dimensions."
"iBwave Wi-Fi's tech support is great. They pick up their phones. I have no complaints."
"The stability and feature set of the application are top notch and can't be matched."
"The most valuable features of iBwave Wi-Fi include the critical three dimensional modeling capabilities, which are necessary for tasks like locating access points, determining their height, and cable routing."
 

Cons

"Integration with the corporate LAN where Catalyst products are installed is a major challenge."
"I would like to see Cisco Meraki improve the accessibility by region level here in Latin America."
"I would like to see integration with sensors."
"It is expensive. Juniper seems to have a lot more to offer for future expansion. Juniper has some features that are not there in this solution."
"Documentation could be improved, but everything else has been spot-on."
"The price could be slightly lowered to make it more competitive in the market."
"When it comes to switching, Meraki lacks categories of features."
"if there is a better feature, they write it as beta so you have to be careful."
"Areas of improvement would include more functionality in the Mobile App, expanded reporting features, and some shortcut features."
"iBwave Wi-Fi could be improved by adding a plot for overall improvement, allowing us to see where we are failing in design parameters, similar to features in Ekahau."
"iBwave Wi-Fi doesn't have a distributor feed platform."
"I would like to be able to see two buildings at the same time so that you can create a campus view."
"I am currently looking for an alternative due to my reluctance with the reliability of this product."
"The cost of the solution could be improved. It's extraordinarily expensive."
"It would be good if we could involve a visual while designing the backhaul."
"It would do iBwave well to become more involved with their clients."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is good, but it could be improved."
"It is an expensive solution."
"It could be more affordable than other solutions."
"Meraki is a very good solution, but the price is quite high for small markets."
"The solution's pricing is a little higher."
"The price of the product could be cheaper."
"I don't deal with pricing directly, however, it's my understanding that it is around $40 per unit."
"It is a relatively expensive solution compared to traditional network alternatives."
"The solution's pricing is cheap."
"I advise others to treat the cost as you would any tooling cost and use the monthly option as needed."
"iBwave Wi-Fi is an expensive solution, but it is worth the cost."
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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%
Educational Organization
14%
Construction Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
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 iBwave Wi-Fi?
Compared to other tools, iBwave Wi-Fi provides 95% accuracy and generates heatmaps.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iBwave Wi-Fi?
Both iBwave Wi-Fi and Ekahau are costly tools. They're considered high in cost because the license needs to be renewed yearly.
What needs improvement with iBwave Wi-Fi?
iBwave Wi-Fi could be improved by adding a plot for overall improvement, allowing us to see where we are failing in design parameters, similar to features in Ekahau.
 

Also Known As

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN
iBwave Wi-Fi
 

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
ARRIS
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ruckus, Cisco and others in Wireless LAN. Updated: June 2025.
859,533 professionals have used our research since 2012.