Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs NETGEAR Insight Access Points 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
4.3
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Insight Access Points
Ranking in Wireless LAN
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 11.6%, down from 12.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Insight Access Points is 1.3%, down from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN11.6%
NETGEAR Insight Access Points1.3%
Other87.1%
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…
Calvin Ong - PeerSpot reviewer
Reasonably priced product with a straightforward deployment process
I never thought about what could be made better in the product since my company is a customer-centric organization where we provide Aruba or NETGEAR, depending on the demands and needs of our customers. The product's UI needs to be simplified and made more straightforward. It would be great if it was possible to send notifications regarding some errors related to the product that can be sent from our company to our clients through the organization's post-sales team.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The flexibility, since it's a cloud service, is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"It is cloud-based. You can manage it remotely from anywhere in the world, and you don't have to be on-site, which is a very big advantage."
"The most valuable feature is that the solution is friendly to manage."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN are the ease of use and the ability to manage it from the cloud."
"We can deploy it and check in on our customers without having an on-site connection or an on-site infrastructure for elderly customers."
"Provided reliability and a good price."
"I really don't have any problems with the stability of the product."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"The metrics demonstrate that NETGEAR really does a good job of balancing the load between the various access points on the networks and this results in an elimination of downtime."
"Our company sometimes uses the solution's technical support, and we have seen that they sort out our general problems quickly."
"I now have the ability to remote access my network. That works extremely well. I can access it from any place. I don't need to be physically at the device. This saves me on time and travel."
"The product's deployment is straightforward."
"The meshing capabilities are the most valuable feature. When I am going in-between buildings, my phone doesn't have to pick up different WiFi. They are all the same. Even in-between the buildings, I stay connected."
"[Being] able to configure the WiFi devices and to see utilization remotely, or from the cloud."
"From the WiFi aspect, it's very intuitive and easy to use. The solution enables me to manage my entire WiFi from anywhere in the world..."
"I am all about simplicity. With the Insight management solution, I don’t need an additional cloud controller, appliance, network manager, or PC/server to configure and manage my access points. You have to look at cost, and everything has a cost. There is a cost to using Insight. But if the cost is reasonable, I don't want another layer. The ability to deploy a network and then have that software built-in, without having to go to a third-party, is big. Also, the less pieces that I have to call in on, the better. So, when I'm calling NETGEAR, it's not like I'm using some third-party piece of software to manage their product. It doesn't add that layer of complexity, which is key."
 

Cons

"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."
"The commercial version of the solution could be cheaper."
"The solution should be more secure."
"Integration with the corporate LAN where Catalyst products are installed is a major challenge."
"The logging sometimes doesn't give us the granularity needed. Some of the rules are a bit more complicated. The switch ports on the routers are not individually addressable, in the sense that with a switch you can tell what MAC address is on what port but with the security appliances, you can't, which would be beneficial for troubleshooting."
"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."
"Meraki should share their viability roadmap. It is really hard to know which functionality will appear or when they will be available. It is also hard to know which features are available now but are not visible on the dashboard."
"The integration options with third-party applications need enhancement."
"My major problem is right now, the area which I need to cover is around 7,000 to 10,000 square feet...I would like NETGEAR Insight Access Points to extend the area coverage they provide."
"The product's UI needs to be simplified and made more straightforward."
"The registration is annoying. I have to go back to NETGEAR and log tickets. Access points and router registration are something that they need to address in Insight. They need to fix the bug of getting the devices activated and enrolled in Insight without fighting with them. I have probably done about six of these in the last month. You get to see patterns."
"Software-wise, they need to provide the ability to kick users out. If multiple users are abusing the system or the network, I should be able to block them for a time and, when I need to unblock them, I should be able to do so by using their MAC ID. That feature might already be there and I just don't know about it."
"Ubiquiti is a very good company. NETGEAR should look at that model and expand on its remote capabilities. Ubiquiti seems to have a better product."
"I have some frustrations with the ease of use. It tends to be sluggish. The graphical interface is pretty, but not useful. They have this tree that shows connected devices, which makes no sense whatsoever because the labeling field of the tree truncates all the items to the point that it's almost useless. You can't even tell what it is. I would prefer a spreadsheet list of the gear as opposed to a graphical representation."
"The biggest issue I've had is that it works very well with the WiFi, but it does not offer any assistance at all with the routers. You can't control them or manage them at all. As soon as you want to use anything on the network side—because I have multiple 28-port switches—you can't manage them using this app."
"Due to certain shortcomings in the solution's stability, I feel that the solution's stability requires improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The platform is more expensive than other solutions."
"I don't deal with pricing directly, however, it's my understanding that it is around $40 per unit."
"The price of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN could be improved, it is too expensive. We pay for the solution on an annual basis."
"The solution is pretty expensive."
"You have to renew your contract every year, or for three or for five years. If you do not pay right away they will suspend your subscription."
"Higher subscription fee may be necessary if extra features are required."
"The pricing is based on a subscription and is a bit high at the moment."
"The price of the product could be cheaper."
"It wasn't much more than 100 dollars a year. For the devices that we have, the pricing was pretty fair."
"For what you get, the price of Insight access points is very reasonable."
"We have some basic models they give without a license."
"The pricing seems to be reasonable."
"My company does not need to pay anything related to the solution's licensing costs."
"Their pricing is perfect for smaller businesses who are money and budget conscious. There are a lot of other solutions out there that are two to three times more expensive."
"I can source the stuff pretty quickly wherever I go through the distributor. There is pricing available at NETGEAR if you can spend between $2,000 and $5,000 on a solution. So, there is special pricing that they can help with. The vendor's reps are very responsive. They have a good channel system."
"I think that the price of the product is reasonable."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
10%
Retailer
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business68
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

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...
 

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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. NETGEAR Insight Access Points and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.