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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
4.5
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 July 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 12.3%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Insight Access Points is 1.3%, down from 1.6% 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…
Piyush Jain - PeerSpot reviewer
A product with load-balancing features that offers scalability to its users
My major problem is right now, the area which I need to cover is around 7,000 to 10,000 square feet, where even the mesh routers don't work out for me because it is a huge area to be covered. To cover huge areas, I will have to put extenders. I will have to use mesh routers with extenders to cover a whole huge area with Wi-Fi. I would like NETGEAR Insight Access Points to extend the area coverage they provide. One of the major problems I see is that when you try to use NETGEAR Insight Access Points, the huge amount of options that are there can only be handled by a person who is experienced or knows the process. So there should be a guide that walks anyone through different options and different things about how to go work with the UI.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is stable and reliable."
"The solution is fast."
"The solution ensures seamless connectivity as users move within the office. Six installed Meraki APs provide excellent coverage for around three hundred users, offering reliable speeds. Additionally, the system allows guests and users with priority devices to connect using their SAP ID. The traffic is managed through D and G controllers to meet the specified requirements for continuous connection and speed."
"We can deploy it and check in on our customers without having an on-site connection or an on-site infrastructure for elderly customers."
"The solution is easy to use."
"Its flexibility, ease of management via the portal, and the variety of access points are the most valuable features."
"The product is super stable. I would rate the stability a ten."
"It's a stable product."
"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."
"The initial setup of NETGEAR Insight Access Points was straightforward."
"Our company sometimes uses the solution's technical support, and we have seen that they sort out our general problems quickly."
"[Being] able to configure the WiFi devices and to see utilization remotely, or from the cloud."
"I'm able to do a lot of things, because the GUI is designed very well. I'm able to remotely make certain changes via my phone and apply them right away. It makes life easier when it comes to managing the equipment. The Insight management solution phone app is very good. It enables me to do what I want to do."
"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..."
"The internet connectivity is good."
"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."
 

Cons

"The solution’s pricing could be improved."
"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 price could be slightly better, but then again, we negotiate deals every time so the market price isn't really relevant."
"The Meraki platform needs better on-premises management options."
"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."
"Currently, with Meraki, a controller is required to direct guest and user traffic to the internet. Improvement is needed in the portal for enhanced visibility into activities. Additionally, addressing multiple bugs, especially those arising with new releases, is crucial to ensure system stability."
"The cost of the devices and the solution itself could be more competitive."
"The only concern is when the license has expired and it will no longer function, the entire network goes down, without any notification, or warning."
"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."
"Due to certain shortcomings in the solution's stability, I feel that the solution's stability requires improvement."
"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."
"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."
"A con is the backend system which is very, very slow."
"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."
"The product's UI needs to be simplified and made more straightforward."
"There is always room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Since it's been acquired by Cisco, it's an even higher cost."
"The price is on the high side when compared to Aruba."
"The price of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is per unit and it has annual maintenance costs."
"My client has made comments on the price, indicating it is expensive, however you do receive a lot for the money that you did spend on the solution. The price of the annual renewal of the licensing of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is a little high. We wish the price would drop."
"The box itself is very cheap. The question here is about the subscription because this is what you will pay every year. In the initial year, for purchasing, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN gives you an attractive price. While during renewal, we are not given much discount."
"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."
"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."
"This solution is slightly more expensive than others, such as Ruckus Wi-Fi."
"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."
"My company does not need to pay anything related to the solution's licensing costs."
"I think that the price of the product is reasonable."
"The pricing seems to be reasonable."
"We have some basic models they give without a license."
"For what you get, the price of Insight access points is very reasonable."
"It wasn't much more than 100 dollars a year. For the devices that we have, the pricing was pretty fair."
"It is an expensive solution."
report
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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%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Retailer
8%
 

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...
 

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: June 2025.
860,825 professionals have used our research since 2012.