Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Ruckus Wireless comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Apr 6, 2022

We performed a comparison between Cisco Meraki Wireless and Ruckus Wireless based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Most users of both solutions say their initial setup is straightforward.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their ease of use, stability, and scalability. Cisco Meraki Wireless users say the product is easily accessible, resilient, and secure. Several Cisco Meraki Wireless users say they would like to see more information provided on the dashboard. Ruckus Wireless users say the solution is fast, flexibleת and performs well. A couple of users mention they would like to see better mapping capabilities.
  • Pricing: Cisco Meraki Wireless reviewers say it is an expensive product. Some Ruckus Wireless reviewers feel that the price is fair while others feel it is too high.
  • ROI: Some Cisco Meraki Wireless reviewers say they have an ROI, but others say they haven’t yet seen an ROI. Ruckus Wireless reviewers say they see a definite ROI.
  • Service and Support: Most reviewers of both products are satisfied with the level of support they receive.

Comparison Results: Ruckus Wireless has an edge over Cisco Meraki Wireless in this comparison. It is easy to deploy and high performing. In addition, Ruckus Wireless has an impressive ROI and is less expensive than Cisco Meraki Wireless.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Ruckus Wireless Report (Updated: March 2023).
686,748 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The simplicity is great.""The most valuable feature of Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) is the ability to troubleshoot ports on the network. Additionally, when there is an update on the APs they are able to reboot quickly reducing downtime. Other solutions have a longer downtime when updates are done.""In terms of reporting, in terms of all the user reports, it's very rich.""The solution is pretty generic and easy to use.""The most useful feature of Juniper Wireless AP is the reporting Marvis."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Pros →

"The most important feature is flexibility.""I think the IoT integration is the most valuable. I started applying IoT solutions 12 years ago on location-based services. Aruba had implemented this at the time. So I think the integration, particularly into the applications and stuff, is pretty interesting in Meraki.""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.""There are many valuable features of Cisco Meraki, including the switches, stacking, and layer 3 routing.""The settings of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN can be very granular. You can lock down and block devices with the controls. For example, we have four different wireless settings, such as guest, employee, security, and backup. For example, the settings for the employees, if they use laptops, they're required to have certain settings, such as an antivirus installed. If they do not then Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN will not let them connect. This is very good protection because the network works on the bringing your own device(BYOD) principle. It's a BYOD environment now, and you also don't want them to bring infection into the environment because these people are connecting to the LAN via wireless connections. We have to be careful because we're managing it, we have to be very strict with regards to the rules and policies.""For Meraki, the ease of deployment and management is most valuable.""The solution is trustworthy. I find it easy and secure.""You can scale the solution easily."

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"It's easy to install, and the management is flexible.""The solution provides superior coverage.""The controller is most valuable. Through Ruckus ZoneDirector, we can easily manage the websites and the web.""Ruckus Wireless supports the most recent technologies. We can trace every individual and what kind of traffic they're using on our campus. It is very helpful.""Zero-handoff is one of the top features. The client balancing between the access points is good. Its security is also fine.""The scalability has been very good.""Ruckus Wireless provides good coverage.""It gives you the whole user session, and you can tell that the client connected at the traffic post."

More Ruckus Wireless Pros →

Cons
"The solution is expensive.""Juniper Wireless AP can improve by continually improving its reporting and integration with other systems.""I need a bit more time with it before criticizing the features.""Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) could improve if the MIST platform had a built-in master key. This would be an advantage.""If you want to do more specific stuff, it's a bit limited."

More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Cons →

"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.""The throughput of the switches for wireless could be improved.""The licensing isn't very customer-centric. They may have improved it, but previously, if you forgot to pay on a certain day, your service would be shut off.""There should be better Spanish-language technical support.""The ease of use is average. It could be more user-friendly.""There's nothing that special about it.""The solution should be more secure.""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."

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"The solution is sensitive with reference to power fluctuations. This sensitivity should be improved. Additionally, the solution should have more security features integrated.""The cloud system from Ruckus is not mature enough just yet.""An area for improvement in Ruckus Wireless is automating its guest WiFi access function. Currently, the product requires token generation, so it would be better if there's a portal for the guest to log in and get the password rather than the IT team needing to give passwords to guests.""It would be nice if there was a way to compare access points and hardware so you can always get the same level of performance.""The pricing needs to be more clear and licensing could be less expensive.""The pricing is okay, however, it could be a bit lower.""They can improve the cloud portion. Other vendors have a cloud controller, and they can provide the same so that we can see everything.""The price could be improved."

More Ruckus Wireless Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "We pay maybe 1000 SEK per year, per access point."
  • "Juniper Wireless AP's price is a little more expensive than other solutions, but you get what you pay for."
  • "The pricing is something Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series) can work on. The pricing is very high compared to the competition."
  • More Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Meraki is a very good solution, but the price is quite high for small markets."
  • "It is expensive."
  • "I don't deal with pricing directly, however, it's my understanding that it is around $40 per unit."
  • "Its price is high and should be reduced."
  • "It is expensive, but it is a good product."
  • "Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It can be for three, five, or ten years. I'm happy with the pricing. You basically pay for what you get. It is that simple. When you look at Ubiquiti or Aruba, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN far outweighs what you get. If you're in the UK, Ubiquiti gives a three-year or five-year warranty, whereas here in the UAE, they only give a one-year warranty, which is no good to me. Who buys a piece of equipment with only one year warranty on it? It doesn't make sense."
  • "It is super expensive for what you get. You also have to buy a license every year. Otherwise, it stops working."
  • "Since it's been acquired by Cisco, it's an even higher cost."
  • More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The price could be better. Normally, if you find customers paying for cost-effective wireless solutions, Ruckus devices are a little expensive compared to other vendors."
  • "It depends on the client. You have an initial license cost that you need to buy to bind the access point with the controller. This is a one-time fee. You also have to pay the support fee that, if I remember correctly, is about $25 per access point. Its pricing and licensing can be improved."
  • "It is decently priced."
  • "It is a pricey solution."
  • "We have a yearly license for our multiple mode 200 or 300 Ruckus Wireless systems. It's a good price."
  • "It's quite expensive, but that is what you get with these types of solutions."
  • "If you walk into any restaurant or hotel you will find Ruckus Wireless solutions because it is economical when it comes to pricing. There is a basic subscription for the license and support."
  • "The price of Ruckus Wireless is less expensive than other solutions, such as Cisco."
  • More Ruckus Wireless Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:In terms of reporting, in terms of all the user reports, it's very rich.
    Top Answer:It is a very expensive product. Not every company could afford a device like this. The cost is around 1.2 lakhs, or… more »
    Top Answer:I haven't had any issues with the product. The solution is expensive. That is why we have a very minor deployment.
    Top Answer:Depends.  I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them.  Extreme I am not, so unless they have… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be… more »
    Top Answer:Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a… more »
    Top Answer:At my organization, we researched Ruckus Wireless among other solutions but ultimately chose Aruba wireless. What did… more »
    Top Answer:Ruckus Wireless offers users the benefit of being both easy to set up and get running as well as being very user… more »
    Top Answer:Easy to configure and user-friendly.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Juniper Wireless Access Points (AP Series), Mist Access Points
    MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN
    Learn More
    Overview

    Juniper Wireless Access Points work in conjunction with Juniper Mist Cloud Services and Mist AI to deliver premier wireless access capabilities. The Juniper Mist Edge extends microservices to the campus to bring agility and scale while enabling new applications at the edge.

    Cisco Meraki access points are built from the highest grade components and carefully optimized for a seamless user experience. The outcome: faster connections, greater user capacity, more coverage, and fewer support calls. The Cisco Meraki dashboard gives visibility into the network users, their devices, and their applications. Armed with rich analytics, administrators can quickly create access control and application usage policies, optimizing both the end-user experience and network security.

    Ruckus Wireless is part of Ruckus Networks/Commscope and provides reliable wireless network solutions and services to large venues, schools, hotels, hospitals, malls, and public spaces (and more) worldwide.

    Wireless access is an integral necessary part of today’s modern, fast-paced lifestyle. It is essential that dependable, safe wireless capabilities be available in most of today’s largely populated public spaces. Ruckus Wireless is the trusted industry leader in assisting organizations of all sizes to provide wireless access throughout their locations, both inside their physical structures and adjacent open outdoor areas.

    Ruckus Wireless empowers users to design and create a wireless network across their organizational space to ensure that wireless coverage is available consistently to anyone who needs it. Ruckus can handle anything from homes and small to medium-sized businesses to hospitals, college campuses, airports, malls, stadiums and more. Ruckus also has excellent options for outdoor wireless networks. Many users choose Ruckus Wireless for broad extensive outdoor use. The solution offers excellent durable outdoor access points and a very robust, super fast, reliable Wi-Fi. Each and every access point is very powerful, and the outdoor access points can be very easily disguised to keep the network secure.

    Another strong point is that Ruckus technology is based on frequencies. If there is ever any type of wireless interference, Ruckus Wireless can change frequency automatically so there are never any interruptions. Users also have the option to block outside access points and signals that may interfere with their network and make their network the only one that people can see within the network. Users can additionally whitelist certain networks if desired.

    Ruckus uses the latest next-gen Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi 6, ensuring that more devices can be handled with greater speed and continuity. With Ruckus, users have great control over network traffic. They can also allocate the amount of bandwidth network users are granted based on their status - eg., guest, corporate, etc. - and give users priority on the network based on their status. Ruckus also has mesh and beamforming capabilities, which are recognized as a valued feature for many users.

    Ruckus Wireless is robust, extremely reliable, very easy to deploy, and offers amazing coverage and rock solid connectivity. It is very easy to add additional access points across the network. Ruckus Wireless is very easy to use and manage using an app on any mobile device.

    Reviews from Real Users

    A Director Engineering & New Business at a comms service provider says Ruckus “provides superior coverage and is very dependable”

    Sintayehu A., Director Of Information Communication Technology at Dire Dawa University, relates that "Ruckus Wireless supports the most recent technologies. We can trace every individual and what kind of traffic they're using on our campus. It is very helpful."

    Philip S., Independent Consultant - Wireless, says, "The solution is very stable. I've worked with it at a hospital before, where we deployed it all over the hospital. It worked everywhere and continuously worked flawlessly."

    Offer
    Learn more about Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points
    Learn more about Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
    Learn more about Ruckus Wireless
    Sample Customers
    Information Not Available
    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
    American University of Sharjah, Baruch College, Centro Escolar Liceo Santo Tomšs, Chevalier College, Chico Unified School District, Colegio de Fomento El Prado, Columbia Public Schools, Delta School District, Dordt College, Douglas County School District, Drew University, Armonea, Central Utah Clinic, Grove Hill Medical Center, Inner South Community Health Service, Midwest Surgical, Satilla Regional Medical Center, Lyndoch Living, Polonus, Roaring Fork School District, Sonora State, Vivid, Sydney, Players Club, Sandals, Scandic Hotels, Sheraton LAX, Sunbird
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Government8%
    Educational Organization7%
    Comms Service Provider6%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider20%
    Non Profit10%
    Educational Organization10%
    Computer Software Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Government7%
    Educational Organization6%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider45%
    Educational Organization11%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    University7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Educational Organization7%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise54%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business54%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise25%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise55%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business57%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise23%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business34%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise48%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Ruckus Wireless
    March 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Ruckus Wireless and other solutions. Updated: March 2023.
    686,748 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is ranked 2nd in Wireless LAN with 48 reviews while Ruckus Wireless is ranked 4th in Wireless LAN with 42 reviews. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is rated 8.0, while Ruckus Wireless is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN writes "Highly reliable, effective site blocking, and beneficial reports". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Ruckus Wireless writes "Reliable with good performance, good backend, and good ability to provision the devices". Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is most compared with Aruba Wireless, Ubiquiti Wireless, Cisco Wireless, Mist AI and Cloud and Fortinet FortiWLM, whereas Ruckus Wireless is most compared with Aruba Wireless, Cisco Wireless, Ubiquiti WLAN and Fortinet FortiWLM. See our Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Ruckus Wireless report.

    See our list of best Wireless LAN vendors.

    We monitor all Wireless LAN reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.