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

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Ruckus Wireless WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
1.0
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers financial savings and scalability, justifying initial costs, though competitors may offer similar features cheaper.
Sentiment score
6.6
Ruckus Wireless WAN delivers strong ROI with extended lifespan and cost savings, especially valued in educational settings.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
3.0
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN support is generally prompt and knowledgeable, but inconsistencies and delays exist, especially with complex issues.
Sentiment score
6.5
Ruckus Wireless WAN support is generally positive, but users desire more experienced staff and improved communication and contact options.
It would be better if the SLA of technical support was less than four hours.
When we seek support, the service we expect is not promptly delivered, which can be time-consuming.
They would thoroughly troubleshoot issues.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.3
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers seamless scalability, easy expansion, and strong adaptability, despite some cost and licensing challenges.
Sentiment score
7.7
Ruckus Wireless WAN is scalable and adaptable, with cloud options improving scalability despite hardware and licensing limitations.
Meraki is not scalable enough since it straightforwardly maps its products to segmented specifications.
I find the scalability quite good, with a rating of eight out of ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
4.6
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is stable and reliable, but may experience issues during firmware updates and in high-density areas.
Sentiment score
8.2
Ruckus Wireless WAN is stable and reliable, performing well in high-density areas with mostly positive user feedback.
Stability is not an issue for me because it comes with Cisco's proven manufacturer quality.
We have experienced many instances where we have experienced a lag in our network, and I am not sure if it is due to their devices or our network.
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN needs improved features, integration, scalability, security, and competitive pricing to match competitors' offerings.
Improvements needed in support, documentation, UI, integration, licensing, delivery, analytics, and global coverage for competitive alignment.
The most important improvement needed is to eliminate the limitation of uplinks.
Some of the newer models of the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN access point have encompassed the new wireless protocols and increased the strength of their antennas.
There seems to be no visible improvement in the Gartner positioning, which is crucial even as companies like Huawei are also entering the wireless sector.
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is costly with annual licenses, but valued for quality despite limited renewal discounts and coterminous issues.
Ruckus Wireless offers competitive pricing with flexible licensing, seen as a worthwhile investment for performance and coverage benefits.
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is on par with other devices in that category, offering competitive pricing.
It would be more competitive if Meraki would consider reducing the price or extending SD-WAN features to wireless devices.
The price is always on the higher side, which impacts the perception of return on investment.
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers cloud management, ease of deployment, security features, and real-time monitoring for versatile network management.
Ruckus Wireless WAN offers powerful performance, superior coverage, easy deployment, high user support, seamless roaming, and excellent IoT integration.
It also manages security clients and switches, providing a single dashboard to manage multiple network infrastructures.
The ability to program all access points from the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN dashboard, view the status of all of them, and examine the individual devices connected to each access point is very valuable.
The most valuable features are the advanced technologies like BeamFlex, which make a significant difference.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
4.5
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (4th)
Ruckus Wireless WAN
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
Wireless WAN (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is designed for Wireless LAN and holds a mindshare of 12.1%, down 12.6% compared to last year.
Ruckus Wireless WAN, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless WAN, holds 35.0% mindshare, down 37.1% since last year.
Wireless LAN
Wireless WAN
 

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…
Said Souhaiel - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy for us to apply and change parameters or consult the quality
I recommend using Ruckus. First of all, the cost and the price are okay compared to Cisco or Huawei. Secondly, the use is easy, and we have a significant result in terms of quality and signal level. We use it as an access point to provide Internet coverage for the public We have a few on-site…
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
865,295 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%
Comms Service Provider
17%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

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...
Is Ubiquiti Wireless better than Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ubiquiti Wireless is extremely easy to set up and is an excellent option for small businesses, offering enterprise features for a one-time fee and no ongoing licensing fees. Ubiquiti Wireless is ve...
What do you like most about Ruckus Wireless WAN?
Ruckus Wireless WAN is an easy-to-use solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ruckus Wireless WAN?
These are not cheap access points. If you want to go cheap, Ubiquiti is an option. I knew they were worth it because once deployed, they wouldn't require additional attention. They're not at Cisco ...
 

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
American University of Sharjah, Dordt College, Drew University, Lamar University, Raroa School
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ruckus, Cisco and others in Wireless LAN. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.