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Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Ubiquiti Wireless comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 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 (3rd)
Ubiquiti Wireless
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Wireless WAN (1st)
 

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 12.7%, up 12.2% compared to last year.
Ubiquiti Wireless, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless WAN, holds 40.1% mindshare, up 40.0% 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…
Sachin Vinay - PeerSpot reviewer
Simple to set up and good outdoor accessibility but does not penetrate rooms well indoors
Ubiquiti requires more improvement in wireless penetration. It has significantly less penetration in indoor devices. When it comes to indoor devices, Ubiquiti Wireless does not have penetration power, so when we deploy it in closed rooms, it fails to connect. This is one drawback that has to improve. When indoor access points failed to penetrate into rooms, we had to deploy single access points in each room, which seemed to be really costly. Still, when compared to Fortinet, it has an outdoor access point model also. The outdoor access point is relatively stable in comparison. The solution needs to offer more scalability. It does not have traffic shaping or traffic policies in its wireless requirements. We have to completely depend on an additional firewall for traffic shaping and policies.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco Meraki is HIPAA compliant."
"The solution is very stable. It is a very manageable and secure system."
"I really don't have any problems with the stability of the product."
"The initial setup of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN was very easy."
"The most valuable features include key elements like creating SSIDs, networking configurations, and the ability to manage all devices through a single console."
"What I like best about Meraki is that I can change it from anywhere."
"It's simple to manage when there's a problem."
"The tool's most valuable feature is report generation. Its dashboard helps me a lot with user analytics."
"Ubiquiti Wireless is very scalable. I don't know that there's a limit to the scalability. We just add more data switches to power more access points. We haven't come across a situation where it can't handle the Ubiquiti equipment."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of setup."
"The range is usually pretty good, which is the most important thing to use because more or less, all wireless access points are the same."
"They are reliable in terms of wireless connectivity."
"It allows us to offer policy control."
"I like the simplicity, the ease of use."
"The setup is easy and user friendly."
"The solution is easy to use and flexible."
 

Cons

"The product's pricing needs improvement."
"Cisco Meraki must improve the integration between its own family of products."
"Its pricing could be better."
"They should introduce a grace period of 60 days after license expiry because as it is now, it automatically goes down and there is no grace period."
"Concern when there are a number of concurrent users."
"Updating the equipment and the scheme they use to bill for the license could be improved."
"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."
"Quality of technical support varies."
"I would like to see more cloud features that some of the other competitors such as Cisco Meraki have that are very nice."
"The firmware updates can sometimes be too quick and have flaws, especially for early access users."
"The solution should offer simpler management for guests. That would be helpful in the hospitality industry, for example."
"I feel the price could be optimized, as their equipment is priced on the higher side. Additionally, the user interface could be made more intuitive."
"We need an official distributor in Egypt as we don't have one right now."
"Better security is important because we need to have some degree of control over who is connected and how we can restrict the level of connectivity."
"They have access points that are in the firewalls, and I believe the firewalls could be significantly better. They use the USG firewall, which I believe is a poor device. VPNs for example, it is really bad, it is difficult to configure, and I don't like them at all."
"In Ukraine at least, it's a problem when it comes to buying the hardware. For example, I made a request for 20 switches a few months ago. The solution needs to have worldwide availability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We do a three-year or five-year license and support. Its price could be better, but overall, we get competitive prices. A lot of times, Cisco puts itself out of range, especially with Meraki. I've dealt with a lot of business development from Cisco, and they have always been accommodating, especially in dealing with hospitals or government. There is also a right time to buy it. July is when they are eager to sell a lot of things because that is the end of their calendar year."
"It is expensive, but it is a good product."
"I don't deal with pricing directly, however, it's my understanding that it is around $40 per unit."
"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is expensive."
"We pay a yearly license fee for the solution."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"Cisco Meraki requires either a one year or three year license for a standard enterprise license."
"The price is good, but it could be improved."
"Right now the product is less expensive and of higher quality than other solutions."
"Ubiquiti Wireless is affordable."
"The price of Ubiquiti Wireless is affordable, we pay approximately $100 and $150 per access point."
"The price has been fair for what I have been using it for. There is no license for this solution."
"There aren't any license costs attached to the product."
"For €100, you have Wi-Fi and you don't have to worry about a license."
"If you do not have a big budget, you can use Ubiquiti, it is cost-effective."
"The product is around $300 or $400 depending on the device. It's a one-time fee. There aren't ongoing licensing costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
6%
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...
Which is better - Cambium or Ubiquiti Wireless?
For me, Ubiquiti was easy to install, configure, set up, and maintain, while also providing solid coverage and better handoffs between APs. This is especially relevant if you are using Apple produc...
Which is better - Ubiquiti Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Ubiquiti Wireless offers a wide range of WLAN products. We tested their devices before ultimately choosing Cisco Meraki. Ubiquiti devices have good outdoor performance and the connection is very st...
 

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
NASCAR Grand-AM, Maritime Parc, Outdoor Music Festival, British Armed Forces, Arcadia School District, Moscow - Enforta
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ruckus, Cisco and others in Wireless LAN. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.