Meraki Dashboard vs Observer GigaStor comparison

Cisco and Viavi Solutions are both solutions in the Network Monitoring Software category. Cisco is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.6, while Viavi Solutions is ranked #84. Cisco holds a 0.7% mindshare in NMS, compared to Viavi Solutions’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Viavi Solutions users who would recommend it.

Meraki Dashboard

Read 63 Meraki Dashboard reviews

4,918 Views
4,082 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Observer GigaStor

Read 7 Observer GigaStor reviews

2,796 Views
1,761 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Meraki Dashboard

Observer GigaStor

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Observer GigaStor and Meraki Dashboard compete in network performance monitoring and management. Observer GigaStor seems preferable for cost-effectiveness in pricing and support, while Meraki Dashboard offers superior features justified by their higher cost.

Features: Observer GigaStor provides deep packet capture, detailed analytics, and robust troubleshooting capabilities. Meraki Dashboard offers cloud-based management, easy network control, and comprehensive performance metrics.

Room for Improvement: Observer GigaStor could benefit from streamlined deployment, enhanced user interface, and broader integration capabilities. Meraki Dashboard might improve by offering lower cost options, increasing feature customization, and expanding offline functionalities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Observer GigaStor requires complex on-premises setup involving specific infrastructure and lengthy setup time. Meraki Dashboard provides a quicker, cloud-based deployment experience, with efficient customer service assisting smooth implementation.

Pricing and ROI: Observer GigaStor comes with a lower initial setup cost, appealing for budget-conscious organizations. Meraki Dashboard, despite a higher setup cost, potentially offers a better long-term return on investment due to its extensive features and easier management.

To learn more, read our detailed Meraki Dashboard vs. Observer GigaStor Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard vs. Observer GigaStor

August 2026

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Helped 910,005 peers since 2012

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

Meraki Dashboard

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

11th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Observer GigaStor

Ranking in Network Monitoring Software

84th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Troubleshooting (14th), Network Packet Broker (NPB) (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Meraki Dashboard is 0.7%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Observer GigaStor is 0.5%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Meraki Dashboard	0.7%
Observer GigaStor	0.5%
Other	98.8%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Dashboard provides comprehensive network security and management capabilities

I don't have specific handy names. Meraki Dashboard uses multiple functions where we can configure SSIDs, firewall policies, DHCP, multiple VLANs and DHCP configurations, VLAN configurations, access control policies, MAC binding, client access based on MAC authentication and certificate-based authentication. We have configured SSO for Windows Active Directory by configuring the RADIUS services. We have implemented many customer requirements in Meraki Dashboard. With the detailed visibility feature of Meraki Dashboard, I get connected clients information, including how much data each client downloaded and what applications they accessed. I can obtain detailed data including ISP links level monitoring and speed. I can perform speed tests, generate analytics reports, convert to Excel based on each user for each department, create dashboards, monitor and limit bandwidths, and restrict specific URLs. The advanced security configuration in Meraki Dashboard is useful for network security. Substantial security can be achieved within Meraki Dashboard itself, eliminating the need for additional firewalls to protect your network. You can configure WAN monitoring, users' ACLs, URL filtering, web filtering, and department-wise access configuration for specific client applications. It's completely cloud-managed, and in a simplified way, you don't need to visit any physical infrastructure to monitor activities. Apart from access points, everything is in the cloud. We have monitored IoT solutions, CCTV monitoring, and can detect and control intrusions. When people connect IoT devices to your network, Meraki Dashboard can detect what device it is and control those access controls, even with different operating systems.

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Jeroen-Dubbelman

Director at Bitrate

Aids significantly in the threat-hunting process and provides a score-based evaluation of user experience

There are many valuable features, but understanding end-user response times stands out. It provides a score-based evaluation of user experience, helping customers quickly pinpoint whether issues originate from the network, server, client, or application. Additionally, it facilitates in-depth analysis of application dependencies. The retrospective network analysis capability of Observer GigaStor has been beneficial. It's a pivotal feature for network performance solutions. However, I prefer to consider the entire solution suite - GigaStor, along with GigaFlow and Apex - for comprehensive network visibility and monitoring. So, I prefer to integrate all three solutions to provide the best visibility. They complement each other well, with Apex aggregating and correlating data from both GigaStor and GigaFlow to enhance environmental understanding and troubleshooting efficiency.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are that it's easy to use and technically very complete, and I can configure, do advanced troubleshooting in the dashboard, and reboot access points remotely."

"If they want something that is going to work and be simple to deploy, this is a product they should strongly consider."

"For small businesses, I would recommend Meraki over pretty much anything else on the market."

"I like that Meraki Dashboard is a user-friendly product."

"The overall product rating is ten out of ten."

"What I love most about the Meraki Dashboard are its user-friendly features."

"Easy to configure with great troubleshooting feature."

"This product saves me time and I am very happy using it."

More Meraki Dashboard pros

"Go take a look at it. It's a great product and has great capabilities."

"It's able to capture packets and, after a long time, you can come and use that information; to check, to analyze - everything you would want to do. So it's very good and helpful if you want to protect your data. It is stored in a certain place where you can access it every time you want to analyze it."

"This solution allows us to see exactly what is going on in the network and we can very quickly solve issues with users."

"I also have the ability to see an application's performance, to see what's going on, why a network is slow, why this program for this user is experiencing a delay or some network issue"

"It can help to write your rules, organize firewalls, your block, and also your protocols and IP address to come in or out of your network."

"Industry-leading line rates, packet-capture technology and data-mining capabilities are the most valuable features."

"Enables us to go back in time to capture an issue and analyze it for a solution, and this after the fact analysis is key to overcoming the bump in the night issues."

"If you have the opportunity, I would strongly encourage you to get it, because it makes the IT experience easier and more flexible, by providing the ability to see things in your networks like the directory packet label."

More Observer GigaStor pros

Cons

"Something that needs to be improved, is the fact that you if you don't renew the subscription license, it stops working. I would also like to see SSL BPM support for anything else."

"The biggest problem is the absence of a VPN client like AnyConnect with the device."

"There is a bit of a problem when you try to log in and you don't have a fixed IP address. If you're granting access, you need to log in by using the IP address. If your administrator's IP address is not a fixed IP address and it has changed, you might need to update the changed IP address in the interface. For this, you need to log in to the interface to update the IP address. This issue might not have so much to do with Meraki interface."

"Monitoring overload is an area that can be improved. I would like to see an alert event feature that monitors what users are downloading and how to block some applications."

"Regarding Meraki Dashboard, I would suggest improvements to Cisco ISE integration."

"They can improve the landing page in Meraki Dashboard. When I go into an organization, they can include a lot more infographics. They can also simplify it a bit and consolidate it. For example, if I've got five branches and I go into customer A's profile or organization, I'd like to see an infographic on the landing page providing a snippet of the entire network layout, that is, all branches in one snapshot. From there, I would like to go into the network that I want to work on or view."

"Price could be reduced."

"There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high."

More Meraki Dashboard cons

"Graphics need improvement. Because a lot of the information there you have to input first in some case to have full potential. It could be more automated."

"I would like to have more than 4TB of storage available in the portable version of this solution."

"There are some issues, in our environment that puts processing restraints on the Gigastor when turning on trending data to be sent to APEX."

"GigaStor feeds into Apex. So, the area where there could be improvement would be in artificial intelligence. For example, the incorporation of more advanced machine learning or AI capabilities could enhance its functionality."

"The interface is pretty complex, so for the average user, it takes a while to get up to speed with it. I would like it to be more user-friendly."

"Maybe the graphical user interface could be simplified to allow people to use it more easily. It's already good, but they can work more on it to make it even easier."

"The Observer Console UI is consistent and stable, but could use some updating to be more modern."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Meraki Dashboard's pricing is reasonable. It is sold yearly, typically for one, three, or five years. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."

"My view is that it's expensive, but it's the best."

"Licensing is around under 1000 pounds. The licensing is either one year, three years, five years or ten years and during the licensing, we can choose to renew it per year or per every three years. We've got a license for three years. It's about 160 or about 200 pounds each."

"The price of Meraki Dashboard is not expensive because knowing that it is a cloud-based solution has its benefits."

"You don't have to pay for the dashboard."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"The solution is currently the most expensive on the market."

"From a pricing perspective, they are still expensive."

More Meraki Dashboard pricing and cost advice

"It depends on the requirements you have. There are three types of license. There's the updates license, the work group license, and the workstation license."

"It's quite expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

10%

Outsourcing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	29

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?

My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing is that it is what it is. It is pricey and sometimes surprising. Of course, with Cisco, you pay for the premium because it is a premium produc...

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What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?

I think Meraki Dashboard can be improved with a couple of additional features, such as the ability to download analytics into a spreadsheet, which is not currently available, the ability to configu...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Meraki Dashboard?

The main use case for Meraki Dashboard is to manage the Meraki Dashboard ecosystem, and the main reason is the ease of use.

See all answers

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Comparisons

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Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

SolarWinds User Device Tracker vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 14% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Observer GigaStor

Compared 6% of the time

Viavi Observer Platform vs Observer GigaStor

Compared 6% of the time

IxChariot vs Observer GigaStor

Compared 6% of the time

NETSCOUT nGeniusONE vs Observer GigaStor

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard

August 2026

Download Meraki Dashboard product report

Buyer's Guide

Observer GigaStor

August 2026

Download Observer GigaStor product report

Overview

Meraki Dashboard offers intuitive, cloud-based network management, simplifying tasks with centralized control, real-time monitoring, and comprehensive security.

Offering ease of use and a single-pane-of-glass view, Meraki Dashboard enhances network management through centralized monitoring and configuration. Its intuitive interface allows remote device management, policy configuration, and real-time alerts. Cloud-based access provides scalability and automatic updates, while detailed analytics and security measures ensure robust control over networks. Though some users mention complexity in certain configurations and third-party integration gaps, its continuous improvement and network management efficiency accommodate extensive business requirements.

What are the Key Features of Meraki Dashboard?

Ease of Use: Simplified interface that allows easy navigation and operations.
Single-Pane-of-Glass View: Centralized management of all network components from one platform.
Real-Time Monitoring: Provides up-to-date insights for proactive network management.
Cloud-Based Access: Accessible from anywhere, enabling remote management and updates.
Automatic Updates: Ensures the system is always up-to-date with the latest features and security patches.
Detailed Analytics: Offers insights into network performance and security analytics.
Comprehensive Security Measures: Features built-in security protocols and tools for enhanced protection.

What Benefits and ROI Should Users Consider?

Centralized Control: Streamlines network management across multiple sites.
Scalability: Grows with business needs, supporting a wide range of devices and configurations.
Integration Capabilities: Merges easily with existing systems, though improvements are desired for third-party devices.
Improved Network Efficiency: Enhances visibility and control, reducing downtime and improving performance.
Remote Management: Facilitates convenient configuration and monitoring from any location.

Enterprises deploy Meraki Dashboard for diverse network management purposes, including monitoring, access point deployment, security configuration, and VLAN and LAN management. In education, it provides centralized Wi-Fi management and ensures secure student access. Retail businesses utilize it for seamless device integration and analytics, while healthcare facilities employ its robust security and real-time monitoring to safeguard patient data and maintain network efficiency. Its cloud-based interface enhances control and visibility across numerous sites, simplifying management and configurations.

Cisco

Observer GigaStor provides detailed network visibility and data capture for efficient troubleshooting and analysis. It's a robust tool designed to manage today’s complex network environments, offering reliability and performance insights.

Observer GigaStor specializes in long-term network traffic capture, delivering comprehensive forensic analysis capabilities. It stands as a trusted resource for IT departments aiming to resolve network performance issues swiftly. By capturing and storing packets with high precision, it aids in identifying both current and past anomalies, ensuring network health and performance continuity through proactive monitoring.

What are the key features of Observer GigaStor?

Long-term Data Capture: Enables storage of vast amounts of data for extensive historical analysis.
Comprehensive Protocol Support: Offers support for diverse protocols, enhancing troubleshooting accuracy.
Retrospective Analysis: Provides the ability to trace issues back to their origin point, improving issue resolution speed.
Scalability: Adapts to network growth without sacrificing performance capabilities.

What benefits and ROI can be expected from reviews?

Increased Troubleshooting Efficiency: Provides quicker resolution times, reducing network downtime.
Enhanced Network Visibility: Improves understanding of network performance and traffic patterns.
Reduced Operational Costs: Limits the need for manual troubleshooting, saving on labor costs.
Improved Decision Making: Data insights aid in strategic planning for infrastructure improvements.

Observer GigaStor's implementation spans across various industries, from telecommunications to finance, where maintaining robust and secure network performance is crucial. Its ability to analyze and retrieve historical network data supports compliance and operational stability demands in these sectors.

Viavi Solutions

Sample Customers

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe

Cisco Systems, Hawaiian Telecom, Renown Health, State of Nevada, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Allstate Insurance, Jack Henry & Associates, United States Airforce, US Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Chicago Board Options Exchange

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard vs. Observer GigaStor

August 2026

Free Report: Meraki Dashboard vs. Observer GigaStor

Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki Dashboard vs. Observer GigaStor and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.

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