Meraki MS Switches Reviews

Meraki switches are appropriate for small and medium-sized businesses. Most recently, I worked with Meraki switches when I was helping my last two clients transition to a new service provider. One is a printing company, and the other is a tourist and convention center. One was moving from Ubiquiti to Meraki. 

Meraki switches greatly increase our clients' security.

I like the flexibility of the Meraki firewall. It gives you the ability to lock things down. Having multiple VLANs is helpful for the switching infrastructure and firewall. It's crucial when you have a public-facing VLAN, a private-facing VLAN, and a secure VLAN. 

The documentation could be more extensive. For example, it could describe more scenarios.  It would be great if they could incorporate AI engines into the switching infrastructure and firewall so you can configure it to prevent intrusion. They have intrusion prevention and detection, but they could enhance it by incorporating AI into their firewall.

The switching infrastructure doesn't need AI so much, but it would undoubtedly benefit their firewalls. That would be enormously helpful in creating the secure infrastructure most clients want. Hacking is a significant concern as the country becomes increasingly dependent on digital infrastructures.

I've used Meraki switches for around seven years. I'm an integrator and a networking consultant. I assess the client's infrastructure and develop solutions for them. For example, I had one client for more than 20 years. I set up their initial infrastructure and updated it as it grew and increased in complexity over two decades.

In general, Meraki switches are highly stable. In one implementation, we had some issues, but that had more to do with how the facility was constructed. Some switches went down. The electrical setup in the facility wasn't as robust as it needed to be, so we had things go out because of storms. However, I've had no problems whatsoever with other clients.

Meraki switches are highly scalable, but I've mostly dealt with small and medium-sized businesses. You need to add enough devices to scale up to a thousand or 5,000 users. These days, that can be challenging because of supply chain issues.
 

Meraki support is fine. Sometimes it's a little slow, but I think that's due to the pandemic. It was superb prior to the pandemic. I rate Meraki support eight out of 10. 

I've worked with solutions from different vendors, including Cisco ASA 400s and Fortinet FortiGate firewalls. I had one client on FortiGate, but I transitioned them to Meraki when they doubled the size of their office. They needed a more robust solution. 

The other client had Ubiquiti in place, but the whole network was cobbled together and hadn't been maintained properly. Their server infrastructure was toast. They had been a client many years earlier. I was called in to remedy their predicament because their in-house support was useless, so we designed some things and stabilized everything. Their security was far superior to what it was before. 

Deploying Meraki MS switches is pretty straightforward if you have a background in networking, and I've been doing this for 25 years. The deployment time depends on the complexity of your environment, but a simple deployment takes less than an hour. It will take longer if you are doing a more complex deployment with multiple DHCP servers and VLANs. 

The switches don't require much maintenance, and you can manage them remotely once they are deployed. It's convenient to have someone on site, but not necessary.

My clients say they're fine with the investment. In one case, I work with the vice president and CFO. He's pleased with it, but I don't have the financial data points.

You can buy licenses for one, three, five, or 10 years, and it's pricey. The hardware changes. For example, you couldn't get the speeds we have today unless you had some high-end internet. 

You may have had a nice infrastructure that was fine for a hundred megabits per second, but the minute you get up to 500 or 1 gig or higher, the infrastructure is insufficient, so you need to purchase new equipment. That's just the name of the game. Equipment and licensing costs go up. I don't know if there's a way to get around that. I really don't think so.

I stopped evaluating other solutions later in my career because I was sold on Meraki by that point. If you spend too much time looking at other options, you don't solve the problem necessarily. 

I'm a tiny outfit, and I was pretty much retiring. I knew Meraki to be a good solution, and I use it personally. It's something I'm familiar with that I can support remotely. If a device goes down, we simply get another one in place, and everything downloads from the cloud. Replacing or scaling up is simple once things are configured correctly and working, 

I rate Meraki MS Switches10 out of 10. I must add the caveat that I don't have experience with hundreds of different solutions. I haven't made a lot of comparisons, but Meraki solutions have worked extremely well for my clients. I'm happy with that. 

If you asked me why, I would say it's the robustness of the solution. Cisco continues to invest in Meraki and come out with new products. Their support is top-notch, and the configuration is straightforward and logical. It's one of the better solutions out there.

These last two clients have been pleased with Meraki, though they also use FortiGate. This is probably their first real in-depth foray into Meraki infrastructure. 

If you're considering Meraki, do your homework. You must have a clear idea of where your client is now and their expectations. What do they hope to get out of the solution?  It has more to do with building a proper client relationship than it does with hardware and licensing costs. You have to be upfront with all of that, of course, because they're looking to you to get that information. You must be thorough in your research and present multiple options. 

We have computers around the school, but we've been cutting down on desktop computers and moving more towards Wi-Fi and laptops. In the dorms, we still have a docking station which is wired, so it's a mixture. The plan is to run everything through the Meraki system, so we can access it and we can control it, whether we are inside the school or outside the school.

As Meraki MS Switches are accessible, we benefit from them as it's quicker for us to identify problems and find solutions, which means the downtime is reduced.

Accessibility is what I find most valuable in Meraki MS Switches, because I'm able to check things and see if they're working, without being on-site at all times. I can, for example, travel across the country, yet I can still check on how things are working, or what's not working. I can figure out what's the problem, what's the solution, and I can fix the problem, even when I'm not on-site. Easy access to these switches has been a great help.

What could be improved in this product is the price. It could be cheaper.

Gaining a deeper access or deeper understanding of certain things, and being able to look further into the workings of Meraki MS Switches, is something I'd like in the next release.

Having bundles in relation to price would also work perfectly for us.

We've been using Meraki MS Switches for three years.

I find this product stable. It's very reliable. We've only had two or three instances when one of the two Wi-Fi systems in our school fluctuated, but I'm not certain what really caused it. It has been relatively easy to fix that, and it could just be a configuration problem.

I don't see any problems with scaling Meraki MS Switches at the moment, but I will know more about it once we have replaced our old switches with this product. It's only then that I'll have a better understanding of its scalability in terms of it being a whole system, rather than individually.

We used Cisco switches, then we decided to go with Meraki MS Switches for several reasons. One reason was that the Cisco switches were originally set up by a company that was in charge of the whole system, which was run from a company outside the school. Then, we had someone come in to take charge here in our school, then we transferred that responsibility to an outsider. I then came in, and I started learning the system, so the outsider became the backup plan. 

It turned out, once we started digging into things, that the system was set up in a cumbersome and closed way, much like a banking system, rather than a setup that would be good for a school, that can rely on switches rather than closing the school into units.

Another reason was that our switches were getting outdated, so we had to do something. We started looking at various solutions, and we had to decided whether to continue the way we were doing things, which we did not like because it was cumbersome and it had to be done on-site, or if we could do it in a way that would be more accessible both inside and outside the school, while having the level of security and stability we need.

For example, we looked at Ubiquiti UniFi which was a cheaper system, but it was less stable, though I know that some schools were using that system. It was really just a question of stability and accessibility, and these were deciding factors in the system that we chose. Even though Meraki MS Switches were more expensive than the other solutions, we ended up with Meraki.

Product setup wasn't complex. I was very surprised about how easy it was to set up.

We implemented this product in-house, with the help of the head of our IT team.

This product is pricey. We are a relatively low-budget school, and for a low-budget school to have a system like this, which is a great help, it means that instead of being able to move faster towards implementing everything, we need to take very small steps. What we should be able to do in two or three years, would take us five to seven years, so the price is a drawback.

Not only do we have to buy the product, we also have to get a license for each annually. For a school that doesn't have a lot of money, that is a problem, but we still decided to go with Meraki MS Switches.

We evaluated Cisco, Fortinet, and Ubiquiti UniFi switches.

We ended up with Meraki Wireless, so we never got to use Fortinet, but we are happy with what we have. As of last summer, the state has taken charge of security issues, so we just follow them.

We set up a new firewall three years ago, and we went with Cisco Meraki firewall. We used to have Cisco and after having looked at various options, we decided on Meraki. The head of school made that decision, because he was advised that even though Meraki's a bit pricey, it's still secure and offers a high level of accessibility to us who are looking after the system, and making sure that everything's working fine. That has turned out to be rather true, because Cisco Meraki firewall has the level of security we are looking for, with the accessibility to implement all the changes we needed to do, and the access to the end points as we needed them.

Since we have a Meraki firewall, it goes through the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, and the rest of the school really just has switches that will be replaced with Meraki MS Switches as time goes by.

I'm unsure about what version of Meraki MS Switches we're using, but it could be the most up-to-date version. It's deployed in the Cloud, so we access the website and control everything through there. The hardware is in the building, but there isn't any specific need to access the hardware, except for the old Cisco switches that we still have which need to be accessed locally. Once we've replaced all the old switches with Meraki MS Switches, which will take us a few years, then we should be able to access everything through the cloud.

The deployment of this product took less than a day, particularly a few hours. The head of our IT team helped set it up, and it was plug and play. We plugged it in, set up the ports, and made sure that everything was working. The product worked fine. There were a few issues to begin with, but those had to do with conflicts between Cisco switches and Meraki switches, because even if they were from the same company, they were still different sets of products. That was really the only thing that took a little time to figure out.

We have 850 users of Meraki MS Switches in our school. We only have two people for its deployment and maintenance. I'm the one who handles it full time, and when I run into problems, I talk to the other guy, then he jumps in. That's all we need to maintain this product. It's being used everyday, e.g. we open up at 8 a.m. and we close at 4 p.m. We use these switches constantly, throughout the whole day. I also use this product when I'm working from home, as I'm also connected to the Meraki system.

We didn't have the need to contact technical support for Meraki MS Switches, so I can't evaluate their support.

My advice to people thinking about implementing this product is to look at the price tag, because in the end, the price will always be a big factor, especially when you have a system, then you buy the hardware, then you need to pay the license for each product annually, as the costs will mount up the more machinery you add in.

I would also tell them the same thing I always advise people when they're buying a computer, and that is to ask themselves what they need. Do you need a secure system, but is not very stable? This is highly unlikely, in my opinion. Do you need a stable system that is very accessible, both inside and outside of a school or a building? What is it you need?

I would tell them from that point, look at accessibility, reliability, stability, security, and look at all the systems that are available. There are at least four or five big names all around. Have a look at them all, and don't just jump on the first one. We all have our preferences, so just keep an open mind, have a look at the different options. For example, I commented about Fortinet this one time, that I like that system, and I think it's a very interesting system, but we decided on Meraki MS Switches and I'm happy with this product.

There's a return on investment because this product is worth it. It's so accessible, stable, and secure, and because it's so accessible, it's quicker for us to find solutions. Meraki MS Switches make things run more smoothly, making these switches almost priceless.

I'm rating Meraki MS Switches a nine, because I'm very happy with them, but I'm very skeptical about giving a ten out of ten. Nothing is perfect.

In my company, the solution is used to connect computers to a network.

The most valuable feature of the solution is device tracking, which allows our company to know where the product is plugged into the environment.

I am sure that my company uses only some of the basic stuff attached to the solution. I don't know much about the higher models or ranges offered by the product.

My company knows how to carry out the setup of our networks and how it works in general. In short, everything in the tool works to meet our company's expectations.

The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required.

I have been using Meraki MS Switches for over five years. I am an end user of the product.

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

It is a very scalable solution.

In Europe, around 2,000 people use the product.

I have experience with TP-Link.

Meraki MS Switches is an enterprise-grade solution that is well managed over the cloud. TP-Link lacks the features that Meraki MS Switches offers, and it also fails to offer proper services and devices. Discussing Meraki and TP-Link is like comparing apples with grapes.

Based on the years of experience I have with the tool, the product's initial setup phase is easy.

One device can be deployed in half an hour to configure the connection with the cloud, and then everything goes on as the product states. Adding one device to an existing environment is simple, but building everything from scratch requires a lot of preparation, so I am not sure about the time required for the deployment from a wider horizon.

Currently, I am not involved in the deployment process of the product in Poland. I was only involved in the deployment process around five years ago.

Securing licenses and devices for more than a year can make the product expensive. In general, the product is expensive.

The product has simplified our network management tasks with a single console that provides our company access to an overview of our whole infrastructure.

The product has been helpful for our company in finding loops in the network. The tool also helps to identify some broken cables because there are testing tools available on the device.

The cloud management aspect of Meraki MS Switches has dramatically improved our company's operations because, previously, we had to go directly to the device to find it.

The product is easy to maintain as the updates happen automatically via the cloud.

The cost-savings from using the product stem from the fact that my company has experienced less downtime, so the business operates without any breaks.

The product is easy to integrate with other software tools.

I rate the product a ten out of ten.

I like the portal, it's really interesting.

The pricing can be made cheaper.

I have been using Meraki MS Switches for ten years.

I don't know about stability. But at present seven users are using it.

It is a scalable solution.

I have not contacted the support, my team does.

The setup is very very simple.

It was done with the help of a technical team.

It is very expensive so I want it to be cheaper.

I give it an eight out of ten.

We are using Meraki MS Switches for our LAN users.

Meraki MS Switches are amazing. Whoever built it is a genius. I like that it's a plug-and-play solution.

It could be more advanced and secure. Meraki MS Switches are ideal for a mid-sized enterprise. But you can't work with this appliance if you need more security or want to do complex or advanced things. Technical support could be better.

I have been working with Meraki MS Switches for the past six months.

Meraki MS Switches is a very stable product.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give stability a ten.

Meraki MS Switches is a scalable solution.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give scalability a ten.

Technical support is not good at all. Even those guys struggle, and they work on a US time zone. Whenever we raised a ticket, we had to wait one or two days to get a status and move the case forward to the next level.

Neutral

The initial setup is straightforward. You just need the Internet, and you're good to go.

We implemented this solution. You only need one person to install and deploy this product.

Cisco Catalyst is far more expensive compared to Meraki. That's the reason we are using more IT systems.

I would tell potential users that it's an ideal solution if they don't have a complex network and don't want to do much IT work.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Meraki MS Switches a ten.

We use mobile device management to track our wireless access points, and that's basically what it does for our environment.

It makes the management of SSIDs fairly easy. It's pretty intuitive. I haven't used anything else to manage stuff, so I don't know what other things are out there.

I don't like some of the mobile device management options. They're a little bit hard to find in the system.

I've used the solution for six years. 

It's a stable product. I don't see too much going on with it. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

The solution is very scalable. 

I didn't have an opportunity to use another switch. We've been using this since I've worked with the system.

I wasn't involved in the initial setup. I adopted the system. I did not go through the deployment.

We have seen an ROI. It's very good.

The pricing is okay. I'd rate the solution a three and a half or four out of five in terms of cost, five being the most expensive. 

We're just customers and end-users, not partners or resellers.

I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using. 

I would suggest new users get a really good understanding of the network requirements before implementation.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Our Meraki MS Switches are deployed in different environments. Some are in a bank, some are in a dental office, and some are in a business office in downtown Chicago. 

The most valuable feature is the dashboard because it makes it easy to manage all of the switches. It's easy to turn them up and get it configured.

Sometimes the controller in the cloud that controls the access points does not have the most accurate information. There is sometimes a glitch in keeping the management controller that is in the cloud up to date.

I have been using Meraki MS Switches for 12 years now. 

Meraki MS Switches are stable. 

Meraki MS Switches are scalable to an extent. I think it is scalable if you are using it for residential Wi-Fi or office Wi-Fi where there is not a lot of complex configuration, I think it will scale well.

Initial setups are straightforward for us. We deploy in many different environments. Our deployment in the dental office took a few hours. Our deployment of about 200 APs in a residential retirement community was probably a month because it was 200 APs and a lot of integration. In other words, deployment can take anywhere from a few hours to four weeks depending on the size of the installation. 

On a scale of one to five, one being the cheapest and five being the most expensive, I would rate the cost of Meraki MS Switches a three. 

My advice to anyone looking to deploy Meraki MS Switches is: be aware of the fact that you cannot activate it without a license. It does not work. There are benefits tied to the licensing. The licensing provides you with maintenance or replacement, which means that it covers you from a couple of different perspectives. The licensing is multipurpose.

I use it primarily when migrating from old or legacy to Meraki MS Switches supporting Meraki services and supporting the SD-WAN. But I am using them with the SD-WAN provided by FlexWare. I am also using it for connecting access points because it is easier than using the Catalyst with a command line.  Meraki MS Switches has its own user interface on its platform. It is easier for configuring the interfaces and monitoring, getting the box and logs from Exporter. We are using it in some regions, especially in the Americas, North and Latin Americas, Asia Pacific, and some countries in the EMEA.

I like that the portal has maps inside it that detect a given location which makes searching on it easier. You can also attach photos to the portal.

The shooting portal side needs to have CLI access for deep investigations.

The most valuable feature is that it is more stable than Catalyst switches. It is easy to configure and claim the switches by their serial number directly from the portal.

In reference to an area of improvement sometimes the switch does not connect to the internet initially. One area that needs to be improved is the issue of the STP incompatible versions It occurs when there is another version of the opposite device. If you have an older version or newer version of the software, sometimes it is an issue that happens with STP incompatible versions for the uplinks. There is a lot of dependency on software compatibility. I would like to see the feature of the Catalyst Switches regarding the LLDB and CDP neighbors to be included.

I have been using Meraki MS Switches for the past three years now.

Meraki MS Switches are a stable solution.

The scalability of Meraki MS Switches depends on the compatibility of the version you are working with. In addition, it also relates to a small office or a warehouse.

We have yet to send cases to the vendor.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward and easy. The deployment is pretty fast and takes usually about an hour to complete. We configure the ports, and LANs, you can select multiple interfaces, and configure them at the same time. This is similar to the interface range command line and the user interface, simply connect the internet and everything will work.

The solution was implemented in-house.

It depends on the cost center and the version of switches and their model no, so it varies from small places to large environments.

Meraki MS Switches are more stable and reliable than Catalyst switches. They are an easy product to configure. You need to know the network essentials and what are the IPs. A professional engineer is not required to install them. I would rate them an eight out of ten.

The solution is user-friendly and offers good visibility of users, service visibility and program management. It is easy to handle the configurations.

The setup is simple. 

We have found the product to be stable. 

It is scalable. 

The product is reasonably priced. 

The existing setup is okay right now.

The troubleshooting could be better. Sometimes we get the wrong information.

Technical support could be better. 

It's not perfectly priced. It could always be a bit lower. 

I've used the solution for two or three years. 

It's a stable solution. The product is reliable. We have not faced any problems so far. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

The solution is scalable. 

We currently have hundreds of switches. 

At this point in time, we do not have plans to increase usage. 

Technical support is not the best. We can't say they are very good. 

Neutral

It's an easy initial setup. It's straightforward. It's not complex or difficult. 

We only need one person to handle the initial setup. 

The price is quite good. I'd rate it four out of five. It's affordable. 

We did look into other solutions.

We have a partnership with Meraki.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. 

We primarily use the solution for switches. 

The switches are great. The basic features are sufficient. 

The stability is good.

You can scale the product.

Support has been very good. 

The solution offers very good integration potential.

The pricing is fair and offers good value. 

Since 2019, we have not encountered any problems with the switches. On our servers, there are occasionally some bugs or some problems with some features that need Meraki support; however, everything works well with Meraki Switches. 

We aren't missing any features. 

We've used the solution since 2019. We've used it for a few years now. 

For the most part, the solution is stable. Upgrades are typically great. It doesn't crash or freeze. It is reliable. 

We do not have issues with the scalability. It's very easy to expand. 

There are more than 20 companies using the solution, however, I don't have details about how many individual users are at each company.

As we have Cisco Premier, when we have to call them, Meraki is very fast in solving our tickets and definitely was very fast in their support. It's very, very good. We can call them directly and get immediate help.

We pay for the solution on a yearly basis. We pay a standard fee and there are no additional costs.

While it may not be the cheapest, for the quality you receive, the price is very good. 

We are resellers. 

We are a Cisco Premier Partner, and we're trying to do Meraki certifications. It's in progress.

We provide Meraki to our customers, and it's working well.

Meraki's on the cloud. All solutions that are using SD-WAN is managed on the cloud.

Almost all our customers here in the Madagascar area are 49 or 24FP versions of Meraki MS 210. It's suitable for all our customers here.

We recommend the solution. 

It's reliable and I advise others to use it. If they are using Meraki Switches, I recommend them to use also the firewalls and access points. They work well with everything in one dashboard. It's better to pay and have the firewall, switches, and access points together to get a good view on the dashboard and the management. It's better to use Meraki. It is very, very stable.

I'd rate the switches a nine out of ten.