Meraki SD-WAN Reviews

I primarily use it to connect sites to each other over an overlay network, with protection from the next-generation firewall in the Meraki ecosystem.

The most valuable feature for me is the security functionality, its integration with Wi-Fi, and the switching approach.

The license model may need improvement because if we need to renew something, we need to completely renew the license model.

An additional feature I would like is the 5G solution. It is not yet there.

I have been using the solution for more than four years. We are using the latest version, which is cloud-based.

The stability of this solution is fine. It has a Fusion version. It does what it prompts.

The solution is scalable. It is scalable for mid-tier deployments, but not for major ones.

The technical support is decent if you open a ticket, but it can sometimes take quite a while. As for product development, it's a much more difficult story, as they have a very lengthy development cycle.

It is a cloud-based solution, so the initial setup is straightforward. Onboarding a customer can be done in a few weeks.

The deployment process is easy. It's a cloud-based system that is activated by attaching the serial number, and then the system goes live. So it's easy to set up.

The license model depends on the customer and can be a yearly license, a three-year license, or a five-year license. There may be additional costs for certain licenses, such as Umbrella licenses or advanced licenses. The pricing ultimately depends on the functionality the customer requires.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

The tool makes it easier for us to communicate with other offices without using an MPLS network.

The solution is easy to use. The product enables us to connect with other offices easily. It provides alerts to notify us if a site is down or up. I haven’t faced any challenges while integrating Meraki into existing infrastructures.

The solution must provide more security features.

I haven’t had any issues with the tool’s stability. That is why we use it.

The tool is scalable. We deal with medium-sized businesses with around 100 users.

The support is pretty good. The support team is pretty knowledgeable.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward. I rate the ease of setup a ten out of ten. The deployment can be done in an hour if everything is connected properly. We need two network technicians for the deployment. It is simple to use. It does not require any maintenance.

The product is not very expensive. I rate the pricing a five out of ten. The price is not a huge deal-breaker.

I evaluated other products, but Meraki was cheaper.

We configured the VPN feature in our organization. It works well. I will recommend the solution. It is easy to use. Overall, I rate the product a ten out of ten.

The auto VPN feature is important because it automates many tasks, making things simpler and faster. It helps with setting up devices and changing configurations without manual effort.

Meraki SD-WAN helps save money by monitoring applications and ensuring service levels. This gives businesses a clear view of how well their operations are running and whether service providers meet their needs.

The Meraki SD-WAN has been mainly focused on Wi-Fi in the past, but with the introduction of the client, they're likely to enhance their AI-driven initiatives. This could mean providing more predictive insights to customers, but it might take time to develop fully.

The tool has challenges with features like multiple-link support, which currently only supports up to three links. Additionally, it doesn't offer router integration, and forward error correction is another missing feature. The scalability of Meraki SD-WAN is good, but there are limitations to the performance of the concentrator devices, especially in larger deployments. While the cloud scale is not an issue, the performance of the devices in branches and data centres is limited.

This can be an issue for larger customers with high traffic volumes. The roadmap includes plans to improve scalability, but progress may be slow.

I rate the tool's deployment a ten out of ten. 

The tool's support is not very good. The process is ongoing while they are not fully integrated with Cisco TAC. 

Neutral

Regarding pricing, Meraki SD-WAN is quite competitive, especially compared to solutions like Fortinet. However, it's essential to consider that Meraki requires cloud orchestration, which adds to the overall cost. Overall, it's one of the most competitive solutions from Cisco for SD-WAN.

Meraki SD-WAN is one of the best and easiest solutions to implement. It's very user-friendly, making it simple for users and partners to sell and deploy. Additionally, it offers a range of security features and the ability to integrate with SaaS platforms. However, compared to other vendors, it lacks some important features, and although they're on the roadmap, they're taking a bit longer to roll out.

The product is successful in various environments, especially in retail and specific industries like finance. Retail accounts for around 30 percent of its usage. I would rate the Meraki SD-WAN a nine on a scale of one to ten. It's simple to use, scalable and offers easy access to the API. However, it's not a perfect ten because it lacks some important features, and it is slow in terms of rolling out these features for customers. 

Meraki SD-WAN offers a platform where Cisco manages your database. The platform is cloud-based and accessible through the URL. This means that Cisco has access to all of your devices, but it also means that if you need to make changes, Cisco can control it. One of the benefits of this system is that if you experience any loss of connectivity, Cisco can support you.

Meraki SD-WAN provides an open platform for users, allowing them to tailor their bandwidth usage. Additionally, it allows you to monitor customer usage and distinguish between different types of URLs they use, which can be non-production, production, confidential, or non-confidential.

From my end, I cannot submit any details on the areas of the product that need improvement because I am currently on the audit format.

In terms of additional features that could be included in the next release of the solution, it would be useful to have proxy software that can be managed from a mobile device. As engineers, sometimes we need remote access, which can be a challenge, especially during off-shifts when we can't log in to our environment. If there was a platform that allowed us to access our credentials, it would enable us to provide support to the customer while also improving vendor productivity.

I have been using Meraki SD-WAN for three years now, and in my experience, it's one of the best solutions.

Stability-wise, I rate this solution an eight and a half out of ten. I would like improved stability in Meraki SD-WAN. Also, it is a very user-friendly solution. So, whenever you want to implement a new site, you can get options that are user-friendly and UI-based, which are very straightforward in nature. Basically, there are no complexities involved. So, a person involved in the solution's implementation can understand everything.

Meraki SD-WAN is a scalable solution because changes are being made to the solution, enabling it to work in different environments. In short, the perfect set of decisions is being made for the solution. I have experience working with the solution on a range of user scales, from 500 to 10,000 users.

Since I am a consultant currently, I won't be able to say whether I have plans to increase the solution's usage since I am presently not working on the solution.

Meraki SD-WAN's technical support can be considered a very fast one. I rate the solution's technical support nine and a half out of ten.

Positive

I have previously used Viptela SD-WAN.

Meraki SD-WAN’s setup is straightforward because Cisco has control over everything. The solution is deployed in a cloud environment from the first day, which has been my experience since 2013 when using cloud-based solutions was not as prevalent as it is now.

I won't be able to speak about how many days it took to deploy the solution since I am not involved in its technical part.

To deploy Meraki SD-WAN, you need to connect your devices with the Cisco cloud environment, for which you need to give the gateway from your devices, and that message needs to be connected with the Cisco environment. Once connected, Cisco will provide you with the platform to manage your devices. Since they have admin rights, everything will be managed by Cisco.

Regarding the personnel involved in the deployment and maintenance of the solution, if we consider the operations part, which includes a VCP and a person for DRP, four people are involved, including a lead and a manager.

I believe Cisco offers some of the best solutions. Meraki's routers, switches, and wireless solutions are some of the best.

You need an open platform to work with Meraki SD-WAN, whereas Aruba can be a bit more complex. That's why Cisco Meraki SD-WAN is generally preferred. Overall, I rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We are using this solution for productivity, in terms of the users, and simplicity in terms of ease of management, although the capabilities of the platforms are a little restricted. As is the resilience, just because of the hub and spoke nature at significant volume. I use the solution a lot in retail stores.

The solution is deployed on-prem and on the cloud. We are using the latest version.

The solution is pretty reliable.

Scalability could be improved. Yes, you can add more than 300 or 400 sites onto it, but because it's not a true SD-WAN and, effectively, it's just a Multi-VRF, it's all hub and spoke at that point. That's the nature of the design, but that's what keeps it simple to administer. So, it's a trade off.

I have been using this solution for about 10 years.

We haven't had any issues with stability.

The scalability could be better. Typically, when I get beyond 300 or 400 sites, depending on the criticality of service, I will normally move away from Meraki and look at either Viptela or Versa.

We have 4,000 end users and no plans to increase that number.

I can fall back on my service provider if I need any additional technical support.

Initial setup is straightforward. For deployment and maintenance, I have three people that are capable of dealing with it and that is basically just to  make sure I've got cover within the team, but typically one person is administrating at any one time.

There are no licensing costs for the product subscription.

I would rate this solution 8 out of 10. 

I would recommend this solution, particularly supported by VM02.

Apart from SQL, I used to work a lot with networking solutions. I am more of a network specialist, and then I started to do SQL after that. I'm experienced with networking rather than application experience for databases.

Meraki SD-WAN has improved productivity greatly. It is easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot, so problem resolution is quicker.

The redundancy feature of Meraki SD-WAN has most significantly enhanced network performance. Additionally, the security features are good on the MX devices.

The configuration from the firewall side could be improved a little bit more.

I have about four to five years of experience working with Meraki SD-WAN.

I would rate the stability of the solution as eight out of ten. There were no significant troubles with stability.

I would rate the scalability of Meraki SD-WAN as ten out of ten. It is highly scalable.

I would rate the customer service and support eight out of ten.

Positive

We did look at other solutions such as Fortinet and VeloCloud. However, we decided to go with Meraki SD-WAN because we were already a Meraki customer and saw the ease of deployment.

The initial setup was quite straightforward.

The deployment was done through a third-party integrator.

Meraki SD-WAN has contributed to cost savings by being easy to deploy and troubleshoot, making problem resolution quicker.

The pricing of Meraki SD-WAN is a little bit on the pricey side. However, it is still a valuable product despite the cost.

We looked at Fortinet and VeloCloud. We chose Meraki SD-WAN because we were already a Meraki customer and appreciated the ease of deployment.

I would recommend Meraki SD-WAN because it is easy to deploy, highly scalable, and easy to manage.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

I use the solution in my company for the firewall, specifically Cisco Meraki MX, which we use mostly for the wireless and the LAN or switching part.

The most valuable feature of the solution is the auto-VPN functionality, which helps you quickly connect the branch-to-branch kind of scenario is very helpful.

In Meraki SD-WAN, we have some limitations with the traffic shaping capabilities.

There is nothing specific that I want to say, but the solution is improving daily. The tool comes up with new features and new capabilities. The solution is moving away from small business use cases to large-sized enterprise customers.

I am okay with whatever Meraki is currently supporting in the solution. My concern revolves around the WAN part of the solution since if we consider traditional routing, it doesn't support all routing protocols. Right now, my company is very limited in BGP and OSPF scenarios.

I have been using Meraki SD-WAN for almost five years. My company is a gold partner of Cisco.

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

From a scalability point of view, I would say the tool is not so great. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven out of ten. There are some limitations around the WAN protocols.

The product is a good fit for retail customers and offices that opt for a wireless kind of approach. The product is good for office locations. My company has observed that a lot of our customer base belongs to either the retail industry or are just offices.

The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.

Positive

The product's initial setup phase is simple.

For any new site rollout, as per our company's experience, if everything is planned out, we can get a site up within four to five hours. We require two days of some little bit of planning work over the IPs and all such things. The actual work starts once the box is connected to the internet, after which, it takes not more than four hours. It is less than a day kind of scenario.

The solution is deployed on the cloud.

The product does help with the cost savings part.

The product's price falls under the mid-range category, especially if we consider the new licensing model. The tool is not cheap anymore.

Meraki SD-WAN can be compared with its competitors' products, like Fortinet, which is almost the same as Meraki. The other competitor of Meraki's product is Versa. Versa is a better product when it comes to SD-WAN, especially when compared to Fortinet and Meraki, which are on the same level.

When we compare Meraki SD-WAN with Cisco SD-WAN or the old traditional product CatalystVPN, the tool's traffic shaping capabilities are not fully present.

The automation or UI-based features of the product are easy to operate.

My company has not integrated any AI features into the product. Meraki SD-WAN's dashboard provides my company with good telemetry functionalities. My company has tried using the AI features with Cisco DNA Spaces.

I recommend the tool to those who plan to use it.

I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

I'm able to access various ports for simple switches and then check things, like the information that I've gotten. We use the solution on a day-to-day basis. 

I like the part with the accessibility to the switches, the access point, and the firewalls. Having to set up a closed system singlehandedly and a lifetime guarantee on the equipment is a valuable part of this solution.

The area I think this solution should improve is the pricing.

I have been using this solution for about five years.

My impression is that this solution is quite scalable. There are around 800 users of this solution in our company right now.

My impression is that it was quite easy to set up this solution. Our model of deployment is hybrid.

When we were first looking to implement this solution, we were looking at pre-systems as we handle this one. Even though it was the priciest one, the day-to-day basis and the security were the best.

It was all done through a two-person team. Another member who wasn't on-site is an administrator and I was someone who is on-site. For example, the administrator sets up a new server from scratch and I take over from there, so we worked in collaboration all the time. I am also the person responsible for maintaining this solution.

I would rate the pricing of this solution a seven, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

When it comes to giving advice to other people looking into this solution, I'd just say that this system is easy to maintain and quite secure with good quality equipment.

I would rate this solution as a whole a nine, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.