Cisco Meraki MR44 - wireless access point - Wi-Fi 6 - cloud-managed - MR44-HW - Wireless Access Points

By Ken Dishon - Marques

Centralized control simplifies network management for non-profit environments

What is our primary use case? We have two different environments. We have set it up in a large building with five access points, and one access point in another building. We are a non-profit organization. What is most valuable? 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. Making a change on one access point and having that propagate to all the other ones makes centralized control very important and easy. What needs improvement? 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, so they are already improving their product. For how long have I used the solution? I have used the solution for about three years. What was my experience with deployment of the solution? We were able to deploy the system without assistance, as the online documentation provided a lot of step-by-step guides for setup. Deploying it was straightforward, and the solution was initially set up by programming one device and then copying settings to the others. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The stability could be better. 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. Overall, I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. How are customer service and support? I did not really deal with them at all. We were able to handle the deployment on our own. How would you rate customer service and support? Neutral Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We were using Cisco wireless access points, but they became outdated and were no longer in service. They were upgraded to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN access points. How was the initial setup? The initial setup was very easy. We just had to program one of the access points, and then we copied those settings to the others, making the deployment process efficient. What about the implementation team? The implementation involved two people. One person handled all the initial configurations, while two people actually placed the devices. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is on par with other devices in that category, offering competitive pricing. Which other solutions did I evaluate? Arctic Wolf, Exidium (Komodo) What other advice do I have? I would recommend Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN simply because of the ease of deployment and its reliability. Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. What is our primary use case? We have two different environments. We have set it up in a large building with five access points, and one access point in another building. We are a non-profit organization. What is most valuable? The ability to program all access points from the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN dashb Read more

Written by a user while visiting PeerSpot

By Carlos González - Marques

Easy to manage wireless networks on the cloud without a server

What is our primary use case? I've been working with schools for about 20 years. I previously worked in a school with four campuses and about one thousand students, where I managed all four campuses' wireless networks with Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN. What is most valuable? The solution's most valuable features at that time were the ease of managing on the cloud without having a server and the authentication using RADIUS integrated with the server on the cloud. It will be authenticated by MAC address, and access will be provided through that. What needs improvement? Updating the equipment and the scheme they use to bill for the license could be improved. We once had to move some access points from one campus to another. Since each campus has its own specifications, we had to delete the access points from one and reschedule them on the other, but we spent money on a new license. That was a management problem we faced. We tried to implement the single sign-on with Google, which was a bit complex. What do I think about the stability of the solution? Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is a very stable solution. We had issues with models, and at that time, it was very sensible to glitches on the internet network. Since we completely depend on the internet network, any problem with the network will cause issues. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN has huge scalability because everything will be compatible with it. How are customer service and support? The solution's technical support depends on the local supplier. You can contract a simple support system with the local supplier. You can also buy support with Cisco, but it's really costly. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? Each product is deployed with a specific target. Aruba is more specific for security, and Ruckus is more network and wireless-focused. Aruba is the best option if you want ten access points. If you make a network of 20 to 40 access points, Ruckus will give you the best management because it has some software that makes it easier to implement and manage. If you want to integrate everything with voice-over IP and video, Cisco is the best option because it gives you more granularity on how you can configure it. What about the implementation team? I could do most of the deployment by myself. It was a one-man job instead of a team. Otherwise, you will need an expert in each campus. I deployed the solution on one campus during one summer vacation, and the next summer, I deployed it on another campus. The next summer, we deployed it on the third campus, and so on. Everything was deployed after a couple of years, and we could use it. You could say we deployed the solution in a couple of months because the actual deployment happened during the summer vacations. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The solution's pricing is a little higher. Earlier, you didn't have many options. Currently, Cisco's pricing is still high, but there are other options available. All the other brands, like Aruba and Ruckus, are catching up. Pricing is becoming more of an issue with Cisco because it's still very high compared with other products. The other products are implementing the technology that Cisco has. What other advice do I have? Meraki has a lot of levels of security implementation. The first one is very limited because you can only block ten web pages with it, and it's not very granular. If you want to do something else, you have to buy another product specifically for security and put it on the network. Meraki now implements access points and switches and has a security brand element. It depends on what level of security you want to put in, but each one of those, on a price basis, is still a little higher than any other brand. I would recommend the solution to other users based on their needs. If you need some specific issues addressed or if your implementation is small, you should probably go with Aruba. If your computation is middle-sized or if you're planning to grow a lot, you should probably start looking at Ruckus or Cisco. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions. What is our primary use case? I've been working with schools for about 20 years. I previously worked in a school with four campuses and about one thousand students, where I managed all four campuses' wireless networks with Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN. What is most valuable? The solution's most valuable feature Read more

Written by a user while visiting PeerSpot

By TimMiller - Marques

Provides a reliable portal and a straightforward setup process

What needs improvement? One significant area for improvement with the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN solution lies in its licensing model. The issue primarily revolves around failure to renew the license on time, leading to service termination. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I rate the platf Read more

Written by a user while visiting PeerSpot

By Mageshwaran S - Marques

Enables organizations to control many sites globally with a lean IT team and provides visibility into the user activities

What is our primary use case? We use the solution for the office infrastructure to migrate from LAN to Wireless LAN. We also use it for IoT. What is most valuable? Meraki is far better than any other wireless solution. It is pretty easy to use. I can control any number of sites globally with a lean IT team. The product provides visibility into what the users are accessing. I can see where they are connected, what kind of traffic they are running, and why they face issues. The product has mesh, MIMO, and BLE. I can use the location tracker, too. I can also integrate Air Marshal to reduce interference. Before the site is ready, I can configure the virtual environment. When the site is ready, I need to sync it up with the cloud. All the configurations will be live within three minutes. I can go live within a day. I can do the third day’s job directly on the first day. I don't have any bottlenecks when I need to upgrade my wireless controllers. If I had an on-premise product that went down due to a power outage or natural calamities, restoring it would be very hectic. I would have to pay for a virtual license and add a server. If I put it on the cloud, I need to pay a huge amount for the egress cost, whether it is AWS or Azure. If it is in the Meraki cloud, I do not need to pay anything, and everything is under control. Even if the cloud goes down, it will not affect my productivity. The solution’s performance is much better than that of the other OEMs. What needs improvement? The solution can handle only medium and small businesses. We face a bottleneck on the gateway while using the solution for large enterprises. The solution must be able to expand to larger enterprises. Currently, the MX device can support only up to 10,000 users. It would be good if it can go beyond 1 lakh users. Catalyst 9300 is coming on the Meraki Dashboard. The vendor must also bring in the 9400 and 9600 Catalyst series. It will be very helpful. We will not have any choke on the gateway. There is no active-active concept. It will be very helpful if the solution provides active-active. Now, we are doing an active-passive setup, which is a warm spare. If it is an active-active setup, the gateway bottleneck issue can be resolved. I would be able to segment the Wireless LAN IPs. It will help support 20,000 devices at a go. Meraki does not have a single dashboard. I need to port an on-premise controller. There is a bottleneck while scaling the product. I need to consider a lot of things. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using the solution for five years. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The tool is very stable. We face failure issues only due to power outages. Apart from that, there is no failure. We have installed a lot of sites. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? For my use cases, I am planning to use 500 APs. Our clients are planning to increase the number of users to 15,000. So, I would need more than 2000 APs. I can scale without any issues by just purchasing the license. If it were on-premise, I would have had to upgrade the hardware and purchase the license. How are customer service and support? We have 24/7 support from Meraki. We get responses within four hours. The support is good. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The initial setup is not complex. We have a login, and we have to enter the serial number. If it needs configuration, we can do it and keep it aside. Once the device arrives, we can connect and sync it up with the cloud. Within three minutes, it will go live. Then, we can test it for a day and close it. We can reduce everything. It is very easy to maintain the tool. That is why we use it. I am recommending the solution to clients. I can manage 100 sites with one person. I can set alerts, and all the alerts will come automatically. I can do a cable test on the Meraki dashboard to understand if the cable is connected to the switch or not. It is very easy to maintain a large infrastructure. I can easily manage 10,000 users with one or two people. What was our ROI? The customers can see an ROI in three to five years. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The tool is reasonably priced. What other advice do I have? We are partners. My recommendation depends on the use cases. If an organization has a lean IT team and a medium-sized infrastructure in multiple locations globally, I would recommend Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN to them. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Partner What is our primary use case? We use the solution for the office infrastructure to migrate from LAN to Wireless LAN. We also use it for IoT. What is most valuable? Meraki is far better than any other wireless solution. It is pretty easy to use. I can control any number of sites globally with a lean IT team. Read more

Written by a user while visiting PeerSpot

By Namra Saif - Marques

Offers flexibility and a centralized dashboard

What is our primary use case? I have sold Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN in Pakistan's market since its cloud management features are good. The product is useful for security purposes, specifically network security or to secure a network. It is useful for our company's clients who want to secure their network over the cloud. The product helps to manage your network centrally. How has it helped my organization? The product offers solutions for businesses ranging from small to large companies. The product offers HA solutions and redundancy features to ensure reliable operations. Some products don't offer the aforementioned features. The tool offers products for small businesses and large enterprises, with high availability and redundancy features. What needs improvement? There needs to be some work done on security because, with time, some viruses may emerge that one may not know about. The tool provides basic security features for VPNs like IPS and IDS. The tool should have its own lab where engineers can work on new viruses or upcoming and undefined viruses. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN for more than two years. I am a seller of the product. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The product's stability is good. The product can improve in the area of security. The switches provided by the product are good and are commonly used in Pakistan. There is also demand for used switches in Pakistan. In Pakistan, businesses cannot afford new switches, or they face some import-related issues when it comes to products like the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN. Pakistan market has a few network switches in stock as a backup. In terms of network switches, the tool is good, and I rate it an eight and a half out of ten. In terms of security, the product needs to improve. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. If I compare the other brands in the market, like Sangfor or Sophos, with Cisco in terms of security, I see that Cisco is not a part of the Gartner Report. Cisco is deployed in multinational companies and not in small to mid-sized organizations. How are customer service and support? The solution's technical support is good. Through Google, you can get support from the product's community website, on which you can reach out to comments to help you deal with the areas where you are stuck with the product. How was the initial setup? The product's initial setup phase is not complex. It is quite easy to configure or deploy it due to its simple and centralized backbone. The solution is deployed on the cloud model. The deployment process is easy since you just need to connect the firewall. You can log in to Cisco portal and put in your password and user information, after which it opens your dashboard. You can configure whatever policy you want to implement and use it as per your requirements. You can activate your license by simply putting in the license key. If you face any issues with the tool, you can open a ticket with Cisco's support team or approach resellers. I also help people who face issues with the product. I can align my technical team to help those who have issues with the tool. Which other solutions did I evaluate? Against Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, I offer tools like Sangfor and Sophos. Many of my company's customers opt for Sophos, considering its visibility in the Gartner Report. What other advice do I have? only sold a few Cisco Meraki Wireless LANs in the market. My company's clients had asked me about the specific models of the product, and I had them in stock, so I sold them without having to convince them or tell them the technical features of the tool. My company's clients already know about the product via its website and how easy it is to integrate and use the scalability features. My company's clients are also aware of the tool's subscription and base licensing that Cisco offers. As I am a salesperson, I don't think it's difficult to convince IT people to use the tool since they already know about Cisco. It is a positive thing how Cisco has captured the market. The most valuable feature of the product for network management stems from the fact that the product is flexible, has a centralized dashboard, and offers a yearly subscription-based licensing model and support while being scalable, reliable, and cloud-centric. The tool is already popular in the market. The tool's analytics are quite capable of securing a user's network, and the insights from Cisco Meraki ITM are good as they allow organizations to get valuable insights in areas like visitor behavior, traffic patterns, and device presence in an environment. There are a lot of resellers that deal in Cisco, so its availability is not difficult. In terms of the tool's built-in security features, VPN capabilities are quite good. Intrusion detection systems and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) can filter out malicious content and offer advanced security features. The product can offer protection against malware and offer a threat intelligence platform. The tool provides basic features that can be used as default or built-in functionalities. Considering the technical support and security features, I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. The scalability of the tool aligns with my organization's goals. I rate the overall tool out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Reseller What is our primary use case? I have sold Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN in Pakistan's market since its cloud management features are good. The product is useful for security purposes, specifically network security or to secure a network. It is useful for our company's clients who want to secure their network over Read more

Written by a user while visiting PeerSpot

By reviewer892056 - Marques

The tool offers integration capabilities, but the licensing model needs improvement

What is our primary use case? I haven't personally recommended the product to my company's customers. Many of my company's customers use Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN at corporate levels where wireless LANs are needed. What is most valuable? I am not a big fan of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN. Based on my company's customers' opinions, I feel that the best feature of the product stems from the fact that it serves as an actual cloud management platform and the ease of deployment it offers. What needs improvement? The thing that concerns me the most about the product is that, with a lot of our other customers, the platform's behavior once its licensing runs out. The product doesn't effectively do its job anymore since some issues crop up in it once you run out of your subscription licensing. Once customers run out of subscriptions, they could end up with a non-functional environment, an area of concern. Overall, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is an easy platform to use. I think it would be good if the tool provided a perpetual licensing option, even if it has a limited set of features. If you went back to a basic set of features or something available on a perpetual basis, it would probably be the single biggest improvement in the solution. Improvements are needed in the licensing part of the tool. The predominant reason why I don't recommend the tool to others is because it puts a large onus on the customer in terms of the tool's operational expenditure year on year. A lot of the customers my company works with want some flexibility and want to stop a product's use after the fourth or fifth year. If customers plan to implement a tool today, they are forecast to replace it in the upcoming four or five years. Having a tool that doesn't lock customers into subscriptions during a time when they want to switch to other products would be great. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN for four to five years. My company is a reseller of Cisco Meraki. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? From a scalability perspective, I think the tool is incredibly scalable. I assisted one of our company's customers, which is a global supermarket chain, in an evaluation, which included Cisco Meraki and the wireless component, during which, for the first time, I was exposed to the true scalability feature of the platform. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. Which other solutions did I evaluate? Compared to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, I recommend products like RUCKUS and HPE Aruba Networking. Considering customers who largely use Fortinet infrastructure, I would also recommend switches and firewalls from Fortinet. Apart from the advantages offered by the product other than Cisco Meraki in areas like licensing model, from Fortinet's perspective, I like the product's ability to offer a single pane of glass, so it has a single vendor. RUCKUS and HPE are normally deployed due to the RF capabilities it offers. My company did quite a detailed RF study four or five years ago, and HPE and RUCKUS stood out quite well. RUCKUS has adaptive antenna technology. What holds back RUCKUS is that it has been acquired multiple times over the last six or seven years. CommScope is rebranding a lot of the switches under RUCKUS, which is something my company is interested in seeing and observing how that pans out over the next few years. What other advice do I have? The cloud management aspect of Cisco Meraki has improved our company's customer's administrative efficiency in some cases, while in some other cases, it hasn't. Depending upon whether or not the tool integrates the switching and SASE aspects as well, I had a few customers whom I had to split apart due to some of the tool's features not being visible once you opt for the product's unified infrastructure model. With Cisco products and third-party products, integration of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is good. The tool doesn't have a lot of integrations that are necessarily native. I think that a lot of the larger infrastructure providers offer the same integration features as Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN since such a solution brings on additional products through acquisition, and true integration processes take time. Speaking about how the tool's specific security features strengthened our company's customer network defense, I would say that I am not a fan of the product as a security platform. MS Switch Access Policies (802.1X) and NAC are good areas in the product, especially if you integrate with Cisco's platform. I won't usually use the product as a layer 3 boundary. With the current models offered by the product, it is not a solution that my company recommends to others. If our company's customer already has a large Meraki deployment in place, we recommend it for continuity's sake. The product is not normally something our company would encourage others to use, but if there are additional facilities, we recommend it. I rate the product a six out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:Reseller What is our primary use case? I haven't personally recommended the product to my company's customers. Many of my company's customers use Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN at corporate levels where wireless LANs are needed. What is most valuable? I am not a big fan of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN. Based on my company's Read more

Written by a user while visiting PeerSpot

By Thuy Truong - Marques

A wireless solution for LAN connectivity with easy setup

What is most valuable? The Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is hosted on the cloud. Users enjoy all the features available on the platform, and it facilitates seamless communication for our business operations. Integrating with the router, firewall, and Wireless Controller is advantageous. What needs improvement? T Read more

Written by a user while visiting PeerSpot

By Danila Fradeani - Marques

Simple-to-use platform with a centralized management system

What is most valuable? The product's most beneficial feature impacting network security is the ability to provide centralized security management. It is simple to use compared to other technologies. What needs improvement? Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's management tools need enhancement. For how long have I used the solution? We have been using Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN since 2018. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I rate the product's stability as seven out of ten. It needs improvement in terms of configuration. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Regarding scalability, our organization primarily focuses on private network solutions for customers. Approximately seventeen percent of medium enterprises have opted for Meraki over other solutions like Fortinet or Huawei. While I have a different number of customers using Meraki within our team, we estimate around 100 customers, with their networks graded on SD-WAN technologies. How are customer service and support? The technical support services are good. How would you rate customer service and support? Neutral How was the initial setup? We have a team of 13 engineers who maintain and monitor network performance. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? Cisco products are generally recognized for their performance and quality, which may justify the higher price point compared to other options on the market. However, customers have some concerns regarding pressure to upgrade certain services, such as video surveillance, based on Cisco LAN infrastructure. Now, Cisco has shifted its strategy to be more open to integrating other technologies and brand devices. What other advice do I have? Deploying Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is relatively easy for our colleagues in the delivery department. They face challenges in planning, learning critical issues, and finding solutions during deployment. However, our team has gained valuable experience handling such deployments over the past three to four years. Currently, I am not directly involved in the configuration, design, or delivery analysis. However, maintenance may present more challenges for us. Our primary proposal for network solutions typically involves Cisco Meraki because our team has a long-standing familiarity and confidence in Cisco technologies. However, we also work with Fortinet, depending on the specific requirements of our customers. We offer both options to ensure we meet the diverse needs of our clients. I rate it an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: What is most valuable? The product's most beneficial feature impacting network security is the ability to provide centralized security management. It is simple to use compared to other technologies. What needs improvement? Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN's management tools need enhancement. For how long have I us Read more

Written by a user while visiting PeerSpot