What users are saying about

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller vs Meraki MR

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller
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40 Ratings
Meraki MR
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52 Ratings

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

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40 Ratings
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Score 8.9 out of 100

Based on 40 reviews and ratings

Meraki MR

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52 Ratings
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Score 9 out of 100

Based on 52 reviews and ratings

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

In case one needs to manage a complex network with a significant number of access points, Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller is an appropriate solution since it can handle well a large amount of nodes and allows a detailed and customized configuration of each one of the APs in an individual way. For a small number of devices, the price does not justify of use of such powerful solution.

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João Almeida | TrustRadius Reviewer
João Almeida
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Meraki MR

A Cisco Meraki MR is well-suited for highly visible locations where a device needs to be suddenly integrated and not drawing attention to itself. It may not be so well-suited to environments where in depth monitoring of traffic to specific destinations needs to be quickly determined and throttled on an as needed basis, such as in a conference environment.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Pros

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

  • It supports the latest Wifi-Gen6 specifications, which include improved bandwidth.
  • The setup is easy and support from Cisco is great.
  • Exceptional support for more than a thousand access points at great data throughput.
  • Chromecast support service is another big plus with this wireless controller.

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Rashid Hassan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Rashid Hassan
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Meraki MR

  • Layer 7 Firewall Embedded
  • Different type of access control and guess portal
  • Traffic shaping and bandwidth rate limits for high demands application
  • Health option to identify quickly different problems with the performance
  • Integration with third party guess portal like “Eleven WiFi” for customize guess access
  • Analytics and reports of usage very helpful in order to obtain data of your internet usage and allocate resources more efficient

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Jose De Jesus | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jose De Jesus
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Cons

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

  • The help information is sometimes not very clear. An item may have a reference number next to it, at the bottom of the page it will have an explanation, but sometimes they are too brief to make sense.
  • If they can somehow add debugging on the page instead of requiring us to go through the CLI to collect the debug ut put, that would be great.

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Richard Dean | TrustRadius Reviewer
Richard Dean
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Meraki MR

  • There needs to be an easier way to see which devices are being heavier used, so as to determine needed adjustments.
  • It would be good to have more in-depth access to what locations connected devices are navigating to.
  • Cost. These devices could be a little more competitive if the cost were lower. Meraki prices itself out of some sales.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Usability

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller 8.2
Based on 1 answer
Very well made product. Very stable. We have had no issues administering the 8540.

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Richard Dean | TrustRadius Reviewer
Richard Dean
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Meraki MR

Meraki MR 8.6
Based on 2 answers
The Cisco Meraki MR web interface is best in class when it comes to network management. While some networking knowledge is needed to understand what you are doing, no specialized training in any one specific operating system is required to design a whole network.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Support Rating

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller 9.0
Based on 1 answer
It is a better product. The evolution is positive.

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Carlos Zacarias Hernandez | TrustRadius Reviewer
Carlos Zacarias Hernandez
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Meraki MR

Meraki MR 8.8
Based on 25 answers
Meraki support is usually top notch. The are quick to respond and stick with an issue until it is resolved. One of the difficulties I've had with Meraki MRs is the limited ability the customer has in troubleshooting. Much of the more technical aspects of resolution can only be accessed by the Meraki support team, meaning dedicated IT teams are reliant on them when more complicated issues arise.

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Dennis Chwee | TrustRadius Reviewer
Dennis Chwee
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Alternatives Considered

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

We tried out the Cisco Catalyst 9800-40 in the past and haven't noticed too much difference with the Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller. We generally trust Cisco products and found no issues within any product we have purchased in the past. We have looked at other organization's products but we believe Cisco is the best for us.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Meraki MR

Meraki MR are certainly one of the good products on the market. The ease of use, configuration from the dashboard and the rollout are certainly the main differentiators of Meraki. The lifetime warranty of MR (not outdoor models) is also a great advantage.But, the licenses to pay as long as you use the product may discourage some buyers (vs Fortinet for example).

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Return on Investment

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

  • Positive impact: Time savings for staff setting up new access points
  • Positive impact: Not having to worry about devices just going down for no reason
  • Negative impact: If you're budget is small you're going to have a tough sell on these

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Meraki MR

  • Very easy deployment when we moved a major office location.
  • When we added special business needs we were able to add a Wi-Fi channel for special access with minimal IT effort and configuration.
  • Easy to setup, deploy and install when we have added remote sites.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Pricing Details

Cisco 8540 Wireless Controller

General

Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Meraki MR

General

Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

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