Cisco Aironet and Catalyst Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco [Aironet Access Points] are well suited in offices where they can be managed by a wireless LAN controller (WLC). Using them in this way allows the APs to be well managed and security policies can easily be enforced down to users connecting to these APs for wireless access. Scenarios, where Cisco [Aironet Access Points] are less appropriate, are in small-office-home-office (SOHO) situations because of price and licensing costs to use a WLC to manage them. Thus, using them, in this case, would be that the APs would have to be in Autonomous mode, and the technical know-how in converting a lightweight AP to an Autonomous one is not straightforward.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Oil & Energy Company, 501-1000 employees

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If you want easy to setup wireless that works really well and can be managed from anywhere, Meraki is for sure the way to go. Once you get used to using the dashboard, it is extremely easy to use and will show you all kinds of details about the network and the clients on it. The Meraki design works well, especially if you are new to wireless, the settings are pretty basic but easy to follow. If you have an office environment and don't want the hassle of having a controller in a closet, then Meraki is a good fit. They might not always be suited for industrial designs where heat and extreme harsh temperatures are in play but other than that I've found I've been able to put them in manufacturing and office environments. If you want extreme tuning ability like you would see in a traditional Cisco controller, then you might not like the Meraki platform.

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Mining & Metals Company, 501-1000 employees

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Pros

Outdoor mesh bridging of access points brings significant cost savings to many of our production facilities. Deploying mesh APs is a significant cost reduction over trenching conduit to connect remote areas via fiber.
Cisco APs are extremely resilient, with a failure rate of below 5% in some of our harshest environments.
Cisco APs have the intelligence to identify wireless interference sources with Clean Air technology

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Utilities Company, 10,001+ employees

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Cisco Meraki Wireless does a GREAT job marketing their product and building your trust. They offer free and very informative webinars that offer free gear for your home network. They rely on word of mouth marketing and it simply works. They offer great try and buy programs as well. They stand behind their product and trust the technology.
Cisco Meraki Wireless administrators dashboard is top notch. Their wireless UI interface is integrated with all other Cisco Meraki Wireless products. This makes it easy to use. It has single-use credentials and is seamless.
Cisco Meraki Wireless support is also top notch. While they are backed by Cisco, Meraki always feels like you are working with a small business that takes your account seriously. They are specialized and a rare breed in the industry. Getting support from them is a pleasure!

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Jesse Bickel, MS - PMP

Sr. IT Project Manager

CaptureRxHospital & Health Care, 51-200 employees

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Cons

In the facilities where we operate, we had to put a reinforcement on the ceiling to avoid problems due to the weight of the access point.
On the appearance, it could be smaller and lighter.
As for the hardware, I think it's incredible, I don't see any points to improve.

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Gleison Leandro Rodrigues

Networking Coordinator

NetshoesInternet, 1001-5000 employees

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Depending on your business size and budget, the cloud based subscription model may not acceptable to upper management.
Must maintain subscription to utilize Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Points.
Additional functionality and support for Mobile Device Management (MDM) comes with an additional cost if you want telephone support, otherwise it is limited to a certain number of devices and tech support via email only.

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Joe Spradlin

Director of IT

Fort Walton Machining, IncAviation & Aerospace, 51-200 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point 9.1

Based on 1 answer

The Cisco Meraki WiFi Access Point dashboard and support license is mandatory so to continue usage we will need to renew the license. We may opt to purchase a more current WiFi generation device if something newer is available at that time. Currently, happy with the use of the dashboard as it is very feature rich.

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Victor Lau

Network Architect

Canadian TelecomTelecommunications, 10,001+ employees

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Usability

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point 8.2

Based on 1 answer

The Meraki dashboard is an excellent tool to administer and manage the Meraki WiFi Access Point. Navigating the dashboard is intuitive and there are lots of use cases on the Meraki site. The dashboard is the key to having a great administrative experience with the product, easy to use, fast to find information.

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Victor Lau

Network Architect

Canadian TelecomTelecommunications, 10,001+ employees

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Support Rating

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point 9.4

Based on 21 answers

Cisco Meraki support has been very helpful when it comes to troubleshooting and supporting their products. There is an online knowledge base with tons of documentation and there is also 24x7 phone support available as part of the dashboard license. Every time I've called support, the engineer I spoke with has been very informative and dedicated to resolving my problems.

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Verified User

Director in Engineering

Information Technology and Services Company, 51-200 employees

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Implementation Rating

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point 7.3

Based on 1 answer

There were documents that detailed how the WiFi Access Point was to be installed and mounted. The only issue was to cable the device, we use a third party for this type of work and typically has to be performed after normal business hours. Other than that, the installation was easy.

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Victor Lau

Network Architect

Canadian TelecomTelecommunications, 10,001+ employees

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Alternatives Considered

The usage scenario was different. I don't see this as a benefit versus harm comparison, necessarily. What happened was that, at a certain point, the implementation of the cisco solution was the winner of our public bidding process and with that, we implemented it and have used it ever since.

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Roni Peterson Alvarenga

Diretor de Tecnologia da Informação e Telecomunicação

Câmara Municipal de CampinasGovernment Administration, 501-1000 employees

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Meraki Wireless Access Points were superior to Cisco Aironets:Cloud-based dashboard for managing all Meraki devices.Alerts when devices or network is impacted.Easy deployment of Firmware upgrades.Faster network speeds.Wider network coverage.Required less number of Access Points compared to Cisco Aironet.

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Financial Services Company, 51-200 employees

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Return on Investment

Obviously, these things aren't cheap. But we do believe that with the functionality we get, we are getting a good return on productivity.
These things are really reliable, we don't spend a lot of time troubleshooting or replacing them.

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Verified User

Director in Information Technology

Hospital & Health Care Company, 201-500 employees

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KPI generator: Generator of commercial indicators that help us define the client's profile.
Consumption data: See in which the network is occupying the consumption by application and user.
Heat zones: See which is the area of interest most traveled by the end user.

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Salvador Pineda

Coordinador de Gerentes de Zona IT

Volkswagen de MéxicoAutomotive, 10,001+ employees

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