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Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller vs. Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AThe Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller on Catalyst Access Points (EWC-AP) is a next-generation Wi-Fi solution, combining an advanced controller – the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers – with a Wi-Fi 6 access point – the Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points – to create a wireless experience for evolving and growing organization.N/A

    Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/ACisco's Meraki MR Series is a wireless LAN solution.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Embedded Wireless ControllerCisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Embedded Wireless ControllerCisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Embedded Wireless ControllerCisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Would buy again
    157 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    145 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    160 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    140 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    153 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Embedded Wireless ControllerCisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
    Small Businesses
    WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
    Score9.1 out of 10
    WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi Cloud
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Cisco Aironet 1800 Series Access Points (discontinued)
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Cisco Catalyst 9100 Access Points
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Embedded Wireless ControllerCisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.7
    (175 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.5
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.5
    (12 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.7
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.9
    (28 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.1
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.1
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.9
    (111 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.7
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.1
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Embedded Wireless ControllerCisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Overall I could see myself recommending these to others if they have the right set of circumstances at their place of business. Those would be like ours, if they had a location that couldnt be served by a WLC. Once setup they are easy to manage and self healing as in they wont go down when one is offline.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    It's ideal if the company frequently uses mobile devices that need to work on Wi-Fi. It's also ideal if a company has multiple locations. Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points can then be easily deployed and managed via a central Meraki Dashboard. It also offers a powerful content filtering feature within the Cisco Meraki environment. This can be particularly useful for guest networks and in locations where certain content cannot be downloaded, such as a school.It's less suitable if a company has a limited IT budget and the network needs to be continuously expanded. In those cases, the associated license costs can quickly add up. In factories or other robustly built environments, RF tuning isn't feasible. As a result, the signal quality can sometimes be somewhat reduced.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • Offers enterprise-class security that keeps the network protected
    • Cost-effective connectivity
    • Deploying WiFi 6 network without complexity or added expense
    • Controlling access points and clients
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • It's cloud based, so as long as we have an internet connection, we can access it. Whenever we push a change, it's one stop like a single pane of glass to manage all our equipment. And so that's what I liked about it.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Cisco
    • Some bugs in the interface.
    • Issues with licensing and Cisco DNA integration.
    • Frequent software patches needed,
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • It can expand its radio range in terms of distance reach
    • It can improve it's design as it looks like a plain flat brick
    • I would like to see more integration with security
    • Better solution in segmenting and authentication like clearpass
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    It is a solution that works very well. It is almost like setup and forget, since the solution works. When issues occur, documentation is available with detailed steps on how to solve this problems you are facing, of course Technical Support is always ready to help. We have had instances where an Access Point fails and within 2 days we have the replacement
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Cisco
    Giving this rating as i have recommended and configured EWC for many customer where they don't needed much AP and on-prem controller was also not needed. most of features available on 9800 WLC is also available on EWC
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    To get basic functionality doesn't take long. Set up a new Meraki Dashboard activate the licenses and get internet connection for the APs and you are more or less done. The Dashboard will find your items and you're good to go.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    We have been deploying Meraki since last 8 years and even the first one deployed seems to be working fine till now!
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    We have not had any issues with the Meraki WiFi Access Point hardware but we did encounter a problem with a Meraki LAN switch that failed to power up. Upon a email into the Meraki Support, they promptly called back and we went over some quick tests to determine a power supply problem. A replacement LAN switch was sent to me the next day.
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    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    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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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Cisco EWC is better to all its competitor as it provide same robust solution which is available to its hardware based controller, Customer experiences are similar to what other 9800 hardware based devices provides.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    We were more on a Cisco Wireless Controller set up, which takes a lot longer to control and that's why we've actually gone through a cloud-based product, which is very easy compared with the old traditional way that we used to have. It's more ease of software. They've got very similar features, but it's easy to set up and maintain into the future.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    As far as I know, it's 10. I mean, because like I said, I manage stuff in the south. I have coworkers that manage it in the north. And so the scalability of it to be able to be go in and see the configurations of the ones in the north as well as they can see in the south. So across the board, it works really well for how widespread out it is.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Makes having remote sites less problematic when it comes to managing AP's
    • Saved money on managed AP's as they're found cheaper
    • Takes more time to manage additional controllers versus a WLC
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • Uptime has improved significantly. The dashboard automatically keeps devices up to date by scheduling upgrades at remote times (say 2am on a Sunday)
    • Swapping to Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points has reduced the management overhead. No more long controller software hardware upgrades and obviously no more need for beefy central controllers.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points Screenshots

    Screenshot of MR57 Cisco Meraki Access Point