42 Reviews and Ratings
157 Reviews and Ratings
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Cisco is a name well known in the IT field. The technology is tried and true and they have built a reputation on a solid platform. Though many people do not like the cost of the devices and the continued fees associated with long term ownership, you get what you pay for. I dont hesitate to recommend Cisco because I know people will get a solid product that will last a long time.Incentivized
Cisco Meraki MS is brilliant in very simple environments where basic segregation is required. Many features are pre-configured as defaults and this makes it easy to configure security and stability features like STP protections and UDLD. It is capable of some more complex functions, such as dot1x authentication. TAC support is easy to access and usually timely. Bundling support into the license and making it available through Dashboard is great. We have had issues monitoring the Cisco Meraki Dashboard using legacy SNMP based system - this means we now effectively have one more network monitoring screen to watch. We also sorely lack an ageing timer for stick MAC address port security - essential in uncontrolled locations with no NAC available. We have also had issues with devices pulling DHCP leasing from the wrong VLAN on initial provisioning and then struggling to transition to our management VLAN when the full config is pulled.Incentivized
Easy setup and configuration. While the web UI has its quirks, setting up VLANs and other tasks which can be exceedingly complicated on other switches, are much easier on Cisco SG switches. You also have the ability to upload an existing configuration to switches, which can speed up the task of deploying many identical switches.Features for the price. Getting a 48 port L3 switch with PoE+ for less than $2,000 is a great value.Reliability. We have hundreds of the SG switches in dozens of client sites, many in harsh conditions, and they just keep going.Incentivized
Meraki MS switches are wonderful at allowing a network admin to configure a VPN mesh network without having to have highly specialized knowledge. Unlike Cisco switches, there is no CLI, there is only a GUI, and Meraki support helps you set it up as you add nodes to your network.Meraki MS switches are easy to deploy. Full stop.They can work with any firewall or ASA but I would strongly recommend using the Meraki MX security appliance if you are going to use Meraki MS switches because they were made to work together.They easily stack. It's all done for you in the Meraki cloud control panel.They will get an address from your admin VLAN's DHCP scope and keep it. Even if you unplug it and move it, you will not have to worry about addressing it.The GUI is online and you can reach it from anywhere, so as long as you have the credentials, you can manage the network from any device that has a browser.Incentivized
The web UI has taken a turn for the worse with the latest firmware on the SGx50 models -- the bifurcation between basic and advanced modes and the changes to the way VLANs are modified is a step backward in my opinion.The power bricks on smaller models are enormous. I'm sure, however, keeping this circuitry external to the switch is what keeps my switches running year after year in hot environments.Fans can be a bit loud on larger switches -- this is true of pretty much any 1U device though.Incentivized
People who are coming from enterprise switches or command line options may feel limitedIf internet is having issue, managing the switches can become more burdensomeSwitches do not have as many advanced features as enterprise switchesDelay in reporting and debuggingIncentivized
for their relialiabilty
Being on the cloud its very easy to manage. We have layer 7 visibility and Cisco has introduced stackable MX switches which is even better! The Meraki portal can be accessed via SSO which is important to my organization (although it was a bit difficult to get that implemented initially!)Incentivized
Cisco support for the Meraki products is great. I have a dedicated representative who I can reach out to at any time. They offer numerous online resources and easy to follow tutorials to help the most novice user feel like a pro. When I need support they were ready and quickly helped me solve my problems.Incentivized
Cisco is more enterprise level, more reliable, and generally more feature rich but also very expensive. That being said old or refurbished Cisco switches are much more affordable and in comparison to even new switches from the competitor they are still a great value even though they are used. I like Ubiquiti switches as well but Cisco is usually better overall.Incentivized
Meraki MS provides the sweet spot between manageability and functionality, though not at a significantly lower cost. Desktop support engineers can manage it day-to-day and sometimes that is the most important factor, especially in our case, as a layer 2 switching solution that can also provide PoE to the Meraki MR WAPs.Incentivized
Cisco Meraki MS is intuitive and allows us to easily manage 340+ satellite locations and four corporate locations. Templates, intelligent patching, and alerting are fantastic. This has drastically improved compliance and managing such a large footprint. I would continually recommend Cisco Meraki MS for any multi-site organization because of its ease of use.Incentivized
Failure on Cisco Switches, from my experience, is rare in the first 5 years the device is up.I have see the Cisco 6500 switches go 5 years without a reboot, which is nothing short of amazing.The service that you get is top notch and available 24/7, and you really cannot put a price on that.Incentivized
We scaled out existing networks way faster and way easier.We have added new sites with new switch and network configuration requirements way faster and easier.Because Meraki switches integrate so seamlessly with Meraki Wi-Fi it makes Wi-Fi management very easy and very straightforward.Incentivized