Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Meraki MR
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Cisco's Meraki MR Series is a wireless LAN solution.N/A
Cisco Meraki MX
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Meraki MX Firewalls is a combined UTM and Software-Defined WAN solution. Meraki is managed via the cloud, and provides core firewall services, including site-to-site VPN, plus network monitoring.
$595
per appliance
Pricing
Cisco Meraki MRCisco Meraki MX
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
MX64
$595
per appliance
MX67
$695
per appliance
MX68
$995
per appliance
MX84
$1,995
per appliance
MX100
$4,995
per appliance
MX250
$9,995
per appliance
MX450
$19,995
per appliance
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Meraki MRCisco Meraki MX
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 Meraki MRCisco Meraki MX
Considered Both Products
Meraki MR
Chose Cisco Meraki MR
good value for the money, reliable, lifetime warranty
Chose Cisco Meraki MR
I am definitely highlighting the same themes of reliability, ease of management, and scalability. Everything Cisco Meraki MR puts out is what I would consider to be industry standard. With a team that isn't as networking savvy as others, we have been able to grow comfortably …
Chose Cisco Meraki MR
We chose this Meraki firewall for the same reasons as our other equipment, for its ease of implementation, but also to have all our Meraki products visible on the same console. Its use is identical to that of switches or Wi-Fi kiosks; all you have to do is set it up via the …
Chose Cisco Meraki MR
I would personally always recommend Meraki over the above for ease of deployment and management. My only reservation is you feel like you never really own the equipment... its more like you're leasing it and that the end it all just stops working. Where with the above products, …
Chose Cisco Meraki MR
The Cradlepoints can also serve as wireless access point devices, but can have phone provider SIM cards added to them for internet connectivity, which is good as a backup route or for mobile vehicles. However, for office locations we use the Meraki access points, because of how …
Chose Cisco Meraki MR
Meraki is in a different class, much more expensive and a better UI and large scale manageability
Chose Cisco Meraki MR
Meraki for the easier choice. Lately Meraki have climbed up the ladder with the new MS390 widening the offer. For me I see Meraki for the small/mid market customer and Cisco Classic more for the bigger customer with more specific needs. But security must follow along with the …
Chose Cisco Meraki MR
The Meraki MX is more of a firewall than a wireless access point, though some models do provide wireless capabilities. Can be useful as a gateway for the MRs or in a location where a single device is needed but additional ports, VPN, or other firewall-like functionality is …
Chose Cisco Meraki MR
[Cisco] Meraki [MR] costs more but generally seems to work better for us. Our older Ubiquiti kit seemed to struggle with people roaming across the building, especially with Macbooks. We have had no such issues with [Cisco[ Meraki [MR].
Cisco Meraki MX
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
It is easier to implement and affordable. If you like Cisco products and you believe in their ecosystem and future, you will not be wrong selecting Cisco Meraki MX or Viptela from their portfolio.
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
Flexibility, scalability
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
To Fortinet very similar, I always sell the easy patching and secure development.
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
Capabilities, performance, and ease of management. Also, because of the efficiencies of being able to manage everything from a single portal.
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
Overall, for a new network admin or a non-IT person, the Cisco Meraki MX is much easier to configure for a single site than the Cisco ASA Firewalls. ASA can be quicker for those with a background in Cisco command line OS.
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
I have used OpenMesh which is no longer around. But stacked up against Cisco Meraki MX, there was no competition. Cisco Meraki MX overall had better features, deployment, Ease of use, and Hardware performance. One of the
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
We were able to transition very easily from Cisco to Cisco Meraki MX's and connect the LANs into a single easy to manage WAN with remote access VPN and auto VPN between branches to interconnect all networks with minimal fuss but allowing high-speed networking and traffic …
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
I mentioned I came from a Dell SonicWall 2600, which I felt was a good product. However, the Cisco Meraki MX Firewall is in a whole other class. I wanted to be able to manage my networking in the cloud, which the
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
Cisco Meraki MX is still the easiest to use, they constantly update their software and features.
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
I have used Sonicwall and Meraki, and they are very similar and functional, but they go about it in different ways. Meraki is a little more user-friendly with less of a learning curve, but it comes at a little steeper price. I do like the online dashboard of Meraki better, …
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
Meraki is more entailed towards larger businesses and allow much quicker support remediation. Meraki does have a yearly license, whereas UniFi does not. UniFi is really nice and I would use it in smaller single SOHO applications, but wouldn't use it for larger organizations …
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
Certainly easier for a junior or administrator to work with that isn't great with the CLI which is desirable depending on your staff.
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
Meraki is just easier to use and deploy. It’s not the cheapest option, nor is it the most feature rich or performant firewall platform. But when you need something that works and meets PCI/HIPAA compliance, with very little effort to use, this is the ideal platform for you. …
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
While Ubiquiti is cheaper and has products that will work at faster speeds, the fact that devices can fall off a network with no questions is an issue. I've never had this issue with [Cisco] Meraki [MX].
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
I have deployed the Ubiquiti Networks Dream Machine Pro, and I have to say that the only reason I would ever choose that platform over Meraki is the price of the Meraki licensing. Ubiquiti does not have ongoing license fees, and their devices are seriously less expensive than …
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
Meraki MX is really the easiest to configure, it is a very complete device that is at the level of a business network
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
The Cisco Meraki MX device has a user interface or GUI that beats the pants off of the Cisco ASA. Needless to say, the ASA was clunky and just hard to navigate. It was ok had you had some experience doing so, but the Meraki GUI is different. It feels like it was designed for a …
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
The Meraki may have slightly fewer features, but it does have all the core features and executes them with flying colors.
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
When comparing the Cisco Meraki line to other products it became nearly an incomparable argument. While Fortinet and SonicWall were very comparable to the Meraki MX series, there were just too many tangible and intangible factors that led to us choosing Meraki. The biggest …
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
We choose Cisco Meraki MX because of its cloud control panel, its faster deployment, and its solid and integrated portfolio of solutions that cover almost all our network needs. All of these features are managed from one central location with a really complete set of reports. …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cisco Meraki MRCisco Meraki MX
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Meraki MR
-
Ratings
Cisco Meraki MX
7.7
85 Ratings
10% below category average
Identification Technologies00 Ratings8.081 Ratings
Visualization Tools00 Ratings8.482 Ratings
Content Inspection00 Ratings7.381 Ratings
Policy-based Controls00 Ratings7.379 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings7.071 Ratings
Firewall Management Console00 Ratings7.783 Ratings
Reporting and Logging00 Ratings7.285 Ratings
VPN00 Ratings8.181 Ratings
High Availability00 Ratings8.481 Ratings
Stateful Inspection00 Ratings8.076 Ratings
Proxy Server00 Ratings7.044 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco Meraki MRCisco Meraki MX
Small Businesses
Ubiquiti WLAN
Ubiquiti WLAN
Score 9.3 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Score 9.8 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
Score 9.8 out of 10
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Meraki MRCisco Meraki MX
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(63 ratings)
8.1
(114 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.7
(3 ratings)
8.2
(5 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(4 ratings)
9.2
(7 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.7
(16 ratings)
8.0
(15 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.6
(30 ratings)
8.9
(81 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Meraki MRCisco Meraki MX
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
I came from several years of the managed services space before transitioning to an internal IT role. We have found that the ease of use and deployment combined with the bulletproof reliability of the Cisco Meraki MR platform makes it an easy sell for many types of organizations. I still recommend Cisco Meraki MR to anyone looking for an enterprise networking solution.
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Cisco
Small office, small business, medium business even larger enterprise can work on Cisco Meraki MX if they can sacrifice some of the functionality that Cisco Meraki MX can not provide. To enhance security, I would advise combining with cloud delivered firewall.
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Pros
Cisco
  • Provides real-time and historic data right in the dashboard, allowing my team to troubleshoot user issues and identify larger problems much easier.
  • Meraki APs are known as "loud talkers", and have really improved coverage on the edges of our spaces. Our users live and die by Zoom, and stability has been greatly enhanced. We did have an issue with significant packet drops, and their support team was able to quickly help us figure out the cause.
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Cisco
  • The management is the best. I'm an old-fashioned networking guy, so I'm used to going to the site itself and connecting. For example, a console cable and start and start configuring. Now since the management is so easy on Meraki I can configure everything from the headquarters from where I sit in Israel and then just go to the site and connect and basically, it's plug and play. After I configure everything from my office in Israel, I can just go to the site for a few hours, and connect everything. Just the magic happens.
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Cons
Cisco
  • You have to have license to use them, otherwise they effectively they become trash! It would be good to see a one off standalone license where they don't have any support or access to Meraki dash, but could be reused as a simple standalone AP with limited features.
  • (Much like I see people reflashing with OpenWRT)
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Cisco
  • Map and floor plan area is clunky.
  • The way you need to segment devices by network causes you to need to go to different dropdowns to see everything at a single site. They have improved this and now allow you to add firewall, switches and wireless to create a single site, but still a bit clunky.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
Cause its intuitive, very clear and easy of use (no brainer) interface. It's whole portfolio in one portal aproach. Also cause the new features cycle release and the cisco Meraki comprehension of WiFi market. Also cause the fastest deployment available on the market that also comes with a easy to scale platform adding features and services in the same interface thats unique and awesome.
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Cisco
As we have it in place now, we will continue to keep it at our remote sites. Future expansion is something we are reviewing, and may well start with some of the larger switches as they seem to offer good performance and management at a reasonable price. Wireless is also something we're investing in and their devices are great for that.
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Usability
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.
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Cisco
The Cisco Meraki MX series is very easy to use. Setting up user VPN access, site to site VPN to tie multiple locations together and managing all your devices. You can even download the latest firmware and install without ever leaving the dashboard. Meraki is the very definition of easy to use
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Support Rating
Cisco
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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Cisco
I haven't ever had a bad experience with Meraki support. On the few occasions where I wasn't understanding the UI or needed some clarification about what a setting actually would do, I contacted them and they were very quickly able to provide help. Returns are simple and fast, too. We had to return a defective device one time and they shipped the replacement before we had even un-racked the one that was faulty. Unlike many other vendors, they didn't ask use to a do long list of scripted diagnostics, they just took my word for it that the device was broken and sent out a replacement immediately
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Implementation Rating
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Good product and simple to use.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
When considering a solution you need you really need to take into account the environments that you are deploying into. If you request something that is fully configurable, then you are more likely to deploy the Cisco Catalyst controller. With the Meraki solution, one of the major selling points is the dashboard and how easy it is to manage. In most cases, the features available in a Meraki solution are sufficient for 80% of customers.
Read full review
Cisco
Overall, for a new network admin or a non-IT person, the Cisco Meraki MX is much easier to configure for a single site than the Cisco ASA Firewalls. ASA can be quicker for those with a background in Cisco command line OS.
Read full review
Scalability
Cisco
Cisco Meraki MR is made to be scalable and flexible. We can scale up or down as needed and deploy devices without configuring them. We can add the devices to the portal and then not have to touch them before they reach a location. We love that it can scale as we need it.
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Cisco
The Cisco Meraki MX is basically a good product, but not perfect. If you compare the Cisco Meraki MX with a Fortigate or Cisco Firepower, you quickly realize that this system can do less than the reference product. The Cisco Meraki MX can be used in small environments, but in large environments you have to check carefully whether it really makes sense to use it.
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Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Since they are easy to setup, you save a lot on manpower hours.
  • First you configure an SSID in the Meraki Dashboard and associate it to a tag name(s). Then, when you add a new access point to the network, you just have to associate the tags to it and it will start working. Super easy and time saving when provisioning new access points in the network.
  • Since the access points report back to the Merak Dashboard, you can easily rule out any network connectivity issues when they are successfully reporting back, which also saves troubleshooting time.
  • You can also save time by looking at the Meraki mobile App, which also gives you availability and statistical information.
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Cisco
  • VPN tunnel between locations has been up 99% of the time in the 7 years that I have used the Cisco Meraki MXs in my current position. That does not include ISP issues because, in my mind, that shouldn't dictate the performance of the Cisco Meraki MXs.
  • Sometimes we get phishing emails with malicious links in them. We are able to block the URLs on our network using the Cisco Meraki MXs, and the appliance configuration sets in less than a minute. Blocking that link for anyone over VPN or on the LAN.
  • The interface is really simple and configuration is a breeze, which makes deploying a new Cisco Meraki MX really fast and easy. Replacing an Cisco Meraki MX is even easier, Just remove the old and add the new and all the configuration stays for the new appliance to use. Saves so much time and money.
  • The biggest thing is we have not had really any issues with any of our Cisco Meraki MXs going down in the past 7 years. The reliability with these devices are amazing.
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ScreenShots