Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Meraki MS
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Cisco offers the Meraki brand of Ethernet switches.N/A
Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Cisco Nexus is a series of network switches.
$49
Pricing
Cisco Meraki MSCisco Nexus Series Switches
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Starting Price
$49.00
Maximum Price
$200,000.00
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Meraki MSCisco Nexus Series Switches
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 MSCisco Nexus Series Switches
Considered Both Products
Cisco Meraki MS
Chose Cisco Meraki MS
Cisco Meraki equipment is easier to configure, setup, and deploy as well as manage. The only thing I will say for the other gear is that they have their special niche requirements, protocol options, and special configuration options that not all Meraki gear has. Meraki gear …
Chose Cisco Meraki MS
Meraki MS switches don't offer the very high-end configuration options as Cisco Nexus switches, and we needed some of those high-end options in our core switch stack. So we bought the Cisco Nexus for our core and bought some engineering time from a contractor to help us set it …
Chose Cisco Meraki MS
I am able to go deeper into analytics and troubleshooting. A lot more updated and features that are far different than others evaluated or had used previously on the network
Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Chose Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Cisco Nexus Series Switches are built perfectly in terms of scalability and efficiency. Performance monitoring and the planning of new networks and excellent tools. Although Cisco Nexus Series Switches are costly they are worth the money.
Chose Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Cisco Nexus switches are the Cadillac in switching. All the other switching we have and use is for lesser demanding requirements and for most cost effective implementations.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Cisco Meraki MSCisco Nexus Series Switches
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Ethernet Switches
Cisco Ethernet Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Meraki MSCisco Nexus Series Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(76 ratings)
8.6
(74 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.3
(2 ratings)
8.5
(6 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(5 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(12 ratings)
8.7
(10 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(3 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(57 ratings)
9.2
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Meraki MSCisco Nexus Series Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
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.
Read full review
Cisco
Fairly stable and easy to operate - but I haven't any experience with other brands, so I don't have anything to compare with. Fairly fast in the OS. Easy to upgrade - but with some SW issues. Sometimes clearing of log folders is needed. Access to bash is cool. Tips & cool tricks for operations could be nice to share.
Read full review
Pros
Cisco
  • 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.
Read full review
Cisco
  • Continuous system operation:
  • Maintenance, upgrades, and software certification can be performed without service interruptions because of the modular nature of NX-OS and features such as In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) and the capability for processes to restart dynamically
  • FabricPath:
  • Enables each device to build an overall view of the topology; this is similar to other link state routing protocols. Each device in the FabricPath topology is identified by a switch-id. The Layer 2 forwarding tables are built based on reachability to each switch-id, not by the MAC address. Eliminates spanning-tree to maximize network bandwidth and flexibility in topological configurations, as well as simplify operational support and configuration. This enables a tremendous amount of flexibility on the topology because you can now build FabricPath topologies for Layer 2-based networks the same as for Layer 3-based networks
  • Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV): Enables the Layer 2 extension between distributed data centers over any transport Layer 3 network
Read full review
Cons
Cisco
  • People who are coming from enterprise switches or command line options may feel limited
  • If internet is having issue, managing the switches can become more burdensome
  • Switches do not have as many advanced features as enterprise switches
  • Delay in reporting and debugging
Read full review
Cisco
  • Implementing jumbo frames on interfaces of its fabric extender series (N2k, etc.) by editing the network QoS does not have to be a global configuration that would affect all its interfaces. It can be improved to become just an interface configuration.
  • Licensing on the NXOS is a bit complicated and expensive. I understand that the Nexus is made for core data center switching but it does not have to break the bank.
  • OTV technology is for Nexus only. Based on the advantage of the technology, it should be made vendor-neutral to accommodate other vendor devices.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
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!)
Read full review
Cisco
We will use it for a long time, since they are switches with great capacity and positive results, they promote the perfect operation of our data center, I always recommend them, because they are switches with good results.
Read full review
Usability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
In our environment (and especially during COVID and the Work From Home era), I would really like our network devices to be more resilient [against} errors in remote configuration. Having a standard, easy to use, configure, commit/deploy, rollback system should be installed, but it's not there. Other companies have been providing this for over 20 years, and Cisco does this on some of their devices. Why not all?
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Our network is very well design. Any components or device failure. Doesn't affect network availability
Read full review
Performance
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
These switches are very fast. They've been designed to work within the data center. We connect them to Cisco UCS-B Mini servers with the storage being directly attached. They are able to handle the data traffic pretty easily. We can also move servers pretty fast from data center to data center without overloading them. This has allowed our company to stay running during any kind of conditional outage. We have come to really rely on them for business continuity.
Read full review
Support Rating
Cisco
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.
Read full review
Cisco
Overall, Cisco has great products and I believe that they believe in the philosophy of a great customer experience. Although there have been a few technical support issues that caused a lot of company anxiety, in most cases, Cisco has gone above and beyond in making a valiant effort to help the customer solve any issues.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Trainer didn't has good handon experience.. he was bookish trainer.
Read full review
Online Training
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Never had it
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Cisco
It is reliable and working as expected
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
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.
Read full review
Cisco
The Cisco 9000 stacks up quite well against the Cisco Catalyst 3850 switches. The additional features available in the Nexus 9000, such as VPN, FCoE, 40 gigabits, give us the ability to support the future needs of the company in our data center. The Nexus 9000 allowed us to condense our core and aggregation environment that comprised of 2 Catalyst 6504 and 2 Catalyst 6509 to a port of Nexus 9000. Although the Catalyst 3850 would be sufficient to handle routing, those features in the Nexus 9000 made it the clear choice for us.
Read full review
Scalability
Cisco
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.
Read full review
Cisco
The Nexus 3000 series switches are data center switches, so I would say they have similar security ability to other switches in this segment. I don't have a lot of experience doing more than basic ACL security on switches, but I know these can be integrated into other security solutions like Cisco ISE and 802.1x authentication. It could also be integrated into an ACI solution to add micro segmentation, which would bring in other security functions.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • 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.
Read full review
Cisco
  • We expected the switches to provide ROI and they did as advertised.
  • NX-OS was pretty similar to IOS so the learning curve was pretty low.
  • Being a Non-Profit we need to be extremely cost conscience and buy gear that has a long shelf life. Nexus line of switches met this objective.
Read full review
ScreenShots