Cisco Meraki MX vs. Untangle NG Firewall

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
Untangle NG Firewall
Score 9.4 out of 10
N/A
Untangle NG Firewall is an open-source firewall and gateway security platform. It offers a free core firewall platform with paid add-ons, and a cloud-based management platform with a variety of deployment options for smaller teams.
$25
per month
Pricing
Cisco Meraki MXUntangle NG Firewall
Editions & Modules
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
Open Source Firewall
$0.00
free under the GNU General Public License (GPL)
NG Firewall Complete
$25.00
per month
z4 appliance
$299
one-time purchase
z4w appliance
$329
one-time purchase
z4 Plus appliance
$399.00
one-time purchase
z6 appliance
$1199.00
one-time purchase
z12 appliance
$1999.00
one-time purchase
z20 appliance
$3499.00
one-time purchase
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Meraki MXUntangle NG Firewall
Free Trial
NoYes
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 MXUntangle NG Firewall
Considered Both Products
Cisco Meraki MX
Chose Cisco Meraki MX
I would prefer both Untangle and Fortinet over Meraki. The only downside of those two products is you need more technical network knowledge to manage the product. Untangle and Fortinet both offer more features and cost less than Meraki MX devices. Untangle has better …
Untangle NG Firewall

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cisco Meraki MXUntangle NG Firewall
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Meraki MX
7.7
85 Ratings
10% below category average
Untangle NG Firewall
8.2
6 Ratings
4% below category average
Identification Technologies8.081 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Visualization Tools8.482 Ratings7.06 Ratings
Content Inspection7.381 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Policy-based Controls7.379 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP7.071 Ratings9.06 Ratings
Firewall Management Console7.783 Ratings9.06 Ratings
Reporting and Logging7.285 Ratings7.06 Ratings
VPN8.181 Ratings9.06 Ratings
High Availability8.481 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Stateful Inspection8.076 Ratings8.06 Ratings
Proxy Server7.044 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cisco Meraki MXUntangle NG Firewall
Small Businesses
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
pfSense
pfSense
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series
Score 9.3 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 MXUntangle NG Firewall
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(114 ratings)
9.0
(9 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(5 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.2
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(15 ratings)
7.7
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.9
(81 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Meraki MXUntangle NG Firewall
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
Read full review
Untangle
Untangle is very strong in the "traditional" sense of security. That means an edge appliance that either works with an existing router or is the router itself (recommended). This approach has also been adapted well to cloud environments in order to protect virtual servers and VDI workstations. As mentioned earlier, many schools are using cloud-based filtering for their 1:1 solutions for their students. This is an area where Untangle is unable to serve. Some have used an instance of Untangle in the cloud with VPN to serve their remote needs, but it is not the same as solutions that are designed for cloud-based filtering of devices without VPN.
Read full review
Pros
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.
Read full review
Untangle
  • Web Filtering is strong, and can also do application fingerprinting to allow Facebook, but not Facebook games. Secondly, a separate partition called a "rack" can be set up to give one subnet or group of users different web filtering policies than another. For example, teachers would get more freedom to browse the web than students at a school.
  • Built-in SD-WAN connectivity as part of your license. IPSEC tunnel creation is also amazingly easy.
  • Will install on any x86 hardware created in the last 5-10 years. Ram and processor requirements per user are very low.
  • Reporting is phenomenal, however you can get death by details very easily.
Read full review
Cons
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.
Read full review
Untangle
  • The full suite can be expensive for business but will be powerful enough.
  • The full suite for home or small office isn't that bad of a price but may be out of reach for most home users but remember the basics are FREE so anyone can get started with it.
  • I would like to see it promoted for mid to large businesses as I think it can handle it.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
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.
Read full review
Untangle
Service renewal is in Feb 2021. We will be renewing!
Read full review
Usability
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
Read full review
Untangle
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
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
Read full review
Untangle
I haven't used them much, but they did answer my question quickly.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Cisco
Good product and simple to use.
Read full review
Untangle
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
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
Untangle
NG Firewall was much more friendly in terms of layout and ease of use, the apps section is familiar to anyone and the config while in a sort of odd order is very clearly laid out. I also appreciate Untangle's endless educational videos and the support can't be beat. Overall it was more of a complete package
Read full review
Scalability
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.
Read full review
Untangle
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
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.
Read full review
Untangle
  • The positive is the savings in time the IT department has recouped by not having to continuously clean and maintain end point computers. Not to mention helping end user use their time more wisely by not wasting time on non-work related web activities.
  • The only negative is complaints from end users about the restrictions.
Read full review
ScreenShots