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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Meraki MX

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ACisco 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

    Nmap

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ANmap is a free, open source network discovery, mapper, and security auditing software. Its core features include port scanning identifying unknown devices, testing for security vulnerabilities, and identifying network issues.

    $49,980

    one-time fee

    Pricing
    Cisco Meraki MXNmap
    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
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - Quarterly Term Maintenance Fee
    $7,980
    Every Three Months per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - Quarterly Term Maintenance Fee
    $11,980
    Every Three Months per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - Quarterly Term Maintenance Fee
    $13,980
    Every Three Months per license
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - Annual Maintenance Fee
    $14,980
    per year per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - Annual Maintenance Fee
    $19,980
    per year per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - Annual Maintenance Fee
    $23,980
    per year per license
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - Perpetual License
    $49,980
    one-time fee per license
    Nmap OEM Small/Startup Company Redistribution License - 5 year prepay Maintenance Fee
    $59,920
    Every Five Years per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - 5 year prepay Maintenance Fee
    $79,920
    Every Five Years per license
    Nmap OEM Mid-Sized Company Redistribution License - Perpetual License
    $79,980
    one-time fee per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - 5 year prepay Maintenance Fee
    $95,920
    Every Five Years per license
    Nmap OEM Enterprise Redistribution License - Perpetual License
    $98,980
    one-time fee per license
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Meraki MXNmap
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—All perpetual licenses include a six-month trial period during which you can cancel for any reason and receive a full refund of all money paid (including maintenance). The term license is only a 3-month commitment and cal also be terminated with full refund during the first 30 days of the initial quarter.
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Cisco Meraki MXNmap
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Cisco Meraki MX and Nmap
    Feature
    Cisco Meraki MX
    7.8
    173 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Nmap
    -
    Ratings
    Identification Technologies7.8167 Ratings00 Ratings
    Visualization Tools8.4162 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Inspection7.7158 Ratings00 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls7.7160 Ratings00 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP7.8132 Ratings00 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console7.7158 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging7.1166 Ratings00 Ratings
    VPN8.6157 Ratings00 Ratings
    High Availability8.5158 Ratings00 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection7.5149 Ratings00 Ratings
    Proxy Server7.188 Ratings00 Ratings
    Network Performance Monitoring
    Comparison of Network Performance Monitoring features of Cisco Meraki MX and Nmap
    Feature
    Cisco Meraki MX
    -
    Ratings
    Nmap
    5.3
    17 Ratings
    40% below category average
    Automated network device discovery00 Ratings5.011 Ratings
    Network monitoring00 Ratings10.012 Ratings
    Baseline threshold calculation00 Ratings9.06 Ratings
    Alerts00 Ratings3.04 Ratings
    Network capacity planning00 Ratings6.07 Ratings
    Packet capture analysis00 Ratings2.07 Ratings
    Network mapping00 Ratings10.016 Ratings
    Customizable reports00 Ratings1.010 Ratings
    Wireless infrastructure monitoring00 Ratings2.08 Ratings
    Hardware health monitoring00 Ratings5.06 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Meraki MXNmap
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Auvik
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.6 out of 10
    PingPlotter
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    PingPlotter
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Meraki MXNmap
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (218 ratings)
    10.0
    (18 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (16 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.2
    (13 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (19 ratings)
    8.4
    (7 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    5.7
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.2
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.9
    (184 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.6
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Meraki MXNmap
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    The Meraki MX lineup is well suited for organizations that need centralized management of multiple locations, as it allows for both quick deployment and simple/easy remote administration all from a single pane of glass. It also works very well for providing VPN access for remote workers and helps monitor end-device uptime. It does, however, fall a bit short in its firewall's customization, compared to traditional appliances (like our WatchGuard Firebox), so perhaps less suited for organizations that need more customization, as the Meraki MX lineup is primarily designed for simplicity and straightforward cloud-based management.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    If you're a sysadmin, or anyone who's had to deploy network services, you've almost certainly had to use Nmap at some point or other. Need to see what devices are on your LAN? Nmap can tell you that. Want to check which ports your web server has open to the internet? Nmap is your friend.
    Nmap is a powerful command-line tool and has many options that require some reading of documentation to get the best out of (although generally straightforward). If the thought of working at the command-line scares you (presumably not if you're reading this review), then you may want a much simpler tool, or at least check out Zenmap GUI.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • The Cisco Meraki MX series is phenomenal at allowing us to remotely manage networks. So the devices usually act as the brain behind our client's networks, which makes it really, really easy for our team to take a look at what's going on in those client network environments, resolve any issues, and make sure that our client's networks are staying secure.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • NMap provides a very fast and a very thorough network "sweep" that allows you to quickly map out exactly what's on your network.
    • NMap is highly configurable. The "canned" choices are very good in most instances, but using various switches and options, you can create a very specific scan and get exactly the results you're looking for.
    • NMap is easy to use. Even a new administrator will be able to use the graphical version (Zenmap) with efficiency right away.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Cisco
    • Layer seven firewall rules. Just making them more granular. We've been in meetings with Cisco SES where I've said feature requests many times and that's one of the big ones where it's just a little cumbersome to implement layer seven rules right now.
    • Just making them more granular. We've been in meetings with Cisco SES where I've said feature requests many times and that's one of the big ones where it's just a little cumbersome to implement layer seven rules right now.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • The GUI version on Nmap could use some improvement with the options that are available to do scans. For example, they could make it easier to select options for the different types of scanning for people who are beginners
    • There are no abilities to schedule a scan in the Nmap tool.
    • An intensive scan sometimes takes too much time to complete.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    The simplicity and ease of use for the Meraki Dashboard make it an easy choice for our organization to renew our Meraki Enterprise Agreement. We will likely continue using the Meraki MC67-C, MX450, and other MX models in their catalog until we shift away from Meraki completely
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cisco
    Some features simply aren't there, but the ones that are there are pretty easy to use. Sometimes it is easy to get lost when trying to find the specific device you want to work on, but that's mostly due to how rarely we have to go into the interface.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Nmap uses are very practical and I don't think there is a better tools for what Nmap does. It is open-sources that therefore there is no cost to use it. It offers a number of benefits, including but not limited to network mapping, port scanning and more. It is very reliable as a network scanning tool.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    Meraki MX devices support high availability (HA) configurations, which ensures minimal downtime if one device goes offline. This feature has helped us maintain a stable and reliable network, even in cases of hardware failures. ince Meraki is cloud-managed, we've noticed that the cloud infrastructure is generally highly reliable, with minimal service interruptions or downtime. This makes it easier to manage the network remotely without significant availability concerns. Meraki automatically pushes firmware updates and patches, which helps maintain system stability without requiring manual intervention. These updates are rolled out in a manner that ensures minimal disruption to service.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Cisco
    The interface is pretty responsive. The lower end devices are easy to overwhelm if you have a lot of throughput. Be sure the model you get is rated for the amount of traffic you will have. Overbuild if possible, otherwise you won't be fully leveraging the connection from your ISP.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    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
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    There is a very large support community and a robust selection of add-ons and scripts. Once you get the use down this is one of the most powerful tools and you can find anything you are looking for as far as examples on the web. While not having official support its not lacking by any means.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    great when they offered it, really tested your knowledge with hands on and see what your peers from other orgs know. glad to see that we were ahead of the curve of what our peers knew
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Cisco
    it was okay as it was moderated but still better than nothing and done via semi self paced webex meeting
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    Implementing Meraki MX devices in phases—starting with a pilot group or select branch offices—was invaluable. This allowed us to identify potential configuration issues, troubleshoot problems, and refine our setup before rolling it out company-wide. It also helped to get feedback from early users and adjust the deployment strategy accordingly. The SD-WAN capabilities in Meraki MX were essential for optimizing our WAN traffic and ensuring better application performance across various locations.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Cisco CVO (MEVO) As previously mentioned we needed to manually configure each one which would take 15-20 minutes per device and needed to be done on-site. These devices can also go down more frequently after power outages and other incidents, and we've seen them not come back online. These devices are also much larger.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    Alternatives to Nmap (other IP scanners) are often much more limited in what they can do; They often only allow you to scan a specific subset of ports or a limited number of IP addresses in one command. Nmap is unrestricted in that regard. What makes Nmap stand out above the rest, is the complete network analysis package you get with it. It allows IP scanner, network deep-dives, hardware analysis, vulnerability analysis, encryption detailing, and so much more, in one free application
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    We started only with the Main Meraki MX85 in our enterprise for our main hub, then we started adding remote sites with Meraki MX 68 and connected to our Main hub. Adding more sites and scaling the network is easy, and improving our connectivity saves time and cost to manage, or adding manpower with only 1 dashboard can manage all applications. Scaling and flexibility to change or expand our network are easy thanks to Meraki MX features
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • From a positive impact? Basically it allows us to set up shop very quickly. It allowed us to add sites to our network very quickly. From a negative perspective, I think the only thing is that I can see from a negative perspective is I have a preference to working with ACLI in terms of how I engage with the youth tool At the moment, the only way to actually engage with a tool is on a gui and sometimes what I'd actually like is more detailed information in terms of actual configuration that you'll actually get out of ACLI.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • Nmap with Wireshark is free, so it's been a great combo team to gather info and test.
    • It's allowed us to avoid fines from false positives and to fix actual issues ourselves.
    • Great for finding hosts, helps keep the network secure.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots