Cisco offers the Meraki (MR) line of wireless access points supporting basic LAN with inbuilt antivirus (NAC), cloud management with network-wide access control, and location analytics, as well as support for indoor and outdoor spaces of various sizes across different product models.
Meraki offers cloud management, this is very important to us because we did not want more physical infrastructure on our site, and the trend of the market is all on the cloud. So this solution makes sense for what we were looking for. Another advantage of these devices is the …
Meraki's dashboard is what sets it apart. This allows configuration and modification to be done on the fly from any location. The UI is extremely intuitive. It offers extensive tools compared to other mesh network providers such as Ubiquiti or Google Wi-Fi.
If you want easy to setup wireless that works really well and can be managed from anywhere, Meraki is for sure the way to go. Once you get used to using the dashboard, it is extremely easy to use and will show you all kinds of details about the network and the clients on it. The Meraki design works well, especially if you are new to wireless, the settings are pretty basic but easy to follow. If you have an office environment and don't want the hassle of having a controller in a closet, then Meraki is a good fit. They might not always be suited for industrial designs where heat and extreme harsh temperatures are in play but other than that I've found I've been able to put them in manufacturing and office environments. If you want extreme tuning ability like you would see in a traditional Cisco controller, then you might not like the Meraki platform.
Best in small networks & appropriate in industrial areas. AP works fine in any temperature & location (in remote locations office or remote location). Open area wireless connectivity is good with good range. Simple VLAN management and management are good. Backup and restoration is very good. Small home offices using wireless network work awesome.
Cisco Meraki Wireless does a GREAT job marketing their product and building your trust. They offer free and very informative webinars that offer free gear for your home network. They rely on word of mouth marketing and it simply works. They offer great try and buy programs as well. They stand behind their product and trust the technology.
Cisco Meraki Wireless administrators dashboard is top notch. Their wireless UI interface is integrated with all other Cisco Meraki Wireless products. This makes it easy to use. It has single-use credentials and is seamless.
Cisco Meraki Wireless support is also top notch. While they are backed by Cisco, Meraki always feels like you are working with a small business that takes your account seriously. They are specialized and a rare breed in the industry. Getting support from them is a pleasure!
Due to multiple switches in a single network environment, communication issues are common; therefore, productivity is effected. After installing D-Link Wireless, we resolved these kind of issues in our network.
One windows solution make management easy via D-Link Wireless.
Logs and troubleshooting is now easily handled. Pictorial form help in configuration and users management.
Depending on your business size and budget, the cloud based subscription model may not acceptable to upper management.
Must maintain subscription to utilize Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Points.
Additional functionality and support for Mobile Device Management (MDM) comes with an additional cost if you want telephone support, otherwise it is limited to a certain number of devices and tech support via email only.
The Cisco Meraki WiFi Access Point dashboard and support license is mandatory so to continue usage we will need to renew the license. We may opt to purchase a more current WiFi generation device if something newer is available at that time. Currently, happy with the use of the dashboard as it is very feature rich.
The Meraki dashboard is an excellent tool to administer and manage the Meraki WiFi Access Point. Navigating the dashboard is intuitive and there are lots of use cases on the Meraki site. The dashboard is the key to having a great administrative experience with the product, easy to use, fast to find information.
Cisco Meraki support has been very helpful when it comes to troubleshooting and supporting their products. There is an online knowledge base with tons of documentation and there is also 24x7 phone support available as part of the dashboard license. Every time I've called support, the engineer I spoke with has been very informative and dedicated to resolving my problems.
There were documents that detailed how the WiFi Access Point was to be installed and mounted. The only issue was to cable the device, we use a third party for this type of work and typically has to be performed after normal business hours. Other than that, the installation was easy.
Meraki Wireless Access Points were superior to Cisco Aironets: Cloud-based dashboard for managing all Meraki devices. Alerts when devices or network is impacted. Easy deployment of Firmware upgrades. Faster network speeds. Wider network coverage. Required less number of Access Points compared to Cisco Aironet.
We studied and selected D-Link due to usage in a limited area, and it is a very cost effective solution; therefore, D-Link Wireless AP and D-Link Wireless Controller [were] selected for our organization. We also [researched] Cisco, but Cisco was an expensive product and not appropriate in our required area or task; therefore, we selected D-Link.