Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point

It uses some of the latest WIFI standards that are available to us in the IT industry. So I don't have to worry about slow connectivity. It also allows me to intelligently decide how to deploy the access points so that my clients aren't overloading one AP or they can provide fault tolerance solutions. So if something happens in the office and one of the devices suddenly goes offline for whatever reason, the rest will just kind of pick up and keep on going and it just makes things easier all around.

Well, for me, part of it comes down to the value proposition of Meraki is that it's easy to use, but as someone who's worked in IT a lot, sometimes I want to be able to dig under the hood to find those bells and whistles of things that I might want to configure on my own. And I understand that sometimes that can create challenges. So maybe as someone who's a little bit more seasoned in the IT space, my thought process is to hide that, but still let me get into it if I have to because there are occasions when there's a little setting that I need to mess with.

Simple to deploy

Ease of management

Some features were buried and took a little bit to find

Remote work

Hybrid work

Network security (can integrate to Umbrella)

Cheaper.

Integrate to another technology.

More APIs to use it.

APs are easy to configure and setup.

Visibility across the entire network is easy to obtain via the dashboard.

Enabling security features, via Air Marshall and Firewall portals is easy and intuitive.

Provide more options for 2FA, particularly for administrator accounts.

Wider coverage

Faster network speeds

Single dashboard management

Additional user training

Layer 7 application control

bandwidth consumption per device

Fast deployment

Easy tshoot

mobile application is not fully developed

Location heatmap must have a new face

The view of the section Wireless could be more detailed and intuitive

Mesh network and coverage of various SSIDs

Centralized management interface without the need to VPN to access (cloud-based)

Centralized patching and applying policies to all APs

Logging is sent via Syslog only. Little frustrating when you're using it as cloud-managed network solution

The UI isn't very intuitive and having a global setting would be helpful.

Central management

Ease of deployment

Ease of configuration

Wishlist functionality

Cost

Linking with Z series wifi for mesh.

Client roaming

Ease of use

Dashboard management

Visibility into the network

Quality of access point

Advanced features

Details about the wireless settings

Local console ports

Consumption statistics: Shows how much bandwidth each user occupies and which application.

Cloud management: You can manage your AP Meraki from anywhere with an internet connection and see all the information on your wireless network without having to be there.

Administration: Offers a simple administration with main indicators according to the job profile.

Cost: Cost reduction since it is a solution not suitable for any pocket

Licensing: Be able to obtain a perpetual license since it is important to achieve the continuity of the project.

Easy setup

Multiple SSD configuration for different situations.

SSO with domain

POE for easy setup in areas without power connections.

Easy remote configuration and administration through the Meraki dashboard

Firewall settings to restrict or block applications

Current WiFi technology and good performance

Great technical support and responsiveness

Requires a Meraki license to operate

Cost of licenses can add up

Performance is good but may lag a bit with the competition

Plastic housings give the product a cheaper look and feel

Cloud management.

Wireless Access Point software upgrades.

Expansion and deployment.

Pricing.

Allowed the WAP to function locally without the usage of cloud subscriptions.

Easy to manage and to obtain information

The configuration interface is pretty intuitive

Easy integration with analytics platforms

WiFi6 is only available on the most expensive models

Model MR18 (End of Sale now, but we have some that are still operating) tend to suspend 2, 4GHz band transmission, and the APs have to be reset.

Full integration with Cisco DNA

Network visibility and reporting through the Meraki dashboard

Easy provisioning and onboarding of new Access Points

Secure Guest access through built in firewall

Content Filtering and group policy out of the box

Could allow for more detailed reporting that is only currently available to Meraki technical support

Auto-detection of external antennas instead of manual configuration per AP

Advanced features such as Clean Air that are only available with Cisco APs currently

Good capacity to manage devices.

Central operation.

Easy to manage.

Cheaper cost.

Ease of use and set-up.

Single pane of glass for network management.

Ability to set-up prior to having physical hardware.

Ability to deploy at remote site locations without an IT presence.

Intuitive user interface.

Granular/advance settings require tech support.

Locked into a subscription model. No ability to make changes if out of the subscription.

Downgrading firmware for troubleshooting can be a bit of work.

The ease of configuration. The Meraki portal is user friendly and APs are very easy to set up.

Reporting details such as who is connected and what device is connected is extremely helpful in troubleshooting and securing the WiFi network.

The ease of management. Once the APs are online, the portal shows you all the information you need to troubleshoot any issue.

I feel the biggest thing is creating predictive heat maps. I have to use third party solutions to design a WiFi solution. It would be nice to use the same platform for the design and the solution

Ease of Management from a central cloud location.

Controls are relatively easy to use once you become familiar.

Co-terms my license every year so that it is a simple single renewal.

As, AP's Meraki is great! MDM mobile device management - we also use Meraki to help with mobile devices. It works, but not flawless.

The biggest plus for Meraki is its user interface. It is simple and easy to use. It is cloud-based, so you can access it anywhere, and since it is cloud-based, they can add features at any time without me having to "manage" a controller.

Ease of installation - Access points can be completely set up in the cloud, without having the device in hand, so the AP can be shipped to remote locations and installed by end-users who don't have to know anything about AP's. All they have to do is clip a few small brackets to the ceiling tile grid, screw the backing plate into those brackets with 2 screws, plug the cable in, and snap the AP onto the backing plate. It is extremely easy.

Meraki's layer 7 firewall rules and reporting are incredible. You have very good visibility into exactly what traffic is going through the AP's, and you can also throttle and restrict based on those layer 7 things, as well as normal firewalling.

Reporting overall is pretty comprehensive - you can get very detailed information on who is doing what, and what device they are doing it with, and how much bandwidth that is consuming - all in a clean interface.

There are some hardware features that seem to lag behind Cisco's other AP product lines. It would be nice if you could have all the features of the top-of-the-line Cisco AP's combined with the Meraki interface.

Occasionally you will find some features you need missing, only to find out that it is there, but can only be turned on by tech support.

The licensing has been a little complicated with the way they lump all licenses together, but they are improving that system now.

You can advertise up to 15 SSIDs, enabling different networks for different audiences and purposes, each with their own splash pages, if desired. Used in concert with a Meraki firewall, you can apply traffic shaping rules independently for each network. For example, devices I issue to my employees enjoy unlimited WiFi bandwidth, while guest users access a network with bandwidth restrictions.

You can channel SSIDs to use different WANs, too. So my employees get WiFi access through our fiber connection, while guest traffic is shuttled through a separate copper connection. Not only is this good from a security perspective, but it means employees don't have to compete with guests for network bandwidth (and vice versa).

Meraki allows you to build maps of your locations in the dashboard using an uploaded floor plan, upon which you can precisely place your Meraki hardware. From this map, you can see how many devices are on each AP and then drill down to see which devices these are—how cool is that? With the location heatmap, you actually see where devices are physically located on the floor plans.

There are eight different authentication options available, including paid access, which allow you various control mechanisms for each network you create. So you can offer a free tier for one network and a paid tier for another, offering paying users a higher-performing option, for instance.

You can choose to make certain networks a part of your LAN, getting DHCP leases from domain controllers and allowing WiFi clients to seamlessly interact with wired clients. Other clients, such as guests, can get leases through Meraki DHCP. In NAT mode, you can also conduct content filtering.

You can also track and monitor Bluetooth clients on your network. In short, you can see just about any wireless device, which makes these APs really useful for security monitoring.

One of my favorite features is being able to monitor network health by bandwidth type, such as distinguishing between video and voice. Meraki is constantly adding features to the dashboard, and this recent addition is much appreciated.

I honestly can't think of a single thing I don't like about these APs or the Meraki software. Note that the capabilities of these APs will be diminished if you are not using them in concert with a Meraki Firewall, so keep that in mind when making your purchasing decision.

Also, note that the hardware becomes uses without product licenses. Since these are cloud-managed devices, you have to have a license to continue to use them. If you don't want to get locked into annual renewal costs, these are not the products for you.

Easy and intuitive GUI dashboard.

Variety of complex functions such as VLAN tagging.

Data gathering analytics.

The "Make a Wish" element needs improvement as you cannot see the state of your feature request and when it might be implemented.

Stored data retention only seems to be kept for a month, for GDPR requirements we need at least one year.

4GHz SSID seems to be very poor, and some devices cannot join on this band.

Easy setup

Set it and forget it

Ability to manage unlimited number of access points and networks

Multiple network availability

Slow notification response when AP's go down

Not a lot of in depth advanced settings

Some firmware bugs that have not been addressed

Easy to purchase licensing model.

Deployment is simple and cost-effective.

Easy to scale as needed.

The dashboard could allow you to create a folder structure to store networks in.

Ability to create custom content on dashboards.

Support for eigrp on the MX gateways would be awesome.

The Cisco Access points are great at load balancing for us. When the AP has too many devices it will kick one off however another AP next to it will pick it up.

The guest splash sponsor login works perfectly. Guests have to send an email to our staff and then they get approved.

The ability to reboot the AP from the office is actually a big deal for us due to the distance from us to the farthest location we support as it can take 30 minutes one way.

I would like to see Cisco Meraki APs be able to connect with the Chromebooks so that we may see which user is active on an AP.

I would like to view traffic on an AP after 30 days however Cisco does not store after 30 days.