Item: Cisco Meraki Dashboard
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Meraki Dashboard

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Cisco Meraki Dashboard to oversee the networks of various sites in our business. With the dashboard, we are able to determine the health of each site's network connectivity at a glance. When we are alerted to an issue at a particular site, we are able to take a closer look through the dashboard to diagnose the issue.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Shows near real-time traffic on WAN connections
Provides detailed information of devices connected to the network
Provides many controls for granular control of the network

Cons

It can sometimes throw out false positives, showing a device is connected when it's not
Templates can't really be edited on a site-by-site basis
The logs could be more detailed. Not every change is recorded in the log

Return on Investment

Its GUI is fairly intuitive, allowing for at a glance troubleshooting
It helps reduce down time for sites due to alerts
Downside is fairly high upfront licensing costs

Usability

I like that there are diagrams of each of the Meraki devices which shows which ports are in use as well as showing which devices are connected to each port. The pages are configurable so information can be added or removed as deemed fit. I do wish there was more visibility on the ports of the MX devices.

Alternatives Considered

I've only used consumer grade software for home use. Cisco Meraki Dashboard has much more information and granularity.

Key Insights

Do you think Cisco Meraki Dashboard delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Cisco Meraki Dashboard's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Meraki Dashboard live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Cisco Meraki Dashboard go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Cisco Meraki Dashboard again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Cradlepoint NetCloud Engine, SolarWinds IP Address Manager (IPAM), Infoblox DDI (BloxOne)

Likelihood to Recommend

It's well suited in our use case for troubleshooting, especially when troubleshooting with someone locally at the site. The ability to flash the lights on the MX64 firewall or MS110 Switch helps when walking a user through locating and troubleshooting a device. I am not sure if there is this ability, but I don't believe there is a CLI for even more granular control.

Comments

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