Meraki from a vendors perspective
Modules Used
- MR36
- MR46
- MR44
Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Meraki MR
Meraki MR is a product that eases the administration for the customer and provides a short route in implementation for the consultant. A nice visual dashboard gives the customer an excellent view throughout the network. Most beneficial when dealing with many branches in several different places, it the branches furthest away that need most attention, with Meraki Dashboard all branches are as close as the HQ.
- Centralised management when handling branches.
- Easy to determin what model is suitable.
- Stable and reliable wifi
- Works well for both office and manufacturing due to the amount of antenna choices
- Remote management and/or wifi as a service is easily implemented.
- License and support in one SKU is appreciated
- External antenna even for the MR44 and MR36. Customers may need the reach but not necessarily have a dense trafic environment.
- Useful to keep the same AP mount, just as for Cisco classic
- Power mode to save energy at certain times
- Connect an AP via tunneling to wifi to reach places where cabling is hard to fulfill
- When entering a renewal license before last date of renewal , old devices with still time left disapears
Do you think Cisco Meraki MR delivers good value for the price?
Not sure
Are you happy with Cisco Meraki MR's feature set?
Yes
Did Cisco Meraki MR live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of Cisco Meraki MR go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Cisco Meraki MR again?
Yes
- Ease of expanding is positive
- Customers often understand the licensing model, they accept it but with a bit of muttering, but I find it transparent.
- Last month change with Operation Scale is not a hit with dual messages. The solution is said to be pricing through Fast Track but not all items are on Fast Track.
- A customer with multiple branches will save money when one person may operate the dashboard instead of several locals.
Visual management makes it easier to get a quick glance and an easier way of finding out what is wrong. Can be handed over to first line support to avoid involving networking technician straight away. Enables to get control of remote offices that actually are more crucial to have fully functional operations than head quarters since they are "left alone"
Switching is today more to tie the wifi network together, most employees connect through wifi, it is essential that Meraki security offers will follow along and offer to secure the network when the end point connects. Cameras will be used more in the coming years as well as your sensors to astablish the modern smart building that keep track on energy consumption and optimizes the need for the customer.
Meraki for the easier choice. Lately Meraki have climbed up the ladder with the new MS390 widening the offer. For me I see Meraki for the small/mid market customer and Cisco Classic more for the bigger customer with more specific needs. But security must follow along with the same ease of setting up like for what Meraki is known.
Cisco Hybrid Work
- Cisco Meraki MR
- Working from an office or other company space
- Working from home
When at the office you are always protected by company security policies. Working from home is a different ball game. Here you need to sort out three different types of communication, your business communication through VPN, your business internet usage and then also your families use of Internet. These thre ways needs different approaches, you do not want malicious code to come into your network through the familys actions to affect your work device at home. Therefor you have to take an approach to secure your own end point as it is the first perimiter far away from the company protected environment behind a firewall.
You need to secure the end point. That endpoint must also be able to function as well from home as from the office. When the end point isn't secured at your home office, it might, when your in the office, connect to the office network and spread malicious code from within.
A simple VPN connection will not guard you enough, it will keep you safe when connected but what will happen when youre not connected? Ciscos can offer solutions for each step to secure your end point, from Cisco Umbrella to Cisco Secure End point keeping you and your company safe all the way.
Working from home keeps you more focused while not so frequent visits to the office space will create a need to be more social once you are there, making you less productive. Do make sure you use Webex or Teams to connect to collegues and be social with them. See, there is a Cisco solution for that as well.
Cisco products will be the same for protecting both the end point and to protect the companys network, threat intelligence will all come from Cisco Thalos.
- Webex
- Microsoft Teams
Using Cisco Meraki MR
I'm a reseller, my aim is to get customers to get the most suitable solution for them.
- Reliable wifi both at home and at the office
- Ease of monitoring through Meraki Dashboard
- New use cases is about to form
- using the wifi to collect data from sensors
- for air quality, density of usage, triggers for automation
- Automation in new ways
Evaluating Meraki MR and Competitors
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Prior Experience with the Product
It must be easy to use and to monitor, the end users experiance must be flawless and the management needs to be flexible but still not cumbersome.
It is important to understand your network and your challenges coming up ahead. Do I need a solution that can be ready and reliable straight away or do I want to evolve with the network over time. How do I implement security features along side and within the network.
Meraki MR Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support cares about my success | None |
I have no experience with Premium Support
TAlk to Meraki or your Sales Rep. most often they will find a solution that is suitable for you.
Using Meraki MR
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Easy to use Well integrated Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | Unnecessarily complex Requires technical support |
- Beeing able to monitor remote branches in Dashboard
- It powers up and will find your dashboard
- More models need to be available with external antenna
Yes, but I don't use it