Migrated from Cisco 3800 to Meraki MR56
June 09, 2023

Migrated from Cisco 3800 to Meraki MR56

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Modules Used

  • MR56

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Meraki MR

We are in the process of replacing our Cisco 3800 series APs with Meraki MR56 APs. This move has allowed us to address issues of coverage and monitoring that we weren't able to resolve with our 5508 WLCs. The Meraki APs provide us with better coverage as well as increased troubleshooting tools and data. Our users will often tell us of an issue they experienced last Tuesday rather than in the moment.

As for the scope, we have 31 offices worldwide ranging from a handful of users to a thousand users. The switch to Meraki has allowed us to divorce ourselves from the wireless controllers and focus upgrades on the APs themselves. This will allow us to be more agile as technology progresses.
  • Provides real-time and historic data right in the dashboard, allowing my team to troubleshoot user issues and identify larger problems much easier.
  • Meraki APs are known as "loud talkers", and have really improved coverage on the edges of our spaces. Our users live and die by Zoom, and stability has been greatly enhanced. We did have an issue with significant packet drops, and their support team was able to quickly help us figure out the cause.
  • Meraki devices in general are very easy to use. Perhaps too easy. We are a team of engineers used to having CLI access, so being GUI-only is a challenge.
  • STOP FORCING UPGRADES!!! I will review releases and determine which ones fit my environment the best. I will then choose the upgrade time that fits a location's particular needs.

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

Yes

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

  • Not needing wireless controllers has allowed us to focus on the AP upgrade, and to plan for more frequent upgrades as wireless technology progresses.
  • A better wireless experience for our users has been well received.
The process is very straightforward. If you've set up APs in FlexConnect in the past, this will be a cinch. I've been able to deploy APs at remote sites with zero tech support. It's as close to "plug and play" as I've seen in wireless.
We started using the MX as a way of providing DHCP for a guest wireless network. We're now using it for DHCP for wired guest, as well as for SD-Internet.
The dashboard is great. I hate to use the marketing term "single pane of glass", but it really is wonderful. I can easily bounce between networks in my organization without logging into multiple controllers and having dozens of tabs open. The interface is clean and functional, and the access to beta functionality is nice.
I've often heard Meraki is great for retail, educational settings but not for enterprise. I'd disagree with this. It has been working quite well in our enterprise environment, and has been a noticeable improvement over our previous wireless network. The administration through the dashboard is great, and using APIs can greatly streamline implementation as well as changes. If you need granular control over every aspect of the wireless network and experience, this may not be the solution for you. But as a 5 member team that handles all wireless, switching, routing and remote access for an international firm, the ease of administration has been a blessing.

Meraki MR Feature Ratings

Zero-Touch Provisioning
8
WLAN Performance Monitoring
9
Topology Maps
9
Layer 7 Visibility
9
Power over Ethernet Support
10
Wireless Security
9