Item: Cisco Meraki MR
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have leveraged Cisco Meraki MR access points across our entire organization. From our corporate sites, to over 350 clinics across the US. We were previously utilizing Ubiquiti solutions at our corporate locations, and found it was not a fit for us. We have found the reliability, management, metrics Meraki MR provides has allowed us to continue our rapid growth.

Pros and Cons

Management- Profiles and templates are easy to deploy
Reliability- the up time for these APs (outside expected firmware updates) is class leading in my opinion
Transparency- we are able to quickly gather metrics on the RF environment to properly identify potential issues and maintain a positive UX

Licensing- unfortunately this is the big sticking point for Meraki, is licensing can get costly. You're now adding opex to what most vendors is capex.

Return on Investment

Improved UX- the reliability of the MRs has alleviated the headaches we were seeing with our previous wireless solution
Improved customer feedback- In our industry, reviews and social exposure is critical. We have been able to implement a reliable wireless network for our retail sites so clients can provide reviews at time of service.
Increased security- we have been able to leverage the suite Meraki MR includes to ensure we are meeting our compliance requirements.

Simplified Management

When I came to this organization, I was one of 3 internal IT folks, and the only one with a networking background. We needed an enterprise solution that had a user friendly. My prior experience with Meraki knew that this solution was a no brainer. As we have expanded our team, the Cisco Meraki MR interface has been great to continue to ensure network stability.

Integrations with other Cisco products

Cisco Meraki MS, Cisco Meraki MX and Cisco Meraki MV

We have integrated almost the entire Cisco Meraki stack at our corporate locations because of the great single pane of glass interface and ease of use. It has been great to be able to quickly pivot and dig into issues to rapidly identify issues that occur.

Scalability

We started deploying Meraki AP's when we were at about 150 locations. We were able to rapidly deploy 150 APs and then add roughly 180 more networks within a 12 month period. Meraki has definitely enabled us to scale at the rate we desire. Templating has further expanded our capacity.

Alternatives Considered

Cisco Meraki MX, Cisco Meraki MS and Cisco Meraki MV

I am definitely highlighting the same themes of reliability, ease of management, and scalability. Everything Cisco Meraki MR puts out is what I would consider to be industry standard. With a team that isn't as networking savvy as others, we have been able to grow comfortably with minimal networking specialist oversight. Thanks Cisco Meraki MR!

Key Insights

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

Other Software Used

Cisco Meraki MS, Cisco Meraki MX, Cisco Meraki MV

Likelihood to Recommend

I came from several years of the managed services space before transitioning to an internal IT role. We have found that the ease of use and deployment combined with the bulletproof reliability of the Cisco Meraki MR platform makes it an easy sell for many types of organizations. I still recommend Cisco Meraki MR to anyone looking for an enterprise networking solution.

Cisco Meraki MR is Industry Gold Standard

Modules Used

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Meraki MR