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SD-WAN Blues
May 05, 2021

SD-WAN Blues

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Meraki SD-WAN

We used Cisco Meraki SD-WAN to replace an aging MPLS network connecting our remote, rural sites. We purchased broadband, cost-effective internet circuits at remote locations and installed Cisco Meraki MX Series appliances at each site. This reduces our dependence on private lines in rural areas.
  • Mesh VPN seems to work well.
  • The connectivity is generally easy to set up.
  • Customized, esoteric configurations were very hard to get connected and configured.
  • We had hoped to configure all sites filtering in one place, but each site has to be configured separately. this is prohibitive with a large number of sites.
  • Network visibility does not work as well as I would like.
  • The MX appliances do not work well with voice VLAN when using the appliances as a small office router/switch.
  • So far, SD-WAN/ Internet has saved us thousands per month over MPLS over private circuits.
  • Simple sites are quick and easy to bring online.
So far, we have seen little ease of deployment or management. The Meraki MX SD-WAN has pretty much been a nightmare to configure and roll out. The design has been especially convoluted and worrisome.
We have integrated Cisco ASA 5500-X for classic hardware and SSL VPN, and for temporary migration use. We plan to integrate Active Directory, but so far we have not been able to get that designed or deployed. We also have some Meraki Access points integrated with the system. Again, the interaction with configuration and management is clunky and clumsy.
The Meraki SD-WAN using MX series appliances is scalable up to a point. The requirement to manage all MX series appliances as their own network makes the use increasingly difficult as the network expands, causing network managers to have to keep track of the different appliances separately.
We considered staying with MPLS over private circuits, but the cost was prohibitive. We also considered going with a more traditional VPN configuration using the ASA5500-X series for VPN head-end. The Meraki MX SD-WAN seemed a better all-around fit for a modern network.
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS), Cisco AnyConnect
Meraki SD-WAN is a good fit for a small number of simple, standard sites. It does connect sites fairly easily.
The more sites involved, the less the Meraki SD-WAN seems manageable. Managing content and security for a large number of sites in separate interfaces requires having to check each site against each other manually to make sure they are alike.