Item: Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Meraki Wireless Access Point

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

They are used for wireless connectivity for data devices, IoT devices, and voice connectivity. We use them at several sites with good success. They are used throughout different types of environments from office to industrial plants and outdoors. The type of users who use them are office-based people working off laptops, engineers, and operators who need mobile connectivity, fork truck computers that are driving around, and wifi-based phones that are carried by users throughout the facilities.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Client roaming
Ease of use
Dashboard management
Visibility into the network
Quality of access point

Cons

Advanced features
Details about the wireless settings
Local console ports

Return on Investment

Lower cost than some of their competition.
Subscription cloud access cost is easy to manage.
Uptime has been extremely good resulting in keeping our operations running.
The dashboard allows it to be managed from anywhere, saving trips and local troubleshooting.

Alternatives Considered

Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers, Ubiquiti Networks UniFi, Fortinet Wireless LAN and Aruba Networks Wireless WAN

I've found that Meraki Wireless Access Points are able to stack up against all of the other access point manufacturers I've used. I think they are more usable and easy to understand when compared to others like Fortinet, Aruba, or traditional Cisco wireless. I do think the features offered are enough for almost all companies looking for a good wifi plan. They have less detailed settings than Aruba and Cisco so if you have complicated deployments they might be missing some options you are after. Keeping it simple is how Meraki wins. They also have a much easier way to do a zero-touch deployment. You can add the access points in the dashboard and get them running very quickly. They can be managed from anywhere without a VPN or local connection which gives them an edge over their competition.

Key Insights

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

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Meraki MR Wireless Access Points again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers, FortiClient, Cisco DNA Center

Likelihood to Recommend

If you want easy to setup wireless that works really well and can be managed from anywhere, Meraki is for sure the way to go. Once you get used to using the dashboard, it is extremely easy to use and will show you all kinds of details about the network and the clients on it. The Meraki design works well, especially if you are new to wireless, the settings are pretty basic but easy to follow. If you have an office environment and don't want the hassle of having a controller in a closet, then Meraki is a good fit. They might not always be suited for industrial designs where heat and extreme harsh temperatures are in play but other than that I've found I've been able to put them in manufacturing and office environments. If you want extreme tuning ability like you would see in a traditional Cisco controller, then you might not like the Meraki platform.

Comments

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Meraki Access Points: a great dashboard and are easy to setup!