Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Routers
- Cisco ISR 4000 Series
- Cisco CSR 1000V Series
- Meraki MX
We are currently using Cisco CSRv and ISR routers for WAN connectivity by configuring DMVPNs between our sites world wide.
We use Meraki MX devices for cellular connectivity, route, and switch, features at several sites that we cannot use for the building infrastructure. We also use an MX device as a VPN concentrator for some remote/at-home users to provide a more consistent look and feel.
We use Meraki MX devices for cellular connectivity, route, and switch, features at several sites that we cannot use for the building infrastructure. We also use an MX device as a VPN concentrator for some remote/at-home users to provide a more consistent look and feel.
- CSR/ISR routers are incredibly stable. The only issues to date have been building or user error and not the devices or software.
- Meraki MX Devices are very simple to use through the dashboard. Once you understand the dashboard and how its set up its simply point and click.
- The Meraki Devices are the perfect cost/ benefit ratio. Its easy to justify the ROI on these devices.
- CSR/ISR are traditionally expensive. The Virtual series is even worse. Cisco has been known for a long time as top end of the price scale but in recent years the competition is making it harder to stick to Cisco
- The Meraki Dashboard can be hard to navigate and the learning curve is pretty steep. Once you get a feel for it, it becomes second nature but it takes some time to dig in and find your way around.
- The CSRv router has caused us to look at functions, features, and solutions outside of our enterprise standard due to cost of Cisco license and then AWS costs on top of it.
- Meraki MX devices have given us an easy solution to several of our sites where we don't own the building or the infrastructure. In those cases we can deploy the device with cellular service and continue to operate as normal. All of the other ideas were significantly more expensive and all came with more limitations.
- Using the MX device as a VPN concentrator has been a huge success. Using the Meraki devices to handle the vpn overhead has reduced the workload on the laptop, reduced user error while remote, and improved stability. It also allows for metrics and visibility to assist remote workers with more confidence and ease.
Not in my case but only because I am a Cisco pure network. I use either traditional Cisco or Meraki for my networking needs world wide. They all work together very nicely and I have not yet had any issues in this regard.
I do not use any of my CSR/ISR routers for security functions. We have other devices in place to perform this feature. I do use the security functions of the Meraki MX devices though we do very little beyond the standard out of the box functions. For the vpn's we tunnel everything, and basic firewall functionality is about all that pops into mind.
I stated it earlier but to date I have only seen downtime when it's building wide like a power outage and the UPS runs out or user error where they unplug the device thinking it was something else. Beyond that they are very stable devices and just run, exactly as desired.
I haven't really looked at anything else for routing functions. I spend more time working out the proper model of device rather than if there are other options on the market that "could" do what I need.