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Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Cisco Wireless comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
1.0
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN provides cost savings, ease of use, and management, though high costs may deter larger businesses.
Sentiment score
2.3
Cisco Wireless boosts productivity, reduces downtime, improves connectivity, and offers cost savings with robust security and manageability.
A comparison from standalone to distributed WLC-controlled access points provides some decent ROI.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
4.3
Meraki support is efficient and accessible, yet users note inconsistent assistance and desire enhanced knowledge base resources.
Sentiment score
5.3
Customer service is mostly praised for professionalism and efficiency, though some users experience slow response times and regional differences.
I would rate Cisco support a 10, as the response time and process via the dashboard are easy, and response times are always within the SLA.
Independent Information Technology and Services Professional at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
It would be better if the SLA of technical support was less than four hours.
Sr. Officer Network Managed Service Product Management at PT. Indosat Tbk
There are some problems with their technical support when it comes to the whole Meraki system.
Senior Network Architect at Previder
The technical support from Cisco is of high quality.
Head Of ELV and ICT at Intec Systems Solution Pvt Ltd
We received responses quickly after logging our problem.
Group IT Head at Euracare
The refresh cycle is not as aggressive with Aruba, meaning they will continue supporting products for longer durations without facing end-of-life and end-of-sale situations as frequently as Cisco does.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
4.2
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is praised for its scalable cloud-based system, despite cost and configuration challenges.
Sentiment score
6.8
Cisco Wireless offers scalable solutions for enterprises, praised for flexibility and seamless expansion, despite some cost concerns.
Meraki is not scalable enough since it straightforwardly maps its products to segmented specifications.
Sr. Officer Network Managed Service Product Management at PT. Indosat Tbk
Installing new licenses with the number of access points that the device WLC is expected to support makes it scalable.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
4.4
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is stable with high user satisfaction, though firmware updates and outages may occasionally cause issues.
Sentiment score
7.4
Cisco Wireless is praised for its stability and reliability, with minimal downtime and robust performance in production environments.
Stability is not an issue for me because it comes with Cisco's proven manufacturer quality.
Sr. Officer Network Managed Service Product Management at PT. Indosat Tbk
We have experienced many instances where we have experienced a lag in our network, and I am not sure if it is due to their devices or our network.
Manager, Information Technology at a performing arts with 11-50 employees
The performance is excellent, rating 10 out of 10.
Group IT Head at Euracare
The best aspect is that even if the WLC goes down, the access points stay up and remain functional.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN users seek improved error logs, advanced features, better support, competitive pricing, and enhanced third-party integration.
Cisco Wireless struggles with complex UI, high costs, integration issues, and inadequate support, affecting user satisfaction and performance.
The most important improvement needed is to eliminate the limitation of uplinks.
Sr. Officer Network Managed Service Product Management at PT. Indosat Tbk
Some of the newer models of the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN access point have encompassed the new wireless protocols and increased the strength of their antennas.
Manager, Information Technology at a performing arts with 11-50 employees
The solution supports Wi-Fi 6.
Senior Network Architect at Previder
Sometimes, integration with other Cisco products requires manual intervention for tasks such as firmware upgrades, which should be automated.
Network Security at Tech Mahindra Limited
We would prefer if we could increase the controller to a 10 gig interface because we want to connect our controller to a 10 gig interface.
Group IT Head at Euracare
In the long term, there could be a cost reduction because it does not require much maintenance.
System Engineer at DANAT IT FOR BUSINESS
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is stable but expensive; negotiate with resellers for trials and discounts, especially for SMBs.
Cisco Wireless is costly but valued for quality; licensing is complex and varies by enterprise size and project scope.
The pricing of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is not competitive enough for the SMB market compared to other brands.
Sr. Officer Network Managed Service Product Management at PT. Indosat Tbk
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is on par with other devices in that category, offering competitive pricing.
Manager, Information Technology at a performing arts with 11-50 employees
My experience with the pricing of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is that it is competitive with other providers offering paid subscriptions.
Independent Information Technology and Services Professional at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
Cisco generally is expensive.
Group IT Head at Euracare
The setup cost involves licenses.
System Engineer at DANAT IT FOR BUSINESS
The licensing of Cisco Wireless is competitive.
Network Security at Tech Mahindra Limited
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN simplifies cloud management with robust features enhancing network operations, integration, and analytics for enterprises.
Cisco Wireless provides scalable, easy management with robust security, seamless roaming, high performance, and advanced integration capabilities.
It also manages security clients and switches, providing a single dashboard to manage multiple network infrastructures.
Sr. Officer Network Managed Service Product Management at PT. Indosat Tbk
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN has helped optimize network traffic very effectively, as we do prioritization for streaming and web conferencing apps, resulting in a clear, visible improvement in performance.
Independent Information Technology and Services Professional at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
The ability to program all access points from the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN dashboard, view the status of all of them, and examine the individual devices connected to each access point is very valuable.
Manager, Information Technology at a performing arts with 11-50 employees
If one network fails, there is a link between different access points, which ensures network continuity.
Head Of ELV and ICT at Intec Systems Solution Pvt Ltd
The advantages of Cisco Wireless include helping me aggregate all the access points, managing one point connection for my users easily, controlling rogues, and addressing hotspots effectively.
Group IT Head at Euracare
The primary benefit is the ability to triage and identify what is where, and when users report issues, we can identify the users, location, endpoint, and nuances such as signal strength and signal-to-noise ratio.
Sr. Cloud Security Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Ranking in Wireless LAN
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
4.4
Number of Reviews
122
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Wireless
Ranking in Wireless LAN
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
155
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 10.3%, down from 13.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Wireless is 9.5%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN10.3%
Cisco Wireless9.5%
Other80.2%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

DolfKrikke - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Architect at Previder
Centralized management has simplified remote branch control and improved network visibility
Cisco Meraki Wireless is very powerful and very easy to manage. The solution is also integrating Cisco Catalyst Wireless products into their portfolio, and they are managing the Catalyst switches as well. The seamless roaming capabilities function well. I monitor network performance with Meraki's real-time analytics. The most useful metrics to my team are the internet performance metrics, as there is a lot of information in the dashboard that I can access. All auditing and event logs are centralized in the dashboard. When I need to apply to compliance requirements or other regulatory needs, I can have my auditing in one place, which is an advantage. I use Cisco Meraki Wireless's Layer 7 application traffic shaping with the MX and the Meraki MX Firewalls.
EvansEsezobor - PeerSpot reviewer
Group IT Head at Euracare
Has enabled centralized user management and improved wireless access point aggregation
To improve Cisco Wireless, the ports on the access points are all 100 Meg, not 1 gig. We have not gotten a gigabyte interface of about 1,000, but the controller we have is just 1 gig. We would prefer if we could increase the controller to a 10 gig interface because we want to connect our controller to a 10 gig interface, which currently limits us to 1 gig. When we want to move higher capacity data via wireless, it limits us to 1 gig.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Wireless LAN solutions are best for your needs.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user212721 - PeerSpot reviewer
President at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Mar 24, 2015
Cisco vs. Aruba Wireless Solutions
Cisco or Aruba Networks? If you are considering wireless access solutions, this is a common question that you are probably asking. You probably have sales people knocking at your door. How do you make sense of all the stories that you are presented with. If you have done any research, you are…
 

Answers from the Community

NC
Content Manager at PeerSpot
Nov 10, 2021
Nov 10, 2021
Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helped us get more network access to more people wirelessly across some very large spaces. It is expensive, though. The Cisco Wireless portal, like many Cisco products, can be very complex. The flexibility...
See 2 answers
AA
IT Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Sep 7, 2021
The standard answer to such a question is: it depends. The pricing for both solutions is very similar: per-AP, Meraki is more expensive than Cisco Wireless. Cisco APs are cheaper, but the controller raises the solution price to be almost equal to Meraki. Meraki is subscription-based and requires constant internet access to manage the system. If the annual license expires, the APs will work, but you can't manage them or read reports of the Meraki portal. Cisco Wireless is a one-time payment for the hardware with annual support payments. if you have a small office with only a few APs needed, you can use the Cisco Mobility Express Controller (which uses one of the APs or a Catalyst Switch as the controller) but that has a limit of 100 APs.
Nov 10, 2021
Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helped us get more network access to more people wirelessly across some very large spaces. It is expensive, though. The Cisco Wireless portal, like many Cisco products, can be very complex. The flexibility of the controllers needs fixing and Cisco Wireless requires a bit of tweaking to get the stability right. We would also like to see the reporting improved - this would help make troubleshooting easier. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is very user-friendly. You don’t have to be a wireless engineer to set it up. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is cloud-based, which is very convenient as you don’t have to have a physical controller, saving valuable space, power, and redundancy. This solution offers advanced configurations that are a great fit for small to medium-sized businesses that can’t employ an advanced tech team. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is high-performance, stable, scalable, and very easy to deploy, and offers a dashboard that makes managing the solution very easy. Some of the built-in capabilities and filtering with Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN needs to be made easier to use. Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN needs to better identify devices, and the TAC reading and interpretation capabilities are not always accurate. There are also some processing limitations when you have multiple SSIDs. Conclusion As these are both Cisco products, they offer brand recognition you can trust, great quality, and good durability. We found that Cisco Wireless offered slightly better access points and improved coverage, allowing the creation of better networks. Cisco Wireless takes a one-time payment for the hardware, and then annual payments. If you employ Cisco’s knowledgeable team members, this will be a good fit for you. The huge selling point for Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is its ease of use. You don’t need to have a lot of knowledge to deploy or manage processes, which makes this a great product for smaller businesses with a less tech-savvy team.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business69
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business78
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise73
 

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?
Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...
Which is better - Cisco Wireless or Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco Wireless is very robust, very rugged, and can handle indoor and outdoor coverage extremely well. We found it to be very reliable and to consistently run very efficiently. Cisco Wireless helpe...
How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
Cisco’s Meraki Virtual MX is a virtual instance of the Meraki SD-WAN appliance. We liked the Meraki. The Wifi APs are a great feature. The dashboard is a simple interface and easy to learn. It feat...
Which is better - Ruckus Wireless or Cisco Wireless?
Ruckus Wireless offers users the benefit of being both easy to set up and get running as well as being very user friendly. This user-friendly quality also renders it easy to learn how to use and ma...
How does Cisco Wireless compare with Aruba Wireless?
On the most basic level, Cisco Wireless can offer a rather straightforward initial setup. In the span of about three hours, the basic framework can be set up. Step-by-step instructions are availabl...
What do you like most about Cisco Wireless?
Cisco Wireless improves mobility and flexibility. The only case we are working on is with hospitals, focusing on the mobility of doctors within the hospital. Everywhere, doctors need to be connect...
 

Also Known As

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN
Cisco WLAN Controller
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins
Aegean Motorway, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Brunel University London, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Chartwell School, Children's Hospital Colorado, Cisco Live Milan, City of Biel, City of Mississauga, Dundee Precious Metals, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Erickson Living, Goldcorp, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS)
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Cisco Wireless and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.