Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs Juniper WLC Series comparison

Cisco and Juniper are both solutions in the Wireless LAN category. Cisco is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3, while Juniper is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.7. Cisco holds a 12.9% mindshare in Wireless LAN, compared to Juniper’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Juniper users who would recommend it.

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Read 119 Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN reviews

15,495 Views
12,588 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Juniper WLC Series

Read 14 Juniper WLC Series reviews

934 Views
974 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Juniper WLC Series

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN and Juniper WLC Series are strong contenders in the wireless network market. Cisco Meraki has the upper hand in ease of use due to its centralized cloud management, while Juniper WLC Series excels in performance and security for more technical enterprises.

Features: Cisco Meraki offers centralized cloud management, easy network segmentation, and user-friendly tracking and reporting tools, making it ideal for both small organizations and larger enterprises seeking intuitive solutions. Juniper WLC Series provides high-speed connectivity, strong security, and templates that ensure network consistency, appealing to technically inclined enterprises.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Meraki could improve its error logs, support process consistency, and connectivity to European privacy laws. Pricing and limited customization options are also concerns. Juniper WLC Series needs enhancements in traffic monitoring, ease of use, and security, along with assurance of future development for reliability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Meraki's deployment is straightforward across different cloud environments, with generally reliable technical support. However, some users mention delays. Juniper WLC Series provides on-premises solutions with efficient support, directly connecting users to technical staff, though integration with other products could be improved.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Meraki's pricing is seen as high, with concerns about the subscription model impacting budgets. Despite this, its robust features deliver a positive ROI. Juniper WLC Series, also considered pricey, provides reliability and performance that justify the investment, with upfront and ongoing costs catering to varied business needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Juniper WLC Series Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Juniper WLC Series

March 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Ranking in Wireless LAN

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

119

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Juniper WLC Series

Ranking in Wireless LAN

18th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Wireless LAN category, the mindshare of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is 12.9%, up from 12.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper WLC Series is 0.8%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Wireless LAN

Featured Reviews

RezaPradipta

Sr. Officer Network Managed Service Product Management at PT. Indosat Tbk

Streamline network management with a unified dashboard for seamless device integration

The primary use case for Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is mostly for enterprise wireless, including guest Wi-Fi and enterprise Wi-Fi. I use it across various industries with a focus on retail Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN offers a single pane of glass management. It only comes with a controller on the…

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Matilda Elwell

Technical Team Leader - Network &Security at STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Offers visibility and cost benefits

The tool has given us more visibility, but I'm not very technical, so I can't comment on specific features. However, the diagnostic tools for identifying system issues have greatly improved, which we appreciate. We still use Cisco ICE for authentication on the Juniper network, as we did before. We've seen cost benefits with the Juniper WLC Series, which was a key factor in our decision-making during the proof of concept. Besides cost improvements, we've also noticed better resolution of issues and faults in our help desk, thanks to the enhanced features.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its ease of use and flexibility are most valuable. It is cloud-based software."

"It is more robust for me to deploy networks. And because of the field we are in where offices open up and others close, it helps my turnaround time to deploy these networks for the customers."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...The solution's initial setup process was straightforward."

"The most valuable features are the multiple types of user groupings and access management."

"The stability of the Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is very good."

"The most valuable feature is that the solution is friendly to manage."

"The solution is easily scalable. There are not really any limits for the customer in terms of expanding if they need to."

"The single dashboard of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is the most valuable feature for me."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pros

"The AI integration with Marvis is very valuable."

"It's easy to set up, and I feel it's very secure. I also prefer its reporting feature. The devices are quite good."

"It is a very stable solution."

"There weren't any scalability issues, the product did what it had to do."

"Juniper WLC Series is a very high-performance device designed for indoor wireless deployment."

"Juniper Wireless is reasonable, with a bit of complexity compared to Alibaba and SQL."

"The installation process is nice and easy."

"It prevents a large number of unauthorized modifications of access point devices."

More Juniper WLC Series pros

Cons

"Cisco offers pretty expensive devices."

"There should be better Spanish-language technical support."

"When it comes to switching, Meraki lacks categories of features."

"In the next release, I would like to see the central control plane have the flexibility to control and distribute policies to all LAN networks, balance the traffic, and the performance based on application monitoring."

"Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN could improve by having more granularity in terms of the data displayed. However, I understand that with Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN, you need to have a compromise point to what are the functions that you're going to provide to the users versus ease of use. More granularity in terms of the data and the things that you can do to the devices would be helpful. For example, when we wanted to make a change, restriction, or segregation within Palo Alto, we can go to the level of detail that we want. The amount of detail provided is amazing, it is very granular. However, it comes with much more difficulty, it requires a technical understanding of the environment compared to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN."

"We face a bottleneck on the gateway while using the solution for large enterprises."

"The Meraki platform needs better on-premises management options."

"Concern when there are a number of concurrent users."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN cons

"The network coverage of Juniper WLC Series and Cisco is different. We need to add additional access points."

"In my region, access to the product is very difficult and presents a logistical nightmare. Also, pricing is a big problem and a barrier to entry when selling Juniper against competitors."

"We would prefer it if the solution could be less expensive."

"The support on offer to other vendors switching - like Aruba or Ruckus - could be improved."

"In my region, access to the product is very difficult and presents a logistical nightmare."

"Juniper lacks a network access control agent similar to solutions like Alubakya Path and Cisco ISE."

"There could be more information from the controller, and it could be easier to work with the controller lights. It's not easy to bring up the upgrades."

"There could be a high level of security."

More Juniper WLC Series cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are on a SmartNet contract. All of our Cisco products are licensed under one contract. I do not think there are any additional costs."

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. It can be for three, five, or ten years. I'm happy with the pricing. You basically pay for what you get. It is that simple. When you look at Ubiquiti or Aruba, Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN far outweighs what you get. If you're in the UK, Ubiquiti gives a three-year or five-year warranty, whereas here in the UAE, they only give a one-year warranty, which is no good to me. Who buys a piece of equipment with only one year warranty on it? It doesn't make sense."

"At this price point, I would not mind seeing a four-way channel, instead of a 3x3 or a 4x4, like they do in the Cisco Aironet system with their other brand. For the same price point in this other Cisco brand, it is a lot cheaper, and you can get a slightly better throughput than you can with these."

"It is expensive."

"This solution is reasonably priced."

"The price of the product could be cheaper."

"Meraki is a very good solution, but the price is quite high for small markets."

"Pricing could be better."

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN pricing and cost advice

"The product is relatively affordable for enterprise companies."

"The licensing cost is quite high, but considering it's an enterprise solution, the complexity justifies the price."

"There is a certain amount that needs to be paid towards the licensing charges associated with the product, but though I am not sure, I feel the licenses that we have in our company are for three years."

"Juniper WLC Series is a bit pricey but worth its cost."

"The solution's pricing is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

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...

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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...

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What do you like most about Juniper WLC Series?

Juniper WLC Series is a very high-performance device designed for indoor wireless deployment.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Juniper WLC Series?

Juniper lacks a network access control agent similar to solutions like Alubakya Path and Cisco ISE. There should be a network access control engine. Some customers find it challenging as they do no...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Juniper WLC Series?

I work with Juniper service provider solutions. I have a service provider customer and some enterprise customers in retail.

See all answers

Comparisons

Aruba Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 31% of the time

Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 16% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 11% of the time

Ubiquiti Wireless vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 7% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN Competitors

Cisco Wireless vs Juniper WLC Series

Compared 46% of the time

Aruba Wireless vs Juniper WLC Series

Compared 31% of the time

Ruckus Wireless vs Juniper WLC Series

Compared 24% of the time

More Juniper WLC Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN

April 2025

Download Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN product report

Buyer's Guide

Wireless LAN

March 2025

Download Juniper WLC Series product report

Also Known As

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

Juniper WLAN

Overview

Cisco Meraki access points are built from the highest grade components and carefully optimized for a seamless user experience. The outcome: faster connections, greater user capacity, more coverage, and fewer support calls. The Cisco Meraki dashboard gives visibility into the network users, their devices, and their applications. Armed with rich analytics, administrators can quickly create access control and application usage policies, optimizing both the end-user experience and network security.

Cisco

WLC Series Wireless LAN Controllers deliver and manage wireless local area networks with the highest level of reliability, performance, security, and management in the industry. They integrate secure, wireless LANs with any size wired infrastructures, from small branch offices to the largest enterprise or university campus.

Juniper

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

Apollo Hotel Papendrecht, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Bajaj Capital, Baloise Insurance, BAS Group, Borealis, Danish Crown, Deloitte Belgium, Jan Yperman Hospital, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, MercaSID, S.A., NHTV Breda University, Parklands College and Christopher Robin Pre-Primary, San Antonio Community Hospital, Sandia National Laboratories, Springfield Public Schools (SPS), St. Catherine University, TalkTalk, The Education Village, University of Copenhagen, University of the Highlands and Islands, University of the West of Scotland (UWS), Valdosta State University, Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), zulily

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Juniper WLC Series

March 2025

Free Report: Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. Juniper WLC Series

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