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Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs SonicWall SonicWave Access Points comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

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
SonicWall SonicWave Access ...
Ranking in Wireless LAN
19th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
4
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 SonicWall SonicWave Access Points is 0.4%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

RezaPradipta - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
Winsley De Oliveira - PeerSpot reviewer
An industry-leading security and wireless solution packaged in one box
We make our customers SonicWall clients. We have a solution package: If you have a contract to network with us, we will deliver SonicWall firewalls, access points, VPN clients, and all the other equipment with the SonicWall solution. We have been selling this solution for the past 30 years. We had a customer three months ago struggling with a Fortinet solution. We convinced them that the Fortinet solution would not work perfectly during renewal. We made a bet and delivered SonicWall equipment for free for one week, and if they had no more issues, they would buy it. That's precisely what happened. The customer ended up purchasing an $80,000 SonicWall solution. The SonicWall SonicWave Access Points are a good product compared to Cisco, Sophos, and Fortinet. In Brazil, Ruckus is taking market share in some key areas, such as hotels and hospitals. They are into big solutions with thousands of access points. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I can control any number of sites globally with a lean IT team."
"The most valuable features are the multiple types of user groupings and access management."
"Provided reliability and a good price."
"The solution ensures seamless connectivity as users move within the office. Six installed Meraki APs provide excellent coverage for around three hundred users, offering reliable speeds. Additionally, the system allows guests and users with priority devices to connect using their SAP ID. The traffic is managed through D and G controllers to meet the specified requirements for continuous connection and speed."
"Meraki WLAN is easy to deploy, includes a cloud controller, and updates continuously. It also offers high visibility."
"The single dashboard of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN is the most valuable feature for me."
"This product has allowed us to easily create custom SSIDs for clients and carve out the necessary bandwidth for clients needs."
"There are many valuable features of Cisco Meraki, including the switches, stacking, and layer 3 routing."
"I rate SonicWall a nine out of ten."
"The platform's most valuable feature is the ability to provide cloud access to configure and manage devices."
"A good management tool that can be managed through the cloud or firewall."
"The security features of SonicWall are highly valued."
"Unlike the Cisco solution that needs a dedicated wireless controller outside of a firewall, SonicWall has everything in one box. Fortinet is close to it."
 

Cons

"It would be useful to have a service management platform integrated within this solution where we can measure the customer experience."
"The most important improvement needed is to eliminate the limitation of uplinks."
"They could also add some more controls for guest access. For example, when you have a captive portal, it would be nice to limit the amount of time users can stay connected per day. Right now, you can only configure the splash frequency. And you can set the connection for one hour, but you have to use the billing feature."
"They're great. If there's anything that they need to change, it is just simplifying the site to which you go to make changes on the admin side."
"There is only one particular thing that needs improvement. Sometimes, for example, when you need to open a ticket, although it's under the umbrella of Cisco, you still need to go to the Meraki support."
"The licensing isn't very customer-centric. They may have improved it, but previously, if you forgot to pay on a certain day, your service would be shut off."
"We haven't had any issues with the solution. We like the way it works. There isn't anything I can think of that makes me worry that it might be lacking in a certain area."
"Documentation could be improved, but everything else has been spot-on."
"We have a lot of overlapping wireless networks with a lot of cheap equipment that does not run on any rules or regulations. The best way to improve the wireless network, like in SonicWaves, is to defeat these networks by isolating, preventing them, or overcoming their wireless signal. We try to do that, but I live near an airport, and the AirPortRadar glitches my wireless network every nine seconds."
"The product's pricing is high and could be improved."
"They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration."
"The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration."
"Integrating with the firewall and management console was a little complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We don't like the licensing model and we think that it needs to be improved significantly."
"I don't deal with pricing directly, however, it's my understanding that it is around $40 per unit."
"It is expensive."
"This solution is slightly more expensive than others, such as Ruckus Wi-Fi."
"The price of Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN could be improved, it is too expensive. We pay for the solution on an annual basis."
"This solution is quite costly and there are costs in addition to the licensing fees."
"The pricing is based on a subscription and is a bit high at the moment."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The platform offers yearly licenses."
"The pricing of the SonicWave Access Points solution is different in the US and Brazil. In the US, the solution is priced more competitively than other vendors. In Brazil, the exchange rate is a problem. To address this, SonicWall managers in Brazil are running several sales promotions and improving the price of new units."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
18%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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...
What do you like most about SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
The platform's most valuable feature is the ability to provide cloud access to configure and manage devices.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
The platform offers yearly licenses. We receive all the support services through our partners. Thus, there are no extra costs involved. However, some partners might charge for deployment services.
What needs improvement with SonicWall SonicWave Access Points?
The main issue is the management of the access points. They are sometimes difficult to manage from the end-user side because they are not yet familiar with the configuration.
 

Also Known As

MR18, MR26, MR32, MR34, MR66, MR72, Meraki Wireless LAN, Meraki WLAN
SonicWave 200 Series, SonicWave 200 Series Access Points, SonicWave 400 Series, SonicWave 400 Series Access Points
 

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
St. Dominic's School for Girls
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN vs. SonicWall SonicWave Access Points and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.