Meraki MX Reviews

We use MX to provide Wifi for all the clients, patients, doctors, nurses, etc. in our hospital, they are using the WiFi to use the internet. So, we are using it mainly for the internet. It is managed via a cloud-based Cisco dashboard.

MX is easy to manage, configure and install. 

MX can only be managed via a web interface, but I'm accustomed to using a CLI or a graphical interface. I would also like to see more reporting features. It doesn't provide enough information for me to know precisely about some clients. 

They could also add improve the content filter by adding Arabic. It only filters English-language content. Meraki should work on that feature for other languages.

I've been using Meraki MX for two or three years. 

MX is stable. The updates go smoothly, and there are no issues.

MX is scalable. We sometimes have 300 to 400 users connected at the same time. It's a highly stable product. 

I used the ADSL Cisco router.  It was a catastrophe due to limitations on users. Once we exceeded around 200 simultaneous users, we started seeing a lot of problems.

Deploying MX is easy. It takes maybe half an hour. I didn't need any support. I could do it all myself.

I believe we need to review our contract and maybe get a lower price when we upgrade our renew our license. Hopefully, we can negotiate with Cisco for lower prices.

I studied other options, but I found Meraki was a complete product for allowing large amounts of users to connect to the internet.

I rate Meraki MX eight out of 10. It is a good product. 

Meraki MX is a firewall with wireless capabilities built in. We use the APs in approximately 10 different customer sites.

The most valuable feature of Meraki MX is I can manage the solution from anywhere remotely, I can throttle bandwidth, and create all rules. Additionally, it is secure for our customers.

I have been using Meraki MX for approximately six years.

Meraki MX is a dependable solution.

Meraki MX is scalable. I have the Meraki MX set up from Oklahoma all through several of the big cities in Tennessee and northern Alabama. We use it, and we run it for a particular company for voice-over IP phones. It works well. I don't have any issues with them. We can set up virtual networks, separating data and voice traffic.

Meraki MX firewalls are great for small to medium-sized businesses, but other solutions are better for enterprise-sized companies.

The support from Meraki MX is good. It is easy to get in touch with technical support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are responsive and knowledgeable.

I have previously used Barracuda. For larger companies, such as banks and financial institutions, I use Barracuda firewalls. However, they are more complex. You have to have penetration testing. Every year we have penetration testing from external companies to make sure no one can get in because they have federal audits that come in and check banks. Barracuda is the better solution for this purpose, we've had great luck with them. We've always had perfect scores whenever we deploy them and we have external penetration tests. They have a 24-hour day, seven days week support similar to Meraki MX.

Meraki MX is simple to deploy and manage. You only need to plug it in and configure it.

We did the implementation of the solution in-house.

The price of Meraki MX is between $8 and $1,200. Additionally, we typically purchase a three-year enterprise license, and we pay approximately $899 and mark it up a bit.

I would recommend others call us, we can implement the solution for them.

We have three technicians for maintenance, and we all can handle servers, firewalls, and routers. Once we put the Meraki MX in, it doesn't require much maintenance. It has automatic updates and we receive all the firmware updates. Once they're in place, we don't have any issues with them. However, if we do, it's easy to get in and make configuration changes.

I rate Meraki MX a nine out of ten.

One of our customers is actively running Meraki MX as a cloud solution in their enterprise. They use it for their local area network, and they also use it for their SD-WAN product. It is used for its connectivity purposes.

The solution's most valuable feature is the ease of management of the dashboard. We can see everything from the dashboard, making it easy for us.

Our client is happy with the tool at the moment. We don't have anything bad to say about the product at the moment. We support our clients and the fact that everything is on the cloud, makes it easy for us to troubleshoot.

Improvements are required more on the side of troubleshooting. With the logs and considering the fact that we are in the cloud, we lose some of those features that you would ideally see when plugged into a switch. Something like logging and stuff are areas where improvements are required. It gives you more indication on what is really happening with the switch or router.

I have been using Meraki MX for a few years. My company is a reseller and gold partner of Cisco.

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Once we set up the tool, we are able to scale the branches to different locations, and most of the time, the central device is able to increase capacity. We do the design work to make sure that we are able to scale in the future.

My clients are small and medium enterprises. My clients are banks that probably have 90 branches.

The solution's technical support is top-notch. I think we had an issue once where we did a misconfiguration, or rather we were trying to migrate and lost the cloud connectivity. When we reached out to the support team, they responded pretty quickly. I rate the technical support a out of ten.

I rate the support services as an eight out of ten.

Positive

If one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the product's initial setup phase as an eight.

The product's installation phase is very easy.

The solution is deployed on the cloud.

The solution can be deployed in a few hours. Once we are prepared with everything, you just need to go for the plug-and-play option to be able to use it.

A team does the deployment. The staging is done in the office, but then we just need a team of guys to run around the different locations for racking and stacking. All the configuration is done probably by one or two people in the office.

The tool's prices are okay compared to the traditional solutions. We find Meraki MX platform to be cheaper compared to the regular tools, like SD-Access.

My company mostly deals with Cisco, and we are really satisfied with its tools. Our partnership with Cisco is good. My company is a gold partner with Cisco, so we have good pricing models.

AI is a topic that I think we started discussing with our customers towards the end of the last year. AI is here, but I would say not very many customers are using it yet. But it's a topic that we are trying to discuss with our customers.

I would recommend Cisco Meraki because of ease of use. I think we are highly compared to other solutions, probably in the market in this region, Cisco Meraki is highly skilled not only in Meraki, but with Cisco products too. The support that the customer would get from the tool and from our company is top-notch.

Cisco Meraki is very easy to use. Coming from a traditional background, we had to control the devices and configure them. Cisco Meraki is very easy to use for medium enterprises. I rate the tool a seven out of ten.

The product is useful for zero-touch provisioning and implementation. One can configure the tool with SD-WAN, and we connect it to it from anywhere.

The most valuable feature is EAP-TLS integration with Meraki MX. Other vendors provide other features in the product. Zero-touch provisioning and everything else is very easy. The tool's support is also good.

There is another team in my company that looks into areas associated with the product to figure out where improvements are required.

With Meraki MX's integration capabilities, users may face challenges since it does not integrate well with other systems. If you configure Meraki MX with EAP-TLS, then you may face scalability issues since there are a few things that need to be changed in the product.

I have been using Meraki MX for the last three years. My company has a partnership with Cisco.

Meraki MX has been a stable solution so far, and I haven't faced any issues with it.

The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a seven or eight out of ten.

Neutral

The product's deployment phase is easy.

If I consider an average deployment scenario for a big project, the product can be deployed in around 15 to 30 days.

Two to five people are required for the tool's deployment process. At least five people are required for monitoring purposes. Maintaining the solution is easy.

Using Meraki MX can help people save time, as it helps reduce downtime. From anywhere, the engineers can connect with the product and check the logs, which is a good feature.

Purchasing the tool's license is easy, but its cost is very high. I rate the tool's price a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is very expensive.

I would like to say that SD-WAN is considered to be one of the market leaders in terms of the tool's SD-WAN capabilities.

I did not face any difficulties with the interface of the product. Using the product's interface is an easy task for me.

The tool's loading period or waiting period of the tool is high and most of the customers are not ready to wait for too long. If only someone requires Meraki, they will go for it. For the tool's regular model, we need to wait for up to six months, which is the main problem.

It can be a good solution for those who can afford it. Iin India, most of the SMBs are not able to afford the tool.

I rate the tool a seven out of ten.

Whenever a customer has a linear environment, we generally prefer Meraki MX since it doesn't require any manpower or IT-related managers to deploy it. It's better to use Meraki MX because it has a single dashboard. The solution allows customers to utilize their complete infrastructure like MX firewalls, MS switches, or MR wireless access points. Meraki MX provides ease of use for the customer.

Customers have to understand that Meraki MX is a license-based product, and the device won't work without a license. Since it has an integrated dashboard for all the products, customers can get complete network analytics regarding what the user is doing, monitoring, and observing. It is easy to use, and as an admin, I can get details of every device in the dashboard from my home or anywhere else.

Also, we can easily find out if there is any breakout and if the device has failed suddenly, even at midnight. We can easily trace out if there is any issue with the device, cable, or port. We can find out everything and get the details from the dashboard. The solution's dashboard is flexible and can be easily operated by anybody. Even a non-IT guy can also manage the Meraki infrastructure.

The solution's lead time should be improved because the deliveries are a bit slow. The current lead time is longer for Meraki MX, and it needs to be improved. We currently take two to three months to get the materials, but customers are not willing to wait that long. We need to improve the lead time so customers can get their products faster.

I have been working with Meraki MX for the last seven years. I have a partnership with Cisco, so I provide the solution to end customers. I am also a reseller.

Meraki MX is a stable product, and I didn't see any challenges or issues regarding the solution's stability from the customer side. If the device fails, it's easy to raise a small ticket or RMA, and you'll get the device within the timeline specified by them.

Meraki MX is an easily scalable solution. I generally take care of medium and enterprise customers. I have worked on every segment. Generally, mid-size and enterprise-level customers with multiple branches opt for Meraki MX.

The solution's technical support team is very good. Whenever we raise a TAC ticket, they generally come on live and take the case. We rarely use Cisco TAC because, as of now, we are able to implement it ourselves. So whenever required, we generally use the technical services of Cisco.

Positive

I used to work with Cisco's standalone firewalls, such as the ASA and FTD firewalls. However, I am now predominantly working with the Meraki MX firewall.

Compared to other solutions, Meraki MX is easy to configure. We don't need to go for the CLI command prompt configurations. Everything is easy with Meraki MX since it has a completely dashboard-related configuration.

Meraki MX's initial setup is very easy, and you can easily install the solution.

Once you know the dashboard serial number and license key, you can configure the dashboard before getting the devices and then add the devices. Later, you just need to plug in these devices with the internet, and then you can easily configure it.

If you get four hours, you can take a small downtime from the customer and install the solution very easily. Even the updates will take over the night. So there is no manpower or time required to do these activities. You can initiate the patches and all kinds of downtime activities from home.

One or two people are needed for the solution's deployment. The solution's maintenance is very easy and not difficult at all.

Meraki MX's pricing is cheaper as compared to Cisco's standalone products. You need to take a yearly, three years, or five years license for the solution.

Generally, customers need to pay for the product's hardware and license. Apart from that, the solution has two types of support called CON-ROB and CON-RO4. This facility is for RMA to replace their devices as quickly as possible.

I advise users to plan for the solution nicely, and if you plan it properly, you won't have any hiccups when you receive the hardware. Generally, a firewall is designed based on the customer's environment, sessions, and users. We need to calculate these factors and need to think about future scalability. If you size the solution appropriately based on these factors, you won't get any hiccups from the solution. Before procuring it, plan nicely for the solution and get the requirements.

Meraki is a good solution that is used by everyone these days.

Overall, I rate Meraki MX ten out of ten.

We deploy for customers including automobile dealerships, medical locations, manufacturing, and cannabis. We implement the solution to allow easier management of the equipment involved in these industries. 

The solution makes firewall management simple and easy, so other people in my organization can manage the firewalls, not just me. 

I think cloud management is key. The cloud management and support are the two things that make the product great.

Meraki has some hidden features and information that is only privy to their engineers. If that information became available to us, then it would improve our ease of management, and we would be able to make certain adjustments instead of having to go to them.

I have been using this solution for about four years. 

I've been working with the solution for four years and have never had a stability issue. I did have one unit fail, but it got drenched with water. 

The solution is highly scalable, there are different models available depending on how many users will be behind the firewall. That can be a few users or thousands. 

We have deployed in locations that have one site with two or three users, and we have deployed in other places that have ten locations with ten firewalls and behind each firewall might be 50 people, so up to 500 people or more. Then we create site-to-site VPNs between each of the locations.

I put in Meraki for every customer in need of a firewall who does not have this product. I have some customers with Cisco ASA contracts lasting another one or two years, so when they expire, I will put in a Meraki.

They're quick, responsive, and easy to get ahold of. They're usually on the phone within minutes. 

Positive

We previously used Fortinet FortiGate and Cisco ASA Firewall, we switched because Meraki MX offers ease of management. The Cisco and Fortinet firewalls are more complicated, requiring more knowledge and involvement to manage. 

The initial deployment was very straightforward and simple. The solution doesn't require much knowledge and the customer support is readily available. We don't have to do any maintenance at all, the vendor notifies us of scheduled firmware updates and they handle everything. 

Setup requires deploying the firewall to the internet, setting up the inside addressing, and possibly a DHCP scope or VLANs.

We implemented in-house with just one person.

I have definitely seen an ROI with this solution, it makes changes much quicker. Creating a site-to-site VPN with a Cisco ASA Firewall would take me one to two hours, but it takes me about two minutes with a Meraki MX appliance. 

I think the price is comparable with other solutions of the same kind. Depending on the use case it could be cheaper or more expensive, I think it offers good value.

We tried SonicWall and Sophos firewalls and we had more challenges with them.  

I've been in this industry for 40 years and this is the simplest and easiest product that I've ever used. What's important to me is it makes my people more capable. Instead of having to rely on one or two people within the company that know the firewalls, this solution is so simple that anyone with a small amount of technical capability can manage it.

Most of our solutions are on-premises, but we do have one MX in the AWS cloud. 

It is a robust SD-WAN solution. It has multiple valuable features, including cellular gateways and cellular failover.

The configuration options for firewall and IPS have limitations. We do not have access to CLI, similar to other Cisco products. This particular area needs improvement.

We have been using Meraki MX for ten to twelve years.

It is a stable platform.

The platform is suitable for small to enterprise businesses.

We have had some experience working with Meraki MX's technical support team. Their response depends on the engineer's location. The support is good in some areas. For a few places, the Level 1 engineers don't have enough knowledge to deal with issues, and we have to get Level 2 or Level 3 support.

Neutral

The initial setup requires basic technical knowledge. It is easy to install. You can use the Zero Touch deployment method if your organization is spread across multiple locations worldwide.

The product's price depends on use cases. The equipment is overall reasonable. Although, enterprise licensing is expensive.

In comparison with FortiGate, Meraki MX is very competitive with SD features. It is easy to use and set up. It has a simple configuration process, making it a robust product point. However, in terms of interface, FortiGate and Palo Alto can display more complicated information, is simple to use, and has more configuration abilities.

Meraki MX needs improvement in a few areas, including the dashboard, configuration options, firewalls, and technical licensing model. I advise others to go for it if they have more technical expertise for an easy setup process. 

I rate Meraki MX a seven out of ten.

We use it for the protection of our network and for access to our network Wi-Fi. 

We mainly use two products of Meraki. We use the MX Series router and Access Point MR. MX is a router, and its deployment is installed on-premises, but the management or administration is done on the cloud.

It protects our network and does content filtering. It monitors our network for threats, and it also monitors the performance of the network. We also use it for the VPN.

The visibility that it provides is very good. It is the most valuable feature of Meraki. It allows us to easily monitor threats, internal users, and internal and external networks. We rely a lot on this facility.

Its ability to provide visibility into threats is good. By using the dashboard, we can watch and be aware of any threats and also take action if needed. 

By using the VPN, we can connect remotely. We have two offices, and we could connect them through the VPN. We could establish a network between two sites, and that has improved and increased communication and productivity. Our remote site is able to access the server remotely.

Meraki has improved our security posture. Before Meraki, we didn't have any security. Now, we are protected by the firewall. It is our first perimeter protection. It has increased security, but we know that we need more security. The maturity of our organization's security implementation is low because we don't have many tools for security. Meraki is at the beginning of our security stack. We use the Meraki firewall, and that's all. We need more tools for security, but the problem is that tools are expensive. So, currently, we are protected by just the Meraki firewall and the antivirus for the endpoints.

The visibility through the cloud dashboard is most valuable. We can access the dashboard remotely anytime for configuration and monitoring. 

Its ease of configuration and management is very useful for us and for other companies that don't have an onsite IT person. It is easy to configure and easy to manage. It is easy to configure the VPN with the Auto VPN feature.

We use a Cisco LAN switch. Its model is CBS250, and it is a Cisco Small Business switch. It can be easily integrated, but the problem is that the other Cisco products are not in the same dashboard or cloud. Each one has a different management interface. I would prefer if both could be in the same cloud. If we use a switch from Meraki, it will be more expensive. Meraki switches are more expensive than the Cisco Small Business switches. For that reason, we prefer to use Cisco switches. With Cisco switches, we don't have to pay for subscriptions, whereas with a LAN switch from Meraki, we will have to pay for subscriptions.

We have been having a problem with the VPN. When the energy goes down and is back again, the VPN link doesn't get established. We have to manually turn off the modems and other pieces of equipment and manually establish the VPN. It has been around one month since we have been having this problem, and we don't have enough support from Meraki to solve the problem.

Their Technical Assistance Center (TAC) is slow to answer. Their response time should be improved. When we request support, their response time is long and not good. They still don't have the solution to the VPN problem. They established the VPN link, but the problem continues. They don't fix the problem. They just repair it, and the problem persists.

I have been using this solution for about five years.

It is currently not stable for us. Its stability is not good. Its configuration could be the reason for the instability. 

Meraki has a lot of different products, and it is scalable with Meraki products, but its scalability with another brand is not good.

We have two administrators who are currently using this solution.

Their Technical Assistance Center (TAC) is slow to answer. We called them two times. Their time of response was one hour and fifty minutes for one call, and it was one hour and seven minutes for the other call. Our experience was not good.

When we can get support, their attention is very good, but they haven't been able to find a resolution. The problem is still there.

It was straightforward. It is easy to configure. Meraki dashboard is intuitive. Of course, you need to know about networking, but it is intuitive and very fast to do the initial configuration. It took two hours.

In terms of the implementation strategy, we planned the network, the addresses, and the segmentation before starting the configuration. We planned the ports that should be opened and the ports that must be closed for security. We also planned the rules of the firewall.

We just configured Meraki through the dashboard. In switches, we configured the segmentation and the addresses. In Meraki, we configured the rules of content filtering. We then blocked the required things. The VPN configuration is supposed to be easy, but the problem is that if the VPN goes down when we are using it, it is too complex to bring it up.

Its implementation is very new, and it was done around one month or two months ago. At this time, no maintenance is necessary. If required, our administrators or a third party can take care of maintenance. Once configured, there is no need to change anything. Its usability is very good, and it is not common to make any changes or do any maintenance. It just works.

We used a third party to help with its deployment. Our experience with them was medium. 

We just have to pay for the product and the license. We have a license for three years, and it is renewed every three years. It costs $1,200 for three years for one endpoint. 

Meraki had a good promotion for remote workers or remote workforce. The discount is very good. This promotion continues till the next fiscal year of Cisco.

We evaluated FortiGate. FortiGate is a very good firewall. It is better than Meraki, but it is more complex to configure and manage. In terms of security, FortiGate is better to integrate. We chose Meraki because of its ease of management.

FortiGate has good visibility and control through its own local interface. If you need to access the cloud, you need to go for another subscription.

FortiGate has good monitoring, visibility, and control, but Meraki is easier. Meraki has fewer security functions than FortiGate. You can monitor more in FortiGate.

The problem with FortiGate is that you need to buy FortiManager to have more visibility, which is a separate license. You can gain visibility of threats inside of the local interface of FortiGate by using FortiManager. 

It is a very good platform for small businesses. It is easy to configure and manage, and it has Talos. It is easy to integrate with other Meraki products. Its contact filtering is also good, and the VPN is very easy to configure with the Auto VPN feature.

It provides good security, but it is not the best. It is for small businesses, and it doesn't have the same functionality as Firepower or other brands, such as Fortinet. It doesn't have the same security as Firepower or FortiGate. I would recommend complementing the security provided by Meraki MX with an endpoint security solution. If you need more security, you can add sandbox security.

I would rate Meraki MX an eight out of 10.