Meraki SD-WAN Reviews

I work for a carrier, and we consume, resell, and integrate Cisco products. I'm a product manager, and I have a couple of products that are built around Cisco Meraki's offerings. One of them is a managed business wifi solution, and the other one is an SD-WAN solution. I own both of these products. 

Meraki is really big in retail and education, and that's where we see a lot of use cases. It is a low-cost or entry product. It is not a sophisticated, complete solution. People who are very concerned about the total cost of ownership will look at a Meraki solution more. 

The deployment is a combination. The orchestration is on a public cloud, and then the customer locations are all premise-based Meraki devices.

They're known for their ease of use and ubiquitous management platform that covers everything. Meraki really excels in plug-and-play solutions. You just plug it up, and everything works. All of the components—the firewall/router, the switches, the access points, the cameras—work very nicely together, and they all can be managed from one platform. That is probably their biggest selling point. Everything comes in one ubiquitous package, and you don't have to manage different components from different platforms. You can see everything from one platform.

From the vice perspective, they just are not as robust as some of the other vendors. They have limitations in throughput and the number of circuits that they can support on a wide area network. Their higher-end security is all cloud-based. They have some capability with the premise-based solutions, but the higher ends are all cloud-based, and that's via Cisco Umbrella.

Their support can be better. They do not offer a lot of hands-on support for their products.

I have probably been using this solution for three years.

From the stability perspective, everybody is pretty much on the same level playing field. I don't really see anybody standing out more than anybody else. Meraki is a low-cost equipment provider, so they're not offering big metal devices that plug into racks and a data center. They're more along the lines of the hard plastic desktop type of units. They have the same meantime between failure as most other products, so it's difficult to put them above or below anybody else. They all are pretty much on the same level playing field.

Scalability is good as long as you're doing a simple task. If you're just deploying SD-WAN and you're not putting in cameras, wifi access points, and a lot of different components, scalability is really good. From that perspective, they do well. Their niche is retail and education, and both of these areas can be very large networks depending on the provider.

We do not have plans to increase its usage. They are really premise-based solutions that are managed from the network, and we are not staying with that same type of approach in our product lines. We are moving to a fully-integrated network approach to security, connectivity, and management.

I would rate them one out of five. They do not offer a lot of hands-on support for their products.

We use three or four other SD-WAN providers to offer the same type of product. We have VeloCloud, Fortinet, and Versa. The main differences are more capabilities, more functionality, better support, better value, and a better total cost of ownership.

Everything is plug-and-play. If you're using all Meraki components, it is very easy to deploy.

The deployment duration is very short. There are not a lot of design concerns. There is not a lot of configuration. Everything can be done over the air from a network-based platform. So, it is very easy and very fast to deploy.

We've created a lot of things internally to compare different vendors and different technologies. From a customer perspective, I don't really do ROIs for evaluating vendors, but I'm familiar with the ROI. It really varies. There are other vendors that are also considered low-cost that technically perform better than Meraki. So, from a comparison perspective, it's difficult to know if you've got a better ROI with one vendor versus another without really understanding what it is that you're trying to accomplish.

Some customers may put a high value on ease of management, ease of deployment, and ease of managing and monitoring. Meraki does a decent job at all of that, whereas other companies may put a higher value on the features and functionality, security, and other things that are inherent to other products. Therefore, it is difficult to put them into a single bucket or category. From a low-cost provider perspective, their ROI for a customer is probably in line with that category of vendors.

They have a baseline software license, and then they've got an SD-WAN software license, and then they've got an advanced security software license. 

They're low cost, and they'll provide any amount of flexibility that you want from a modeling perspective for payment. Typically, it's either annually or multi-year, but they are a lower-cost company. They're not the most expensive by far.

There is an additional cost of the equipment that doesn't tend to be high.

Meraki is known as a lower-end SD-WAN solution. It has limitations from the hardware and the software perspective. They've gotten better over the years, but they were always viewed as a low-cost or entry type of product. They don't do a lot of the more sophisticated features and functionality of some of the other SD-WAN providers.

From a customer perspective, it really depends on:

• What are they looking for?
• What are they concerned about?
• Do they have any other products?
• Are they using any other security mechanism and is it network-based or premise-based?

It is just about what fits into their network and what they're currently using.

I would advise having a good understanding of the physical requirements for the facility that it's being deployed. You should have a good understanding of what you need from a component perspective, such as extra switches or extra access points. That's probably the biggest thing. There are other products for which you may have to pay a little bit more, but they are going to be better performing, and they will give you better service. So, you need to understand, especially if you're going with a low-cost vendor, that you might end up having to pay more because you had to add more components to the solution.

I would put it a little bit over halfway. I would rate it a six out of 10. It is certainly a good product. They have a lot of basic features and functionality. They can provide a good solution, but you may end up having to pay more than what you anticipated to get everything that you want because they don't include as much as some of the other vendors.

I use Meraki SD-WAN in various corporate environments. It's implemented in both small offices, accommodating about twenty people, and larger offices with four hundred to five hundred people. Primarily, it's used to connect corporate networks to the Internet and occasionally between locations.

The most valuable features include understanding the throughput of bandwidth, traffic shaping, alerts and outages, and the integrated VPN. These elements are crucial for managing the network effectively. Additionally, the remote management is essential for our model, allowing us to handle multiple locations easily.

From a dashboard perspective, identifying issues can be challenging if one or two individuals experience trouble. Another area for improvement is in wireless management, where external tools might be needed to troubleshoot noise and environmental factors causing network issues.

I started using Meraki SD-WAN about ten years ago.

The solution is stable, and there are no major issues reported with its performance in our network environments.

The solution scales well, catering to both small and large office environments without requiring major changes to deployment.

Customer service and support are strong. Meraki provides good assistance which makes them reliable partners, thus earning a strong nine or eight rating from me.

Positive

In the past, I've used solutions like Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks. However, I find Meraki more suited to our internal enterprise environment.

The initial setup is easy, as you just set it up with PoE and connect it, which takes about half an hour at most.

The setup does not require a large team; it's mostly a one-time job that requires minimal staffing since everything is managed remotely.

It's hard to provide a percentage, but the solution effectively reduces costs due to its capabilities, allowing network management from anywhere in the world.

Even though it is more expensive than other options, it's reasonable when factoring in the remote management capabilities which eliminate the need for additional staffing.

I have used Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks in the past, but found Meraki better for internal environments.

I'd rate Meraki SD-WAN between eight and nine for its performance within controlled environments. If you're working in a closed ecosphere, it's an excellent choice. For more open scenarios, Fortinet or Palo Alto might offer more flexibility.

I use Meraki SD-WAN for multi-site VPN connectivity. It is mainly used for creating a mesh kind of site-to-site connection across different industries.

It offers ease of setup and ongoing maintenance without needing to have a public or static IP on all the sites.

The most valuable feature is the ease of setting up Meraki SD-WAN. It simplifies the process and does not require having a public or static IP on all the sites.

Meraki SD-WAN could be improved by including full feature routing functions similar to a normal Cisco router. It would also benefit from self-healing capabilities, where it can automatically reboot or reset if the VPN stops working.

I have been using Meraki SD-WAN for many years, more than ten years.

Meraki SD-WAN is quite stable, and there have been no significant complaints regarding its stability.

I rate its scalability as eight out of ten.

Customer service is quite good, and there are no complaints about the support.

Positive

The initial setup is very easy, and I would rate it ten out of ten for ease.

We have not conducted a cost-benefit analysis; it is more about ease of setup and maintenance.

The cost depends on the size and the device. It is generally expensive, and the price varies.

I recommend Meraki SD-WAN if the budget allows it. It is important to try it out and see if it suits your needs before making a decision.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

The tool makes it easier for us to communicate with other offices without using an MPLS network.

The solution is easy to use. The product enables us to connect with other offices easily. It provides alerts to notify us if a site is down or up. I haven’t faced any challenges while integrating Meraki into existing infrastructures.

The solution must provide more security features.

I haven’t had any issues with the tool’s stability. That is why we use it.

The tool is scalable. We deal with medium-sized businesses with around 100 users.

The support is pretty good. The support team is pretty knowledgeable.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward. I rate the ease of setup a ten out of ten. The deployment can be done in an hour if everything is connected properly. We need two network technicians for the deployment. It is simple to use. It does not require any maintenance.

The product is not very expensive. I rate the pricing a five out of ten. The price is not a huge deal-breaker.

I evaluated other products, but Meraki was cheaper.

We configured the VPN feature in our organization. It works well. I will recommend the solution. It is easy to use. Overall, I rate the product a ten out of ten.

There is no comparison with a normal broadband connection versus one that is the dedicated connection that we have. We have saved a lot of money after deploying Cisco Meraki.

We have many businesses in geographical locations, and due to this, we need it in many different locations. It has become very easy for us to deploy these products. They claim that it is zero-touch configuration. That is true. Suppose if I want to deploy this product in Manila, I don't have to have this product in my hand in the wire and I don't need to go to Manila. It's not like that.

It can be delivered to them and as soon as they plug it we can push the configuration. That is the beauty of this SD-WAN technology that we have.

The solution is helping me, not only for side-to-side connectivity but also for defining different VLANs, different networks, between the firewalls. I can do firewalling between these networks.

I can manage it very well and in a very easy way. This is from the technical perspective.

After deploying Meraki, we have a drastic fitting on connectivity because before Cisco Meraki, we used to have a physical broadband internet connection and it is very, very expensive in Dubai.

The security firewall features that are embedded in the product is very good. The security, including the internal threat protection, the IPS, or the advanced threat admin, are very good. 

The hardware is okay as compared to any other product.

The advanced license is expensive. Part of the cost involved is high. If you are only a small or medium business, it may not be the best option. For branch divisions, yes. This is a very useful product and I don't have any problem with the CAPEX however, I have a problem with the OPEX as the OPEX part of the advanced license is quite expensive. 

We'd like features that provide more transparency when there are issues. Right now, it's hard to get clarity on problems. We need more visibility.

I've been using the solution for three years at this point.

The solution is quite stable. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

It's scalable.

We might have a plan to extend to maybe a hundred percent more sites within 2021. Hopefully, within this year, we will add almost double the size that we have right now. Currently, we have a total of 1200 employees that will double to 2400 and they each have their own devices. There are other guest users as well. There might be 4000 unique devices that need coverage.

The technical support isn't always ideal. Occasionally, we are unable to understand what is happening. When we escalate the matter, the response that we get from Cisco is not satisfactory as sometimes they are depending on the log, and sometimes they are depending on what is connected to a device, for example, and any cascaded device connected to it. They will say that maybe it is because of the device that it's connected on. They seem to have difficulty pinpointing the issue at hand.

Before using Meraki, we had the 1900 series of Cisco, and before we were using it with a DMVPN. This was the technology that was there before. We've always used Cisco.

The initial setup is straightforward. However, it depends on how you are setting it up. There are companies that do a very basic setup, and with a basic setup, anyone can do it. Even if you are not a technical person you can do this. It's very, very easy with zero-touch configuration. 

That said, when it comes to full functionality, in our case, we are completely using all of the features. We're doing integrations and using authentication and group policies and the advanced treatment events, and firewall rules, as well as traffic shipping rules. All of these are different. It's a bit more of a complex process.

We're working with a DNS Umbrella. When it comes to that much functionality, it is not easy, actually. It's not a basic thing. You need some experts to do the installation configuration.

While they've made it pretty user-friendly, they've also made it in such a way that handicaps IT staff. YOu always have to escalate issues to Cisco to get it sorted.

Once you get over the first implementation and move to configuration, it's pretty easy.

YOu only need one person to handle the deployment process.

I tend to handle the implementation and configuration. I'm well-versed in Cisco. I don't need a consultant or integrator to assist me.

We are a customer and end-user.

We have an SD-WAN technology that works on Cisco Meraki with MX appliances. Then we have a core appliance, from Core/Distribution and edge. These are all HP routers.

We are using the latest version of the solution. We get automatic updates to the latest versions.

While the solution is on-premises, it can be managed on the cloud.

I would recommend the solution. I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

Meraki SD-WAN offers a platform where Cisco manages your database. The platform is cloud-based and accessible through the URL. This means that Cisco has access to all of your devices, but it also means that if you need to make changes, Cisco can control it. One of the benefits of this system is that if you experience any loss of connectivity, Cisco can support you.

Meraki SD-WAN provides an open platform for users, allowing them to tailor their bandwidth usage. Additionally, it allows you to monitor customer usage and distinguish between different types of URLs they use, which can be non-production, production, confidential, or non-confidential.

From my end, I cannot submit any details on the areas of the product that need improvement because I am currently on the audit format.

In terms of additional features that could be included in the next release of the solution, it would be useful to have proxy software that can be managed from a mobile device. As engineers, sometimes we need remote access, which can be a challenge, especially during off-shifts when we can't log in to our environment. If there was a platform that allowed us to access our credentials, it would enable us to provide support to the customer while also improving vendor productivity.

I have been using Meraki SD-WAN for three years now, and in my experience, it's one of the best solutions.

Stability-wise, I rate this solution an eight and a half out of ten. I would like improved stability in Meraki SD-WAN. Also, it is a very user-friendly solution. So, whenever you want to implement a new site, you can get options that are user-friendly and UI-based, which are very straightforward in nature. Basically, there are no complexities involved. So, a person involved in the solution's implementation can understand everything.

Meraki SD-WAN is a scalable solution because changes are being made to the solution, enabling it to work in different environments. In short, the perfect set of decisions is being made for the solution. I have experience working with the solution on a range of user scales, from 500 to 10,000 users.

Since I am a consultant currently, I won't be able to say whether I have plans to increase the solution's usage since I am presently not working on the solution.

Meraki SD-WAN's technical support can be considered a very fast one. I rate the solution's technical support nine and a half out of ten.

Positive

I have previously used Viptela SD-WAN.

Meraki SD-WAN’s setup is straightforward because Cisco has control over everything. The solution is deployed in a cloud environment from the first day, which has been my experience since 2013 when using cloud-based solutions was not as prevalent as it is now.

I won't be able to speak about how many days it took to deploy the solution since I am not involved in its technical part.

To deploy Meraki SD-WAN, you need to connect your devices with the Cisco cloud environment, for which you need to give the gateway from your devices, and that message needs to be connected with the Cisco environment. Once connected, Cisco will provide you with the platform to manage your devices. Since they have admin rights, everything will be managed by Cisco.

Regarding the personnel involved in the deployment and maintenance of the solution, if we consider the operations part, which includes a VCP and a person for DRP, four people are involved, including a lead and a manager.

I believe Cisco offers some of the best solutions. Meraki's routers, switches, and wireless solutions are some of the best.

You need an open platform to work with Meraki SD-WAN, whereas Aruba can be a bit more complex. That's why Cisco Meraki SD-WAN is generally preferred. Overall, I rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Apart from SQL, I used to work a lot with networking solutions. I am more of a network specialist, and then I started to do SQL after that. I'm experienced with networking rather than application experience for databases.

Meraki SD-WAN has improved productivity greatly. It is easy to deploy and easy to troubleshoot, so problem resolution is quicker.

The redundancy feature of Meraki SD-WAN has most significantly enhanced network performance. Additionally, the security features are good on the MX devices.

The configuration from the firewall side could be improved a little bit more.

I have about four to five years of experience working with Meraki SD-WAN.

I would rate the stability of the solution as eight out of ten. There were no significant troubles with stability.

I would rate the scalability of Meraki SD-WAN as ten out of ten. It is highly scalable.

I would rate the customer service and support eight out of ten.

Positive

We did look at other solutions such as Fortinet and VeloCloud. However, we decided to go with Meraki SD-WAN because we were already a Meraki customer and saw the ease of deployment.

The initial setup was quite straightforward.

The deployment was done through a third-party integrator.

Meraki SD-WAN has contributed to cost savings by being easy to deploy and troubleshoot, making problem resolution quicker.

The pricing of Meraki SD-WAN is a little bit on the pricey side. However, it is still a valuable product despite the cost.

We looked at Fortinet and VeloCloud. We chose Meraki SD-WAN because we were already a Meraki customer and appreciated the ease of deployment.

I would recommend Meraki SD-WAN because it is easy to deploy, highly scalable, and easy to manage.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Our connectivity was pretty good even before we used Meraki. After we used Meraki, everything worked fine and still does. The thing is that once we started using Meraki, our management became simpler. It's simpler for us to become simpler.

We have other solutions, and we wanted one that would integrate with our current ones. This product is pretty good and simple, so we learned the simplicity of a product.

We currently use some features. It is secure, and some features, like work device management, are very useful.

We selected this solution because it needs to be always connected. In some cases, like an Internet outage, this can make the solution unmanageable.

If the network disconnects, we have access to the device but cannot make any changes.

I have been using Meraki SD-WAN for the last six months.

During the initial setup, it wasn't stable. It was very problematic, and we had a lot of issues. Now it's very stable.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.

The solution’s scalability is good. 2,000 users are using this solution.

We use the Meraki SD-WAN solution daily as users who consume the network. However, our involvement is very limited if you're asking about managing the devices or connecting to them. We barely manage it because it's largely automatic. It works well, so we typically only intervene about once a week.

I rate the solution’s scalability a ten out of ten.

Technical support is very cumbersome. It's not on point. It takes them a lot of time to understand the problems. It's very complex.

Neutral

The initial setup is easy. However, it took us a lot of time to work with an integrator and to declutter, and it took us weeks to deploy.

Meraki is a combination of cloud and on-prem, but most of our deployments are on-prem connected to the cloud. The management of Meraki is always on the cloud, but the devices are on-prem, and we have deployed multiple devices on-prem.

We use a third party for deployment. It still took us a lot of time. 

The product's pricing is moderate.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.