We performed a comparison between Cisco IOS Security and Meraki MX based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."
"The most valuable feature is the policy routing and application control."
"There are lots of features and most of them are deployed for internet security. Users are protected if they accidentally go to some malicious sites."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is URL filtering."
"The most valuable feature is the bundled subscription, which is IPS, TV and web filtering."
"We are a visual effects company, and there have been a number of high profile security issues in our industry. This has brought us to a higher standard of security, which our clients are very keen on these days."
"We can detect any attack of viruses or malware at the first point of contact."
"We can use our devices to check all of the perimeters. It secures email websites."
"The solution is easy to use."
"Cisco IOS Security has many good features, but compared to other solutions, it has a more user-friendly interface with steps to apply and manage rules. Another good part of the solution is that it's more straightforward."
"Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It offers good network visibility, which helps in rapid response through the Rapid Threat Containment feature. Its deployment and configuration are straightforward."
"The Intrusion Firewall is a valuable feature."
"The product has valuable features for business intelligence."
"The VPN connection portal scan works flawlessly, which was a big plus for us."
"The most valuable features of Cisco IOS Security are the plenty of functionality it provides, many people are IT certified the usage, and the user interface is good."
"Cisco IOS Security is very robust and works very well."
"Real Auto VPN with load balancer without needing a public IP. It is simple and functional."
"Meraki MX offers advanced filtration options, plus it behaves like a router and a firewall at the same time."
"The simplicity of configuration is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"I am happy with the technical support for the solution. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."
"It prevents us from being hacked and delivers information about who and where the attack came from."
"Site to Site VPN: The device can establish a VPN connection to multiple sites in a mesh environment in seconds, and without complex VPN knowledge."
"Point-to-point VPNs can dynamically follow IP changes with no need for static IPs."
"Easy to administer and saves time when you have many smaller locations that you have to manage."
"I'm not sure if it's something that they already have or are developing something, however, we need some dedicated features for container security."
"I would like to have logs, monitoring, and reporting for a month without extra fees."
"It's my understanding that more of the current generation features could be brought in. There could be more integration with EDRs, for example."
"One of the problems I was having was with user mapping, and it is an issue for which I have escalated tickets with Fortinet support."
"I would like reporting to be improved and should offer a lot more tools to monitor the products."
"I need user-behavior analytics, to find threat scenarios from inside the organization, insider attacks. That would be very helpful for us. In addition, I would like next-generation features for small and medium businesses. These businesses require UTM, all in one product. Fortinet must include it."
"The solution lacks multi-language support."
"I would like to see improvements in the product's application rules."
"Sometimes I find it difficult to manage. Some configurations are difficult for new engineers, for example."
"Cisco IOS Security should improve its functionalities."
"The configuration should be easier in the solution."
"The product's technical support services need improvement."
"The company needs to make its solution more affordable to make it more accessible to larger markets. Otherwise, it's seen as an enterprise-level solution that small or medium-sized organizations can't afford and therefore they won't even look at it."
"Cisco IOS Security could improve by having more compatibility with other Cisco solutions."
"With respect to user-friendliness, it is a command-line interface and those with such experience will get along just fine, whereas others may struggle."
"Cisco very slowly introduces and implements the products, unlike other brands."
"An area for improvement in Meraki MX is that it needs some provision, as supplying the unit through Cisco can be tedious at times, but as far as the product itself and its offerings, Meraki MX is five-star all the way."
"We feel that Cisco provides smaller features, with fewer possibilities versus other solutions out there."
"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."
"In general, the SD-WAN feature needs to be improved. The load sharing and load balancing of the traffic should be improved. I have had some problems with these features in the past."
"More detail needed for configuration of the VPN."
"We had minor issues with Meraki MX. We had a couple of RMAs, so that could be an area for improvement, but in terms of how the RMAs went, the turnaround time and getting those back into redeployment were quick. Another area for improvement in Meraki MX is that when you're scaling for multiple locations, you need to use the same model, but the model you'd need is only available for a short time. The specific model you require could be out of stock, or Meraki isn't making that model anymore, so Meraki should improve that."
"When we do API integrations with Meraki, they have always been hard as well as tedious to build. The data that we want out of the API integrations has been only recently available. Six months ago, it was hard to get someone to build something correctly or useful with Meraki APIs. Recently, they have made more data available on the API, but it is just a start. They need to do more."
"What I would like to see in the next version is to have more interfaces for WAN links."
Cisco IOS Security is ranked 22nd in Firewalls with 47 reviews while Meraki MX is ranked 2nd in Unified Threat Management (UTM) with 57 reviews. Cisco IOS Security is rated 8.0, while Meraki MX is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cisco IOS Security writes "User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Meraki MX writes "Cost-effective, simplified, easy to manage, and reliable with advanced security features and granular visibility". Cisco IOS Security is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Fortinet FortiOS, Netgate pfSense, OPNsense and Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB, whereas Meraki MX is most compared with Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Cisco Secure Firewall, Sophos XG, SonicWall TZ and Netgate pfSense. See our Cisco IOS Security vs. Meraki MX report.
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