We compared Meraki Dashboard and SolarWinds NPM across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Features: Meraki Dashboard users like its centralized console, cable testing, firmware updates, and group policy features. The solution is also praised as user-friendly, stable, and scalable. SolarWinds NPM is commended for its adaptability and extensive network surveillance functionalities.
Room for Improvement: Users say Meraki Dashboard could improve its client VPN, hardware discovery, and integration with external solutions, Some users mentioned a need for more comprehensive documentation and granular control. SolarWinds NPM needs improvement in edge computing capabilities and data reporting. Users also said the performance could be better and that they would like to see expanded IPAM functionality.
Service and Support: Meraki Dashboard's customer service receives mixed feedback. Some users spoke fondly of the technical support they received, while others expressed frustration over long wait times and had a hard time finding the right person to help them. While some customers described SolarWinds support as helpful and responsive, others reported delayed responses.
Ease of Deployment: Users said Meraki Dashboard was effortless and intuitive to set up, noting that features like templates and configuration cloning saved time during deployment. Some users said SolarWinds NPM was straightforward to set up, while others perceived it as complex.
Pricing: Opinions on Meraki Dashboard's pricing varied, with some users finding it pricey and others deeming it fair. The cost of SolarWinds NPM varies depending on the customer’s size and requirements. Some users find it costly.
ROI: Meraki Dashboard simplifies IT operations, and some users expect returns within a few years. Some users reported immediate benefits from using SolarWinds NPM in terms of security and business outcomes, while others have not.
Comparison Results: Meraki Dashboard is a scalable, user-friendly solution with a smooth, painless setup made easy by built-in templates and features like configuration cloning. However, some users complained that the solution is too expensive and needs better integration with non-Cisco platforms. SolarWinds NPM is a customizable solution that’s easy to deploy and features comprehensive network monitoring capabilities. However, some users consider it costly and voiced concerns about technical support and user experience.
"We can manage the entire system across the network and troubleshoot the pain points."
"An excellent dashboard that is currently unique in covering both SD-WAN and SD-LAN with built-in security."
"We've been spending a lot less time on tickets and deployments, so we have more time to do other things."
"There are some whitelist blacklist capabilities in the MX dashboard, which is very helpful."
"What I found most valuable in the Meraki Dashboard is straight monitoring of the different devices, as well as the ability to easily set up VPNs, for example, both Meraki client VPNs and non-Meraki VPNs for different organizations that work with my company. I also like that the tool is a really good firewall."
"What I love most about the Meraki Dashboard are its user-friendly features."
"It's really user-friendly."
"It's a scalable solution."
"It is a reliable product. It provides a lot of information that is easy to read."
"It's a very good tool and a very stable tool."
"This solution offers a very good view of our network and allows us to effectively monitor performance."
"I like SolarWinds support because it's 24/7. You describe your issues, your situation and maybe two or three hours later you can discuss a solution with a technical engineer."
"It's easy to understand, even if you are not too technical."
"The solution ranks as one of the top five monitoring tools."
"The connectivity of the solution is very good."
"The alerting and usage tracking notifications on disk space capacity, network and processor utilization."
"We have configured multiple alerts for our network devices, including routers and switches, so that we are notified if any interface goes down."
"The Wi-Fi side needs improvement."
"I think this product could be improved with a CLI for more directives."
"It would be helpful to have the ability to create a floor plan based on an existing PDF or JPEG, which is automatically converted into a usable network map."
"You can't really clone or replicate a device, that sort of feature would be useful. You can clone the site but you cannot clone the device."
"The pricing for this solution needs to be improved."
"Meraki Dashboard's pricing could be improved."
"Something that needs to be improved, is the fact that you if you don't renew the subscription license, it stops working. I would also like to see SSL BPM support for anything else."
"This solution can be quite complicated to configure and manage, unless you have a technical person with specific knowledge working on it."
"Meraki Dashboard could improve the user interface by making it more user-friendly. The configuring can at times be difficult."
"It has covered everything, so no improvement is required at their end. The only thing is the price."
"It would be good to have high security."
"Consolidation of platforms would provide a smoother experience."
"It is not that stable. As a Windows software, I have seen issues with SolarWinds. The performance is slow."
"It would be nice to have a test to check if you can access a particular device via API without installing it and waiting for a poll cycle. You should have the capacity to initiate a test to see if it was reachable and get the results almost immediately."
"A feature I would ask for is for them to have this solution available for Linux systems instead of Windows."
"They have had a rather large security breach in the past. It's cost some companies customers."
"Fortigate firewalls are one example of a product that we are unable to monitor properly via SolarWinds NPM."
Meraki Dashboard is ranked 9th in Network Monitoring Software with 51 reviews while SolarWinds NPM is ranked 4th in Network Monitoring Software with 147 reviews. Meraki Dashboard is rated 8.6, while SolarWinds NPM is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Meraki Dashboard writes "Incredibly easy to use, great troubleshooting and prevention of malicious events". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SolarWinds NPM writes "High-level, comprehensive, and proactive monitoring in a user-friendly interface". Meraki Dashboard is most compared with Cisco DNA Center, ThousandEyes, Mist AI and Cloud, Zabbix and Cisco Secure Network Analytics, whereas SolarWinds NPM is most compared with Zabbix, PRTG Network Monitor, ManageEngine OpManager, ThousandEyes and OpsRamp. See our Meraki Dashboard vs. SolarWinds NPM report.
See our list of best Network Monitoring Software vendors.
We monitor all Network Monitoring Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.