Meraki MS Switches Reviews

I use this solution at work and in my house. The network in my house runs on Cisco Meraki. I use it to connect my home network to the internet.

At work, we use it to connect the users, their network, and their computers to the network.

It is easy to work with. 

The dashboard is awesome. It provides you with very rich information, and when it comes to troubleshooting, it provides you with a wealth of information on the network about what is going on.

It tells you what traffic goes out and what traffic comes in.

It's very good. It provides you with a very deep look and there is a lot of good information if you need it.

I would like to add a voice capability to Meraki, to make a call or receive a call. It can be done in the software or some type of hardware.

The switches have wireless, routers, firewalls, and SD-WAN. They have also added cameras to their product lines, as well as the sensors in their product lines.

I like to see to add some voice capability to complete the circle. That would make them complete in terms of having the ability to make a phone call. For example, if I am buying their products and I need a phone, then I would have to go buy a phone from another vendor. 

It would be nice because if I had a phone added then I would need to go to any other vendor. 

I would have one dashboard where I could see my sensors, my firewall, my switches, my wireless, and I can see the switch, I could see everything. I wouldn't need to go to the dashboard to look at my phone activity. It would all be on one dashboard and involve one vendor.

I have used Meraki MS Switches for many years.

I am using the latest version.

Meraki MS Switches is a stable product.

Meraki MS Switches are scalable.

The technical support is awesome. When you send an email, they respond quickly. They run 24/7.

It is easy to set up.

It is so simple that anyone could install it.

I don't have an issue with the price of this solution.

I am currently doing research to see what technology would be best suited for a particular issue that we are facing.

I haven't experienced any problems with this solution. 

If I had, I would have switched to another vendor, and I wouldn't use it at home.

I use it at work and at home and I don't have any issues.

I would rate Meraki MS Switches a ten out of ten.

We've chosen the Meraki product because the configuration is very simple. They are Cisco products, so we are sure of their reputation, the quality, the brand, the performance, and the support.

What we like best is that the product makes configuration easy. We can configure a whole bunch of switches or ports at the same time. For example, if we select 200 ports and change some parameters, these options will be applied two minutes later on every branch anywhere in the world where we have selected the switches. This ability to configure multiple switches in one step is an incredible feature.

One simple way to improve the product is to reconsider the price. They are more expensive than their competitors. You have to take into account that it is Meraki by Cisco and they know they are the best and that if you need a less expensive solution you can buy other products. If you want the best, you have to pay for it. But certainly they are a bit more expensive than the competitors.

For us, this product has been very stable. We have had zero problems concerning stability.

This solution is currently serving about 270 users within our company. I think the product is very scalable and it would not matter how many users we add.

I have been in touch with technical support. The support is of course in English because they are an English speaking company, but the support was all very clear to me. The resolution of our issue was easy and it took maybe about 30 minutes for issues I called about. With any problems or questions that we had, they were there to help and we had a fast resolution every time. So personally I am very happy with the support.

Before we switched to Cisco Meraki, we were using Hewlett Packard Enterprise Switches. They are not cloud-managed and it's not a software-defined network solution. I don't know if we can compare these one-to-one. But we did make the change because we thought it was a better fit for our network model and the solution was a better fit for our ultimate goals.

The initial setup was very easy. We deployed eight switches with about 350 ports. Configuration of that took about two days.

We did not need help from the vendor or an installation team. I did it by myself.

I know that Cisco is a bit more expensive than its competitors. I know that we bought a license for a three-year term and that you can get discounts based on the length of the term. However, I do not know the exact amount that we pay.

Actually, we did not consider other solutions when we decided to make the switch. I had read many things about Cisco Meraki and a lot of my colleges are using this solution. I went to visit some places that were using the solution and they showed me what it could do. I was satisfied with what my colleagues showed me about the solution when I was at their businesses and we bought the solution based on that impression.

My advice to other people who are looking into this solution is that if they need a fast, scalable and easy-to-manage solution, they can buy a Cisco Meraki product. They pay the price for the quality of the product and the ease of use. It is not the cheapest, but it is the best. Maybe the time you save in configuration and use over other products is worth the extra cost.

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate Meraki Cisco as a nine. It is not a ten because of the price and if you give ten of ten points there is no room for improvement. Everything can improve, even the best.

Meraki MS Switches have revolutionized our network operations. With cloud-based management, deployment is effortless, and monitoring is streamlined.

Meraki MS Switches have been invaluable in our network management. Compared to other switches, Meraki stands out with features like Power over Ethernet. This capability, along with remote manageability, has transformed our network operations, allowing us to implement changes quickly and efficiently while maintaining our organization's standards. It has been a refreshing change, making our tasks easier and more streamlined.

The most valuable features of Meraki MS Switches are their reliability and simplicity. Once they are plugged in, they just work without needing much maintenance. They are dependable in various environments, from office to field settings. With Meraki, you can trust that they will perform reliably, which has been my experience.

One area where Meraki MS switches could improve is offering smaller switch sizes for distribution switches, as not all networks require the standard 24 or 48 ports. Having more compact options with fewer ports would be beneficial, especially for distribution switches with only a few connections needed. This could help optimize space, power usage, and cost efficiency, particularly for networks with many end-user switches and few distribution switches.

I have been using Meraki MS Switches for over a year.

I would rate the stability of the product as a ten out of ten. I have not faced any issues so far.

I would rate the scalability of Meraki MS Switches as a solid ten out of ten. We have approximately 20,000 end users at our company.

The technical support is excellent.

Before Meraki, we used a mix of Cisco and other brands. Then we switched exclusively to Cisco and eventually to Meraki.

I would rate the easiness of the initial setup as an eight out of ten. The deployment of Meraki MS switches typically takes a few days. We prepare parameters and schedule remote sessions with our network administrators. The actual session lasts about an hour, but the whole process involves coordination and preparation, including in-house support from an external company.

I would rate the costliness of Meraki MS Switches at around seven out of ten. They are not cheap, but I find them to be a good value for the money. However, I would prefer if the prices were a bit lower.

The analytics and dashboard functionalities of Meraki have greatly enhanced my network monitoring. While I primarily use it to monitor basic parameters like bandwidth and connectivity, it allows me to quickly spot potential issues and react promptly, despite overseeing a wide area.

In high-density environments, my experience with Meraki MS switches has been positive. They handle multiple wireless networks cohesively, including those for office and public use, without issues.

Overall, I would rate Meraki MS Switches as a nine out of ten.

We use mobile device management to track our wireless access points, and that's basically what it does for our environment.

It makes the management of SSIDs fairly easy. It's pretty intuitive. I haven't used anything else to manage stuff, so I don't know what other things are out there.

I don't like some of the mobile device management options. They're a little bit hard to find in the system.

I've used the solution for six years. 

It's a stable product. I don't see too much going on with it. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

The solution is very scalable. 

I didn't have an opportunity to use another switch. We've been using this since I've worked with the system.

I wasn't involved in the initial setup. I adopted the system. I did not go through the deployment.

We have seen an ROI. It's very good.

The pricing is okay. I'd rate the solution a three and a half or four out of five in terms of cost, five being the most expensive. 

We're just customers and end-users, not partners or resellers.

I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using. 

I would suggest new users get a really good understanding of the network requirements before implementation.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

I use the MS series when I need to add power over ethernet (PoE).

This product has QoS, decent visibility of what's going on, and it's a managed switch.

Mandatory maintenance is an area that needs improvement.

I have been working with Meraki MS Switches for between five and ten years.

These switches are really stable.

I've used their lower-end products, and I haven't really looked at the larger units with additional ports. As such, I can't really say, although I think that there are some level 3s and even some level 4s.

At each location, there are between 15 and 20 users.

The technical support is very good. They are responsible and knowledgeable. On the Meraki side, you get through right away, whereas, on the Cisco side, you put in a call, and then it is difficult to predict when they will return it.

I work with a variety of Meraki Switches including the MS series, MR series, and MX series.

Prior to using Meraki, I was using a lower-end switch from Cisco. It didn't have any support requirements and my boss wanted me to get rid of anything that required maintenance. For this same reason, we will be getting away from using Meraki switches, as well.

The initial setup is easy.

As a one-person operation, I manage 15 or 16 locations.

The yearly maintenance fee is $100 and you can purchase used switches for about $200 each.

My advice is that this product may work well for a smaller shop, where they do not have many devices to pay maintenance fees for. I have 15 or 16 locations and combined, these have many switches and access points. For example, I have more than 45 devices in total, and paying $100 for each, annually, surpasses the amount of my initial investment. This is the reason that I am changing to another product.

In summary, this is a good switch but I just don't like the ongoing cost.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

We provide Meraki Switches to schools, universities, and hospitals.

We find value in its ability to enable cloud management and visibility. They are also easy to deploy. It's very convenient because you can see who is accessing, what type of UI system they're using, what applications they're using, the bandwidth, and more. Management is also easy as you can access and manage the switches from anywhere. As it's managed on the cloud, we can support customers remotely if there's a problem.

Their subscription model could be better. Some of our customers prefer a one-time payment to a monthly or yearly subscription model, so they don't buy the product. Technical support could also be better.

We have been dealing with Meraki MS Switches for about four years.

It's a stable product.

Meraki MS Switches are scalable. 

Technical support could be better. Some support agents aren't adequately qualified to support us. Their technical skill needs to improve.

Meraki Switches have some advantages compared to others. For example, visibility, management, and auto device detection. 

The initial setup is simple. 

We provide installation and implementation services. Most of our customers use the warranty for maintenance.

It would be better if they had a one-time purchase option instead of a subscription model.

It's more suitable for medium-sized companies.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Meraki MS Switches a nine.

The switches make up part of the network infrastructure in the company.

We primarily use VLANs and Wi-Fi.

The most valuable feature is the ability to segment my infrastructure between phones, security systems, and other tasks.

The dashboard is very easy to use.

Better alerting capabilities are needed because they do not provide enough notification or detail about events. For example, it doesn't tell me if I have lost an access point, or I'm getting packet drops, or somebody is using excessive bandwidth because of a download they are doing. It is very hard to drill down on these problems and sometimes, you might have to use a third-party solution to pull the reports out.

Technical support is in need of improvement.

I have been using Meraki MS Switches for about one year.

The stability is great.

Our company has not had to scale our network. However, some of our clients that use these same switches have scaled up, and it was an easy process for them. This is in part because it is easy to change configurations on the fly.

The technical support for this product is difficult to deal with. With multiple levels, it is very difficult to get through to the right person that can help with the problem. It is disappointing because when you pay a lot of money for the hardware, you expect to get the support that you need to get.

I handle the maintenance of these switches, including firmware updates.

We paid for our switches outright, at a cost of between $15,000 USD and $18,000 USD.

In summary, this is a good product except that the technical support and alerting need to be improved. As it is now with the alerting, I get messages from the firewall before I am alerted by the Meraki hardware. It makes it more difficult to troubleshoot.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We use the solution for switching only because it was already in place at an organization we took over who sold Meraki. We continue to use the Meraki solution as switches on that network.

Personally, I don't like the product because I don't like the idea of losing all functionality if your license for the cloud is not current and paid or if the cloud cannot be accessed. I wouldn't recommend these switches for most organizations because the cloud-based deployment is restrictive and comes with problems. The only reason I can see choosing this product is if your organization is totally non-IT, on-premises and you are comfortable leaving IT services in the hands of somebody else.

Realistically, the pricing should be improved to match the services and features provided. This also should be enhanced so that you are able to use the product when there is no cloud connectivity.

Because of dependence on the cloud, my strongest advice to people considering this solution is to make sure you have a reliable internet connection.

As far as future improvements to the product, it is not a concern for us as we are not doing additional installations at this point and would probably hope, instead, to phase out the use of the product.

I have not experienced any bugs while using the product, but in trawling the internet for more information and doing some research, it seems that there can be a lot of problems with this solution. We have not experienced any of these problems ourselves.

The product is scalable and can work if you're a small to medium-sized business. I wouldn't want to use Meraki in an enterprise network. At the moment we have about six clients sites where the Meraki device is used for storage. That is a total of about 40 or so end-users. 

I have not had the reason to use customer services or technical support.

We are currently using Meraki at some sites but we are also using NETGEAR. NETGEAR is our preferred switch kit. We normally would prefer not to use Meraki at all. We were forced to use it because a customer we took over already had the Meraki switches.

The initial setup can be straightforward if you don't make it too complicated by trying to do a lot of customization. The entire setup took us about four hours.

We did not use a vendor team for the implementation, we did it ourselves.

With the solution that we currently have, I think it costs about 1,200 pounds a year. They bill on a yearly basis. There are no licensing costs in addition to the standard yearly licensing fees, but of course, you have to buy the kit. It is the nature of this type of product to require that type of initial capital expenditure.

It is very important that people considering this solution have or can implement a very reliable internet connection. The product needs this to access the cloud.

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate this product as a six. It is just too limited to be rated any higher.