Cisco offers the Meraki brand of Ethernet switches.
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Cisco SD-Access
Score 8.2 out of 10
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Cisco's Software-Defined Access (SD-Access) provides automated end-to-end segmentation to separate user, device and application traffic without redesigning the network. Cisco SD-Access automates user access policy so organizations can make sure the right policies are established for any user or device with any application across the network.
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Pricing
Cisco Meraki MS
Cisco Software-Defined Access (SD-Access)
Editions & Modules
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Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Meraki MS
Cisco SD-Access
Free Trial
Yes
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Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
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More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Meraki MS
Cisco Software-Defined Access (SD-Access)
Considered Both Products
Cisco Meraki MS
Verified User
Anonymous
Chose Cisco Meraki MS
Cloud solutions to more away from the traditional on prem management
The business case that we need it is a solution that could upgrade or downgrade easily because we open and close contacts center or we need to redistribute workloads so Cisco Meraki MS was the solution that fix that business need
Cisco Meraki MS is ideal for small-medium and remote offices where IT staff never visit. I don't feel they are ready to support large offices or campuses with thousands of people. However in my opinion some offices can be Cisco Meraki MS and others can be Catalyst and it can …
It's going to be cambium and unify mostly. Right now it's mostly on the same line. Actually. It's not leading anymore. It's on the same line, but if it's not stepping up the game, it's maybe losing.
A lot of the times we choose Meraki just because it is so easy to manage, and we feel a great synergy when we switch to everything meraki-based. For example when we are able to have both access points and switches from Meraki it becomes a lot easier to manage compared to if we …
We selected Cisco Meraki MS for the facility to have the administration trough the Meraki Cloud, give us a lot of flexibility about troubleshooting, new configuration and monitoring. Also when you have Meraki licence enabled you have full support from Cisco in case you need it. …
Catalyst is good but it requires CLI configuration which can be very complex for beginners because they tend to forget commands. Cisco Meraki MS takes out the complexity by having a GUI, and another advantage is the risk of committing bad configuration is minimized (such as …
Well, we've been using it for quite a number of years, so I guess I have evaluated, this is on the wireless side, the Ruckus platform, and it did not compare to the Cisco Meraki dashboard as far as the way it is utilized.
I dunno if I've used any other product like that. Honestly. Closest thing would be like Palo Alto, but they don't really because they have a little bit of a gooey and they do the firewall and that sort of thing and you can connect to Panorama and do modifications there. The …
Cisco Meraki MS switches are cheaper and the setup and configuration is much faster than traditional classic Cisco switches. Also the available free Dashboard offers easy access to monitoring and assurance services. Whereas with classic Cisco switches there is a need for …
Meraki MX should be accompanied with the Security license to provide routing an security capabilities. The MX series provide great insite and is foundational to Meraki SD WAN and for setting up Cisco Secure Connect or the more advanced SASE solution from Cisco. Meraki MX is …
Automation, pushing template-based configuration to multiple devices in one push saves time and manpower. Assurance helps trace issues related to devices, clients, and provide the troubleshoot as the best practices. Segmentation, with the use of the SGT tags, we are able to …
Basically, we have various devices and solutions from Cisco and we are more focused on the next generation networks with the best support. We knew that Cisco has the best team sitting to support [any] issues and help us to troubleshoot whenever we need it. So we go with Cisco …
I'd say the thing is I don't think there's any environment where it's less suited unless it has to be maybe in a rugged environment where it would be susceptible to environmental issues. But yeah, I think it performs really well in every scenario we placed it.
It's well suited in our corporate offices, where all our business users resides and where we can control all their accesses. What doesn't really fit well is when we have our branch fronts, where all the software domain access features aren't utilized to its fullest, due to the fact that customers and users don't really need to have all the security features that SDA provides.
I think the cloud connectivity is very good. It helps as far as a manageability standpoint, it's top notch. I think that's the biggest bang for the buck. And also plug and play. You just plug it in and it works. It may not work exactly how you want it, but it works. You may have to do some other configurations.
So compared to the Cisco Catalyst series, there isn't that many dolls you can turn and just optimize stuff. So particularly I'm not quite sure around how stuff like MACsec would work on the MS. It's something that I've really got to look into more and the documentation isn't really that obvious for that feature.
At the time I am writing this, Meraki MS has conver all of the required needs. Is really easy to implement, the dashboard helps a lot with the implementation and troubleshooting process, the devices are very robust and you can count with the meraki support in case you face a physical or logical issue with them.
The Meraki dashboard is one of the most intuitive and user-friendly network management interfaces available. It simplifies many traditionally complex tasks, such as VLAN configuration, port management, and firmware updates, making it easy to deploy and manage networks without extensive CLI work. Features like zero-touch provisioning, remote troubleshooting, and real-time monitoring significantly reduce the time and effort needed for network administration. The reason it’s not a perfect 10 is that while Meraki is great for most standard networking tasks, it can feel somewhat limiting for advanced configurations. Additionally, the reliance on the cloud dashboard means there’s very little local management option, which could be a drawback in environments with strict compliance requirements. Overall, it’s one of the easiest networking solutions to work with, but power users might find certain advanced features lacking.
It is difficult to start using the product due to its unfamiliar name and acronyms. ,The task should be accomplished in a specific order to ensure success
Cisco Meraki MS switches are quite reliable, robust, and incredibly rare to experience failures. Most of the time, as with all equipment, problems arise from incorrect configurations, not from poor performance of the equipment itself. In any case, when a hardware or software issue arises, Meraki support responds promptly, and if equipment replacement is required, the service is dispatched quickly and efficiently.
In deployments using Cisco Meraki switches, no issues with performance, slowness, or loss have been reported; overall, performance is quite good. Communication and integration with other devices and brands is quite good, and the devices rarely fail.
Meraki support is excellent. They are also highly proactive. They literally replaced all of a particular model of our MS switches when it was discovered that they were not sure about the longevity of a particular chassis fan inside those switches. Without us having to do anything other than ask, they shipped us all new replacements (with a better fan in them) for the 10 or so of the switches that were in the affected model group, and we shipped the defective ones back to them int he same packaging, prepaid. None of the recalled switches had ever experienced a fan failure, but they were not willing to let them run in a production environment. I like that. Meraki MS support staff are also quick to get back to you and very knowledgeable about their product. I actually contact our Meraki rep to instigate a support case (although i could call support directly), and he gets the details from me first, then opens the ticket for us and explains it to support. This means that I only even need to talk to one person, and I like that, too. Meraki MS switches are designed to be essentially "plug and play", so support is generally not needed unless the end user is not following the deployment and operation guides
As far as my experience with SD-Access -I'd say things that can be improved are - better functionality with ISE, ease to understand licensing and better documentation for configuration (add-ons, etc), and licensing.
The In-person trainings are very useful because allow you to ask questions in live to the instructor. In general, most training sessions have been delivered directly through the Meraki platform with on-demand videos. However, having a dedicated instructor has allowed us to address specific topics that in some cases aren't covered in depth in the courses.
The Cisco Meraki learning platform is very user-friendly and offers all kinds of videos, reading material, and forums related to the different courses. There are courses for specific topics and also dedicated learning paths for certifications. In both cases, the content and explanation are easy to understand and provide highly didactic examples, sample equipment configurations, and quizzes at the end of each lesson to assess the acquired knowledge.
I rated the training an 8 because overall, it was well-structured, and the instructor was highly knowledgeable on the subject matter. The content was relevant, and I appreciated the clear explanations of complex topics. However, I felt that some sections were covered too quickly, making it difficult to fully absorb the information before moving on. Additionally, I would have liked more time dedicated to Q&A, as there were moments when I had questions but didn’t get the opportunity to ask them due to time constraints. Adding more interactive discussions or hands-on exercises could further enhance the learning experience and make it even more engaging
In general, the implementation process was relatively simple, given that we already have a relationship with the partners and experience in other implementations, from the acquisition of licenses, purchase of equipment, configuration of switches and support from the Meraki team, everything has been easy to manage and the support from both the partner and the Meraki team has been excellent.
Cisco Meraki MS is ideal for small-medium and remote offices where IT staff never visit. I don't feel they are ready to support large offices or campuses with thousands of people. However in my opinion some offices can be Cisco Meraki MS and others can be Catalyst and it can work quite well. Horses for courses so to speak.
Basically, we have various devices and solutions from Cisco and we are more focused on the next generation networks with the best support. We knew that Cisco has the best team sitting to support [any] issues and help us to troubleshoot whenever we need it. So we go with Cisco for this solution.
I would say probably eight. I think there's a lot of, the scalability is very nice and I've definitely deployed a lot of sites quickly. I think for us right now that we have to pivot away from manual configurations and using automated configurations. And so just being sure we prevent things like drift between sites is kind of important right now for us. And so I think that's the next steps for us in that product. And so I think if there was better documentation or better best practices about how to automate and deploy standardized, I think that would help.
Difficult to quantify, but Cisco Meraki MS is a very stable long term solution which offers a lot of value despite the yearly subscription costs. The stability and features offered offset this because it really helps engineers troubleshooting issues and ensure uptime on the network, which can be very valuable.
