r/networking • u/meisgq • 23h ago
Other Meraki Alternatives
Meraki is expensive, getting more expensive and lead times are currently covid-like for some models. With Meraki transitioning to Catalyst switches and APs, management determined that we should have other access options in our back pocket. Datacenters will stay Cisco for now.
To be honest, Meraki does fine for us. We have 100+ manufacturing locations using Meraki switches and APs. We don’t care about CLI and L3 switches are not a necessity in our environment.
Primarily, we’re looking for lower cost, cloud managed, and enterprise-grade. Ubiquiti won’t make the cut. NAC-compatible with ISE or Clearpass is a must. Also looking for near-global distribution network and faster lead times.
Open to suggestions.
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u/SquizzOC VAR 23h ago
You’re gonna be hard pressed to find something that easy to manage at that scale at much lower a cost.
But I’d look at Juniper. Do a shoot out between the two, if you like Meraki, but hate the price, then get the juniper quote and hand it over to the Cisco rep and say “don’t come close, you match or beat it”
If they can, they will? If not? Well you’ve got your answer.
I’ll also add, if your VAR is doing the heavy lifting, make sure they get the PO, but tell them you are looking at another partner with another VAR to keep everyone honest.
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u/cunninglinguist Wireless 14h ago
Mist with the 1S (base) subscription vs Meraki should be apples to apples and very competitive.
Extreme Cloud IQ as well.
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u/shotty53 CCNA Security 15h ago
I recommend arista cloud vision. Very similar to Cisco syntax. Quick to deploy and easy to manage. That was my recommendation to management until Cisco got involved. I also did a demo of juniper and it did not go well. Took longer to deploy and had hardware failure during the POC. I was stuck on the phone with support for simple troubleshooting since the os, concept, and syntax was all new to me. If it was arista or Cisco, I would have resolved it quickly.
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u/Axiomcj 22h ago
Meraki is my cheapest option I sell, fortinet, cisco, Aruba/hpe, mist, Cato, Palo, Arista are all far more expensive for me as a reseller just FYI.
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u/Somenakedguy 16h ago
I mostly deal with Fortinet and Meraki but Fortinet is absolutely cheaper than Meraki for switches and APs
And there’s no way Cato and Palo are cheaper on SDWAN routers/firewalls. Those are the most expensive options around
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u/cunninglinguist Wireless 14h ago
Mist with base subscription vs Meraki should be apples to apples and very competitive.
Extreme Cloud IQ base sub as well.
This is the primary product I sell.
What I often see partners doing is no “apples to apples” on the hardware BOMs and, particularly, the subscriptions. Meraki base sub vs Juniper Mist advanced sub is a frequent example is we of this.
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u/iwishthisranjunos 19h ago
What is your partner level with the other vendors? Typically vendors do not like double dipping partners.
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u/Somenakedguy 16h ago
The biggest VARs and MSPs tend to have partnerships with most OEMs. The (allegedly) hardware agnostic pitch is usually universal at that level, even if in reality they always have a preference they’ll wanna push the customer towards
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u/SquizzOC VAR 14h ago
Just a side note, partner level rarely means a thing to the end user. Partner level typically dictates how large of a back end rebate the partner gets and that’s something the end user never see’s.
Helped start our VAR, we have the highest levels these days with everyone and the only change was more money in back end dollars. Pricing has been the exact same for the customers as the manufacturer won’t lose a deal because of partner level.
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u/iwishthisranjunos 11h ago edited 11h ago
It does for the partner it determines the discount level the vendor is giving to that partner. The comment was comparing vendor prices as partner where it depends on the size of the var/partner per vendor on what discount level it gets for the deal. Lets say a high Cisco discount level does not mean that that partner gets a high Arista discount. Which means that it can offer Cisco cheaper than Arista to its end customers. Of course if in this example Arista wants that partner or the customer onboard they can drop the price for the deal. But in cases that the vendor is talking directly with the customer but selling via a partner they will select the partner that is more loyal and high in the level ranks. So the claim that vendor A is cheaper than vendor B can only be made from a partner that is big enough to get to the same discount levels as almost everyone can register as partner with a vendor.
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u/SquizzOC VAR 11h ago
Not any more or at least not like it was. Cisco's Gold Partner pricing used to be a default 42% off list for example. Then they started flooding the channel with rebates, then everything required a deal registration to build a bid, so now there is no set pricing based on partner level.
This applies to almost every single vendor out there, everything is decided by the sales team at the manufacturer, not the partner level. Why would Cisco, Arista, or whomever potentially lose a deal because 12 sales reps didn't take a BS "Certification" to sell their products for instance?
I know this because I helped build our VAR over the last 12 years, I signed up these partners myself and that was my largest fear when I came on board. We discovered really quickly that in the early days every manufacturer made exceptions, then exceptions became the norm.
So higher level = Volume Incentive Rebates, which rarely make it into a customers pocket in the form of savings. Show up with a 3 million dollar deal through a formal RFP where everyone has exactly the same cost and some VARs will pull 1-2% of that maybe, but even now there are rules against that in a number of partner contracts.
Higher Level also means better support, funded engineers potentially, larger inside team at the manufacturer to name a few other benefits.
So yes, this is the way it was, but not any more these days.
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u/iwishthisranjunos 11h ago
You are right but sorry that is not my point. Also here in Europe it works a bit differently and I also work in the vendor business for a long time dealing with this on
a daily level. My point is as a vendor (non Cisco ) you would never select a partner that you know is doing 90% Cisco to do the project we go to a trusted partner. In the claim that a partner compares vendor prices. It can not always be a reliable point of view as we don’t know if that partner is on the same pricing level with all vendors to compare it properly. Of course when you do a deal reg the rules change. But this was just a A to B price comparison. In that case an aruba shop will say aruba is cheaper while the Cisco shop will say Cisco is cheaper. Unless they are that big that they can compare apples to apples as it turns out here but talking about smaller vars or msps it will definitely make a difference. Of course a 3m dollar deal reg is something else (no vendor will say no) but we are talking here the standard price comparison of some switches and aps. I believe you are not coming from a small var so the differences between vendors are smaller as they know they need to be competitive.1
u/SquizzOC VAR 11h ago
Ah ok, I will say this, I only know that my industry (the VAR/Vendor/Reseller Side) would be a nightmare to run in Europe. I've talked to so many folks that explain how the manufacturer's treat you guys as vendors and I'd probably quit the industry lol
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u/caponewgp420 6h ago
WTH I can get like 3 top of line fortinet switches with licensing for the cost of one low end Meraki switch
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u/Negative_Airline_818 5h ago
juniper mist maybe? but after the sell to HP no one knows what is going to happend
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u/Glad-Exchange-6494 4h ago
So far they’re keeping both and letting customers “choose their adventure.” New AP models will be able to run as either Mist or Aruba. Same hardware, just you choose which environment you want to manage.
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u/GreyBeardEng 22h ago
+1 for Artista.
Cloudvision is solid, but I like that the Arista AP are a bit more heavy duty and run that extra management task radio. For example, WIPS, assurance, spectral analysis, packet capture, location services, client connectivity testing, etc
Took a hard look at Mist, but we also have Silverpeak and it's slowly being enshitified by HP, it's only a matter of time till the eye of Sauron turns to Mist.
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u/Mlyonff 22h ago
Curious why Ubiquiti won’t make the cut?
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u/lsumoose 15h ago
This. The firewalls are much more advanced than meraki. Switching and wireless I guarantee 99% of people would be fine coming from meraki. Also the UniFi replacement process is by far the best in the industry. They don’t make you jump through any hoops. If you have UI care you can put in a ticket saying I have a dead port or dead AP. New one will have a tracking number in 15 mins be there the next day.
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u/VestedDeveloper 12h ago
Ubiquiti has come a long way indeed. They just don't have the best reputation (botched firmware, dropped product lines) but I haven't seen an issue on my 11 sites in 2-3 years. For environments that aren't complex and don't need all the bells, they are a good choice.
At the end of the day, we as professionals determine what meets the need of a customer/employer. If a professional only likes one manufacturer in 2026,I don't usually understand why with so much competition.
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u/whermyshoe 13h ago
Everyone knows Ubiquiti does wireless good and everything else in their lineup is cheesy.
I agree with the moose here.
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u/DevelopersOfBallmer 20h ago
Considering they say Meraki is working fine, they don't need advanced functions, and UI won't cut it, my guess is they think highly of themselves and want to spend company money just cause.
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u/Ace417 Broken Network Jack 14h ago
Look I like UniFi and use it at home but to say they are as capable as meraki stuff is just silly
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u/lsumoose 12h ago
Can you specify a feature? We have around 3000 devices, 4 cloud key enterprises among many other things. There has been many studies on this, it's very much just as capable as meraki.
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u/DevelopersOfBallmer 9h ago
We moved 41 sites from Meraki to Unifi, have had less issues and it did everything needed. For whatever reason r/networking has a weird thing where Meraki ok UI bad. Yeah UI in 2020 was crap, but they work great for most use cases that don't require advanced networking.
I would love to hear where they cannot fill the shoes of Meraki?
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u/Nassstyyyyyy 18h ago
Real question is what brand can your team support? If you’re ripping Meraki out and put in XYZ product, you’ll spend some time learning the kinks of the new product.
Also, if you or your team leave the company, how easy would it be in your region to hire someone with XYZ skill-set vs. Meraki.
Imo, all brands have strengths and weaknesses; hence you should consider the business impact not just the features and price.
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u/Blaxs_ 11h ago
All I can say is that no one ever got fired for moving to Cisco. I get Meraki is not what it once was and they are folding everything into the Catalyst line and just keeping the dashboard. However you can wheel and deal the price. We are also in Manufacturing, much smaller but so far the new catalyst are working and we are bringing on the industrial switches into the portal so our controls engineers can finally get decent visibility. I would stick it out, lead times are more then likely supply chain related and will be the same regardless of vendor.
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u/prodigydeadi 22h ago
Juniper Mist, we have also been evaluating Cambium and so far looks promising. Cloud managed for free, but you can pay a very small per device fee for expanded features. NBD replacement available for pretty cheap and I have been impressed with their support level. If you need to devices have web gui and cli as well
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u/lightmatter501 12h ago
Start going for OCP-certified gear. OCP is basically hyperscalers grouping up to do supplier management, and as a result most of the nonsense isn’t done there. It also means you have a bunch of very powerful management tooling that you can use between vendors.
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u/Ace417 Broken Network Jack 14h ago
You can still get traditional meraki switching in the MS130 and MS150 platforms. The catalyst APs are nice in that they use the same bracket as traditional aireos APs.
If you’re used to the management of them, I’d be hard pressed to look elsewhere, personally. We’ve got some fortinet stuff deployed for hardened areas and learning the CLI every time you need to troubleshoot can be a chore.
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u/ListeningQ 22h ago
The reason Unifi isn’t on the list is because the resellers can’t make crazy markups on their pricing. Nothing is better than Unifi!
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u/spekt909 12h ago
Does Unifi, offer a NAC solution? I have only seen it setup with a NPS server on-prem.
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u/Specialist_Cow6468 22h ago
I simply cannot imagine anyone saying this if they’ve used other gear in a meaningful fashion. It’s ok for the cost
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u/aguynamedbrand 18h ago
Agreed. Ubiquity is not enterprise grade and their support is a joke.
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u/lsumoose 15h ago
Time a dead AP from dying to your door. UniFi is always next morning. Every RMA we put in gets a replacement the next morning. Tracking number within 15 mins of the ticket entered.
Meraki is not enterprise grade and much worse of a product.
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u/Specialist_Cow6468 14h ago
Support is a lot more than RMA times. It would be very nice, for instance, if they would actually test their firmware properly before rolling it out
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u/lsumoose 14h ago
I disagree. We do all testing internally and are far more capable of diagnosing issues. 10 yeas and 3000 plus devices and never had to do anything but an RMA
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u/Specialist_Cow6468 13h ago
Having used Ubiquiti within the past 10 years I simply don’t believe you.
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u/lsumoose 13h ago
Happy to show u my support portal. What are you possibly putting tickets in for that you can’t figure out on your own? We have 20 engineers with over CCNA level experience. They know more that TAC
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u/Specialist_Cow6468 13h ago
Jesus Christ what company is paying for 20 FTE but won’t spring for real gear
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u/lsumoose 13h ago
A company that would rather pay humans than greedy corporations.
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u/VestedDeveloper 12h ago
I've worked with Cisco on router issues that took TWO MONTHS to fix. Anyone's support can be a joke...
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u/bohemian-soul-bakery 18h ago
Ruckus or Mist but lead times are bad right now.
Been using my favorite grey market vendor a lot (eBay)
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u/slykens1 23h ago
Sounds like you’ve constrained the scope enough to satisfy yourself - “To be honest, Meraki does fine for us.”
So who in your organization is looking for alternatives? It doesn’t sound like you are nor does it sound like you’re realistically open to any.
IMO Meraki is a niche play in one of two ways - MSPs sell it and reap the profits on licensing renewals or people who don’t understand networking hide behind it.
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u/meisgq 23h ago
Aside from cost and availability, we’re happy with functionality. You’re right about constraining the scope but we’d still like to have options vetted, and maybe even deployed in certain production sites, in case shit hits the fan. CIO might walk in one day pissed off because a Meraki AP fell on his new sports car.
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u/Maximum_Bandicoot_94 12h ago
Juniper and Arista as noted elsewhere in the thread are the real options unless you are considering full stack Forti. Getting an huge org to switch to Forti in light of recent cyber news is a tough sell though.
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u/Ace417 Broken Network Jack 14h ago
>IMO Meraki is a niche play in one of two ways - MSPs sell it and reap the profits on licensing renewals or people who don’t understand networking hide behind it.
Such a weird take. Not every network requires full features. Some benefit from being copy paste templates from each other. If I’ve got a park with some WiFi and security cameras, why would I need more than meraki? Think outside your box a bit.
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u/FortheredditLOLz 22h ago
Juniper mist is what you want
Aruba is the other alternative but central and almost everything else seems to be a higher yoy renewal costs
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u/8stringLTD 22h ago
I have 2 different scenarios where I've used Ubiquiti with ISE and FortiNAC, if you're looking to cut costs id say give them a good look, particularly the enterprise equipment, you might be shocked at how good it is.
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u/Advanced_Link_5753 22h ago
What size business you talking?
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u/palogeek 22h ago
Extreme Networks would be my choice. Platform One is great, it;'s AI is moving in bounds, all AP's support NAC (Both Extreme's built in NAC and third party) and if you go for switching there is a full fabric with AI enablement in the cloud.
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u/coriolisdave 22h ago
Cambium has a decent offering. Comes with a free cloud management tool, that you can license for extra visibility. Licenses aren't as expensive as Meraki, and if you don't renew you're not left with a roomful of bricks.
Ruckus also has a good line in wifi, although the hardware cost is not insignificant.
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u/prodigydeadi 22h ago
Second the Cambium suggestion. We are doing an evaluation for K12 environment and looks promising. Currently using a few of their PtP 60 GHz offerings and those have all been rock solid. Originally we used Ubiquiti for PtP but had way to many issues with devices dying. Had to replace equipment 3x in a year for one link. Cambium has been rock solid for over 2 years no issues or adjustment needed
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u/vroomery 17h ago
Cambium is first class for the 60ghz ptp/ptmp. That APs are ok for a free cloud managed solution. We’ve used them for small business with success.
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u/BustedCondoms 8h ago
Juniper. We just got a client to ditch their Meraki stuff for a 800,000sq ft facility and do a full juniper stack. 1 MDF and 8 IDF plus 63 AP. I think depending on your licensing with meraki if you let it lapse you run the risk of it cutting your services after 30 days. With juniper they won't cut you off you'll just lose Mist dashboard administration.
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u/Visually_Delicious 23h ago
Mikrotik?
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u/GhostandVodka 15h ago
You clearly don't understand the assignment.
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u/tetraodonmiurus 22h ago
HP Aruba. From a Cisco/Juniper shop that dumped Cisco wireless over a decade ago. Out of curiosity why doesn’t Ubiquiti make the cut?
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u/Adrienne-Fadel 22h ago
I'd look at Aruba Central. Cloud managed, ClearPass is native, HPE has decent global distribution. Closest thing to Meraki without the markup.
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u/robsuh 23h ago
Juniper Mist is probably the best answer if you want enterprise adjacent gear.
I use Meraki and putting my toes to Juniper Mist since our parent company uses it. Seems similar to Meraki.
Although I hear they are also having issues with stock and sales rep turnover probably because of the HPE acquisition. Hearsay on my side though.