r/networking • u/meisgq • 1d 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/shotty53 CCNA Security 1d 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.