We performed a comparison between Cisco IOS Security and Meraki MX based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The tool is a nice product and easy to handle. The software's user interface is also good. You can easily implement remote access in the solution."
"The IPS is good. It protect my network from attackers."
"The most valuable feature is the FortiManager for centralized management."
"The reporting you receive out of this appliance is excellent. You will not need an external management system."
"Advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless and simple integration into a large network."
"Customers want to load balance more than eight lines or six internet lines. FortiGate is the only solution that can accomplish this."
"Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable."
"The pricing is great and very reasonable."
"We use Cisco IOS Security mostly for routers to route off the firewall. It's a next-generation device."
"The product has valuable features for business intelligence."
"It is less expensive than alternative firewalls."
"You can scale it when you need to."
"It covers everything we need it to without looking to secondary solutions."
"Previously, anyone in the organization would see any data point in the wall. They could just go and connect their machine with that data point and could access the network. But now, even if someone came and tried that, they will not be given access."
"We are able to filter a lot of traffic especially when a lot of the traffic is in layer 7."
"Cisco IOS Security is very robust and works very well."
"They have very good technical support and I have relied heavily on them."
"Real Auto VPN with load balancer without needing a public IP. It is simple and functional."
"It's flexible, easy to configure, and easy to manage."
"We work also with domain control (DC) from Microsoft or Amazon. We use a whole virtual appliance with Meraki."
"A strong, reliable solution for small companies with little or no dedicated IT department."
"It is very easy to configure."
"In a week, we can make new policy and view what all our users did."
"The internet traffic shaping has been very valuable."
"Fortinet Fortigate could benefit by simplifying some of their processes."
"You do need some IT knowledge in order to effectively work with the solution."
"We would like to see better pricing."
"Lacks sufficient security options."
"They should improve high CPU and memory usage that occurs."
"Technical support needs to be improved."
"Its reporting capabilities can be improved. It should have some out-of-the-box reporting capabilities and some degree of customization. The basic reporting that it currently has is not sufficient to create more usable reports. It needs some sort of out-of-the-box reporting. They try to make customers purchase FortiAnalyzer for this kind of reporting, which is an additional cost. Other firewall vendors, such as SonicWall and Sophos, provide this sort of reporting without any additional cost."
"We'd like more management across other integrations."
"Cisco IOS Security could improve its security features. There are competitors that have some additional security features, such as Fortinet FortiGate. Additionally, there should be better synchronization with Cisco IOS Security and other vendors, and improved AI features would be beneficial."
"The initial setup is complicated."
"We need to pay for the license and it is expensive."
"The product's technical support services need improvement."
"It would be ideal if the solution had more capacity."
"The solution’s setup process could be better."
"I would like to see much more embedded security that works and that isn't a bolt-on."
"The solution is not user friendly and it is hard to manage the GUI interface."
"Expensive licensing and firewall stops immediately working if the license is not renewed at expiration date."
"The current lead time is longer for Meraki MX, and it needs to be improved."
"What I would like to see in the next version is to have more interfaces for WAN links."
"MX can only be managed via a web interface, but I'm accustomed to using a CLI or a graphical interface. I would also like to see more reporting features. It doesn't provide enough information for me to know precisely about some clients."
"In general, the SD-WAN feature needs to be improved. The load sharing and load balancing of the traffic should be improved. I have had some problems with these features in the past."
"The product is quite complex to set up."
"Load balancing options and ability to manage a couple of Internet connections."
"We had minor issues with Meraki MX. We had a couple of RMAs, so that could be an area for improvement, but in terms of how the RMAs went, the turnaround time and getting those back into redeployment were quick. Another area for improvement in Meraki MX is that when you're scaling for multiple locations, you need to use the same model, but the model you'd need is only available for a short time. The specific model you require could be out of stock, or Meraki isn't making that model anymore, so Meraki should improve that."
Cisco IOS Security is ranked 23rd in Firewalls with 47 reviews while Meraki MX is ranked 2nd in Unified Threat Management (UTM) with 60 reviews. Cisco IOS Security is rated 8.0, while Meraki MX is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cisco IOS Security writes "User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Meraki MX writes "Cost-effective, simplified, easy to manage, and reliable with advanced security features and granular visibility". Cisco IOS Security is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Fortinet FortiOS, OPNsense, Netgate pfSense and Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, whereas Meraki MX is most compared with Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Cisco Secure Firewall, Sophos XG, SonicWall TZ and Netgate pfSense. See our Cisco IOS Security vs. Meraki MX report.
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