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Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms vs. Cisco Meraki SD-WAN

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms

    Score9.5 out of 10
    N/ACisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms deliver secure, high-performance SD-WAN built for hybrid work, multicloud access, and 5G-ready networks. Powered by Cisco IOS XE, these devices combine flexible routing, SASE integration, and cloud-native agility to support AI-driven networking and edge computing needs.N/A

    Cisco Meraki SD-WAN

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/ACisco Meraki SD-WAN is a cloud-managed solution that simplifies and secures wide area networking across branch, campus, and remote locations. Built on Meraki’s dashboard, it delivers centralized visibility, automation, and traffic optimization without the complexity of traditional WAN deployments. The solution improves application performance by dynamically routing traffic based on real-time conditions, integrating advanced security, and providing seamless multicloud connectivity. With support…N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformsCisco Meraki SD-WAN
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformsCisco Meraki SD-WAN
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformsCisco Meraki SD-WAN
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Meraki SD-WAN
    Meraki SD-WAN is significantly easier to implement compare to FortiGate SD-WAN
    FortiGate SD-WAN has more security and routing features
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    32 Answers
    95%
    Would buy again
    69 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    89%
    Delivers good value for the price
    25 Answers
    99%
    Delivers good value for the price
    69 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    33 Answers
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    69 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    26 Answers
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    59 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    30 Answers
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    68 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformsCisco Meraki SD-WAN
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
    Score8.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformsCisco Meraki SD-WAN
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (23 ratings)
    8.9
    (75 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.8
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.7
    (2 ratings)
    8.1
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (73 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformsCisco Meraki SD-WAN
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    With the flexibility of sizing options, the Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms has worked to deliver solutions for our various needs. Smaller systems offer strong connectivity for office developments. Mid-range options have served our larger campuses well. Our data center deployments of the larger systems have provided up to 100G connectivity and advanced routing solutions. The Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms continues to meet our needs and exceed our expectations.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    At our level, we had to optimize our 3 internet links (MPLS and LTE) with applications like O365, SAP, Microsoft CRM Dynamics and our collaborative work tools like Teams. We also had to ensure that both client workstations and servers could communicate with minimal latency with our Microsoft Intune infrastructure.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • More resources for tunneling
    • Ability to use sdwan softwre
    • More memory for tcam tables
    • Ability to utilize T1 lines for PRI
    • Ability to act as a SBC for VoIP communication
    • Rfid usage
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • Meraki has been beautifully done for people who are actually very lean on the IT infrastructure as in resources wise. So Meraki is a very good solution to give them the simplicity on a single glass plan where they can actually have visibility over all their networks on a single glass plane by a click of button, they could actually see what's happening. They could actually do troubleshooting on the fly, including packet capture, which is such a smooth feature. Usually myself including I've been have an engineering background, all my ears packet capture, I've never seen that smooth and easy to operate that you can actually have a high level understanding or deep level depending on how much you want to go in with the click of a button. That's so beautiful. I mean everything for me Meraki is point of kind of a go ahead for everyone.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • Adding more NIM slots on motherboard
    • Adding PVDM slot for use cases where the router is used only for trans coding
    • Adding more granular tiers for DNA licensing. For example it is a big gap between 2000Mbps (400 Mbps agg) and 1Gbps (2 Gbps Agg)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • The platform itself is very feature-rich. One of the difficulties we find is that to do things, for example, in terms of monitoring and obtaining data, it's not consistent. There are multiple interfaces to get them, but you can't get the same data through all interfaces. So you end up having to try to find either the least common denominator or we have to build our own code that then mines through all the interfaces and that becomes very problematic.
    • The other problem we've found is that there are issues where the same amount of expected software quality isn't really there in all releases. Cisco breaks things out by like shorter or long-lived release trains. And the long-lived release trains tend to have good quality by the time you get to the second or third release within it. But then those are skips. There are like 12, 18 months skips in between those. So if you start releasing features on versions in between there practically to be safe, you have to wait until you know much later. So to be able to see new future capabilities as they come out and deploy those readily needs to improve, it needs to be much faster.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    Because I have had no issues with this product line and have grown go really trust in it. One of the besr thing is that this has had less vulnerabilities that the past cisco router that I have dealt with. In my line of work needing to upgrade code is always something that needs to be done after hours and most likely on weekends.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Because so far the solution showed great stability during the time, easy to use and deploy. There is still room for improvements like adding a smarter way to manage the policies to apply to the tunneled traffic, today the way to configure and manage them is quite old style, It would be better an "object" oriented way to create them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cisco
    Either you deploy those routers as a standalone, or as part of the SD-WAN fabric, the amount of features and settings you can configure on them, is well beyond any other vendor or product on the market. While this may bring some configuration complexity, availability of support for variaty of different protocols and features allows you to solve almost any network challenge you may face
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Its usable very well
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    I have always had great response time and have never been let down by cisco support. I have had issues where the person who was assisting me was not able to provide a resolution but by utilizing his team members they where able to come together to provide a answer and resplve the situation.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Fast and efficient. The only issue currently is that the support is only overseas support and not in South Africa, which causes delays in resolution for some cases. Escalating issues is quite simple and the opening of new cases from the dashboard is easy. I have never had a support issue that could not be resolved.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    the licensing is messy
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Compared to the Cisco 2000 Series Connected GRID Routers, CGR2010, the Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms is more powerful in processing, and it has the capability to do the segment routing. It is easier to install physically and occupies less space in the rack, consumes less power, and saves more for the company.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Cisco Meraki SD-WAN is way more easy to configure as they do not use a command line interface, but a graphical user interface. Cisco Meraki SD-WAN also has configuration templates, which allows for multiple devices configuration with much less effort than conventional command line interface devices. Monitoring is also a benefit over regular devices.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    Being a cloud-first solution, Meraki Dashboard will scale as needed without any effort for the client. The Meraki cloud will provision (upscale and downscale) the resources as you grow or shrink in size. You only have to physically install the MX on your site, all the management is one through the Internet via Meraki Dashboard. Worth noting that you can fully-configure the MX prior to the physical installation on site.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Improving the performance and the availability, it has increased the SLA we can ensure to the customers and so the sales has increased
    • The initial expense is really high so the breakeven point is not so near
    • The opex for licensing is high too
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • Cisco Meraki SD-WAN gave us a new perspective on SDN, ZTP and other automation tools we didn't have before
    • The sizing of Meraki MX series cannot compete very large and robust networks, only if we use virtual appliances. In this case, I would recommend on other vendors like Fortinet
    Incentivized
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