As a cloud-managed network management solution, the Cisco Meraki Dashboard enables users to provision, configure, and troubleshoot global networking and IoT deployments.
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Fortinet FortiExtender
Score 7.1 out of 10
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FortiExtender is the wireless WAN offering from Fortinet.
Cisco Meraki Dashboard is great for NOC teams with little network experience at helping give them all the tools they need to do the job and become more efficient with networks. From easy RMA processes to metric gathering the Cisco Meraki Dashboard does it all very well. The licenses are a problem for a lot of companies since there are no guarantees the product stays online and certain integrations like ThousandEyes are overlooked due to the additional cost despite it being a great product.
Fortinet itself is a well know name in managing the firewall and security. With FortiExtender they gave an excellent solution for increasing the connectivity within the organization and helps to manage it with the cloud-based system. The implementation helped to achieve lower latency and higher efficiency for the users in the organization.
More granular controls over devices. It definitely feels like, especially when you come from a CLI environment and you're working in a command line interface and then going into the dashboard, you can feel restricted sometimes because if they don't have the button you can't press it. So more buttons.
When there is a problem, the errors provided in the GUI are unhelpful. In order to have a chance of solving most issues I've come across, you need to be comfortable with the CLI.
Most products in the FortiGate product line do not offer POE power support. The Extender requires POE and has no internal battery. This requires a switch or injector between the extender and the firewall. In the event of a power outage, you lose the extender if you don't have it plugged into an adequate battery. As it's installation can be in a different location then the Fortigate, this can be a hassle.
At the time of writing this, it appears that Cisco Meraki Dashboard has finally integrated a Cisco IOS XE output window into the dashboard. This is a massive step in the right direction and something that it was dearly missing. At the moment, we do not have this integration and so a lot of the times, we have to navigate via several tools menus to get the info we need instead of being able to run a quick command.
A number of networks we've taken over were using Ubiquiti Unifi, which is an okay solution, but a lot more cumbersome to manage. We've found the Cisco Meraki Dashboard system much more intuitive and way less time-intensive. Simple things like setting up dedicated DHCP entries or poking holes in VLAN firewalls are way easier in Cisco Meraki Dashboard.
Both the Fortinet FortiExtender and the Fortinet FortiGate products are great because they provide the agency with secure technology and allow for good network speed and security. Fortinet FortiExtender and Fortinet FortiGate are both costly and a better lower cost solution would be better suited if the budget restrictions of your agency are very important for you.
When there's an issue with communication to the cloud. EX: unable to fetch configs. This due to like new device being installed or if you have to factory reset the device. This has been a negative impact.
Incorrect status. Sometimes the status of the device or network is not reflected as it should be. This has had a negative impact in the past. However, for the most part, the Status is fairly accurate.
Incident response has been very good. Anytime an issue has been reported to Cisco regarding Cisco Meraki Dashboard, the issue is quickly investigated and doesn't take long to resolve.
Customer support and Cisco's technical team has been very helpful and responsive.
