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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Meraki MG

    Score9.6 out of 10
    N/ACisco Meraki MG cellular gateways are a cloud managed WAN solution designed to seamlessly transpose a wireless cellular signal to wired Ethernet, providing primary or failover connectivity.N/A

    FortiGate

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AFortiNet FortiGate is a firewall option with high integrability. It offers a variety of deployment options and next-gen firewall capabilities, including integration with IaaS cloud platforms and public cloud environments.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Meraki MGFortiGate
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Meraki MGFortiGate
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsFortiGate pricing starts at $250 for home office use, up to $300,000 for large enterprise appliances. Must contact sales team for pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Meraki MGFortiGate
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Meraki MG
    We checked many vendors. ALU was a primary contender. However, their acccess points are not primarily designed for cellular use case. Cellular is just an additional feature on their fully loaded APs. The fact that MEraki MG is suited for this particular use case was a major …
    Incentivized
    Fortinet
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    17 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    48 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    92%
    Delivers good value for the price
    12 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    47 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    17 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    48 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    15 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    43 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    15 Answers
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    46 Answers
    Features
    Cisco Meraki MGFortiGate
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Cisco Meraki MG and Fortinet FortiGate
    Feature
    Cisco Meraki MG
    -
    Ratings
    Fortinet FortiGate
    8.9
    40 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Identification Technologies00 Ratings8.638 Ratings
    Visualization Tools00 Ratings8.538 Ratings
    Content Inspection00 Ratings9.439 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls00 Ratings9.040 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings9.039 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console00 Ratings8.640 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging00 Ratings7.440 Ratings
    VPN00 Ratings8.640 Ratings
    High Availability00 Ratings9.535 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection00 Ratings9.538 Ratings
    Proxy Server00 Ratings10.028 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Meraki MGFortiGate
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    HPE Aruba Networks Wireless WAN
    Score10 out of 10
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Meraki MGFortiGate
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.9
    (15 ratings)
    9.0
    (67 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.9
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.6
    (26 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.6
    (15 ratings)
    9.8
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Meraki MGFortiGate
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    We utilize it for those job site trailers, so it is perfect for a small job site where you want to provide that internet coverage to those users of those job sites, especially if they're in a remote location. We've actually even used this as the secondary internet to supplement in case the primary fiber line went down. And in my experience, we've had a site go down and use this as the backup internet and most of our users didn't even know. So as far as cons, I don't really, cost depending on the job site and your budget. That would be, I guess the only thing I would say would just justify not using it, but I don't have any reason to not use it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    Fortinet FortiGate addressed an immediate security issue we had a few years ago. The device gave us a much clearer picture of the activities on our network and also more importantly, increased our awareness of threats from the internet as a whole. Fortinet FortiGate helps us to mitigate these threats with regular signature updates from Fortiguard labs, identifying certain characteristics which, once recognised by Fortinet FortiGate, can be harnessed to deploy powerful 'playbooks'.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • It's fantastic for being in the Meraki dashboard and actually looking at quality of signal. I can look at up times, down times, ease of use when it comes to if I would have to reboot the MG 21E in case it does have a problem.
    • Overall reliability: since we switched to the MG 21 E, we've rarely have a problem with it when it comes to the cellular performance going down.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    • SD-WAN - Load balancing of Internet traffic is a USP of Fortigate and makes it stand tall in the competition. Be it 3 or more Internet Links, multiple Subnets/segments of users to distribute and bandwidth load balancing for links and users. SLA based monitoring of Internet Links / MPLS links, makes it even better to choose the links on the basis of performance (Latency, packet loss, Jitter etc).
    • SSL VPN configuration - As we all have WFH force (to some extend or all employee) during Covid-19, it is impossible to plan BCP without having a SSL VPN. In Fortigate, the SSL VPN configuration is very easy with the help of wizard. The deep CLI-level debugging is also very helpful in troubleshooting. Type of tunnel can be easily configured - Full Tunnel or Split Tunnel for SSL.
    • Explicit Proxy - This is also a great feature to shape and re-route the traffic, configuring the Proxy on the Firewall itself. We are using this feature in Pilot for now, and planned to rollout in few weeks looking at the success rate of the POC.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • A DHCP configuration would be fine, but a fixed IP configuration seems to require a twist in the configuration.
    • If possible, it's just a subscription. With no initials and just a subscription, I think it's a "feature product" that may convince the superior even if the price is a bit high.
    • I am happy with wireless and all in one, but I feel that the management screen is old, so I think it is better to renew it a bit more.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    • Documentation is missing a great deal of detail and assumes the customer and just guess and fill in the blanks themselves
    • Fortinet has lots and lots of video guides on topics that only a small percentage of customers would ever need
    • The documentation and video guides do not get updated so most is only relevant to older software versions
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    It does what it is supposed to, with minimal issue!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    Fortinet's products have kept improving with new software releases and they continue to deliver great value. Their support is also very good. I believe that as a small enterprise, their products have given us competitive advantage delivering features and functionality that enable us to innovate and do things better. They also continue to be a leader in the markets they serve.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    The firewall runs very well, firmware updates are fairly quick but you must follow the upgrade path. Neglecting this step will cause a lot of pain. If you decide to go with Fortinet FortiGate switches and/or access points, they can be managed within the firewall which is great. We're also using the FortiAnalyzer which easily plugs into the firewall for any reporting you may require.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    We had didn't any hardware failures at our two main office locations and upgraded our units last year after using them for about 5-6 years
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    Good performance and really good integration. We have integration with Microsoft AD.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    The Support team at Fortinet is excellent. They can not only help you configure the device for what you are trying to do, they offer suggestions on improving rules, and troubleshooting issues. Their response time is fast, ensuring you are up and running immediately with no questions asked. We had a hard drive failure in one of our Fortinet Fortigate appliances. The tech answered immediately, and started rebuilding the drive after some preliminary investigations. After rebuilding, there were still errors and issues, so they dispatched a brand new Fortinet Fortigate appliance. The tech then backed up the configurations for when the new device came in, which showed up in a few hours. A restore of the configuration took less than a minute, and there were no more errors or issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    I received it a couple years afters use it and it was just to confirm my knowledge about the tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    Make sure that you have the most current version of FortiOS. Make sure all Fortigates are on the same version
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We checked many vendors. ALU was a primary contender. However, their acccess points are not primarily designed for cellular use case. Cellular is just an additional feature on their fully loaded APs. The fact that MEraki MG is suited for this particular use case was a major factor.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    [Fortinet] FortiGate is not only cost effective but it gives the comprehensive security against the APT attacks and gives the complete traffic visibility and granular control. You can easily create the VDOMs (Virtual firewall) within a Fortigate firewall and customize the dashboard as per your requirement if you have multiple VDOMs within a single firewall.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Fortinet
    No changes needed to terms and conditions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Cisco
    In terms of scalability, The MG Meraki is unvanquished! As it works on cellular signals, as long as you have the required signal strength, you are connected. Removes the dependency on cables to connect to our ISP. So geographical locations do not affect the scalability of MG. Which is the whole point of having a Cellular to Wired Ethernet Device. And it can also be managed with the web centrally.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    My environments are pretty small (less than 100 users per location) so no issues here.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • The ROI is excellent, over time we have been able to avoid outages even though our WAN provider may have had issues, the switch to LTE via Cisco Meraki MGwas smooth
    • in locations where traditional lan links were not feasible, like mobile locations, this has been a saver
    • they can be placed where mobile phone reception is best without LAN
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Fortinet
    • The pricing given to us for our firewall was well within what we were already spending for other vendors solutions and had the added value of eliminating a separate expense for a dedicated web filtering appliance.
    • We have also adopted Fortinet's security fabric approach and thus changed vendors for our switch and AP devices. These devices have come at reduced prices as compared to another previous vendor we were using, particularly in relation to ongoing annual maintenance costs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots