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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Meraki MX

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/ACisco Meraki MX Firewalls is a combined UTM and Software-Defined WAN solution. Meraki is managed via the cloud, and provides core firewall services, including site-to-site VPN, plus network monitoring.

    $595

    per appliance

    Cisco Secure Firewall

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ACisco Secure Firewall delivers comprehensive threat protection for modern, distributed networks. Built to support hybrid workforces and multicloud environments, it enables Zero Trust access, application visibility, and secure remote connectivity. With integration across the Cisco Secure portfolio, including SecureX and Talos threat intelligence, the firewall powers organizations to detect and stop more sophisticated threats. Centralized management simplifies policy enforcement, orchestration,…N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Meraki MXCisco Secure Firewall
    Editions & Modules
    MX64
    $595
    per appliance
    MX67
    $695
    per appliance
    MX68
    $995
    per appliance
    MX84
    $1,995
    per appliance
    MX100
    $4,995
    per appliance
    MX250
    $9,995
    per appliance
    MX450
    $19,995
    per appliance
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Meraki MXCisco Secure Firewall
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    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 Meraki MXCisco Secure Firewall
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Meraki MX
    I have evaluated other products such as FortiGate and sophos brands but the administration is more difficult, more experience is required to make any implementation or configuration change.

    Incentivized
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
    We use it because it's the best firewall on the market now. And are the best protection and hardware.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
    I'm still evaluating new data center build out with Palo Alto, Cisco Secure Firewall or other.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
    Simply object modification
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
    Good
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
    We've selected the Cisco Secure firewall as there is full Layer 7 functionality. You get more features out of the box so to speak with full application visibility and control, Intrusion Prevention, SI (Security Intelligence), Adavanced Malware Protection and a whole host of …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Secure Firewall
    Cisco Firepower is a costlier solution but you get what you pay for, with the added costs Cisco provides a full feature solution to be configured in any scenario. The setup can be complex but sometimes this is needed for challenging setups. This is the full featured standard …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    124 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    118 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    122 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    108 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    119 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Cisco Meraki MXCisco Secure Firewall
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Cisco Meraki MX and Cisco Secure Firewall
    Feature
    Cisco Meraki MX
    7.9
    109 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Cisco Secure Firewall
    7.9
    79 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Identification Technologies8.4104 Ratings8.168 Ratings
    Visualization Tools8.7102 Ratings7.072 Ratings
    Content Inspection8.2101 Ratings8.371 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls7.4100 Ratings8.976 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP8.090 Ratings8.865 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console6.3103 Ratings8.374 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging7.6107 Ratings7.175 Ratings
    VPN8.8102 Ratings7.665 Ratings
    High Availability9.1103 Ratings8.571 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection7.397 Ratings7.870 Ratings
    Proxy Server6.957 Ratings6.741 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Meraki MXCisco Secure Firewall
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.4 out of 10
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Meraki MXCisco Secure Firewall
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (145 ratings)
    8.0
    (84 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    7.2
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    9.5
    (7 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    7.6
    (35 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.2
    (112 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Meraki MXCisco Secure Firewall
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    The Meraki MX lineup is well suited for organizations that need centralized management of multiple locations, as it allows for both quick deployment and simple/easy remote administration all from a single pane of glass. It also works very well for providing VPN access for remote workers and helps monitor end-device uptime. It does, however, fall a bit short in its firewall's customization, compared to traditional appliances (like our WatchGuard Firebox), so perhaps less suited for organizations that need more customization, as the Meraki MX lineup is primarily designed for simplicity and straightforward cloud-based management.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    The software offers advanced firewall solutions from Web threats management to behavioural analytics and comprehensive application security. Cisco Secure firewall software is incredibly easy to deploy and implement. Customer support services providers are concise and very responsive. Integration and customization of the software are exceptional. The product boasts impressive capabilities, enabling it to stop threats and manage all security flaws in real time.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • The Cisco Meraki MX series is phenomenal at allowing us to remotely manage networks. So the devices usually act as the brain behind our client's networks, which makes it really, really easy for our team to take a look at what's going on in those client network environments, resolve any issues, and make sure that our client's networks are staying secure.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • It's good at segregating networks and ensuring that you only give the access that you need to give. Especially with medical devices, you want to only give the access that they need and keep them in their own separate areas so that they can't just communicate with the rest of the network. It's also good at the border for keeping attackers out of the network.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Cisco
    • Layer seven firewall rules. Just making them more granular. We've been in meetings with Cisco SES where I've said feature requests many times and that's one of the big ones where it's just a little cumbersome to implement layer seven rules right now.
    • Just making them more granular. We've been in meetings with Cisco SES where I've said feature requests many times and that's one of the big ones where it's just a little cumbersome to implement layer seven rules right now.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • I wish that the deployment of the updates to the sensors from the FMC was faster.
    • Cisco ASA firewall did a great job of authentication and authorization on the local firewall. FTD does not authorize users well in terms that an AAA must be setup to provide the granular tools that the ASA did.
    • Cisco's method of licensing the firewall can be improved. The FMC and the FTD are licensed through the Cisco software manager and there are instances where the devices are licensed but the firewall still displays and error due to licensing.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    The simplicity and ease of use for the Meraki Dashboard make it an easy choice for our organization to renew our Meraki Enterprise Agreement. We will likely continue using the Meraki MC67-C, MX450, and other MX models in their catalog until we shift away from Meraki completely
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    It works really well. We can do most anything we want or need to with it, and you don’t have to have a doctorate or multiple certs to necessarily figure it out. The thing that would probably have to happen to make us switch would be if we just got priced out - Cisco’s more powerful and higher bandwidth models cost a pretty penny.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Cisco
    Some features simply aren't there, but the ones that are there are pretty easy to use. Sometimes it is easy to get lost when trying to find the specific device you want to work on, but that's mostly due to how rarely we have to go into the interface.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    The platform is powerful and feature-rich, especially when paired with tools like Firepower Management Center (FMC) and SecureX. The policy structure is logical, and the visibility into traffic flows, threat activity, and rule hits is quite strong once you're familiar with the interface
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    Meraki MX devices support high availability (HA) configurations, which ensures minimal downtime if one device goes offline. This feature has helped us maintain a stable and reliable network, even in cases of hardware failures. ince Meraki is cloud-managed, we've noticed that the cloud infrastructure is generally highly reliable, with minimal service interruptions or downtime. This makes it easier to manage the network remotely without significant availability concerns. Meraki automatically pushes firmware updates and patches, which helps maintain system stability without requiring manual intervention. These updates are rolled out in a manner that ensures minimal disruption to service.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    As for the availability, in general we did not experience any issues with it, neither in situations where there's only one physical device implemented nor when there's and High Availability pair. Failover works like a charm, no complaints here, it works as it should and so far it has been highly reliable.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Cisco
    The interface is pretty responsive. The lower end devices are easy to overwhelm if you have a lot of throughput. Be sure the model you get is rated for the amount of traffic you will have. Overbuild if possible, otherwise you won't be fully leveraging the connection from your ISP.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    no slowing down, vpn is working fast
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    I haven't ever had a bad experience with Meraki support. On the few occasions where I wasn't understanding the UI or needed some clarification about what a setting actually would do, I contacted them and they were very quickly able to provide help. Returns are simple and fast, too. We had to return a defective device one time and they shipped the replacement before we had even un-racked the one that was faulty. Unlike many other vendors, they didn't ask use to a do long list of scripted diagnostics, they just took my word for it that the device was broken and sent out a replacement immediately
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Firewall support is professional just like any other technology Cisco sells. From answering simple questions to bringing out outages affecting a large population of our workforce, Cisco support is always courteous, professional, and communicates with our team to keep our request on their radar. Some of the brightest people I've met are from Cisco support both in IQ and EQ which shows the talent Cisco is able to onboard to their team.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    great when they offered it, really tested your knowledge with hands on and see what your peers from other orgs know. glad to see that we were ahead of the curve of what our peers knew
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    very good
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Cisco
    it was okay as it was moderated but still better than nothing and done via semi self paced webex meeting
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    was a good training but questions was answered not so good. Training was "Fundamentals of Cisco Firewall Threat Defense and Intrusion Prevention (SFWIPF)".
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    Implementing Meraki MX devices in phases—starting with a pilot group or select branch offices—was invaluable. This allowed us to identify potential configuration issues, troubleshoot problems, and refine our setup before rolling it out company-wide. It also helped to get feedback from early users and adjust the deployment strategy accordingly. The SD-WAN capabilities in Meraki MX were essential for optimizing our WAN traffic and ensuring better application performance across various locations.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Our initial implementation was aided by Cisco's professional services and was excellent. The engineer was very knowledgeable and helped us work through issues while building out our new internet security edge Part of this involved tools to migrate the firewall configuration from old to new.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Cisco Meraki MX provides simplicity and scalability while cutting costs. With Meraki MX, you get a Security appliance, router, and Firewall in one appliance and managed with one GUI. These features enable the network engineers to maintain large-scale enterprises with a single dashboard from a remote site or anywhere with internet, all thanks to the Meraki cloud dashboard
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Cisco Secure Firewall works better with the Cisco ecosystem when we can utilize it and feels beefy enough when we utilize it in the data center. The Fortinet we have found are great, small cost boxes for remote offices with a better UI then Cisco Secure Firewalls. The feature set included with the firewalls feels similar from a security point of view.
    Incentivized
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    was not involved
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    When I first started with my company we had various infrastructure and a mix of tech. Since going to Cisco Meraki MX we have noticed better network performance and our new sites are much easier to bring online. Users have noticed an improvement in VPN connection and getting into all our systems.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    you can choose up to 50 devices i think thats enough for our organization
    Incentivized
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    Professional Services
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco
    was not involved
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • From a positive impact? Basically it allows us to set up shop very quickly. It allowed us to add sites to our network very quickly. From a negative perspective, I think the only thing is that I can see from a negative perspective is I have a preference to working with ACLI in terms of how I engage with the youth tool At the moment, the only way to actually engage with a tool is on a gui and sometimes what I'd actually like is more detailed information in terms of actual configuration that you'll actually get out of ACLI.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • Positive impact. Cisco is a big player in IT environment. It is future stuff, everything, what you learn today, maybe something can be tomorrow. And yes, it's quite important to learn the new stuff every day. And yes, that's it. Yes, I'm happy with Cisco.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Cisco Secure Firewall Screenshots

    Screenshot of Cisco Secure 1200 Series Firewall FamilyScreenshot of Cisco Secure 4200 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Secure 4200 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Secure Firewall 1200 Stack FamilyScreenshot of Cisco Secure Firewall 200 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Secure Firewall 200 Series