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Cisco Meraki MX vs. WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product

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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

    WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AWatchGuard XTM is a firewall option, from WatchGuard Technologies.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Meraki MXWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    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 MXWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    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 MXWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Meraki MX
    I would recommend [Cisco] Meraki MX devices for any environment and they will compete against any competitor well. Years ago I used Sonicwall and Watchguard firewalls to create Site - to - Site networks and they worked well on an individual scale.

    The cloud management totally …
    Incentivized
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answer on this topic
    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 MXWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Cisco Meraki MX and WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Feature
    Cisco Meraki MX
    7.9
    109 Ratings
    9% below category average
    WatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    10.0
    2 Ratings
    15% above category average
    Identification Technologies8.3104 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Visualization Tools8.7102 Ratings9.92 Ratings
    Content Inspection8.1101 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls7.5100 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP7.990 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console6.4103 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging7.6107 Ratings9.92 Ratings
    VPN8.8102 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    High Availability9.1103 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection7.497 Ratings9.92 Ratings
    Proxy Server6.857 Ratings9.92 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Meraki MXWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Small Businesses
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.5 out of 10
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.5 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 MXWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.3
    (145 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.5
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.9
    (15 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.2
    (112 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Meraki MXWatchGuard XTM - Discontinued Product
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    WatchGuard XTM comes in different models, so you can choose the model best suited for your company size. I think it works well in small as well as very large networks. I have not used this feature, but you can create a "FireCluster" to connect member devices of the same model if you need to put multiple WatchGuard XTMs in your environment. Coming from command line, it took a little adjusting to learn which screen to use to set up the different rules. Once you understand how to set up policies, it is simple to create more. New firewall administrators would appreciate the ease of creating policies, and expert administrators should find everything they need plus extra features.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    • Proxy filter.
    • Link redundancy.
    • Security.
    Read full review
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    • Support can be hard to work with. While they are typically knowledgeable, there can be a language barrier. Also, most troubleshooting seems intrusive which is a problem in a production environment.
    • The throughput of the cheaper models leaves something to be desired.
    • Have had some issues running VOIP behind these, but have not been able to narrow down the issues to the phone provider or WatchGuard yet.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Cisco
    it was okay as it was moderated but still better than nothing and done via semi self paced webex meeting
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    Again, WatchGuard is priced much lower than other vendors in its space. It may not have some of the bigger features such as Layer 7 awareness. It's more simple to manage and provides IT staff the time to work on other tasks versus time spent to create complex rule sets.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Read full review
    WatchGuard Technologies
    • Easy to set up and connect firewalls
    • Easy to set up branch tunnels
    • Less time spent training
    Read full review
    ScreenShots