I've had some time to look at where M-Go is going and they have to balance a fine line between being affordable and stable while taking you right up to the line of where their Meraki proper picks up. Since the posting of this video M-Go has added many new features and even launched a web version of their controller. They also launched a new router that does greater throughput for location that have access to faster bandwidths. The real focus of this product is for micro businesses and home use, this doesn't mean it will be a great for a home lab product, due to the fact that many of features required to make that happen would cross over into the Meraki proper lineup. So the answer is No this isn't a Unifi killer but it is a solid option for anyone looking for a solid set it and forget it network back by the Cisco Meraki name.
Tried both - With UniFi you get a lot of freedom, can and have to adjust several things until it works properly (Wi-Fi with VoIP Roaming for instance). Meraki Go works quite well out of the box. More the setup and forget approach. It depends how much you want to invest time wise or just want to fiddle around (great for learning purposes). A little similar to Android vs. Apple. Both are fine. BTW no subscription is needed for meraki go. It’s a one time purchase of hardware.
Interesting to see although I can't see it really being usable except for in the simplest of environments (e.g. hospitality venue offering public WiFi as a step up from the ISP's router sitting under the counter). I imagine the difficulty here is that Cisco won't want to risk customers of their higher end Meraki kit moving to Go to save on subscription fees, therefore I suspect they'll deliberately avoid adding features that those customers may need (ability to manage from desktop, ability to change firewall rules.etc). It just feels like there's such a huge risk of quickly outgrowing it that it's only really usable for a super simple setup where you know it's not going to grow much. I'm also confused around the type of person they're expecting to be setting this up - by running it on a phone and showing literally how to plug it in, it feels like they're targeting this towards business owners who would be setting it up themselves. However then for VLAN config, while it's not complex for someone with networking knowledge, it's very much just a case of inputting VLAN tags, feels like they could have abstracted this much cleaner for novice users such as picking a network by name when configuring a switch port or SSID.
I agree with you. I’ve used “meraki” it’s a great product and feature rich but the subscription fee kills it . Configuring it from my phone just kills it for me. This seems to be geared towards people with very little technical knowledge. I was hoping some of my viewers had a bit more experience with it than I had and that I would have been wrong about not being able to configure firewall rules but it doesn’t look like it ... Also great channel I watched one of your videos yesterday :)
@@MactelecomNetworks Yeah, the Meraki subscription fees rule it out for me as well, I can understand a fee for support but I don't want to he forced to pay to simply use equipment I've paid for. I'd also be very worried about price increases since they've absolutely got their customers so tied in there's not much they can do to avoid price rises. It'll be interesting to see if Meraki Go does develop further although as it is at the moment I can't really see it taking off. Glad you like my content! I've been binge watching your channel a fair bit lately too! 😊
Great review as always! To be honest, the subscription model and the fact you have to control everything with just an app has not compelled me to throw out my Unifi kit :)
Nice overview Cody. Well done! I've got Meraki & Unifi deployed at clients. While Im agnostic in the Meraki vs Unifi debate, there is something missing from the discussion. What's the cost to the client and/or you for the all firmware and software problems with Unifi? That crap doesn't happen with Meraki. Also the lack of real support from Unifi? Browsing Reddit and other forums while your client is offline is no place to be. Flame off please! Im just wondering if the Meraki vs Unifi debate is a bit like Office365 vs running your own Exchange server. (You can't justify an Exchange server in the SMB market.) Just wondering. Thanks again Cody. keep up the good work.
These are great points. Unifi firmware releases in the last little while have been subpar im hoping in the future they are more stable. I have used Meraki ( Subscription based) and it works great with tons of features. This Meraki GO product line is just not for me
This is 100% true. I’ve lost a lot of time in the last year troubleshooting issues with Ubiquiti’s subpar/half baked firmware updates - specifically for the nanoHD WAPs. It’s seriously making me consider switching some clients to Meraki or something similar.
who goes and updates firmware for their production network the same day a firmware drops unless there fixing some specific issue but wait while do a test network first. I have never had problem because i did not create now, mine you. I manage my own controller for all my clients. now with that said you have to know the limits of what you dealing with unifi edge router is crap I never use it for anything serious. I do like Meraki wireless product generally if a client has money to burn and do not care about control or the future of a product I give them Meraki
As someone who pre staged and deployed meraki at a client 8 switches and about 60 ap.. when connected the statically set ips for switch management got over ridden by dhcp snd whole facility went down. Too cisco/merski support a week to figure out what happened
Ubiquiti must be doing something good if Cisco starts chasing this market segment... But as someone else already said: for the prosumer/Small Office/Home Office market, Ubiquiti is years ahead. That, and the price tag coming with the Cisco equipment (even if this line is without licensing, it is more expensive than Ubiquiti). And: the amount of device types is very limited. No 10G equipment, no 48 port switches. My take on it: they will try to get small offices into this Meraki Go equipment instead of Ubiquiti, as, when the small office grows and needs more ports/higher speeds, it'll be easier to bring them into the "normal" Meraki equipment and from there on into full Cisco.
I understand that it has an admin management portion unlike Unifi you have to have a dedicated email address for every location you have equipment deployed with Meraki Go. I would be extremely happy if I am wrong. The product is definitely missing global management from one Dashboard from multi site prospective.
I'm trying to find what port, protocol and IP/FQDN the switches need to use to reach out to Meraki-Go cloud provisioning server. I can't find this info anywhere. When using behind a firewall (with blocked outbound traffic) What ports need to be opened up? I put a support request into M-go support but haven't heard back yet. Not looking good for vendor support on these.
Kudos for Cisco including a POE port on the Security Gateway! That makes for way easier setup this with an AP connected without the need of a switch! Ubiquiti needs it on the UDM pro
@@MactelecomNetworks totally agree with you that be a smartphone only setup kills it for most truly pro applications. They need to improve on that and Unifi on POE. Speculating a little....I think both don't do it to not compete with their own products in other lines.
Can i use "Poe switch for networking to connect computer's"... Will it sense and stop the power supply to non PoE device's?? Am planning to buy Cisco Meraki Go 48 port PoE Switch (GS110-48P) from your amazon referral link... Please reply
Nice video. I'm using unifi for about 5 years, and I was getting sick of the issues with the ap's... (signal lost, high latency, speed dropping)specially with iPhones and apple products. Tested the UAP 6 and that was a mistake. I think the issue it's not the hardware, unifi controler it's a remarkable thing but it lacks of consistency. I have about 30 sites on my controller and everything is running smoothly for 95% of them. So now I'm using a mix of meraki go AP's and unifi switches, everything it's super easy, vlans work and I'm happy. I'm also using firewalla gold. Surely they will make some adjustments on the app in the future.
Hey thanks for the comment. Some Unifi firmware versions haven’t gone the way they should have. I assume meraki go will get some improvements over time. My biggest negative it’s having to configure with my phone I hate that
Meraki out here in 2022 STILL releasing product with less than HALF the throughput of my average clients internet speed. Damn I wished Aruba made a router to go with their system.
Thanks fir a very informative review. I am a novice when it cones to networking but trying to learn as a hobby in my retirement. Since I am a seasoned citizen, would you mind slowing down just a tad? 😊
Check these instructions for how to play back at a slower speed. I don't recommend slower than .75. .5 makes the speakers sound drunk. :^) support.google.com/youtube/answer/7509567
I am not a fan of subscription services where is it expires the devices no longer work. Last time I looked at Meraki if your subscription lapsed you were SOL. Also Cisco holds back tech from Meraki as to not take away from their enterprise products.
Can't really compare Unify with Meraki. They focus on different things. Meraki Go = Plug and Play, as simple as possible, not much you can configure. This way it ensures that you only use the best practices which will definetely work fine. Meraki Go is enough for a Home Network or Small Office Branches. You don't need to be able to configure crazy Firewall Rulesets in a Home Network. You literally plug it in and forget about it, it just continues to run and upgrade for yeeaaaars. So it does the job that it is designed for perfectly fine, but it can happen that you are missing features, when you want to have special setups. Unify = If you need crazy things (ex. Home Lab) and want to play around. Go for it, but it does need way more attention and care from the Admin. Meraki (just Meraki, not Meraki Go) = For bigger Companies, with need for visibility and easy configuration and management. When having multiple Branch Locations and the real SD-WAN is too complicated/expensive -> Meraki has the perfect and most easy Hub/Spoke Solution for a simple "SD-WAN" to meet most businesses needs. It sells really good and is a big global player.
I also consider Aruba Instant On as a successor for Unifi. But i'm not yet convinced... Main reasons are: The APs MUST be managed via cloud portal and for the switches you can decide. But when you manage switches locally, you can't manage it via cloud. There are also some limitations in terms of scalability, (check max numbers of APs, SSIDs, ect per Site).
@@vogtm HANDS down Aruba, i just took out a Large newly installed Unifi setup someone put in and gave it all away. Client is on Aruba now and much easier to run & maintain.
I an internet service provider and want to provide Public Hotspot to a school of 1500 student. I need a powerful weather proof router that can help me serve this number of student
I was a huge Meraki fan until Cisco bought them added the outrageous lic and lic requirements. This i see is a way to bait and switch the lic. The units do not support any vpn capabilities, the firewall is limited to 250mb throughput. The vlan configuration is limited to the WiFi Only.
I have been doing some research on these switches, and requisite equipment since they are super cheap on ebay. I came across this community post just now. Also, evidently you can access the local dashboard by plugging into the target device and accessing the meraki.com configuration address without having connected the target device to the internet. ( community.meraki.com/t5/Off-the-Stack/Do-not-buy-Used-Meraki-Equipment-from-eBay-Or-Any-Unauthorized/td-p/12645 ) DO NOT PURCHASE USED MERAKI EQUIPMENT, EVER.... Very disappointing, however, I found out why they are so cheap. (The ownership of the devices can never be changed from the original registrant...)
Awesome video - with Velocloud & Fortinet taking market share away from Cisco in the Enterprise space it makes sense they are trying to hit up the SOHO companies... #ambulancechaser Cisco Stop the nickeling and diming of services. Sorry was that my outside voice, i just said what you all had been thinking. Cisco just stop.... no SFP+, no rack mount... i mean mikrotik have dull power... this is junk...
I've had some time to look at where M-Go is going and they have to balance a fine line between being affordable and stable while taking you right up to the line of where their Meraki proper picks up. Since the posting of this video M-Go has added many new features and even launched a web version of their controller. They also launched a new router that does greater throughput for location that have access to faster bandwidths.
The real focus of this product is for micro businesses and home use, this doesn't mean it will be a great for a home lab product, due to the fact that many of features required to make that happen would cross over into the Meraki proper lineup. So the answer is No this isn't a Unifi killer but it is a solid option for anyone looking for a solid set it and forget it network back by the Cisco Meraki name.
Tried both - With UniFi you get a lot of freedom, can and have to adjust several things until it works properly (Wi-Fi with VoIP Roaming for instance). Meraki Go works quite well out of the box. More the setup and forget approach. It depends how much you want to invest time wise or just want to fiddle around (great for learning purposes). A little similar to Android vs. Apple. Both are fine. BTW no subscription is needed for meraki go. It’s a one time purchase of hardware.
I just didn’t like how it all had to be done by the app. But I believe you can do it through a web interface now so I may revisit it
Interesting to see although I can't see it really being usable except for in the simplest of environments (e.g. hospitality venue offering public WiFi as a step up from the ISP's router sitting under the counter). I imagine the difficulty here is that Cisco won't want to risk customers of their higher end Meraki kit moving to Go to save on subscription fees, therefore I suspect they'll deliberately avoid adding features that those customers may need (ability to manage from desktop, ability to change firewall rules.etc). It just feels like there's such a huge risk of quickly outgrowing it that it's only really usable for a super simple setup where you know it's not going to grow much.
I'm also confused around the type of person they're expecting to be setting this up - by running it on a phone and showing literally how to plug it in, it feels like they're targeting this towards business owners who would be setting it up themselves. However then for VLAN config, while it's not complex for someone with networking knowledge, it's very much just a case of inputting VLAN tags, feels like they could have abstracted this much cleaner for novice users such as picking a network by name when configuring a switch port or SSID.
I agree with you. I’ve used “meraki” it’s a great product and feature rich but the subscription fee kills it .
Configuring it from my phone just kills it for me. This seems to be geared towards people with very little technical knowledge.
I was hoping some of my viewers had a bit more experience with it than I had and that I would have been wrong about not being able to configure firewall rules but it doesn’t look like it ...
Also great channel I watched one of your videos yesterday :)
@@MactelecomNetworks Yeah, the Meraki subscription fees rule it out for me as well, I can understand a fee for support but I don't want to he forced to pay to simply use equipment I've paid for. I'd also be very worried about price increases since they've absolutely got their customers so tied in there's not much they can do to avoid price rises. It'll be interesting to see if Meraki Go does develop further although as it is at the moment I can't really see it taking off.
Glad you like my content! I've been binge watching your channel a fair bit lately too! 😊
I went down the Meraki rabbit hole, only to sell the equipment later,
@@alonzosmith6189 you won’t get much back, as the Meraki (non Go) sells for a crappy price.
Great review as always! To be honest, the subscription model and the fact you have to control everything with just an app has not compelled me to throw out my Unifi kit :)
Nice overview Cody. Well done! I've got Meraki & Unifi deployed at clients. While Im agnostic in the Meraki vs Unifi debate, there is something missing from the discussion. What's the cost to the client and/or you for the all firmware and software problems with Unifi? That crap doesn't happen with Meraki. Also the lack of real support from Unifi? Browsing Reddit and other forums while your client is offline is no place to be. Flame off please! Im just wondering if the Meraki vs Unifi debate is a bit like Office365 vs running your own Exchange server. (You can't justify an Exchange server in the SMB market.) Just wondering. Thanks again Cody. keep up the good work.
These are great points. Unifi firmware releases in the last little while have been subpar im hoping in the future they are more stable. I have used Meraki ( Subscription based) and it works great with tons of features. This Meraki GO product line is just not for me
This is 100% true. I’ve lost a lot of time in the last year troubleshooting issues with Ubiquiti’s subpar/half baked firmware updates - specifically for the nanoHD WAPs. It’s seriously making me consider switching some clients to Meraki or something similar.
who goes and updates firmware for their production network the same day a firmware drops unless there fixing some specific issue but wait while do a test network first. I have never had problem because i did not create now, mine you. I manage my own controller for all my clients. now with that said you have to know the limits of what you dealing with unifi edge router is crap I never use it for anything serious. I do like Meraki wireless product generally if a client has money to burn and do not care about control or the future of a product I give them Meraki
As someone who pre staged and deployed meraki at a client 8 switches and about 60 ap.. when connected the statically set ips for switch management got over ridden by dhcp snd whole facility went down. Too cisco/merski support a week to figure out what happened
Thanks for review. Will stay with my RV260P/RV345p that has way more features than this. Hate to use phone app to configure network eqipmment.
Totally agree that configuration using the web browser is more useful.
Ubiquiti must be doing something good if Cisco starts chasing this market segment... But as someone else already said: for the prosumer/Small Office/Home Office market, Ubiquiti is years ahead. That, and the price tag coming with the Cisco equipment (even if this line is without licensing, it is more expensive than Ubiquiti). And: the amount of device types is very limited. No 10G equipment, no 48 port switches. My take on it: they will try to get small offices into this Meraki Go equipment instead of Ubiquiti, as, when the small office grows and needs more ports/higher speeds, it'll be easier to bring them into the "normal" Meraki equipment and from there on into full Cisco.
Full Cisco cost a lot. I like Cisco don’t get me wrong but I don’t like this product line much
Would really kill unifi if they made advanced firewall features free but too greedy
I understand that it has an admin management portion unlike Unifi you have to have a dedicated email address for every location you have equipment deployed with Meraki Go. I would be extremely happy if I am wrong. The product is definitely missing global management from one Dashboard from multi site prospective.
I'm trying to find what port, protocol and IP/FQDN the switches need to use to reach out to Meraki-Go cloud provisioning server. I can't find this info anywhere. When using behind a firewall (with blocked outbound traffic) What ports need to be opened up? I put a support request into M-go support but haven't heard back yet. Not looking good for vendor support on these.
Meraki Go now has a web interface that you can use to configure from a computer.
At the time it didnt or I couldnt find it. Maybe I will revisit it
They have one now still some stuff you can only do in the app.
The GR-10 looks like a really good unit.
it is 2023 and it seems there is only few products in the lineup
Does this have upnp? I've been looking for a personal network separate for gaming.
Kudos for Cisco including a POE port on the Security Gateway! That makes for way easier setup this with an AP connected without the need of a switch! Ubiquiti needs it on the UDM pro
That’s one thing I liked about this setup
@@MactelecomNetworks totally agree with you that be a smartphone only setup kills it for most truly pro applications. They need to improve on that and Unifi on POE.
Speculating a little....I think both don't do it to not compete with their own products in other lines.
I'd much rather have 1GB internet speeds or even a SFP+ port than a PoE port on my router
Can i use "Poe switch for networking to connect computer's"... Will it sense and stop the power supply to non PoE device's?? Am planning to buy Cisco Meraki Go 48 port PoE Switch (GS110-48P) from your amazon referral link...
Please reply
Nice video. I'm using unifi for about 5 years, and I was getting sick of the issues with the ap's... (signal lost, high latency, speed dropping)specially with iPhones and apple products.
Tested the UAP 6 and that was a mistake. I think the issue it's not the hardware, unifi controler it's a remarkable thing but it lacks of consistency.
I have about 30 sites on my controller and everything is running smoothly for 95% of them.
So now I'm using a mix of meraki go AP's and unifi switches, everything it's super easy, vlans work and I'm happy. I'm also using firewalla gold.
Surely they will make some adjustments on the app in the future.
Hey thanks for the comment. Some Unifi firmware versions haven’t gone the way they should have.
I assume meraki go will get some improvements over time. My biggest negative it’s having to configure with my phone I hate that
Meraki or Aruba wifi instead of Unifi APs is definitely the way to go. Are you using UniFi for routing or Firewalla?
Can’t imagine buying a switch with less than SFP+ option
Meraki out here in 2022 STILL releasing product with less than HALF the throughput of my average clients internet speed. Damn I wished Aruba made a router to go with their system.
Do we actually need to pay subscription so Maraki go could work?
Nope.
Need to register? So it's a no-go!
You have 1GB and this access point support only 400mg? 😣
What’s mg? Think you mean Mbps. If your device really needs 1Gbps, connect a wire.
This is nice but Ubiquiti is ahead 10+ years.
I agree
Ubiquity and Meraki founded 2005 and 2006 respectively, as of now Meraki doubled Ubiquity in many aspects :-)
PoE is non negotiable at this point. The fact that they need an AC adapter is already a failure, what were they thinking.
Sorry which part are you talking about needing POE? The AP does have POE
@@MactelecomNetworks must’ve missed it my bad. But that’s weird they include an AC port in the first place
@@commandpost1 no worries. Quiet a few vendors do it actually, netgear, engenius I guess it gives people options for power
God no. I mean... Me no.
Ubiquiti still wins. UniFi APs/switches + EdgeRouter is an unmatched combination.
Yup is definitely not a Ubiquiti killer by any means. I love competition but this thing hurt to setup
Is these proudct unhackble?
Every devices is “hackable”
@@MactelecomNetworks Can it withstand hacker attacks？
Thanks fir a very informative review. I am a novice when it cones to networking but trying to learn as a hobby in my retirement. Since I am a seasoned citizen, would you mind slowing down just a tad? 😊
Check these instructions for how to play back at a slower speed. I don't recommend slower than .75. .5 makes the speakers sound drunk. :^)
support.google.com/youtube/answer/7509567
@@autryld Thanks!
I am not a fan of subscription services where is it expires the devices no longer work. Last time I looked at Meraki if your subscription lapsed you were SOL. Also Cisco holds back tech from Meraki as to not take away from their enterprise products.
Can't really compare Unify with Meraki. They focus on different things.
Meraki Go = Plug and Play, as simple as possible, not much you can configure. This way it ensures that you only use the best practices which will definetely work fine. Meraki Go is enough for a Home Network or Small Office Branches. You don't need to be able to configure crazy Firewall Rulesets in a Home Network. You literally plug it in and forget about it, it just continues to run and upgrade for yeeaaaars. So it does the job that it is designed for perfectly fine, but it can happen that you are missing features, when you want to have special setups.
Unify = If you need crazy things (ex. Home Lab) and want to play around. Go for it, but it does need way more attention and care from the Admin.
Meraki (just Meraki, not Meraki Go) = For bigger Companies, with need for visibility and easy configuration and management. When having multiple Branch Locations and the real SD-WAN is too complicated/expensive -> Meraki has the perfect and most easy Hub/Spoke Solution for a simple "SD-WAN" to meet most businesses needs. It sells really good and is a big global player.
Not bad, but little to no reason for my Cambium clients to move.
I wouldn't move any over to this lol I hate having to configure everything from my phone
250Mbps on that gateway? I assume that's the throughput after IPS. Still, that's terrible. That alone puts this product into the "no" category for me.
That’s what I read from the tech specs but must be wrong as I was getting over 300mbps on wifi
how do i contact you and Hire?What is your Fees?
Aruba AIO is killing Unifi ! ( IMO )
I mentioned Aruba instant on in the beginning but can’t say much about it as I haven’t tested it yet. Hoping to get some gear soon
@@MactelecomNetworks One you try them, you will love them ! Running the AIO switches & ap's in my house. Love the GUI & 10g with nice POE !
I also consider Aruba Instant On as a successor for Unifi. But i'm not yet convinced... Main reasons are: The APs MUST be managed via cloud portal and for the switches you can decide. But when you manage switches locally, you can't manage it via cloud. There are also some limitations in terms of scalability, (check max numbers of APs, SSIDs, ect per Site).
@@vogtm HANDS down Aruba, i just took out a Large newly installed Unifi setup someone put in and gave it all away. Client is on Aruba now and much easier to run & maintain.
Their Wifi is better for sure, but they have no router option unfortunately
I an internet service provider and want to provide Public Hotspot to a school of 1500 student. I need a powerful weather proof router that can help me serve this number of student
I was a huge Meraki fan until Cisco bought them added the outrageous lic and lic requirements. This i see is a way to bait and switch the lic. The units do not support any vpn capabilities, the firewall is limited to 250mb throughput. The vlan configuration is limited to the WiFi Only.
You can have the vlans on the switch ports. But I agree with you
@@MactelecomNetworks they must have added without updating the documentation
UniFi has made my life easier
Agreed with that
Setup via a mobile device is absurd to me, and a deal-breaker. I'll stay with UniFi.
I have been doing some research on these switches, and requisite equipment since they are super cheap on ebay. I came across this community post just now. Also, evidently you can access the local dashboard by plugging into the target device and accessing the meraki.com configuration address without having connected the target device to the internet. ( community.meraki.com/t5/Off-the-Stack/Do-not-buy-Used-Meraki-Equipment-from-eBay-Or-Any-Unauthorized/td-p/12645 ) DO NOT PURCHASE USED MERAKI EQUIPMENT, EVER.... Very disappointing, however, I found out why they are so cheap. (The ownership of the devices can never be changed from the original registrant...)
You can for sure change the ownership so long as the original owner deregisters the device.
Too bad Meraki Go is now end of life in 2027. Wouldn't buy it today now.
No. Unifi better.
I agree 💯
Meraki looks cheap and good like Unifi. But, it has critical license policy like super expensive cisco devices..
Awesome video - with Velocloud & Fortinet taking market share away from Cisco in the Enterprise space it makes sense they are trying to hit up the SOHO companies... #ambulancechaser Cisco Stop the nickeling and diming of services. Sorry was that my outside voice, i just said what you all had been thinking. Cisco just stop.... no SFP+, no rack mount... i mean mikrotik have dull power... this is junk...
No.
i used virtual android on my computer and its good..
and i love the edge more than my unifi controller..:) i have edge router and unifi AP and switches.. it works Controller is local no cloud key.
you are right this cisco meraki is complete rubbish
The cisco meraki line is good but has subscriptions in this video is the Cisco Meraki go which is not good
@@MactelecomNetworks when equipment stops working without subscription it is rubbish
My Fortigate is still useful
One of the main features I like in my Fortigate is GEO-IP blocking to whole country locations
@@nemesis851_ I believe unifi has this now
how cute... it's like cisco for millenials that are afraid of the CLI.....LOL
Cli with Cisco is the way to go
Also why cisco is losing large chuncks of their market share