What is Cisco Meraki?

Cisco Meraki in one paragraph

Cisco Meraki is a range of business networking equipment, including Wi-Fi access points, network switches, firewalls with SD-WAN, mobile data gateways and security cameras, that is all managed from one website, the Meraki dashboard, instead of through each device's own console. The equipment is installed in your offices, shops, schools or warehouses like any other network kit, and your data travels through it locally. What is different is the management: each device connects securely to Cisco's Meraki cloud, downloads its settings, reports its status and receives updates, so a team can run many sites from a browser. That model is called cloud networking.

Meraki by Cisco: where it came from

Meraki started as an independent company. Cisco's announcement of the deal describes it as founded by members of MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science, headquartered in San Francisco with offices including London, and offering Wi-Fi, switching, security and mobile device management centrally managed from the cloud.

Cisco announced its intent to acquire Meraki on 18 November 2012 and completed the acquisition on 20 December 2012, when the Meraki team became Cisco's Cloud Networking Group. Since then Meraki has been Cisco's cloud-managed portfolio, which is why you will see it written as Meraki, Cisco Meraki and "Meraki by Cisco" interchangeably.

The range has kept growing inside Cisco. Today the same dashboard also manages selected Cisco Catalyst switches, Cisco's Wi-Fi 7 access points and the Cisco 8000 Series Secure Routers running Meraki's MX software, so the line between "Meraki" and "Cisco" kit is less sharp than it used to be. See Meraki vs Catalyst for how the two fit together.

What is Cisco Meraki used for?

Organisations use Cisco Meraki to build and run the network at each of their sites, and to connect those sites together:

• Wi-Fi for staff, guests and devices, with separate networks, guest sign-in pages and per-user policies.
• Wired networking: switches connecting desks, phones, access points, cameras and printers, often powering them over Ethernet.
• Security at the internet edge: a firewall with intrusion prevention, content filtering and malware protection.
• Connecting sites: SD-WAN and site-to-site VPN between branches, head office, data centres and cloud services.
• Backup internet: 4G and 5G gateways that keep a site online when its main line fails.
• Video security: smart cameras that record on the camera itself and are viewed in the browser.
• Home working: small gateways that extend the office network to a home office.

The common thread is visibility from one place: every device, client and alert across every site is in the same dashboard, and changes can be pushed to many sites at once through templates.

The Meraki cloud: how cloud management works

"The Meraki cloud" is the Cisco-hosted service behind the dashboard. Meraki's cloud architecture documentation describes how it works:

• Management only. Devices send management data to the cloud: configuration, statistics and monitoring information. Your users' traffic does not flow through the Meraki cloud; it goes directly across your LAN and WAN.
• Configuration from the cloud. When an administrator changes a setting, the change is stored in the cloud and pushed to the relevant devices over a secure connection. New devices can be configured before they are even installed.
• Keeps working offline. If a site loses its internet connection, Meraki says devices carry on with their last known configuration and collect any newer settings when they reconnect.
• Regional hosting. Data is held in the region chosen when the organisation is created, in at least two paired data centres; Meraki's Europe region data centres are in Germany.
• Redundant by design. Management data is replicated in real time between data centres, with nightly archival backups as well. Our Meraki disaster recovery guide covers what that means for your own recovery plans.

Day to day, Meraki cloud management happens in the Meraki dashboard, with a mobile app for quick checks and the Meraki API for automation.

The Cisco Meraki platform: product families in one dashboard

The Cisco Meraki platform is a set of product families, each with its own model range, all managed in the same dashboard:

Two older families still appear in many dashboards. Cisco has announced end of sale for the Meraki MT sensors, with a last order date of 10 November 2026, and has stopped selling Systems Manager, Meraki's device management product, which is supported until 3 June 2029 (see our Systems Manager agent guide if you run it today).

Each family has its own guide on this site, including Meraki Wi-Fi, Meraki MS switches, the Meraki MX, the Meraki MG and Meraki SD-WAN.

Meraki networks by sector

Meraki networks look much the same from sector to sector, because the dashboard and product families are shared; what changes is the design emphasis:

• Offices: reliable Wi-Fi, PoE switching for phones and access points, and a firewall with a backup line. See office network setup.
• Multi-site businesses: identical branches built from templates and joined with SD-WAN. See our guide to the multi-site network.
• Schools: dense Wi-Fi in classrooms and halls, content filtering and separate networks for staff, pupils and guests. See school Wi-Fi.
• Hotels: guest Wi-Fi with sign-in pages, separate back-office networks and coverage in every room. See hotel Wi-Fi.
• Retail: secure networks for tills and card payments, guest Wi-Fi, backup internet and cameras. See retail Wi-Fi.
• Warehouses: coverage for scanners and handhelds among high racking, plus outdoor access points for yards. See warehouse Wi-Fi.

How Meraki is licensed

Every Meraki device needs a valid Meraki licence to operate, and the licence keeps it managed in the dashboard. Meraki's MX licensing FAQ adds that each licence includes device replacement (RMA), Meraki's support and software upgrades. Meraki has three licensing models:

• Co-termination: all licences in an organisation share one expiry date.
• Subscription: Cisco's newer model, with licences bound to networks and tiers such as Essentials and Advantage.
• Per-device: each device has its own licence and date; Meraki no longer accepts new conversions to it.

Some products also have editions, such as the MX's Enterprise, Advanced Security and Secure SD-WAN Plus. Our guide to Meraki licensing models explains each one, and the Meraki licence directory lists the order codes by product.

Buying Cisco Meraki

Forever Systems is a Cisco Partner, and this site is our Cisco Meraki shop: the current range and its licences are listed by exact order code, so you can build a basket and request a quote.

A typical first order includes:

1. The hardware for each site: access points, switches, a security appliance and any cameras or cellular gateways.
2. A licence for every device, in the right edition and term.
3. Accessories such as mounts, power injectors, transceivers and antennas.

Browse the access points, switches, security appliances, cameras, cellular and IoT and accessories ranges. Pricing depends on the models, licences and term, so ask us for a quote. If you are new to Meraki and want to talk it through, contact us.