We recently upgraded our network infrastructure with the Cisco Meraki Catalyst C9300L-24UXG-4X-M switch, and the difference has been night and day. As a growing tech startup, we were starting to feel the limitations of our older gigabit switches, especially with the increasing demand from our developers and the adoption of faster Wi-Fi 6 access points. This Meraki switch has been a fantastic investment.
The Good:
Blazing Fast Speeds: The 10 Gigabit mGig ports are incredible! Our developers who work with large codebases and virtual machines have noticed a significant improvement in their network speeds. Connecting our new Wi-Fi 6 access points to these ports has also unlocked their full potential, providing much faster and more reliable wireless connectivity throughout the office.
Effortless Cloud Management: The Meraki dashboard is a dream. Setting up the switch was incredibly easy with zero-touch provisioning. The interface is intuitive and provides a clear overview of our network health, port status, and connected devices. Managing VLANs and making configuration changes is now a breeze compared to our previous CLI-based setup.
Powerful PoE: The uPoE support is a huge plus. We've been able to power our latest high-performance wireless APs and even some new security cameras without needing separate power injectors. The ample PoE budget gives us the flexibility to add more powered devices in the future without worrying about capacity.
Future-Proofing Our Network: Knowing that this switch supports multi-gigabit speeds and has high-speed 10G uplinks gives us peace of mind that our network is ready for future bandwidth demands. The promise of Secure Connect and Adaptive Policy in future updates is also exciting for enhancing our security posture.
Rock Solid Reliability: True to Cisco's reputation, the hardware feels robust and reliable. We haven't experienced any downtime or performance issues since installation.
Things to Consider (Minor Points):
Meraki Licensing: It's important to factor in the ongoing Meraki licensing costs. While the cloud management is fantastic, it's a subscription-based service. However, for us, the ease of management and the features provided are well worth the cost.
Stacking Kit is Separate: We plan to add another switch in the future for redundancy and increased port density, so we'll need to purchase the stacking kit separately. It would have been nice if a basic kit was included.
Overall:
The Cisco Meraki Catalyst C9300L-24UXG-4X-M has been a game changer for our network. It delivers exceptional performance, simplifies management, and provides the future-proofing we need as we continue to grow. The combination of powerful Cisco hardware and the intuitive Meraki cloud platform is a winning formula. I highly recommend this switch to any business looking for a high-performance and easy-to-manage network solution.
Would you recommend this product? Yes, absolutely!
