MERAKI GO Meraki Go 5-Port Cloud Router

Bought this as a spare swapout for Meraki MX which it does adequately as it will work whilst Meraki MX sent for repair and so the site is not down awaiting RMA shipping.

But have to say the M Go is not mature. They are adding features literally on request. The VLAN support was added, as was support to manage via a web portal instead of the IOS app.

VLAN security doesn’t work! It intersects and allows vlan routing so this is a huge security loop. You can see other vlans, oops a daisy.
Contacted support but they are very junior and nothing like the Cisco Meraki MX support.

First of all the App is almost nothing. It gives some very basic functionality that makes you feel like something special is happening here, but it is very uninformative and half the buttons are clickable, but load nothing up.

As for the product its self, I have been using this gateway for about a year now and today one of the ports failed. It did not tell me a port failed, all I know was my switch went off line. So after an hour being on the phone with someone who is in the location, since I live over an hour awya (part of the reason I bought cisco go products) we finally came to the realization we needed to switch the switches ethernet cord from one port to another, and everything was fixed.

The App showed no issues for the gateway, except that there was a 20% miss rate when I pinged the gateway. Obviously that was the indicator of an issue, but when you can easily view each port, it would be nice if it told me the port failed. I feel very let down by this product at this point.

Lastly, the customer service mostly does not exist. I have used cheaper products for years, and never actually had any issues. I use the ‘high end’ product for less then a year and this is the first time my hardware was the problem. Not something on my end, because I am a “low skilled” IT manager. (I am a self-employed business owner, we wear many hats).

I don’t like is that for the basic features you have to pay yearly Licensing fee on top of hefty price.

The Meraki Go MX20 is really great! It’s not as extensive, in terms of fonctionnalities, as the Meraki MX68, and for sure not when the MX68 has an advanced security licence but it’s still great! I tested it before buying it, I mean, extensive tests to penetrate the network in a gray box, and I successively penetrated the network because of extensive tests of nmap, about port scanning when there is a firewall. It has been very difficult to hack the network, Cisco are great! But not invincible as any other security merchant that aren’t neither. About the Meraki Mobile apps, it’s not as bad as bad comments are spreading everywhere. As I said, it’s not super as a Meraki MX68, but the price isn’t the same neither. About the web Dashboard, I didn’t tested yet, I hope it had more features than the mobile app, even if the mobile app is good for regular needs. I am a tech student and the Cisco Meraki Go GX20 fits my needs perfectly! Im still thinking about buying the Umbrella security for the Access Point, but since im there, it will seriously extend my security. Im also thinking about buying the extra Cisco Umbrella Security for users, to be able to use my laptop safely out of my Local Network, as my laptop in coffee shop or my phone around gangster everywhere in town, ready to attack you by Bluetooth, NFC, wifi, 5G or any way they could be in contact with you around. Security is a concern that matters! If you have few extra dollars, I suggest the Cisco Meraki Go GX20 to anyone that believe security matters. If you are a student, it’s also a nice gear to buy before buying a new toy, it’s cheap, effective and a hood way to study peacefully. I highly recommend such device also to any individual or family, to avoid creepers that are ready to attack you at the first occasion, without any shame.

First thing people should know to have wireless from this device you NEED TO BUY AN ACCESS POINT AND ATTACH IT TO THIS. IT IS NOT A PRECANNED ALL IN ONE WIRELESS ROUTER.

I purchased this with the understanding it would be some what like merakis basic enterprise line.
Things that are absolutely true.
It is cloud managedable.
It does give you insite into your network and what is going on if you have time to drill down a little.
It has content filtering capability. You can specifically block a URL, However without a 100$ add on license you do not get ANY true content filtering capability unless you covet writing lists of URLs to be blocked.
Additionally the Security license ONLY ALLOWS 3 LEVELS OF PROTECTION. Those levels are Security Filtering only, Blocking all security categories(Malware, Phishing, Contentfiltering, and Command & control call backs),
Second Level
Blocks all security categories, and basic content categories including German Youth Protection , Internet Watch foundation and porn.
Third Level
Security and Moderate Appropriate Use filtering… this included Adware, Alchol, Dating, Drugs, Gambling and all the previous categories.
I have not fully covered those as they do not make it easy to just copy and paste the list.
The claim of content filtering is true, and it does function properly after testing was done.

Major downsides.
It does not seem to have the ability to set the Gateway up with a VPN Service. This is a recent modern want for many companies and users. I am shocked that feature is not included.

The new variation of this device allows a vpn.
The price point of this is costly and the new version does not included a POE power so the Gateway can just handle your access point. For an org that is using the new variation I am sure they probably put a POE switch in with the deployments with those bandwidth requirements.

Basically, this gateway is a call device it has some nice features and buyer beware the claim of content filtering is not as easy as say a sonicwall or even the Enterpise Meraki Gear. I do not see a GEO IP filtering option after applying the security license.

I could not find a true review of the security license feature on most of my normal goto sites spiceworks etc. Honestly, I replaced a ASUS AX3000 with this. I do like some of the network insites and retention of data past reboot since it is cloud managed. If you need much more than a VERY BASIC set of management options goto the enterprise line or pick a different appliance because this one does not have the abilities of its enterprise counterparts and the marketing for it almost feels dishonest.