Meraki SD-WAN stands for Meraki Software Defined Wide Area Network. Meraki SD WAN technology allows you to create intelligent and resilient links between multiple sites and branch office locations.
Meraki SD-WAN also allows you to take advantage of low-cost WAN link connectivity such as Business Fibre Broadband or standalone Leased Lines, rather than expensive MPLS connections.
Additionally, Meraki SD-WAN provides unique insight and control of the traffic between your links. Key business traffic can be prioritised to ensure that important applications get priority, such as voice and video communications.
All Meraki SD-WAN links are provided by Meraki Firewall appliances, and are monitored and managed using the convenient Meraki Dashboard alongside other Cisco Meraki products.
Please contact us for any aspect of Meraki SD WAN including Meraki SD-WAN price information - or if you would like a Meraki SD-WAN demo.
If you are planning a multi-site WAN deployment, these are the core capabilities included with the Meraki MX platform:
Meraki SD-WAN Diagrams can be created in Visio upon request, depending on your Meraki SD WAN architecture requirements.
Contact us to request a Meraki SD WAN Diagram that is unique to your organisational needs.
Meraki SD-WAN Deployment Guide services are available. We provide guided deployment for Meraki SD-WAN solutions and can even provide a fully managed Meraki SD-WAN service.
We can also assist with Meraki SD-WAN setup and Meraki SD-WAN configuration to help you to get the most from your Meraki SD WAN solution. Let us be your SD WAN Meraki deployment guide.
Cisco Meraki SD WAN Solution is provided by Cisco Networking - the global market leader in enterprise network solutions. This gives you confidence that a Cisco Meraki SD WAN solution is fast, reliable, and secure.
Meraki SD WAN MPLS functionality can allow you to combine the benefits of Meraki SD-WAN over MPLS, including VPN failover to non-MPLS connectivity.
Meraki SD-WAN Design services allow us to design a Meraki SD-WAN solution to suit your unique needs. We are able to provide Cisco Meraki SD-WAN Design consultancy for networks of all sizes.
Please contact us to learn more about our Meraki SD-WAN Design service.
Meraki SD-WAN License requirements depend on the level of functionality that you are require. Core SD-WAN functionality is already included within an Enterprise or Advanced Security license for a Meraki Firewall.
However, a Meraki Insight license can be added that provides visibility and analytics for application performance across your network. This helps you to monitor performance of cloud and communications applications.
Finally, the new Meraki Secure SD-WAN Plus license combines the Meraki Firewall Advanced Security license and Meraki Insight license with new SD-WAN Plus features. Contact us for Meraki SD-WAN license advice.
Meraki SD-WAN policies include Policy-based Routing (PbR) which allows an administrator to configure preferred VPN paths based on source and destination IP address and ports.
Dynamic Path Selection allows an administrator to configure performance criteria for different types of traffic, such as VoIP, and the best VPN tunnel for packet loss and latency is then chosen on a per-flow basis.
Meraki AutoVPN technology allows for automatic load balancing and failover of multiple VPN links on an active/active basis, to help ensure redundancy for critical network services.
Meraki SD-WAN Features include a useful Cisco Meraki SD WAN suite of features - for example:
Download our guide to resilient multi-site connectivity using Meraki MX appliances. This datasheet explains how intelligent path selection and Auto VPN allow you to replace legacy MPLS with cost-effective broadband and Leased Lines.
Download Meraki SD-WAN DatasheetThey use the same physical hardware (the Cisco Meraki MX appliance). The difference is in the license and configuration. "Meraki Firewall" refers to the security features (Intrusion Prevention, Content Filtering), whereas "Meraki SD-WAN" refers to the intelligent connectivity features (Auto VPN, Dual-Uplink Balancing, Traffic Shaping). Most customers use both features simultaneously on the same device.
Yes, for the majority of businesses. Meraki SD-WAN allows you to use low-cost broadband or fiber internet lines (Direct Internet Access) to create a secure, private mesh network. This typically offers significantly higher bandwidth and lower costs than traditional MPLS circuits, acting as a powerful MPLS alternative without sacrificing security.
We strongly recommend having at least one Static Public IP address at your "Hub" or "Headquarters" site to ensure stable VPN tunnels. However, your remote branch sites can often function perfectly well on dynamic IP addresses or even 4G/5G connections, as the Meraki Cloud automatically handles the tunnel negotiation (hole punching).
Meraki SD-WAN policies are the rules that optimize your network traffic. Key features include Redundancy for critical services, Dynamic Path Selection (which minimizes jitter for VoIP), AutoVPN for active/active connectivity, and intelligent Load Balancing for bandwidth optimization. These policies automatically route traffic over the best performing link based on real-time latency.
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This technical guide to Meraki SD-WAN deployment is maintained by our Cisco Networking and Cisco Meraki engineering team.
If you are looking for specific security hardware specifications (throughput, ports, etc.), please visit our dedicated Meraki Firewall page. For broader cyber defence strategies, see our Cisco Security overview.
Note: SD-WAN features require compatible MX firmware. Please verify your specific requirements with our team.
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