Meraki FAQ's

One of my favourite places to brush up on my Meraki knowledge is our documentation page - https://documentation.meraki.com/. This is the "Google of Meraki". Generally if you have a question and need an answer, you will find it here. I have been known to pivot to our documentation page mid-demo if I don't know the answer to a question or if our trusted consulting systems engineer, Mark Anderson is not available (my secret is out)!

I want to go through 2-3 FAQs per product below (of course I will link to many more). We now have seven products (at this time of writing). Wireless LAN, Switching, Security & SD-WAN, Meraki Insight, Mobile Device Management, Smart Cameras and Wireless WAN.

Lets begin with our Wireless Access Points:

1) Meraki Radio (MR) Wireless Access Points:

Q: What antennas can I use with my Meraki MR APs?

A: Indoor Meraki APs come with integrated omni antennas. Our outdoor APs support omni, sector, and patch antennas — check out any AP’s product page for the most up-to-date information on supported antennas. Our highest-performance, high-density AP, the MR84, also supports Cisco’s stadium antenna if coverage for stadium, arena, or large venue events is required.

(example if you purchase 1 x MR74-HW, you would need 2 x MA-ANT-20 - Dual-Band Omni Antennas which come in pairs, so total of 4 per AP)

Q: What’s the coverage area or range of a Meraki AP?

A: Coverage and range are highly dependent on both the environment (RF interference, weather, etc.) in which they’re deployed as well as other factors — such as external antennas, if any — being used. This makes definitive ranges hard to predict. However, barring radio interference and physical obstructions, Meraki access points equipped with omnidirectional antennas typically reach a range of 100 meters. Directional antennas would greatly extend this range.

Q: What hardware warranty comes with the Meraki APs?

A: Our MR indoor products (i.e. MR33-HW) have lifetime warranty (Ts & Cs apply) and our MR outdoor products (i.e. MR74-HW) have a 1 year warranty which is industry standard. For more information, click here.

More MR Access Point FAQs can be found here.

2) Meraki Switches (MS):

Q: Which stacking cables do MS switches support? Is one included in the box?

A: A 0.5M (50cm) 40 Gigabit stacking cable is included with MS350 series switches. Stacking cables are not included with other stackable MS series switches series, and must be purchased separately.

For full information about stacking cable compatibility, available options, and product IDs, see the Stacking Cables section of the SFP and Stacking Accessories datasheet.

Q: What is included in the box of a Meraki switch?

A: For a full detailed list of items included with each device, please see the Package Contents section of the appropriate MS series Installation Guide.

Please note that the Meraki power cable is not included with Meraki Switches or our MX range. So if you buy an MS or MX, you would need to buy 1 x MA-ANT-CORD-UK (part code for Ireland and the UK) per switch or MX

Q: Can I stack an MS225 with an MS250, MS350, or MS400 series?

A: At this time stacking support is intra-family only with the exception of the MS210 and MS225 series, which can stack together. A maximum of up to 8 switches can be stacked in a single stack. The MS350 series includes a multi-gigabit option that can be stacked with other MS350 model switches.*

*The MS355 series of switches is fully separate from the MS350 series of switches.

More MS Switches FAQs can be found here.

3) Meraki Security & SD-WAN Appliance (MX):

Q: What is the difference between the Enterprise and Advanced Security licenses for MX?

Full details can be found here with a summary in the below graphic:

Q: Can security and traffic policies be applied using Active Directory groups?

A: Yes, native Active Directory integration is supported and policies can be applied to clients based on Active Directory group membership.

Q: Does an MX have to have a publicly routable IP to be able to form IPsec tunnels using Meraki Auto VPN?

No. In most cases, MX Security Appliances will automatically discover each other and form VPN tunnels even when behind a NAT device.

4) Meraki Vision (MV) Smart Cameras:

Q: What happens if somebody steals my camera? What if it’s damaged or there’s a fire?

A: As with all security camera systems, care should be taken during installation to ensure cameras are out of reach of potential thieves or vandals. Cameras are rarely stolen and should be positioned out of easy reach. If a camera is stolen, its footage can be retrieved from anywhere when it comes back online thanks to the cloud proxy. This way you can easily retrieve the footage of it being stolen while also watching the live feed of the person using the camera.

Our IP67 rated MV72 should be used in areas where there is a high risk of theft/vandalism. Using motion alerts and/or the snapshot API when reasonable, in conjunction with other access control measures can help mitigate risk. Cloud Archive can be used also provide additional assurance for sensitive or at-risk cameras.

Like most other systems, in the event of a fire, if cameras become damaged to the point of inoperability, footage will be lost. All security camera systems carry some amount of risk, but unlike a deployment with a recording device, there is no single point of vulnerability in an MV deployment since each camera stores its own video.

Q: Where is video stored?

A: Video is stored on the camera itself. You also have the option of using Cloud Archive on select cameras for continuous 24/7 recording for 90 or 180 days. Read the datasheet and this article to learn more.

Q: How much footage can I store?

A: MV21 and MV71 offer 128GB of solid state storage allowing for up to 20 days of continuous, 24/7 recording. MV12 comes in 128GB and 256GB storage options. MV22, MV72 and MV32 offer 256GB of solid storage. The MV22X and MV72X provide 512GB of storage, allowing up to 90 days of continuous, 24/7 recording. Storage time will vary based on video quality and retention settings. If more footage needs to be stored, consider using Cloud Archive.

Q: What is the warranty on the Meraki cameras?

A: 3 years

For a lot more on Camera FAQs, please click here.

5) Systems Manager (SM) Endpoint Management:

Q: What platforms does Meraki Systems Manager support?

A: Systems Manager supports a variety of Android, Apple iOS, macOS, and Windows platforms. Some features are OS-dependent.

• Android 4.4.4 or higher including phones, tablets & more (Android Enterprise requires 5.0+)
• Chrome OS including Chromebook & more (G Suite or G Suite for Education account)
• iOS 5 or higher including iPad, iPod Touch, & iPhone (SM app requires iOS 7 or higher)
• tvOS including Apple TV 4 and Apple TV 3 
• macOS 10.7 or higher including Macbook, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, & more
• Microsoft Server 2016, 2012, 2008 R2
• Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 including Surface, tablets, desktops, laptops, & more
• Windows Mobile 10 including Surface, Lumia, HTC, Nokia, & more

Q: Why is my device's location sometimes inaccurate?

A: Systems Manager makes a best effort to estimate a device's location. Occasionally this estimate is inaccurate. We use these four methods to locate a device, in order of decreasing accuracy:

• GPS location (via GPS) - this is the most accurate, but is only available for Android, and iOS (using the SM app) devices.
• Location of Meraki products (via AP) - if your organization has other Meraki products, such as WiFi access points, we can use their location as part of the calculation.
• BSSID geolocation (via WiFi) - location based on the BSSID (the address of the WiFi network).
• IP geolocation (via IP) - location based on the device's most recent IP address. This is our fallback mechanism, and the one that's most likely to be inaccurate.

For more information on Systems Manager FAQs, please reference our documentation.

6) Meraki Insight (MI):

Q: Is Meraki Insight supported on all Meraki products?

A: Currently, it is only supported with MX series devices. End-of-Life MX devices and Z-Series devices are currently not supported

Q: What are the protocols and types of applications that this product can track performance for?

A: Currently web-based applications (HTTP and HTTPS) only.

Q: Can Insight track performance for VoIP traffic?

A: Yes. The VoIP Health feature is designed to monitor network links for the performance of the uplink for VoIP. It is a part of the Meraki Insight product line. If your organisation has Meraki Insight licenses added to the dashboard, VoIP Health should be enabled by default.

Q: What MI license do I order?

It depends on what MX appliance you have. Please see below:

More FAQs for MI can be found here.

7) Meraki Gateway (MG) / Wireless WAN:

Q: What are the use cases for the MG?

A: Note that the following use-cases refer to using a Meraki MX appliance with the MG21 as a WAN uplink. However, the use-cases can also apply to non-Meraki devices (i.e. Viptela).

• Antenna placement where cellular coverage is best - Signal strength is key for cellular performance. The MG21 makes cellular a viable option in situations where the best location for the MX is not necessarily the best location for a strong cellular signal. The separation of cellular antenna and MX expands cellular options for all networks, particularly for mid-range MXs mounted in a data center.
• Primary WAN- In areas where wired internet services are not available, the MG21 provides a simple, viable option for wireless WAN connectivity.
• Secondary WAN for Failover - An MX's secondary WAN interface connected to an MG21 may use the cellular network in the event of a primary uplink failure.
• Secondary WAN for SD-WAN - An MX with an MG21 as a secondary WAN uplink may use the cellular network to establish VPNs for SD-WAN.
• High Availability Uplink - The MG21 can be used as either a primary or secondary internet uplink for MX HA topologies. It's two LAN ports allow the MX's to share access to the same cellular network.

Q: Who are the tested carriers for the MG worldwide?

A: Deutsche Telekom (Germany), Sunrise (Switzerland), Vodafone (NZ, UK, Germany, Ireland), Telstra (Australia), Optus (Australia), Softbank (Japan), NTT docomo (Japan), KDDI (Korea / Japan) - at time of writing (April 13th 2020).

Q: What is the warranty on the MG?

A: Lifetime warranty applies to MG21 and MG21E hardware.

Q: Are antennas included with the MG21E?

Dipole Antenna pair included with MG21E (High gain patch antenna available separately)

Non-Meraki antennas are not supported. The socket is a reversed RP-SMA that is designed to detect the official MG smart dipole antennas and smart patch antenna. Usage of non-Meraki accessories may damage the MG and degrade performance. The Cisco Meraki antennas are designed for the maximum allowable gain without exceeding the EIRP for local regulatory domains on their supported bands.

More MG datasheet's, installation guides and troubleshooting guides can be found here

There you have it, knowledge is power and our documentation is consistently updated.

Hopefully you find more than you were looking for in there :-)

If you got value from this, please share this on LinkedIn!

Warmest regards,

GD

Cisco Meraki reduces the skills and overhead needed to manage your IT network through one dashboard. Our networks simply work. Are you working on a networking project? Need to run a proof of concept? Want to see all this in action? Visit https://meraki.cisco.com/form/trial