Meraki MS switches: series, stacking and features

The MS family by role

Cisco lists its cloud-managed switches on cisco.com in four groups. We describe them by family and role; specific models depend on your port, power and uplink needs.

Cisco's switch page now sits cloud-managed Catalyst switches alongside MS, and Cisco Smart Switches can also run in the dashboard under unified licensing. That means a Meraki switching design today may mix MS for the edge with Catalyst for higher-power access or the core. See Catalyst in the Meraki dashboard and Cisco Meraki vs Catalyst.

Older MS series reaching end of sale are still supported for a period afterwards (typically five years under Meraki's policy) while licensed. Check the dates for your switches in the dashboard inventory, and see Meraki end of life for planning a refresh.

Stacking: physical, flexible and virtual

Meraki uses "stacking" for three different things, and it helps to keep them apart.

Physical stacking. Supported switches have two stacking ports on the back. Cabled together, they run as one larger switch: traffic moves over dedicated stack links rather than front-panel ports, the stack gives gateway redundancy at layer 3 and dual-homing redundancy at layer 2, and only one uplink is needed for the whole stack. Some settings (link aggregates, mirrored ports, layer 3 interfaces and switch-specific spanning tree or IGMP settings) are removed when a switch joins a stack and must be set again on the stack. Meraki notes that in most MS stacks each switch needs its own management IP address, whereas Catalyst stacks share one.

Flexible stacking. On some older aggregation switches, any two ports can be set as stack ports, giving redundancy at the distribution layer.

StackWise Virtual. Selected Catalyst core switches can be paired as one logical switch, and on supported models this can be configured from the Meraki dashboard.

Virtual stacking. This is a management feature rather than cabling. Meraki describes it as central management of switch ports: switches that are not physically connected, in different locations and of different models can be viewed and configured together on one switch ports page, with search across every port and the option to aggregate ports across switches.

Features you get on Meraki switches

Meraki's subscription documentation lists the switching features in its Essentials tier, which every licensed switch has, and the extras in Advantage:

Layer 3 features depend on the switch: Cisco lists some MS families as layer 2 only. Advanced or Advantage features are only available on certain switch families; our MS licensing page explains which tiers exist and what they add. For network access control in the dashboard, Meraki switches also work with Cisco Access Manager.

QoS, VLANs and port profiles

Most day-to-day switch work in the dashboard is about ports and VLANs:

• VLANs and port types: set each port as access or trunk, with data and voice VLANs, from the switch ports page, one port or hundreds at a time.
• Port profiles: define a standard port (for example, "access point" or "desk phone") once and apply it wherever it is needed.
• QoS: rules that mark and prioritise traffic such as voice and video, applied across the network so a busy uplink does not degrade calls.
• Access policies: 802.1X or MAC-based authentication on ports, with guest and failed-authentication VLANs.
• Group policies and ACLs: limit what particular devices or users can reach.

Because every port is visible in one list, tasks such as "find the port this phone is on" or "change every access point port to a new VLAN" take a search rather than a walk round the comms rooms.

Choosing Meraki switches

A switch refresh is a good time to step back from like-for-like replacement. The points we work through:

• Devices and power: count access points, phones, cameras and other powered devices per cabinet, then size the PoE budget with headroom, not just the port count.
• Uplinks: newer Wi-Fi access points want multigigabit ports, and access switches want 10 Gbps uplinks to the distribution layer or firewall.
• Layer 2 or layer 3: decide where routing between VLANs will happen. Smaller sites often route on the MX security appliance; larger sites route on layer 3 switches.
• Resilience: stacking or redundant uplinks for the switches that matter most, and power redundancy where the stack supports it.
• Segmentation plans: if Adaptive Policy or Cisco Access Manager is on the roadmap, choose a switch family that supports the higher licence tier.
• Physical space and environment: shallow-depth or compact switches for small cabinets, rugged switches for difficult locations.
• Lifecycle and licensing: avoid standardising on a series already end of sale, and compare co-term and subscription costs over the term.

The answer for many sites is a mix: MS access switches at the edge with cloud-managed Catalyst or a Meraki aggregation pair in the middle, all in one dashboard. See cloud managed switches for a full checklist.

Meraki switch setup, in outline

1. Plan VLANs, IP addressing, management VLAN and which ports need PoE, and decide on stacking before the switches arrive.
2. Claim the order in the dashboard so the switches and licences appear in inventory, and add the switches to the right network.
3. Build switch port profiles, VLANs, QoS rules and access policies, and set the firmware upgrade window.
4. Configure stacks in the dashboard and cable them as designed.
5. Connect each switch's uplink to a port that gives it DHCP (or set a static management address) and internet access, so it can reach the Meraki cloud and download its configuration.
6. Patch devices across, test phones, access points and printers, and check the switch ports page and topology view.
7. Name switches and ports clearly and record the design so the next change is easy.

The dashboard side is the quick part; planning and cutover take the time. Our Meraki setup page covers the full process, from survey to go-live.

Supply, installation and support

Forever Systems is a Cisco Partner. We can design MS and cloud-managed Catalyst switching, size PoE for access points, phones and cameras, supply switches and licences, and configure and stage them. For our main installation service see Meraki switches on forever-group.co.uk, or contact us to discuss your switching.