MR Advanced license

[kima25]

Hello, 

what is the role of the Advanced license for MR access points ?

I am asking if we need to buy umbrella licenses with the advanced licenses ?

thank you for your help.

Best Regards.

[GIdenJoe]

Well the MR advanced is more than only the umbrella integration.  It also covers the adaptive policy paradigm.

However the intention is that you do not need to integrate with an umbrella portal but you can use the existing presets that can be fully selected on the dashboard.  That means when all your AP's have that license you don't need a separate license for Umbrella.

[KarstenI]

Personally, I don’t like the MR advanced licensing model. First, you are forced to move to per device licensing regardless if it a good fit or not. And I prefer to have Umbrella as a separate product as the visibility features and flexibility of the “real” Umbrella is really good.

[Inderdeep]

@kima25 : Well you have below with MR Advanced license 

• The MR Advanced license includes a device (Enterprise) license for an MR access point itself in addition to the Umbrella add-on license which enables Umbrella functionality on that access point. This license is generally purchased for licensing a new MR access point that does not already have a license.
• The MR Upgrade license is considered an add-on license and enables Umbrella functionality only. It can only be assigned to MR access points with an active device (Enterprise) license. This license is generally purchased for MR access points that already have a basic Enterprise License (not enabled for Umbrella).

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Other_Topics/Cisco_Meraki_and_Umbrella_Integration_-_MR_Advanced... 

https://documentation.meraki.com/General_Administration/Licensing/Meraki_Licensing_FAQs 

[MerakiDave · Accepted solution]

@kima25 For Meraki MR + Umbrella integration, there was the original API integration option, and now also an automated (single-SKU) integration with the “MR Advanced/Upgrade” license. This allows you to assign predefined Umbrella content filtering and security policies to an SSID or Group Policy directly from the dashboard and removes the need to integrate with an existing Umbrella dashboard or Umbrella account.  For existing MR customers that do not yet have Umbrella, there is an UPGRADE license to enable the Umbrella functionality.  For new MR deployments that also want Umbrella, that’s the ADVANCED license.

There are some pros and cons that will prompt you to choose one over the other based on the requirements.  The manual integration does require some (simple) manual configuration of API keys, an existing Umbrella account, and you’ll still have 2 Dashboards.  The automated single-SKU integration is an all-in-one simple and turn-key solution but cannot create custom policies.  It’s definitely not full-blown Umbrella.  It provides a broad but generally adequate view of DNS events and everything is managed from the Meraki Dashboard only.

If customers really need the finest policy granularity and deepest visibility, then go with the “regular” Umbrella deployment and the API integration option.  For customers who simply want to add typical Umbrella protection to their Meraki wireless deployment this Advanced/Upgrade license might be the way to go.

Here is a summary slide attached.

Hope that helps!