Then, you need to configure the VPN client on a PC, and here’s Meraki’s how-to. Here’s where you set up client VPN in the MX: Setting it up: the farm network is 192.168.1.0/24 on the inside (part of what I inherited), with a single public ISP address on the outside of the Meraki MX. I’d much rather do everything remotely, which brings me back to Meraki’s client VPN.

My philosophy is to never visit the site unless something new is physically being added. Along with keeping the network healthy, I find myself doing a bit of desktop and device support. I was able to tame the beast, making it a single decent network with point-to-point wireless bridges connecting far away buildings (using 5 GHz where possible, 900 MHz through trees), UPS, managed switches, and Meraki APs. When I took on the account, there was a mishmash of consumer-grade routers and switches in use, multiple 4G ISP connections, and lots of odd little islands of individual networks. My favorite customer is a prestigious large dairy farm that needed a network overhaul. It’s easy to setup (but you still have to understand a few things), and incredibly empowering to the remote administrator. For my own small consulting company, there’s one Meraki feature I’m incredibly fond of as an administrator- and that’s Client VPN.

I’ve had the rare frustration with Meraki’s features, but I do mean rare compared to the pain caused by other vendors consistent shitcode. Though we use Meraki in targeted locations at my “day job”, I’ve followed their evolution in my long-running role as a gonzo freelance IT journalist since the days when they only offered Wi-Fi, then through the addition of the MX series of security appliances and Ethernet switches. My own love affair with Meraki started way earlier than Cisco’s acquisition of the cloud networking biggie.

Meraki anyconnect