We are in the process of migrating from an MPLS with managed routers to a metro ethernet solution where we will need to manage the routers ourselves. Networking is not my strong suit but I will have access to contractors to implement it and support it when needed. I am trying to figure out the best hardware to act as our edge equipment.
We are migrating from an MPLS network over 1.5M and 3M bonded T1s to a metro ethernet "eLan" over 5M, 10M and 25M fiber drops. We have a main site (25M elan) with about 25 users which houses the IP phone switch and our main internet connection. This connection is firewalled with an ASA 5510. We have 4 branches (5M elan) with about 8 users each and IP phones which connect back over the network to our main site. One of our branches also serves as our DR site (10M elan) and has it's own internet connection and ASA 5510.
We have been told that Cisco 1921s will work for what we are trying to do. After including the licensing to allow for IPsec encryption the price will be about the same as Meraki WX60s. I have played around with a free Meraki AP and I like the idea of easily being able to manage the network myself through the GUI but I am worried that it won't have all of the features that I need. I am just not sure exactly what I need. Basically I need some type of static routes pointing most traffic from our branches to our main site. I will also need to point some traffic to various VPN routers and devices that reside in our main site instead of sending it out on the internet. I need the ability to point some traffic to our DR site in a disaster event. I need IPsec encryption. I need VLANs for the voice and data. I need QOS. Currently I just call up our MPLS vendor and they dial in and make any of these configurations or changes we need.
Does anyone have any advice on this topic? Will the MX60 do the same job as the 1921 but with an easier interface? Or should I stick with the 1921 and just pay a vendor/contractor to make changes as we need them?