H3C Ethernet Switches vs NETGEAR Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

H3C Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
16th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (4th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of H3C Ethernet Switches is 2.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 8.4%, down from 8.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
Unique Categories:
No other categories found
LAN Switching
7.2%
AV Over IP Switching
23.8%
 

Featured Reviews

HosseinTavakoli - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 13, 2023
Products deliver quickly and allow us to bypass SFPs
H3C's scalability has negative points. You can buy a low model of Cisco and then upgrade it to a higher model, and then change the labels. This is what some people do on the gray market. The product is scalable in a negative way. You can buy a cheap model, install the software, and convert it to a higher model when the hardware is not supported because it's not a higher model. You upgrade the software and change the label. From this point, H3C is a better product. You cannot change the model number. You cannot upgrade it to another model. We have about 2,000 users using H3C Ethernet Switches across our clients.
BH
Feb 7, 2023
Peak performance for uncompressed 4K video streaming at a very affordable price point
NETGEAR's web interface describes settings with names and sentences which are different from other switch manufacturers. Therefore, you must figure out what each one does before you can use it. If you compare it to Cisco, for example, their web interface is a bit more intuitive. The web interface could also be improved when it comes to multicast settings. Especially, that IGMP is spread to “Switching” and “Routing“ is confusing. At first, it is unclear what needs to be setup where. Support for IGMPv3 querier would be appreciated. Currently, only a version 2 querier can be sent by the switches, which is a bit outdated, since version 3 has been on the market for a few years now. Cisco does support querier version 3 in their small business switches. The ‘how-to’ guides could do with some improvements. We got in trouble following the stacking and Dante set-up guides. If these would have been accurate, we would not have lost three days.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"H3C Ethernet Switches is a cheap solution."
"Offering a five-year warranty, compared to competitors' one-year warranties, is a unique advantage of H3C switches."
"A good high-performance solution."
"To date, it has proven to be highly reliable. We have encountered no issues or challenges with it thus far."
"H3C Ethernet Switches have a fast delivery time."
"The best feature of H3C Ethernet Switches is their reliability."
"We can configure the switch stack on the internet. Other vendors do not offer this facility. It is fast and easy to manage."
"The ability to mix and match is invaluable. So, we didn't have to run massive super extensive switches in the data closets where it wasn't necessary. Being able to manage it all from one place, as all your network configuration settings went live across your entire building from one management console was really handy."
"The company provides a lifetime warranty."
"The stability is good. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
"Valuable features include network monitoring and ease of programming for VLANs, etc. I especially like NETGEAR because it's easy to teach system administrators how to use them, how to look at them, how to make changes to them without having the complexity of CLIs, but still having a CLI should we need it."
"You are not limited in terms of stacking ports, and especially, if you're using the 96X as a core switch, the scalability, I could see this being very large. If you're using a type of a hybrid topology with a core switch going out to multiple switch stacks, or something like that, I could see the scalability of this being very good, especially considering the kind of backplane switching capacity on the 96X."
"The remote troubleshooting features provide a single pane of glass where I can see my all my clients' equipment. If they're reporting a problem, I can go to the Insight Pro interface online and I can bring up that client and I can see all their devices and the status of all their devices."
"The tool is stable."
"The remote management tools are fantastic. The combination of the webpage as well as the app makes life so much easier. I don't need to go and visit sites to do upgrades or any sorts of changes. The firmware can all be deployed remotely. I can see the traffic on each of the switch ports remotely as well, so I can see if we've got problems, down to an individual port. It's very granular."
 

Cons

"To enhance H3C switches for the next release, improving the user interface is crucial."
"GUI needs to merge with CLI."
"Lacks decent cloud management."
"There should be more public tools for configuration and comparing products."
"The solution’s stability could be improved."
"H3C Ethernet Switches could improve by widening their product range."
"The only improvement needed is the significantly better lead time for delivery compared to other American products. In terms of technology, there isn't much difference, especially since X3 is a subsidiary of XP, and they use the same technology. However, the delivery time is notably better."
"An area for improvement would be creating a wizard that can do a lot of common stuff. Instead of having some manual configuration for common features, they may want to have a single wizard that could be put in place which would let you walk through creating multiple VLANs and different routes between VLANs in a wizard. Then, you wouldn't have to dig in so deep."
"The M4250 switches needs more SFP models."
"This product lacks a CLI interface."
"There is a lot of delay in the data coming to the servers."
"NETGEAR Switches could provide local technical support services."
"The scalability and warranty should also be improved."
"What I'd like to see is more compatibility with virtual stacking, so that 4300-series switches and 3300-series switches will actually stack together and that virtual switch stacks, themselves, are not limited to just six devices, so that they can create larger loops with more bandwidth and more redundancy."
"The web interface has been a little sketchy on occasion. Sometimes I have to reload the page to get things to show up properly, but the switch itself seems fine. The web user interface is a little wonky at times."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"H3C Ethernet Switches are priced at around $500 per unit, which is very cheap and one of the most competitive prices out there."
"The pricing is very affordable, making it a not-so-expensive choice. On a scale from one to ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap, I would rate it a seven."
"H3C Ethernet Switches is targeted for SMBs because it's cheaper compared to Huawei switches."
"H3C Ethernet Switches are reasonably priced."
"I sold someone a SonicWall and they had to redo their subscription every year. It was a $300 or $400 subscription they had to pay every year... With NETGEAR... it's only a $10 or $20 subscription per device for the whole year... and you have your license and you have all your support."
"NETGEAR pricing is the best on the market by far. I was shocked when I saw what their price came out as for their subscription. It's extremely reasonable."
"The great thing about the Insight product is that the renewable subscription is much cheaper than the competitors in the market. It is not over $50, per year, so customers buy the equipment and don't have to worry so much about the renewable fees that go along with having such access into their switch, with a cloud-managed solution. There are some other manufacturers where you'll essentially pay the same in hardware as you do in software, just for the cloud solution that supports it; just to keep getting the firmware updates and all of that information. With NETGEAR, you can do multi-year and that is something like 90 percent cheaper than if you're looking at Meraki, for example. It is extremely competitive. It's one of the main reasons we liked it so much."
"You get what you pay for. From a price comparison, there are cheaper switch makers on the market that are definitely less expensive than NETGEAR. They give you the same functionality, but they don't come with a name. There are solutions like Ubiquiti that are very good. They have the ease of setup, and I find NETGEAR battling a little bit in comparison to Ubiquiti."
"They are on par with other AV switch manufacturers, e.g., Pakedge, Cisco Small Business Series, and Extreme Networks. Though, they are closer in cost to Extreme Networks. They are more in the mid-range from an AV product price, maybe a bit higher. You can't beat their features compared to other vendors in that product range and capacity. AV specific only, they are mid-range price-wise."
"It's cheaper than Cisco. For the features it offers, the pricing is good."
"The price to performance of this solution is very good. When it comes to pricing, as far as I'm concerned, they're very comparable with Ubiquity. NETGEAR has pricing that is as good as it gets. That's why I use them."
"Insight pricing is okay. It's very competitive. The costs of the hardware and additional services weren't low because Unify is much cheaper, but the costs conformed to the market. When you look at the hardware specs, the price and the warranty, the complete package was much better than any other vendor. If you consider those three main aspects of Netgear Insight and Netgear Insight devices, and you put them next to Ubiquity or Cisco Meraki, or even TP-Link, in our opinion, it's better hardware, it has a better warranty, and for the price you have to pay, it's a pretty good product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Retailer
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with H3C Ethernet Switches?
To enhance H3C switches for the next release, improving the user interface is crucial. Currently, they lack a web-based configuration mode, only offering a command-line interface.
What is your primary use case for H3C Ethernet Switches?
We use H3C Ethernet Switches to connect between PCs and servers.
How do NETGEAR switches compare with Cisco ethernet switches?
NetGear switches have a lot to offer. They have high availability, zero-downtime stacking, L2 and L3 functionality, and are AV-over-IP ready. NetGear switches also have a command line interface and...
Which switches are better - Ubiquiti Unifi or Netgear?
Ubiquiti Unifi offers a great set of features. For starters, it is easy to configure and implement, and also doesn’t require a learning curve because it is easy to use. It is also simple to reconfi...
What do you like most about NETGEAR Switches?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. I have not faced any issues with the product whatsoever.
 

Also Known As

No data available
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Ying Wa College, Centro Digital Pictures
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about H3C Ethernet Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,779 professionals have used our research since 2012.