Cisco Enterprise Routers Reviews

We are a partner with Cisco and Fortinet, so I am working with those now. The different Cisco product portfolio includes Cisco Secure Access. We have Cisco Meraki, Cisco series routers, and firewalls. Specifically, from the security point of view, we deal more in Fortinet.

I am talking about Cisco Enterprise Routers, specifically the Cisco Enterprise Routers 20,000 series, 8,000 series, ASR, ASR 1K, and 9K.

Cisco has recently introduced their AI routers for their AI data center, specifically the 8800 series router, and it has a massive amount of support. It supports 51.2 or 102.4 terabits of speed. They have specifically created those routers for scale across data centers, particularly AI data centers.

Cisco is a pioneer in integrating features with respect to customer needs and requirements, so I find their features to be most valuable. They are always ahead from the development point of view in any routing protocol. For example, Cisco has HSRP, the first-hop redundancy protocols. Cisco was the first to create that protocol. Additionally, we have the open standard VRRP, but Cisco also created GLBP for the industry.

I use multiple features of Cisco Enterprise Routers' integrated security protocols. They have truly mastered that part, and I would rate the modular design for network expansion in Cisco Enterprise Routers highly. They understand customer needs and requirements with respect to every identified part. With respect to service providers, they know exactly how many modules are needed. In fact, they stay ahead with respect to industry requirements.

The licensing part of Cisco Enterprise Routers is a bit tricky nowadays. With DNA, they have introduced DNA licensing. If they make it more simplistic with respect to customer understanding, I think it would be a good selling point for them.

The licensing model could be a bit too high or a bit too complex. They need to make it simplified. It would be good for their business.

With respect to enterprise routing, I would like to see additional features in the future to make it closer to a ten.

Previously, Cisco has integrated many technologies into their router and multiple security features. However, since they have created a separate firewall product line, Firepower, I still want them to integrate more security features into their enterprise-grade router as well.

Content filtering, application control, and website filtering are features that should be integrated into the router.

They have multiple options, so with respect to technology, I am expecting that they integrate security more and Voice over IP features more easily into the router. For the customer, this makes their life easier in the sense that a single box can give them multiple solutions. I think they are already providing 5G interfaces, and there are options available.

It has been more than twenty years that I have been working with Cisco Enterprise Routers.

Cisco Enterprise Routers are stable. I can confirm that.

I find Cisco Enterprise Routers scalable.

Cisco technical support is one of the best in the industry. I would rate the support from one to ten as a ten. Their response time is very good, and the support is very professional. They deserve a ten out of ten for their technical support.

The initial setup of Cisco Enterprise Routers is easy to deploy. Cisco CLI is very common. There are thousands of certified engineers available due to Cisco certification. There is no issue with respect to finding technical resources for that.

Cisco Enterprise Routers are truly the number one choice in the enterprise market. With respect to service providers, they have solid competition from Juniper. However, in the enterprise space, they are the best. Since I am in Pakistan, they have competition from Huawei as well. However, the features that Cisco is offering are much higher than Huawei. Cisco Enterprise Routers are popular in my region and the number one choice, but sometimes due to the cost factor, some customers opt for different options.

I do not use Cisco Enterprise Routers' traffic prioritization. I did not use dynamic path optimization, and I do not use that feature. I can surely rate Cisco Enterprise Routers nine out of ten overall.

Our main use case for Cisco Enterprise Routers is to maintain reliable network connectivity across our IoT fuel station automation projects and other ESP applications. We use them to connect retail outlets with our central IoT platform, allowing us to exchange data from fuel dispensers, tank monitoring systems, and other connected devices. They also help us maintain secure communication between the office network, cloud applications, and remote sites. Since we are handling live fuel transactions, inventory updates, and device status information, stable connectivity is really important for us. We also use the routers to manage network traffic and establish a secure VPN connection for remote access and troubleshooting.

One example is when we are managing multiple fuel stations connected to our central IoT platform. If a retail outlet experiences a network issue, it can interrupt the flow of transaction data, tank inventory updates, and dispenser information. Cisco Enterprise Routers help us maintain secure connectivity between these remote sites and our central system. What I find particularly useful is the ability to configure a backup connection. So if the primary network fails, traffic can switch to an alternative connection where it is available. This is especially important for our ESP operations because we need the transaction data to reach the central platform without unnecessary delays.

These are the major use cases we use these routers for.

Cisco Enterprise Routers have helped us improve network reliability and reduce the amount of time our team spends dealing with connectivity issues. One of the biggest benefits we have noticed is smoother communication between our retail outlets and central IoT platform, which is important for our fuel station automation projects. It has also made expanding to new sites easier because we can follow a consistent network setup instead of planning everything from scratch. Our ESP team can coordinate better with the network team, and we do not have to depend as much on engineers visiting sites for routine changes. Overall, it has helped us manage our operations more efficiently and given us better control over our network infrastructure.

We have noticed improvement mainly in bringing the new retail outlets online and reducing the need for on-site technical support. For our IoT project, having standard router configuration makes it easier to connect new outlets to our central platform. Our ESP team also spends less time coordinating with field engineers because many network issues can be handled remotely. I do not have the exact downtime or cost-saving figures, but I will definitely say that our engineer on-site visits are reduced in a huge number, and the downtime is also reduced significantly.

The features I find most useful in Cisco Enterprise Routers are VPN connectivity, traffic prioritization, and network redundancy. In our IoT project, we have different types of data coming from the fuel station. Being able to prioritize important traffic is really helpful. I particularly appreciate the network segmentation options because we can keep our IoT devices separate from regular office traffic, which gives us better control over security. Another feature that stands out is centralized network management. When we are working with multiple retail outlets and ESP applications, it is much easier to manage network configuration remotely rather than visiting each location. These features make a real difference in how we manage our network infrastructure.

Centralized management has made things much easier for us, especially when we are handling network connectivity across multiple fuel stations and ESP project sites. Instead of depending on someone at each location, our network team can check router configurations, push updates, and troubleshoot connectivity issues remotely. It also helps when we are bringing a new retail outlet online because we can follow a standard configuration rather than setting everything up from scratch. The main challenge is that managing different router models and firmware versions can sometimes get complicated. We also have to be careful when making configuration changes because one incorrect update could affect connectivity at the remote site. Overall, it saves us a lot of coordination and unnecessary site visits.

VPN connectivity is particularly useful for our ESP project because our team needs to secure access to the system at different retail outlets.

I think Cisco could make the initial configuration and licensing a little simpler. In our IoT project, we work with different network providers across the retail outlets, and setting up the router for each location can sometimes take more effort than expected. I would also appreciate a better diagnosis tool that clearly shows whether the connectivity problem is coming from the router, the internet provider, or the connected IoT device. That would save our ESP team a lot of back and forth during troubleshooting. Another improvement would be making firmware upgrades easier to manage across different router models. Cisco Enterprise Routers themselves work well for our requirements, but simplifying these activities would make a big difference for our day-to-day operations.

I would appreciate Cisco improving its documentation, especially for situations involving different router models and network setups. Sometimes we have to go through multiple guides to find the exact configuration we need. For our ESP project where we are connecting IoT devices across the different retail outlets, having more practical troubleshooting examples would be really helpful. I would also appreciate faster support when we are dealing with site-specific issues, particularly during new outlet deployments. A simpler way to track firmware compatibility and security updates would be useful as well. These are relatively small improvements, but they would save our team quite a bit of time.

I have mentioned these improvements based on my experience and usage, and I have covered all the improvements I can think of.

I have been using Cisco Enterprise Routers for 1.5 years.

Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable in our experience.

Cisco Enterprise Routers have been quite scalable for our requirements, and as our project expands, we need to accommodate more retail outlets, connected devices, and applications without redesigning our network. Cisco's SD-WAN capabilities make this easier by supporting centralized configuration and management as the number of sites grows. The main things we need to plan carefully are choosing the right router capacity for each location. A small retail outlet and a large site with multiple connected systems will not have the same requirements. Licensing and hardware costs also need to be considered as we expand. Overall, the flexibility is useful for our long-term expansion plans.

Our experience with Cisco's customer support has been generally good. Whenever we needed help with the configuration or technical issues, their engineers have been knowledgeable and helpful. For our project, timely support is important because we are managing networks across different retail outlets. One area I would appreciate improving is the response time for more complicated issues, especially when they need to escalate to another technical team. The support documentation is useful, but sometimes getting direct assistance is much faster than searching through multiple articles. Overall, we are satisfied with the support.

I would rate Cisco's customer support nine out of ten.

Before moving to Cisco Enterprise Routers, we were using basic routers from a different vendor at some of our locations. They were fine for regular internet connectivity, but as our IoT project expanded, managing different devices became more complicated. We needed better control over network configuration and secure communication between retail outlets and more consistent support across our sites. That is when we decided to move to Cisco Enterprise Routers. The transition required some planning, but having a standardized network environment has made things much easier for our team.

We have saved a lot of time because before, a huge number of people had to go for site visits to solve issues from the site, which took more time as they needed to find the issue and address everything. Now we can save much time because we are updating everything from our application only.

I feel that Cisco Enterprise Routers are a bit expensive compared to some other options, especially when we are deploying them across multiple retail outlets. The hardware cost is just one part of it. We also have to consider licensing, support contracts, and future upgrades. For our project, the initial setup requires proper planning because each site can have different connectivity requirements. One thing I would appreciate Cisco improving is making the licensing structure easier to understand.

We also looked at Fortinet and Juniper routers. We compared their security features, remote management options, licensing costs, and suitability for our project. Fortinet was particularly interesting because of its integrated security capabilities, while Juniper was another option for managing our network infrastructure. We leaned towards Cisco Enterprise Routers because our network team was already familiar with its product, and we wanted a consistent setup across our retail outlets.

Since we have not faced any issues with Cisco Enterprise Routers, I would give them definitely ten out of ten. I gave ten out of ten because they have been reliable for our IoT and ESP projects, where even a small network interruption can affect daily operations. What really stands out for me is their reliability to handle our current requirements while giving us room to expand as we add more retail outlets. Our network team is also familiar with Cisco, so we do not have to spend too much time learning a completely new system. The pricing and configuration could be simpler, but those have not been major concerns compared to the value we are getting. Overall, they have met our expectations, and that is why I gave them ten out of ten.

I think Cisco AI-assisted network management features are useful from a security perspective, particularly when it comes to identifying unusual network activity and highlighting potential risks. For our IoT and ESP project, we handle communication across multiple retail outlets, so controlling access and protecting our network data are important. What I would appreciate is more transparency around how AI-generated security recommendations are made and better control over which actions can be automated. I prefer having our network team review critical changes rather than allowing AI to make every decision. Overall, I see the AI as useful.

I find the AI-assisted network insights useful, especially when reviewing unusual traffic patterns across our retail outlets. For our project, it helps to have a system that highlights potential network issues rather than making our team analyze every event manually. However, I would not say the output is always accurate. Sometimes an alert needs additional investigation because unusual traffic does not necessarily mean there is a security problem.

We have our own private cloud, but it is actually deployed on a public cloud in Microsoft Azure.

I would suggest choosing Cisco Enterprise Routers based on your actual network requirement rather than simply going for the latest model. In our project, we have different types of retail outlets, so understanding the number of connected devices, bandwidth requirements, and future expansion plans is important. I would also recommend testing Cisco Enterprise Routers with your existing applications and internet providers before purchasing them in bulk. Make sure you understand the licensing and support costs upfront because they can add up as your network grows. Also, invest some time in training your network team. Cisco offers plenty of features, but knowing how to use them properly makes a big difference in day-to-day operations. My overall review rating for Cisco Enterprise Routers is ten out of ten.

The typical use case for using Cisco Enterprise Routers includes networking and reachability, which is key for us since we have other branches across Emirates and some remote branches, plus we have some external, extended networking requirements where routers and switches play a part.

The biggest advantage in Cisco Enterprise Routers is simplicity, ease of use, and minimum downtime. During my 15 to 16 years at the company, we have never faced any issue or problem with connectivity or routers, despite the typical connectivity issues companies usually face. We are very satisfied overall, and the best features in the product include its robust capabilities that are most beneficial for us.

The main key features of these common routing and switching devices for us are the capability of proper routing and networking which we require, along with very good controls from Cisco Enterprise Routers that integrate well with our other equipment within the ecosystem. We are also very satisfied with the efficiency and efficacy of the devices.

One of the integrated security protocols of Cisco Enterprise Routers is indeed in use. Security and controls are key expectations from our side and among the very good features in all Cisco devices. We have other devices within the Cisco ecosystem, including the ESA and others, which integrate well, providing much satisfaction from a controls and security perspective. We are using Cisco Enterprise Routers for traffic prioritization.

Cost and configuration simplicity are areas needing improvement. The complexity can be reduced.

We are using these products for almost 15 years or more, which reflects my tenure in the company.

There may be some minor disconnectivity issues. Otherwise, we have not seen any major hardware failure or issue with Cisco Enterprise Routers. For the past few years, this is a genuine review, and I can say I do not see any major issue at all despite some minor hiccups.

We have a positive impression of the modular design for network expansion in Cisco Enterprise Routers.

Integration with all other components comes into play here. The modular design helps us especially in scalability since when we have any expansion requirement, it allows us to plug and play some modules for extended reach to other networks and sub-networks.

We are satisfied with the customer support from Cisco Enterprise Routers. We have a dedicated customer success manager, and our interactions with the team are positive.

Cisco Enterprise Routers, when it comes to routing and switching, can be compared to Fortinet, HP, and Juniper. FortiNet, HP, and Juniper are relevant when making comparisons.

For the installation, especially for Cisco Enterprise Routers, it is a bit complicated compared to Juniper and HP, but it is a one-time hassle, not something we do daily or weekly.

The design phase is the most complicated part. That is where we spend most of our planning time for deployment.

It is very difficult for me to quantify the return on investment for such devices since they do not directly contribute to our business, but from an overall investment return view, I can say maybe around 10 percent.

It is expensive compared to other options in the market. The reason we are still using Cisco Enterprise Routers is that we do not compromise on quality of service. We are willing to pay a high cost to avoid downtime or issues with critical devices in our environment, so the brand name provides value and return, and we have peace of mind despite paying more.

From a licensing model perspective, Cisco Enterprise Routers is a bit costlier. In terms of cost, they seem higher but are more or less the same overall.

Products such as Catalyst, Meraki, ThousandEyes, and Cisco Enterprise Routers are part of our network. We utilize the Catalyst and switches and routers from Cisco Enterprise Routers, but not Meraki. We are indeed working with Cisco Enterprise Routers.

I am not sure about the dynamic path optimization feature of the product and if it helps to adapt to networking demands in our case. From the perspective of these devices, I do not see any major additional requirement. Everything is working well as expected, and the product fits our needs. Integration may be needed for newer security devices to align with current standards. I would rate this review a 9 overall.

We are working with Cisco Enterprise Routers and are getting a good experience. In terms of LAN switches, we find them to be working very well with NAC. In environments where switches are different brands and using NAC, there are a lot of challenges. It is easy to work with Cisco Enterprise Routers, and it is world-known technology for many, so even if you change staff, you will be sure that whoever comes in will understand what Cisco does and how it works and how to set it up.

Cisco Enterprise Routers are most commonly found in branch environments. You have a router connecting to a center, which is the head office. This follows a hub and spoke model where you have the hub, which is the HQ router, talking to the spokes, which are branch routers.

We mainly use VPN and IPsec tunnels. This is very common because when we connect to most of the third parties, we use the internet, and that is where the IPsec is used via Cisco firewalls.

Cisco Enterprise Routers along with their trainings provide excellent value. Once you go through those trainings, you will be sure that you will be able to configure anything in the router. The trainings and the technologies have been perfected well, and there is a lot of flexibility. In terms of routing, you can do EIGRP, BGP, and all routing protocols. There is no limitation because EIGRP is Cisco-specific, which you may not be able to get from other types of routers. This gives you more flexibility.

For example, with the commands provided, you get everything that you need to do what you want to do. Unlike other products where some commands need to be enabled by the vendor, Cisco has been very stable because it has been matured and has been there for a long time. It has been very stable. You can remove Cisco Enterprise Routers because they are obsolete, but not because they are not working. They can work with dust and everything on top of them, with no issues.

It is a bit difficult because Cisco Enterprise Routers do not do auto-discovery. You need to configure each device to be able to talk to the other device.

I would recommend getting skill within regions. For example, in East Africa, you need to identify skills within the region so that when calls are logged with TAC, the first people who should come are people within the region. At times, even communication is an issue.

Cisco, to keep its good product, needs to come close to the customer instead of sitting in America and sorting regions.

I have been using Cisco Enterprise Routers for over eighteen years or more.

Cisco Enterprise Routers have been very stable. You can remove them because they are obsolete, but not because they are not working. They can work with dust and everything on top of them, with no issues.

Cisco Enterprise Routers are scalable. Most of the time you find that in third world countries, most of the features are not even used because of the complexity of the networks that we are using.

When things get difficult or when you go to a partner and they cannot sort it, we go to Cisco TAC.

I wish the costing were per features so that Cisco would have been more affordable. You might buy a device with features that you do not need to use at that time. If Cisco would come with pricing in terms of what features you are going to enable, the price could have been a bit cheaper because you may be paying for features that you do not use.

Huawei is a direct competitor to Cisco in this market. I find most of what Cisco provides, Huawei is also providing. Although I would say Huawei has not matured enough because most of these products are not very old. However, they are doing a good job with a lot of features and a lot of changes.

If you compare the same device with the same functions between Cisco and Huawei, Huawei will be cheaper than Cisco. Definitely. Also, I think lead times are better with Huawei. It is easier to get a Huawei device than getting a Cisco Enterprise Router. The chain of distribution for Huawei is better and more efficient.

Huawei is coming very aggressively to East Africa in terms of pricing and engagement, which means getting their teams to the market down to the customer level. Additionally, they provide trainings and are very close to customers. For example, last year or two years ago, Huawei organized a program where they picked some customers and took them to Huawei production center in Shenzhen to see how the product works. This level of engagement is impressive. Additionally, trainings are being done frequently.

We are working with Cisco solutions and are using Cisco NAC and Cisco switches as access switches. I would need to provide a precise model for the switches, but I do not have it on top of my head. However, locally in our network we are using Cisco LAN switches, but I may need to get the details. It is not Meraki, obviously.

We have Cisco Enterprise Routers, and I think we might have some enterprise models because some were changed. We are also using Cisco data center firewalls and Cisco CallManager as well.

We chose Cisco because of stability and because it is easy to manage since most people in East Africa are skilled with Cisco than with other products due to CCNA and CCNP trainings. Because Cisco products are associated with trainings, once you are skilled, there are no challenges in terms of implementing. There is no difference, and most models have similar basic commands. My team has done the implementation.

I would give Cisco Enterprise Routers an eight out of ten. I have never used any hyper-converged from Cisco. I have used hyper-converged with other products, but not Cisco. HCI is also not common in this region. The big players in the market are HP, Dell, Dell EMC, and Huawei.

I work with most Cisco products, including Cisco routers, switches, access points, and servers. I have been working with Cisco Enterprise Routers for around eight years.

I am satisfied with Cisco. I have utilized Cisco's integrated security protocols.

We do not have any impact for Cisco exactly in protecting sensitive information. The only concern we have across all of the products is the price. Additionally, because it is not integrated with some other devices, such as monitoring platforms, we use other monitoring solutions, specifically SolarWinds.

When it comes to Cisco Enterprise Routers, I see room for improvement in that we do not find any other products better than Cisco for routing. However, for small or medium locations, we need smaller routers that have the same capabilities as the enterprise ones. We do not currently find this, so we go to other products instead of Cisco.

Everything is acceptable with the maintenance and support. The support is very perfect and they are very helpful. When we have any issue, they replace it within twenty-four hours.

Positive

I do not know exactly about Cisco's traffic prioritization because this is handled by the network operation team. We have used Cisco ISE and used Cisco Prime before, but now we use other devices for network monitoring.

We use SolarWinds for monitoring.

I would rate their support a ten from one to ten. This rating applies to all their products, including Cisco Enterprise Routers. However, right now I find the access points less favorable because we find Huawei appears comparable for access points. For Cisco industrial switches, they are too expensive compared to other products.

I assess the high-performance bandwidth of Cisco Enterprise Routers as acceptable, but we sometimes use what they call Riverbed for optimization. It may not be the best option for optimization, but regarding the same brand, they are the best compared to other brands such as Huawei and Nokia.

I do not know exactly if we use dynamic path optimization, but they may have used it since I am not deeply technical in that area.

I would rate the modular design for network expansion in Cisco Enterprise Routers a nine from one to ten.

I would rate Cisco Enterprise Routers overall as a nine from one to ten as a product.

I do not have any additional features I would like to see in the product in the next release.

I recommend it to other companies. I do not think that we have issues with the license. For the license, they are good. However, as I mentioned, they are expensive and anything you have to add requires additional payment. My overall rating for this product is nine.

I focus on switching and routing only, and I am not working on other products. I confirm that I deal with Cisco Enterprise Routers. I am happy to answer questions about this product.

Cisco Enterprise Routers has significant advantages when compared to its competitors because Cisco routers are practically the de facto standard for any routing solutions. In terms of traffic prioritization, Cisco Enterprise Routers performs very well. Regarding how Cisco Enterprise Routers has helped critical applications perform optimally, particularly WAN connectivity where I position Cisco routers, it performs very well, and I have all the models at my disposal to suit the traffic and the nature of routing.

In assessing the high-performance bandwidths of Cisco routers, I would say that in all the ISPs I see, Cisco is the only choice. When it comes to metrics that reflect benefits during peak periods, I believe routers are more about talking to each other, so Cisco is the default for any ISP, making it a quite natural ecosystem to have Cisco routers.

I do use dynamic path optimization with BGP route using my solutions. In adapting to networking demands, since it is the de facto standard of routing protocols, I have been quite familiar with the processes.

Utilizing Cisco's integrated security protocols is the area where I wish to get into in the coming days, but currently, I am not working on the security portfolio.

I have been working with Cisco Enterprise Routers for about four to five years.

I would rate the modular design for network expansion in Cisco routers as fantastic.

In terms of technical support, I find that Cisco supports their routers as well as their switches quite well, as their support is quite proactive.

Concerning the initial setup, I find it quite manageable as I am familiar with the processes, so that is perfectly acceptable. However, for non-experienced users, it might be a little bit complex to configure. It might be a little bit complicated to implement if you do not have experience, and it is a little bit too pricey for companies that are not enterprises.

Regarding the pricing for Cisco Enterprise Routers, I would say it might be a little bit too high because for large companies, it does not matter since they prefer Cisco, but smaller companies often consider alternatives with lower pricing. If the budget is a concern, my customers seem to prefer routers such as Aruba, along with lower categories like MikroTik, which is quite popular in smaller companies. For large companies, the pricing is acceptable, but for smaller companies, it becomes slightly tough to make decisions.

For enterprise companies, I would definitely recommend Cisco Enterprise Routers.

I do not see any particular drawbacks or room for improvement for Cisco Enterprise Routers. I would rate Cisco Enterprise Routers a nine out of ten overall. As for any additional functionalities or features I would like to see for Cisco routers, I do not think there is anything I can recommend. My review rating for Cisco Enterprise Routers is nine out of ten.

I would describe my clients' use case with Cisco Enterprise Routers as mostly when they have extreme bandwidth use. Mostly businesses require this solution.

The functions or features in Cisco Enterprise Routers that I have found most valuable or useful include most of them, particularly VPN. Though right now, I'm seeing we have ZTNA, so most of the people are moving from VPN. But most of the time it's that. The access lists and NATting are also valuable, as they are able to filter traffic. This also works, especially for those who have voice and data. So you'd find maybe they prioritize voice because some of them had issues with call drops. So you prioritize voice and then data follows. So most of the time we do that. Prioritization also works.

The key benefits that Cisco provides to the end-user with Cisco Enterprise Routers include support, especially for those who paid for the support, the Smart Net. If you have support with Cisco, it's very easy to get support. If you're having any issues, that's why for us as resellers, it's easier to give support and also sell the product. Because you're getting support from Cisco. If they have a problem and I don't understand, I still get to Cisco and they'll give me a solution.

I think Cisco can make better improvements for routers in terms of the selling bit, when it comes to discounts. If you are a partner and you're not up there, your discount is not that good. So you'll find you'll be losing maybe a sale because maybe the other partner who has a higher tier is getting more discounts, so they get the business.

I have been working with Cisco Enterprise Routers for a while since I started working, though mostly at a support level, not the implementation bit. I have over ten years of experience.

I rate the stability of Cisco Enterprise Routers as eight because I'm looking at the integration bit. At times you give a client a solution, they tell you this is what they wanted, and when you're going to implement, you find it's different. I'll say eight, as you get time to polish and make sure the solution is working.

It's also easy to scale with Cisco Enterprise Routers. That's the beauty about Cisco products.

I rate Cisco support a nine. I can't give a ten, at least to have room.

I'd say the initial setup for Cisco Enterprise Routers is simple when you've trained. If you say it's hard, that means you've not trained, you don't know what to do. But if you know what you're doing, it's very simple. And you know the solution you're providing.

Most of the time we do the setup for them with Cisco Enterprise Routers because we are also looking at professional services. We also do professional services, then support as well after the implementation.

I would compare Cisco Enterprise Routers to competitors right now that are just these firewall vendors. For example, Fortinet and Sophos, because you'll find most clients right now are doing SD-WAN and they would prefer maybe going for SD-WAN solutions for their clients. So I'd say those two.

Dynamic Path Optimization in Cisco works. Most of the time you'll find those who are using the product are high-end clients. Small clients prefer using these generic other users. But with time as they grow and their needs grow, it works. Most of the time, the challenge we have is convincing someone to get that product. Unless there's a pressing need, most of them would not go for Cisco Enterprise Routers.

We sell Cisco Enterprise Routers directly. We buy through a distributor. Then we sell to clients.

Overall, for Cisco Enterprise Routers, I'll say it's a good product. It's really helping, especially with the change in technology. You don't need to change much. As long as you know how to do the setup, it really works. I give it an eight as well, because technology is changing. Technology is changing so catching up sometimes is an issue. I rate this review overall as an eight.

I usually recommend Cisco Enterprise Routers for companies such as Ingram Micro and Redington. These are all the companies I worked with.

When it comes to Cisco Enterprise Routers, in terms of enterprise switching, it supports all the L3 and L2 protocols. It depends on different customer use cases, not the specific features. With respect to the product, they have started with entry-level SMB switches and they also have enterprise switches. In enterprise switches, there are multiple line items such as 92k, 93k, and 95k. It depends on the customer use case, such as campus deployment.

Feature-wise, when it comes to a network switch, it supports the basic L2 and L3 protocols. These are all excellent in Cisco Enterprise Routers. Cisco Enterprise Routers are user-friendly with respect to configuration, management, and everything. They have a next-gen product and support all the latest technology. The scalability and the inbuilt operating system support all future scaling and cloud-native features. Whenever we are designing the solution, it depends on the customer use case.

Integrated security is there by default with segmented products. From the L2 switch and the L3 switch, depending on the segment product, they have inbuilt security. They integrate with their security products, not on the networking product. They have a common platform to integrate the network and security products together.

For example, Cisco Meraki has a single platform to manage network and security products. They have NAC solutions, such as Cisco ICE (Identity Service Engine), which is a network access control system that controls complete user and device presence in the network. That is where they have multiple security integration compatibilities within the Cisco product.

For external security product integration, if customers use wired and wireless products in Cisco but want to integrate a NAC solution with vendors such as HP Aruba, Juniper, Extreme, or FortiNAC, they have cross-integrated platforms available. If they have an end-to-end same product portfolio, they have 100% visibility on the asset. With cross-platforms, there are some deviations in monitoring. They do not have 100% visibility when using multi-product, multi-platform products in the same corporate environment.

I'm not sure what improvements could be made on the configuration scale since I'm not involved in complete configuration. Currently, it works effectively and they are incorporating AI adoption.

Commercially and financially, the pricing is too high. Customers feel that Cisco Enterprise Routers will not offer the most competitive prices. If they can work on pricing, it would be easier for customers who are considering local products. In India, the government has implemented the Make in India initiative, and Cisco has established a manufacturing unit there.

Regarding security products, they need to improve market reach, marketing, and training. While Cisco Enterprise Routers are user-friendly for network and wireless platforms, security product configuration and integration are considered complex compared to FortiGate, Check Point, Sophos, and Palo Alto. They have introduced solutions such as Cloud Defense Orchestrator and Firewall Manager (FMC), but the reach of Cisco security products in India needs improvement.

I have been working with Cisco Enterprise Routers for almost seven years.

Regarding Cisco Enterprise Routers technical support, I don't have much knowledge on the hands-on configuration side. I only provide consulting on customer product fit and sizing. For technical features, I would need to investigate further.

Positive

When Cisco Enterprise Routers don't fit the budget, I consider all Cisco products, not only switches, routers, and security. Cisco started as a network product company with routers and switches, not as a security company. Though they have all security products in place, people perceive them primarily as a network background company.

This perception is changing as the Cisco team reaches out to all regions in India, conducting multiple webinars and technical sessions with partners and distributors. They are projecting their security products and features with the latest technology. This change will happen gradually.

For firewalls, people initially think of Palo Alto, Check Point, and FortiGate as security vendors. Though Cisco Enterprise Routers have better firewalling features, only those who know Cisco completely choose their security products. They are improving their market reach to address this perception.

I am a consultant and provide consulting services for customers rather than doing configurations.

The main areas for improvement are pricing and market reach for security products.

On a scale from one to ten, I rate Cisco Enterprise Routers a seven.

We are mostly using Cisco Enterprise Routers for routing and switching.

When it doesn't fit the budget, we sometimes use Ubiquiti, and mostly we use MikroTik because they are affordable for the lower-end products and market. For corporate clients and government institutions, we mainly implement Cisco Enterprise Routers or rarely implement Huawei and Juniper, though not very much.

The value of Cisco Enterprise Routers isn't about features, it's about stability. The features are comparable across products such as Huawei, as they compete in similar ways. However, regarding stability, Cisco Enterprise Routers performs much better.

Regarding throughput, being an ISP, we handle very high bandwidth. In the Kenyan local market, high bandwidth means one gig or 500 MB. Having one gig throughput that remains stable is excellent compared to competitors such as Huawei, which is Cisco Enterprise Routers' main competitor in our local market.

Regarding the Wi-Fi connection and setup, we need superior coverage because our market has extensive vegetation. When setting up Cisco Enterprise Routers Wi-Fi in institutions such as campuses, there are always challenges. People often opt for Ubiquiti, not because of their features, but because of the Wi-Fi signal stability.

Cisco Enterprise Routers has made improvements in making configurations more user-friendly with dashboards. However, they need to do more as many people prefer simpler configurations rather than using CMD or CLI.

The process of procuring Cisco Enterprise Routers equipment through channel partners needs improvement. The partners are limited compared to other products. It's cheaper to purchase Cisco Enterprise Routers equipment from the UK than from a local distributor. When purchased off-channel, the equipment is much cheaper than through the channel. This affects our ability to compete in government tenders where price is crucial, even when we can provide warranty, licenses, and renewability.

We have been using Cisco Enterprise Routers for over 10 years.

Technical support has been satisfactory overall. When you get a ticket and connect with the right person, the support is excellent, helping from beginning to end. However, connecting with the right person can be challenging, which is why I rate it at eight out of ten.

Positive

Cisco Enterprise Routers is the best option in the market for routers, though their prices are somewhat higher. The choice depends on the class of clients. Corporate clients and government institutions typically choose Cisco Enterprise Routers, while small business enterprises opt for cheaper alternatives.

The technology is currently performing well. I'm uncertain about their position in AI, but if they develop systems that can be auto-configured, it would make operations easier. I believe they are working on something in this space. I rate Cisco Enterprise Routers a nine out of ten.

The use case for Cisco Enterprise Routers is that this product is used as a gateway router towards the ISP.

This product will be used as an enterprise router at the branch level to connect one branch to another if we have the MPLS kind of connectivity.

The best features of Cisco Enterprise Routers are not just about the feature itself, but it's about the Cisco services and support.

The software and bug level addressing for the other features support and update, such as vulnerability and any new feature or if a customer faces an issue that requires a developed and customer-based image, that Cisco also provides.

Cisco Enterprise Routers are quite good in terms of performance based on the model and the placement of the router, and I have seen very good performance.

In terms of improvement, Cisco Enterprise Routers are already stable and that's quite good; however, I see an improvement that could be made in product availability where we face some challenges, such as raising a request and the product not being available locally.

During that time, they do offer some replacement model of similar features, but sometimes customers want to push the same configuration, and if we provide a different model of router, the interface name and everything will be different, leading to a reconfiguration. In that scenario, it becomes a rework situation that we face sometimes, but that is not constant.

It's difficult to specify what features I would want in future updates for Cisco Enterprise Routers because Cisco has a very broad portfolio including SD-WAN, and for SD-WAN routers, they have the capability to use an SD-WAN router or an edge router, so I don't see anything specifically lacking at this point.

I have been working with Cisco Enterprise Routers for three to four years.

When I deployed Cisco Enterprise Routers, it was straightforward, and I didn't face any issues.

The deployment of Cisco Enterprise Routers depends on the type of features a customer wants.

The deployment of Cisco Enterprise Routers may take just a few hours if the design is not complex; otherwise, if the device design is complex, then it will take one to two days.

These are stable products.

We rate the modular design for network expansion in Cisco Enterprise Routers highly.

The modular design is highly scalable.

Cisco Enterprise Routers are modular routers that are beneficial for scaling or expanding, allowing us to add additional modules to serve various purposes, such as additional ports or links, and they even provide additional switching modules for local connectivity.

The best features of Cisco Enterprise Routers are not just about the feature itself, but it's about the Cisco services and support.

Positive

I find licensing costs for Cisco Enterprise Routers to be expensive.

Financially speaking, if we are using the old licensing model, when you want to upgrade, they do offer some flexibility if you are running on an existing license.

I don't rate it higher because from a pricing level, they are very costly.

On a scale from one to ten, I rate Cisco Enterprise Routers an eight.