Sadam Kherisat - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology Consultant- Networking Services at STS
Real User
Top 10
Great for branch connectivity to customers and is a solid solution
Pros and Cons
  • "It is easy to use and is very solid."
  • "The solution could be priced better."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution primarily for branch connectivity for our customers.

What is most valuable?

It is easy to use and is very solid.

What needs improvement?

The solution could be priced better because sometimes it is expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for 18 years and we currently use version 16.6.

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Enterprise Routers
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Enterprise Routers. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is very scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Our experience with customer service and support has been very good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward and was completed in one day.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We recommend using smart licensing with this product because of the positive experience we have had with it.

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution a ten out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Dhanushka Chaitanya - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager - Enterprise Networking Solutions at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 5
Easy to configure with a low failure rate
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."
  • "Cisco could improve by reducing the delays in receiving physical devices."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use for this solution is to connect branch networks to the head office.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration. 

What needs improvement?

Cisco could improve by reducing the delays in receiving physical devices.

For how long have I used the solution?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is scalable as we can fulfill our requirements by adding modules.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco's technical support is very good.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward and took between three to four weeks.

What was our ROI?

We get a good ROI from this solution because the failure rate is very low, which means customers are happy with the lack of maintenance required.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost of this solution is very low compared to other products.

What other advice do I have?

I would give Cisco Enterprise Routers a rating of ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Enterprise Routers
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Enterprise Routers. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
SameerBali - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Architect at Syriatel Mobile Telecom
Real User
Top 5
High availability, reliable, and has good technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "They are the most stable, have the highest availability, and are the most reliable on the market."
  • "The price could be lowered."

What is our primary use case?

I use Cisco Routers in a variety of technologies, including TLS, BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, VRF policy-based routing, and VPN in some routers.

What is most valuable?

They are the most stable, have the highest availability, and are the most reliable on the market.

What needs improvement?

The price could be lowered.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Enterprise Routers for ten years.

We are not using the most recent version, but it is not the oldest.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Enterprise Routers is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco Enterprise Routers is a scalable product.

We have more than 500 users in our company. We have a team of 50 IT technicians in our company and 5,000 employees that are distributed in approximately 70 locations in the country. Each location has Cisco Enterprise Routers on its premises.

How are customer service and support?

We are pleased with Cisco's technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I use many of the Enterprise Routers. I use now Cisco Routers 4420, 4431, 4450. I use IOS, IOS XE.

How was the initial setup?

I have deployed many routers. All of our technologies have been applied to the routers.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We don't need a license if we use IOS for basic, IT-related tasks. However, if we want to use a security feature, advanced IT features, video conferencing, voice conferencing, or UT, we must purchase a license for each of these features.

Cisco Enterprise Routers are not the cheapest routers on the market, they are expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution other others who are considering it.

I would rate Cisco Enterprise Routers an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Network telecommunications administrator at Comtel Technologies
Real User
Good tech support for a stable and well-priced solution
Pros and Cons
  • "I am pleased with the technical support."
  • "The installation process should be simplified, since it is quite complex in a new version."

What is our primary use case?

We use IOS XE version 17.

What is most valuable?

I like the price of the solution and the ability to take advantage of it as fast as we want. 

What needs improvement?

Sometimes, it can take a while to get used to a new version or additions which are made and this involves us going to the note and doing a lot of reading. There are many changes of which we are not aware. The technology should be addressed, the new protocols that are incorporated in a new version. A new way for registering the equipment might be needed. It can be hard for us to deploy a new version, as we lack the knowledge for its use. 

The installation process should be simplified, since it is quite complex in a new version.

There are simply too many changes taking place. While we are still in the process of learning how to use a new version, another is sent. 

French language capabilities should be added. It is hard for us to adequately express ourselves in English. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Enterprise Routers for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is quite stable, no bugs or glitches. Based on my experience, I can confirm that this is true of the new version. 

How are customer service and support?

I am pleased with the technical support. In my experience with the TAC team, which provides us with technical assistance, I have found it to be very useful. The moment an issue arises, we open a ticket and receive the help we need. 

How was the initial setup?

The installation process should be simplified, since it is quite complex in a new version.

There are two many changes taking place. While we are still in the process of learning how to use a new version, another is sent. It can be hard for us to deploy a new version, as we lack the knowledge for its use.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I like the price of the solution. 

What other advice do I have?

We act as the integrators of the solution. 

I would certainly recommend the solution to others. 

I rate Cisco Enterprise Routers as an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Intergator
PeerSpot user
Deputy Director at a sports company with 201-500 employees
Real User
A reliable product that does not require any major changes
Pros and Cons
  • "In itself, Cisco is a reliable product and does not require any major change."
  • "Cisco routers are an expensive product."

What is our primary use case?

We perform immigration checks in Pakistan. We have around 26 distributed check posts across Pakistan. We need network links to collect the data, implement the stop list, and other immigration-related data.

How has it helped my organization?

For immigration, we use an MIS system that helps the immigration personnel. This requires a network infrastructure at its core. We need to ensure the availability of data and to ensure data security.  round 90 to 95 people use it within our organization.

What is most valuable?

In itself, Cisco is a reliable product and does not require any major changes. We have utilized Cisco for around 15 years, and in that time, there has hardly been any incident to my knowledge that a router suddenly became faulty, or started to malfunction. Cisco is an excellent and very comprehensive product, and we have no issues with that.

What needs improvement?

It's not really about how Cisco can be improved, but the utilities around it. For example, Fortinet has a good firewall and useful auditing tools with it. It also allows establishing centralize infrastructure, just by installing a Fortinet client software, VPN software, at the client end. However, we know that Cisco is also providing such a product in the name of AnyConnect. It is a concern over the cost aspect because of the budget we have available, Fortinet is much cheaper than the Cisco product, including the functionalities it provides. Cisco routers are an expensive product. Regarding Cisco usage in the future, it depends upon the increase in the immigration checkpoints. If our government decided to open 10 more immigration checkpoints, and other sites related to those, it would require more procuring of hardware, including the number of routers to support this. 


For how long have I used the solution?

We have been utilizing Cisco routers and switches, since 2004. We are a police organization in Pakistan.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We still use the Cisco router 1721 Modular Access Router, which is now obsolete but still works. It is very stable. We have some very old, like 16, 17 years, old models. We have been using Cisco for around 15, or 16 years. We are satisfied with Cisco. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's highly scalable. There should always be provision for scalability, as we procure many routers with modular capability. For example, we know that modular routers are capable of extension via WAN interfaces and other interfaces.

How are customer service and technical support?

We are very much satisfied with Cisco technical support.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Some companies provide initial licenses very cheaply, as do Cisco, but when you want to renew or expand something, the licensing becomes expensive. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The network team proposes that we might utilize Fortinet instead of Cisco in the future. There is no problem with Cisco, but this is when we might move towards Fortinet because Fortinet can provide these things that are very much cheaper than Cisco, including additional resources.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate cisco 9 out of 10. Cisco is the network equipment leader. It introduces new features; it's the trend maker. The trade-off is cost. Cisco is highly recommended, subject to the availability of funds. It's all about the resources you have and how much you want to invest. We are the customer. However, we are also studying Fortinet and its comparisons and things like those to finalize the procurement process.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user

Very interesting 

PeerSpot user
Solutions Architect at Terrific Tech
Real User
Top 20
A stable solution with good technical support for interconnecting our branch offices
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco has one of the best products in terms of routing because of the protocols in which they provide."
  • "In terms of room for improvement, I think that there is a need for additional administration."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for interconnecting our branch offices. We have six branches in addition to our head office.

All of our routers are on-premises deployments.

What is most valuable?

The Cisco routers are very stable.

We can use these routers for multiple links, so in terms of scalability, it's a plus for us.

Cisco has one of the best products in terms of routing because of the protocols in which they provide.

What needs improvement?

In terms of room for improvement, I think that there is a need for additional administration. We have seen other products, such as the Cisco Email Security Appliance and the Cisco Web Security Appliance, now have a web-based interface. We would like to see this in the routers, as well. It would make our administration easier.

Considering the increase in data that is being processed across networks, I think that increasing the CPU size to boost processing power would be wise. People are now trying to do more analytics, so this would be helpful.

I think that it would be better for analytics if the local storage, on the router itself, were increased. This would allow us to store more data for analysis as we are trying to secure our network.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for about six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a very stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of this solution is good.

These routers support a user base of about seven hundred and fifty people. We do not immediately plan on increasing our usage, although as the economy grows, we can see increasing our user base to perhaps one thousand users in two years. It will increase as we open more branch offices.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have reached out to Cisco's technical support, and in the past six years, the service and support have been excellent. We are happy with the turnaround times.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Cisco is very a popular vendor in this country, so I have been using Cisco products all along, in terms of routing. I have not been exposed to other technologies.

How was the initial setup?

The basic setup is pretty straightforward, although we have reached out to Cisco for help when we needed to implement tight security and integration with other Cisco products.

We have a technical team of about ten people who manage these routers. There are six system administrations and three people in the head office.

What about the implementation team?

We used our Cisco Premier Partner, who are local, to assists us with these solutions.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cisco is mid-tier in terms of pricing and quite affordable by most enterprises.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

There are some people trying to introduce other technology such as Check Point and Juniper, but our Enterprise customers rely on Cisco.

What other advice do I have?

Mostly, this is a very good product.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Infrastructure and Security Officer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 10
Good support and documentation with excellent reliability
Pros and Cons
  • "We have found the technology to be excellent. It provides a lot of services."
  • "When we buy new hardware, since we are in Latin America, we have a very long wait in terms of getting the devices."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution as an administrator and have experience with VPNs.

What is most valuable?

The support is very good.

We have found the technology to be excellent. It provides a lot of services.

The documentation provided by Cisco is very good. If we run into any issues, we know we can get help or figure things out via documentation or support.

It's stable and reliable.

The setup is easy.

The solution can scale. 

What needs improvement?

When we buy new hardware, since we are in Latin America, we have a very long wait in terms of getting the devices. We might wait six to eight months for delivery once we buy it. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for over ten years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco is very stable. I'd rate them nine out of ten. They are reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. I'd rate the scalability eight out of ten. 

How are customer service and support?

The support is great and they also have very good documentation. If we need help, it's no trouble finding an answer. That said, I have had a few cases that lasted a bit longer than expected. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The setup is pretty straightforward. I'd rate it eight out of ten. The process is very simple. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is pretty high. I'd rate it six out of ten as it can be very expensive for some appliances compared to the competition. 

What other advice do I have?

We are Cisco customers. 

As long as you have the certifications and training, Cisco is very easy to configure and operate. I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. I've very happy with Cisco.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Handell Watson - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Watronix Information Technology Ltd
Reseller
Beneficial proprietor routing protocol, highly reliable, and helpful support
Pros and Cons
  • "The main reason for using Cisco Routers is for the proprietor routing protocol that it has."
  • "The security could improve for Cisco Enterprise Routers. I understand there's a security appliance that is separate, but in terms of the router, there can be improvements made to prevent unwanted users from accessing the router or trying to manipulate the traffic that is passing through it."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Metro circuits to connect branches on the different bins and I use Cisco Enterprise Routers to route the traffic.

What is most valuable?

The main reason for using Cisco Routers is for the proprietor routing protocol that it has.

What needs improvement?

The security could improve for Cisco Enterprise Routers. I understand there's a security appliance that is separate, but in terms of the router, there can be improvements made to prevent unwanted users from accessing the router or trying to manipulate the traffic that is passing through it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Enterprise Routers for approximately 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Enterprise Routers is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not had a problem with the stability of Cisco Enterprise Routers.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate the technical support of Cisco Enterprise Routers an eight out of ten.

Having to do system troubleshooting and assisting takes time out from the operation of the business. From an operational or technical standpoint, we who install or implement the devices need to be hands-on. Especially when it's a physical problem, not necessarily programming or configuration. There are times when you have issues with a module or it's not operating the way it's supposed to operate and you don't know if it's a manufacturer cause. Trying to troubleshoot these issues should be easier.

Okay. Right. And what advice would you give to other people who want to implement Cisco Enterprise Routers?

How was the initial setup?

I am a trained Cisco engineer, the implementation was not that complicated.

What other advice do I have?

Based on my experience with other routers, Cisco has proven to be reliable. And from the routing aspect of things, it is really the product of choice for most of my customers. Whenever they want to implement any networking, most of them will request Cisco products.

I rate Cisco Enterprise Routers a nine out of ten.

Comparing the 3900 to the 3800 routers, the class of routers has improved over the 3800. Most of the modules are gigabit ports and you can receive 10 gig ports with them, compared to the older version where it's a 100 megabit port. 

Based on how the industry is going, where most connections are way over 100 megabits. If you're receiving an internet connection from a business customer, it's going to be more than 100 megabits, and sometimes 250 megs, or even 500 megabits. To have a router that is 100 megabits defeats the purpose of having a faster internet connection. The 3900 Series really solved that problem, where there are gigabit ports. If you want to aggregate ports to receive, for example, 10 gigabits or more, you can always do that by putting in a module SSP port. It has improved a lot.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
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