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Aruba Switches vs Cisco Ethernet Switches vs Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Aruba Switches is 9.7%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 12.8%, down from 18.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Eunice Thirikwa - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable hotel networking enhances return on investment with valuable modular features
There are issues with the distribution side of Aruba Switches. For instance, the distributor in our country cannot sell to neighboring countries, creating complications in project execution. Improving the distribution network across regions would be beneficial. Also, the SFP modules are significantly more expensive than industry peers, which affects cost-effectiveness.
Myint Aung - PeerSpot reviewer
Exceptional network support and AI integration drive performance while suggesting enhancements for future use cases
I work with both HyperFlex and other Cisco products. I prefer to make online support available because I can utilize my CCIE architect, solution consultant, and engineer team along with our account manager and product sales team. We can clarify requirements and decide how to support you. We should arrange a conference call about Cisco Ethernet Switches where I can invite my architect and consultant to clarify more about the features that are most beneficial for improving network efficiency. Today is AI day, and all the new firmware includes AI to optimize the performance, traffic, and security of Cisco Ethernet Switches. It's performing very well. With many solutions and vendors available, you have to decide on one. I am extremely satisfied with the licensing cost for Cisco Ethernet Switches. For the price of Cisco Ethernet Switches, I would rate it a 7. My overall rating for Cisco Ethernet Switches is 10 out of 10.
FauzanRahmanto - PeerSpot reviewer
Have achieved lower costs and gained reliability with some room for better scalability
The security capabilities of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches are comparable to other brands, so there are no additional points for Juniper regarding the security systems. I would rate the price of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten. Regarding stability, I would rate Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches a nine out of ten. I would recommend Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches to other organizations because it is easy to use, the command is easy to learn, and it is very stable. I chose Juniper as my primary vendor because it is very stable, reliable, and the price is lower than competitors. I am the person who usually does the maintenance alone. In my office, my two colleagues and I are the network engineers directly responsible for the operation of the EX devices. The number of users in my organization who have access to Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is around 17 people. Overall, I would rate Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features are the stability and compatibility with other products."
"I like how Aruba switches integrate with On."
"The most valuable feature is the security that these switches provide."
"I find the most valuable feature is it is part of the Aruba family."
"Aruba is very easy to use, the GUI is very good and the command line is quite similar to Cisco, so it is very easy to configure."
"I use Aruba Switches in Sri Lanka for their flexibility and reliability."
"The solution is scalable."
"The advantage I found is that they can be used as both on-premises devices and cloud-managed devices, with the option for an additional license to become cloud devices. This flexibility is very valuable to us."
"The solution's valuable features are the speed of network transfer, it can transfer four to six gigabits per second."
"The Cisco Ethernet switches are sturdy products that do not require any kind of maintenance."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are stable."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches have great enterprise features like Cisco DNA Assurance. Cisco DNA Assurance features advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning. Cisco AI Network Analytics, a capability within Cisco DNA Assurance, allows easy management of all devices and services, prioritizes and resolves network issues, and ensures a better user experience across the network."
"One main feature of this solution is the POE switches."
"The stability is 100%."
"The features that I have found most valuable with Cisco switches are that once you get your configuration you can rest assured that it will work. The OS is not going to be failing intermittently or anything like that. Once you get your configuration end-goal right, the firmware and the OS are usually very stable enough to work a long time without support. Support is needed once in a while. My experience is that the Cisco switches are usually rocket."
"The queue functionality is the solution's most valuable feature, specifically because we are delivering a lot of Layer 2 services. Layer 2 protocol tunnels work well on Cisco switches."
"Juniper EX series switches offer great technology, particularly their Virtual Chassis technology, which is an excellent feature for stacking switches and functions like a single virtual switch."
"The virtual Chassis feature for stacking is good in general, with high bandwidth for the link, which is good."
"I chose Juniper as my primary vendor because it is very stable, reliable, and the price is lower than competitors."
"The solution is stable and scalable."
"Both Juniper and Cisco switches are interoperable."
"Compared to Cisco, Juniper offers better stability and low prices."
"The main benefits that solutions such as the Juniper products provide are their reliability."
"It's pretty good as compared to other vendors."
 

Cons

"It would be better and easier for us to buy if the price were reduced."
"We had an issue with the hardware where one or two interfaces went down after one and a half years. This issue impacted only one or two interfaces, not the whole hardware."
"The interface could be more user-friendly and the dashboard could be improved."
"They should provide training courses for certification, and have it available on the internet."
"I would prefer it if they reduced the cost of the switches and the access points."
"There are issues with the distribution side of Aruba Switches."
"The element of security always can be improved. If the solution continues to improve its security functionality, it will continue to be a great product."
"We've had issues with availability."
"Cisco has a lot of propriety protocols compared to other products, such as Arista Networks."
"Network setup is quite complicated, particularly if you're implementing in a non-technical environment."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches is a very expensive solution."
"In terms of what could be improved, there is the bulk issue that is sometimes experienced with Cisco products we've used."
"The local support resources for Cisco in Bangledesh are very poor and should be increased."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches could improve if they removed the command line interface and replaced it with a better GUI. It is too difficult at the moment, we always need to figure out the commands."
"The interface and dashboard could look better."
"It would be nice if they had higher wattage for PoE+."
"The management platforms for the network need improvement."
"Stability could be better, especially during a reboot. We have had some issues recently with the software getting corrupt on reboot, which causes a lot of downtime."
"The initial setup of switches is not that simple."
"Their web GUI interface needs to be a lot better, especially when compared to HP. The command line is good, but you have to know how to get around it. The GUI is clunky and very slow."
"In an upcoming release, Juniper Ethernet Switches could improve by having more microservices."
"The interface could be better. It needs improvement."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is not cheap. The tool needs improvement in UI."
"EX switches take too long to boot when we restart them for maintenance. We need to minimize downtime. Another issue is the command line interface. Juniper's commands are different from other switches, so it's hard to remember them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is a little expensive for customers from other countries."
"Aruba Switches are quite cost-effective."
"Aruba switches cost between $500 and $600 more than similar products by Huawei, as well as many other brands."
"The cost depends on the requirement. An extensive network will expand the budget. The price will be lower if there is a small requirement of one to ten switches. In comparison, Aruba is less costly than Cisco by about 10-20%."
"There is a license required if you want to use wireless controls for micro-segmentation. However, for Aruba Switches there is no license required."
"There is not a switch that I would give more than six out of ten for pricing because, over the last year, the prices have been increasing very high."
"Comparing with Cisco, and some other solutions, it's a cheap product."
"Typically it is a $500 to $600 difference in price."
"Its price is very high, but it is a good device. Cisco must work on its price. Other solutions provide a better price for similar functionalities."
"Price is a pain point for us. We've lost a lot of bids, and the reason has been that we majorly quoted Cisco devices. Some of our competitors quoted other devices like Ubiquity or Microchip. Some even quoted this Chinese product TP-Link, and they won the bid over us because we quoted Cisco. Meanwhile, the major reason why we quoted Cisco is reliability and stability from day one. They also last longer. The prices could be worked on so that they become more affordable. We had to deploy a city-wide WiFi network, and we were working in conjunction with Google. Because of the price, even Google recommended a product called Ruckus, so we used Ruckus over Cisco. Its price and license were the main reasons. You have to pay to renew the license every year. Even though you also renew the licenses for Ruckus, but they are much cheaper than Cisco. So, while I would recommend Cisco any time, the trouble remains with the pricing."
"It is expensive. There are additional costs besides the license cost."
"The price is a bit on the high side."
"Cisco is quite expensive. In our market, a lot of customers are forced to go with something else because they cannot afford a brand-new Cisco even though they know a Cisco switch will be more reliable."
"Pricing for this product is high but the cost is worth it if you can afford it."
"The last time I bought a 24-port switch, which was a while ago, I paid about five or six thousand Euros. In this part of the world, that's quite expensive for us."
"Not inexpensive. Price will vary widely depending on the chosen product and size of the deployment."
"It's was $100,000 per year."
"You don't need to license every switch. We only chose to cover support on core/key equipment and keep a cold spare available when needed."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches could be less expensive. There is not a license needed to use the solution."
"We had a leakage in the support process and decided to end the product's life in order to purchase a new product with support. We did not renew product support as a result."
"We don't need to pay for the solution's features."
"The pricing for the support is very high."
"The Juniper switches are less expensive than competing brands."
"This solution is cheaper than Cisco or HP switches."
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Comparison Review

it_user82779 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 29, 2014
Benefits of Juniper vs Cisco
Both are decent products. I prefer Juniper for the following reasons: 1) Cleaner separation of data plane from control plane. Higher end Cisco devices are better at this but most of the lower end products still seem to be more integrated than I like. 2) The Hierarchical config design means I can…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Switches?
Aruba lives up to the expectations of the tech giant hewlett packard enterprise providing excellent networking capabi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Switches?
The cost of Aruba Switches is based on the price per device. The cost depends on the model. We have 24-port switches,...
What needs improvement with Aruba Switches?
We are not using all the features as we actually have multiple vendors, and I'm not an expert technically for Aruba S...
Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?
Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing func...
Which would you choose - Fortinet Fortiswitch secure access or Cisco Ethernet Switches?
We researched Cisco but ultimately chose Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access, mostly because of the price. Fortinet F...
In terms of ethernet switches, would you go with Cisco or Juniper?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Cisco or Juniper Ethernet switches were the better fit for...
What advice do you have for others considering Juniper Ethernet Switches?
Juniper EX model is ok for the campus network as the ex4300 is EOL in a few years and the new ex4400 is the standard....
What is your primary use case for Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches?
We deal mostly with Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches products, as we are partners with Juniper products. We work w...
 

Also Known As

8400 Series, 8320 Series, 5400R Series, 3810 Series, 2930M Series, 2930F Series, 2920 Series, 2540 Series, 2530 Series
Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
Juniper Ethernet Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Purdue University
Linz AG
BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Netgear and others in Ethernet Switches. Updated: August 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.