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Cisco Enterprise Routers vs Juniper MX Series Routers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Enterprise Routers
Ranking in Routers
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper MX Series Routers
Ranking in Routers
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Routers is 19.5%, down from 25.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper MX Series Routers is 13.0%, up from 11.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Routers
 

Featured Reviews

Hafiz Umar Farooq - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows us to configure NAS through Cisco activities and to create GRE channels with different sites
You cannot configure internet policies or other options on Cisco routers. If you have a very limited budget, you can't afford two different pieces of equipment, and you can't afford yearly licensing. I would like Cisco to launch a small business router that has firewall capabilities as well. It would be a great initiative for small businesses. I would like to see two additional features: a remote access VPN with the MFA, multifactor authentication capabilities. At the moment, the ISR series only supports MFA, but not every company likes to use that tool. I think Cisco needs to consider MFA for the remote access VPN and should incorporate other MFA solutions as well. I would also like there to be some firewall features included in the routers. I'm not talking about a full-fledged firewall feature, but a limited set of features that can be used on the small and medium-sized enterprise level. These two features would be a great initiative. I would also like to recommend the licensing feature. Previously, the Cisco licensing model was either a perpetual or annual smart license. Now, Cisco has totally shifted over to the smart licensing feature, and perpetual licenses are about to be eliminated from Cisco. The licensing feature is a bit costly if we compare it to other vendors. The licensing features of the F5 are perpetual, but the support has periodic renewal. The license to use Cisco features like a firewall or the routers are actually yearly based and not perpetual. The lead times are extremely high. Normally, it's six to eight months initially, and they prolong it to up to one year for new device delivery by Cisco. If you say you need a brand new router, switch, or fiber from Cisco within one month, you will never get it, unless some stock is readily available with your vendor. Otherwise, it will initially take six to eight months, and then that will be prolonged to one year. This is what we're experiencing with our clients right now.
Kushtrim Arifi - PeerSpot reviewer
Highly scalable, especially suitable for complex and large-scale network deployments
The "Commit" feature stands out. When you try to commit commands, you have some options like sandbox config, leaving those temporary for 60 seconds. This feature allows you to commit configuration changes to the candidate configuration, and then review them for errors before committing them to the active configuration. Another feature that I like is the integration with Cisco routers. This allows you to connect Juniper MX routers to Cisco routers and have them work together seamlessly. We never have interoperability issues.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco has one of the best products in terms of routing because of the protocols in which they provide."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is its ability to implement layer three protocols and layer two protocols like OSPS in BSS and BSC environments, with the Nexus Cisco 7000."
"Cisco Enterprise Routers is reliable and secure."
"It's a sound solution, so it's very easy to solve problems without a support contract, as mainly the problems we have related to the equipment can be solved by doing a Google search."
"Its routers are versatile, reliable, and capable."
"Cisco Routers are quite robust. They don't malfunction, and we've had no complaints so far."
"The most valuable features are stability and the initial setup wizard."
"These routers are stable and I don't know of any problems with them."
"Juniper MX Series Routers are easy to configure and easy to back up."
"The solution is pretty easy to set up after a bit of training."
"Juniper Enterprise Routers is very flexible."
"The full Internet DGP is a valuable feature."
"The stability of Juniper is better than Cisco's."
"I think that the extensions are very valuable. The way you can test the configuration before applying that configuration permanently is very helpful. The rollback configuration is also very useful."
"The performance is good."
"The most valuable feature is the standard routing protocol."
 

Cons

"If they can negate or reduce the modem delay, that would be great."
"I would like to see more boundaries and better performance."
"If I only have one LAN port in which I want to connect more than one device, I have to buy an add-on card so that I can have two LAN ports. The smaller devices and low-end routers have about four LAN ports. This solution is a high-end device but has only one. It would be preferable if they offered more LAN ports."
"The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required to be made by making it cheaper."
"It only breaks if you're not using an up-to-date version of the iOS or are not doing upgrades."
"Cisco Enterprise Routers could improve by making their solution more user-friendly. Currently, users need to have extensive knowledge of networking to use them because there is only a command-line interface for the configuration. They should add a graphical interface to allow junior users guidance and more flexibility when doing the configuration."
"Tends to have a short life cycle."
"The solution is expensive and difficult to manage."
"There are areas for improvement in Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches. One aspect that could be enhanced is the pricing; many clients acknowledge the quality of Juniper switches but find the pricing challenging, especially when compared to competitors like Huawei. Additionally, from a feature perspective, there's a desire for improved clarity and ease of configuration in Juniper switches. Some users find it difficult to understand and configure certain aspects, necessitating the use of external tools. This complexity, especially for Internet service providers, can be a barrier. Addressing these concerns could further strengthen the position of Juniper switches in the market."
"We'd like them to be capable of adding firewall options to the license."
"If you are setting up a site-to-site VPN between a Juniper and Cisco device then you may encounter some issues."
"We'd appreciate it if they had a better GUI. It would be more flexible for the customers that way."
"The third-level customer support coming from Juniper itself could be much better. To get assistance from Juniper, we sometimes have to wait for weeks and months. I don't really appreciate that. Their support should be faster."
"One thing that the product can do better is clustering. Rather than just having two of them, it would help if there was one cluster to extend to more notes in the cluster itself."
"The initial setup is not easy."
"Currently, I don't have specific concerns or ideas for improvement. Regarding functionalities, I appreciate the user interface of Juniper Elite. Additionally, I'm exploring the use of Juniper Routers in a Parliament environment, particularly with Baragon, and so far, I find it to be a valuable feature. We're currently facing an issue as we're in the process of building and dealing with the software, specifically transitioning from R2 to RC. It's like when there is an update in the routers, and in the process, there are chances to end up losing some of your settings. The challenge arises because the recommended configurations for RC do not align with our features, necessitating a reevaluation of many features. It would have been more efficient if the initial recommendation had been for RC, avoiding the need to redo our research. This has resulted in a loss of time for us, and we've encountered this situation multiple times."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco is mid-tier in terms of pricing and quite affordable by most enterprises."
"I like the price of the solution."
"I am happy with the price of Cisco Enterprise Routers"
"The licensing fee is okay and matches industry standards, which is the benchmark."
"Cisco's prices could be cheaper."
"It is quite costly. Its price should be reduced."
"There are licensing costs and they are expensive."
"The product is very expensive and does not provide the expected performance for the cost."
"I would rate it around a three. While I'm not deeply involved in pricing discussions, I believe it is comparatively more affordable than Cisco."
"I would rate the pricing model a seven out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. It is not cheap."
"There is a license for this solution and the price is very competitive. The cost is less expensive than some competitors, such as Cisco. There are additional costs for support licenses."
"We have to pay for the device and licensing. The support service requires additional costs."
"The price of this solution is better than other competitors, such as Cisco. We receive a lot of discounts which make the price less expensive and attractive."
"An additional license can be purchased for support of a next-generation firewall."
"The pricing of Juniper MX Series Routers is okay compared to other technologies."
"The solution is more expensive compared to other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How do Cisco Enterprise routers compare with Mikrotik routers and switches?
Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is ve...
What do you like most about Cisco Enterprise Routers?
The most valuable feature of the solution is that it makes it possible for users to use encryption and decryption since our company aims to achieve transparency, and without it, the other system on...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Enterprise Routers?
I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price.
What do you like most about Juniper MX Series Routers?
For the Juniper MX Series Routers, it plays a crucial role in our network. They offer numerous features, enabling multiple connections and handling various reports. The routers efficiently manage ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper MX Series Routers?
I would rate it around a three. While I'm not deeply involved in pricing discussions, I believe it is comparatively more affordable than Cisco.
What needs improvement with Juniper MX Series Routers?
Currently, I don't have specific concerns or ideas for improvement. Regarding functionalities, I appreciate the user interface of Juniper Elite. Additionally, I'm exploring the use of Juniper Route...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Juniper Enterprise Routers, MX Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Boingo, Chartwell School, Children's Hospital of Orange County , Department of Justice, Explorer Pipeline, Linz AG, National Rugby League, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Telecom Italia, Transwestern
AARNet Pty Ltd, Allegro Networks, Atlantech Online, Availity, Baloise Insurance, Black Lotus, CATV, Blue Box
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Enterprise Routers vs. Juniper MX Series Routers and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
862,514 professionals have used our research since 2012.