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Cisco Enterprise Routers vs Juniper MX Series Routers vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch 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 May 2026, in the Routers category, the mindshare of Cisco Enterprise Routers is 14.2%, down from 20.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper MX Series Routers is 12.2%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is 8.7%, up from 7.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Routers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Enterprise Routers14.2%
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch8.7%
Juniper MX Series Routers12.2%
Other64.9%
Routers
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2759889 - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre-Sales Technical Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Has supported robust enterprise deployments and management while pricing and market reach for advanced features need attention
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.
Atul Torne - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Backbone Architect at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
Routing has supported carrier-grade services and has needed more affordable security options
The features of Juniper MX Series Routers that I find most useful are its nice scalability, redundant power supply, and routing engines. Redundancy is maintained in the router itself, including power redundancy and routing engine redundancy. The routers run mostly all the protocols required for the managed service provider, and security-wise, they also have good features, allowing us to provide IPSec VPN services from the routers. These are the basic, mostly used features that we are utilizing. For Deep Packet Inspection, Juniper MX Series Routers have firewall filters and commands related to routing engine protection, and then packet inspection features are configured. In traffic management with Juniper MX Series Routers, I leverage the policer, shapers, and quality of service parameters for traffic management. I also use OSPF traffic engineering features and MPLS-TE; these are a few features that I employ for traffic management.
Andriejus Artamonovas - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees
Has supported deeper configuration through traffic mirroring and advanced VLAN setup
The main reason why MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is usually chosen is its raw performance to price ratio. In comparison to UniFi switches, MikroTik Cloud Router Switch can mirror all ports for traffic inspection for further traffic analysis, which UniFi cannot do. VLANs in MikroTik Cloud Router Switch are always useful. The way MikroTik implements VLAN-aware switching at the bridge level is hidden in the configuration. Making CRS work as a simple VLAN-aware switch requires deeper configuration, which is not intuitive. VLANs support individual interfaces not part of the bridge, allowing for double VLANing. You can create a VLAN interface in the interfaces context and also create a bridge interface, add physical ports, create VLANs for that bridge interface, and assign tagged and untagged ports and VLANs. Load balancing is one of the key components. The feature itself is quite efficient and works reliably on MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. The very basic setup is one of my favorites because they have their protocol where I can connect through the MAC address right on Layer 2, and I don't lose connectivity to the switch if I mess up with bridging or IP addressing.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The VPN is the most valuable feature of this solution. The basic clients who don't use the VPN use it mostly for connectivity."
"This solution is both stable and scalable."
"The performance is good."
"The most valuable features of this solution are MPLS, BGP, and VRF."
"Once you plug it in, you can basically forget about it because there are never any issues."
"The most valuable feature is that we can specify the routing policies for our traffic."
"If you want an easy solution to keep your network running in a very short time, Cisco Enterprise Routers is a good option."
"This solution helps us with our inter-network constitution, and that works for us."
"The performance is good."
"It is a very stable product."
"I have found the most useful features to be layered VPNs, IPsec, VPLS, and firewall filters."
"The most valuable feature is the standard routing protocol."
"In my opinion, Juniper Routers are more stable than Cisco Routers."
"It offers high protection and I like it."
"The full Internet DGP is a valuable feature."
"Technical support is great, they are responsible and experienced, and we have been satisfied with the level of support we get."
"It is easy to set up the solution."
"The main reason why MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is usually chosen is its raw performance to price ratio."
"The most valuable feature is that it has better throughput than its competitors."
"Regarding security and visibility in monitoring, it is very good, the GUI is very intuitive, and it has many more features than those from major vendors."
"The best aspect is that it remains affordable."
"This product is easy to configure."
"The interface management and the user access management is pretty good."
"The solution works very well for us; the performance has been good and it's been stable for now."
 

Cons

"The cost is the biggest drawback of Cisco products. They say you'll never get fired for buying Cisco, but it's going to cost you."
"The automation capabilities need improvement."
"The price is very high here in Egypt. Cisco devices are the most expensive."
"The solution isn't too scalable. It's not modular. You have to size everything correctly."
"Recently, there seems to be a lot of people who are leaning towards Juniper CLI, which is easier to pick up."
"This solution is scalable but it does need some improvements."
"In Bangladesh, we do not have any expert-level support. We are having many issues implementing the DNS system."
"It would be good if Cisco Enterprise Routers could improve their integration with other vendors. For example the AGLP protocol is supported by Cisco and not by any other vendors."
"The security features could be better."
"In terms of improvement, I would like for it to effectively protect against the broadcast storms, multicast storms, and DDoS attacks."
"Juniper Enterprise Routers could improve by adding a graphical user interface(GUI). They do not have one. Most of our team has to have a background or expertise in Juniper. When compared to other solutions, they have a GUI. It will be easier for new team members to get familiar with, configure, or set up the router. Additionally, adding some monitoring tools would help us."
"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."
"In my opinion, to improve Juniper MX Series Routers, Juniper should make the MS-MIC card required for IPSec support more affordable, as it is currently costly."
"The price of this solution should be improved."
"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."
"The solution could improve by providing enhancements to built-in SDN or SDWAN."
"The initial setup is complex."
"Aspects such as zero trust, security, and management interface could be improved, which would be useful."
"Improvements are needed with respect to some of the security, especially for VPN links between vendors other than Cisco."
"Technical support could be better."
"MikroTik Cloud Router Switch needs improvement in the area of security, although the recent models are addressing this."
"If MikroTik had a marketing team and support team in India then it would be much easier for us to get the product, as well as support."
"The user interface could improve and they should allow a license for IBS."
"Antispam and antivirus features should be included in the future."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price should be reduced."
"It is a costly solution."
"We are on a three-year license and since we use the solution in an educational institute it is priced reasonably."
"The cost of this solution is very low compared to other products."
"The licensing policy can sometimes be very complicated."
"Cisco Switches are an expensive product in India. Linksys products are cheaper than Cisco Switches."
"Cisco is mid-tier in terms of pricing and quite affordable by most enterprises."
"Cisco's prices could be cheaper."
"We have to pay for the device and licensing. The support service requires additional costs."
"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."
"An additional license can be purchased for support of a next-generation firewall."
"The solution is more expensive compared to other solutions."
"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."
"I would rate the pricing model a seven out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. It is not cheap."
"The prices for Juniper MX Series Routers are reasonable."
"The pricing of Juniper MX Series Routers is okay compared to other technologies."
"The licensing for MikroTik is great. It's easy to enter, especially for small businesses. Their model is great."
"This product has a one-time cost and there is no licensing fee."
"They came with the licensing when we purchased them."
"I consider it to be a cost-effective solution."
"In Pakistan, if you buy this cloud router, it's approximately $700 for the device."
"I believe the price of the tool is high, but it is okay for the services we get from it."
"The price of the solution is fair and there is a one-time license purchase only."
"The price is competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Marketing Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Educational Organization
12%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise44
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise2
 

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. Th...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Enterprise Routers?
It is expensive, but I am not the person purchasing the products; I just handle the configuration.
What needs improvement with Cisco Enterprise Routers?
We do not have any impact for Cisco exactly in protecting sensitive information. The only concern we have across all ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper MX Series Routers?
In terms of pricing, I would rate it comparatively affordable; compared to Cisco, it is quite affordable, and I belie...
What needs improvement with Juniper MX Series Routers?
In my opinion, to improve Juniper MX Series Routers, Juniper should make the MS-MIC card required for IPSec support m...
What is your primary use case for Juniper MX Series Routers?
My use case for Juniper MX Series Routers primarily involves using it as a provider edge router, P router, provider r...
What do you like most about MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?
The tool has impacted our company's network costs and productivity in a perfect manner and percentage-wise, I can say...
What needs improvement with MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?
It can be difficult to identify key functions for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. I experience functionality limitation...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Juniper Enterprise Routers, MX Series, Junos Address Aware
MikroTik CRS 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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, MikroTik, Juniper and others in Routers. Updated: April 2026.
892,646 professionals have used our research since 2012.