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Cisco Enterprise Routers vs Netgate TNSR 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Enterprise Routers
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
112
Ranking in other categories
Routers (1st)
Netgate TNSR
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Routers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Enterprise Routers is designed for Routers and holds a mindshare of 15.6%, down 19.6% compared to last year.
Netgate TNSR, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Routers, holds 16.5% mindshare, down 18.7% since last year.
Routers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Enterprise Routers15.6%
MikroTik Routers and Switches17.9%
Juniper MX Series Routers10.5%
Other56.0%
Routers
Virtual Routers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Netgate TNSR16.5%
VyOS Universal Router20.4%
6WIND Virtual Service Router (VSR)17.1%
Other46.0%
Virtual 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.
JL
Principal Network Engineer at HarborPoint Networks
Achieves exceptional performance and programmability with minimal hardware requirements
Netgate TNSR is a fully-featured router that handles all the technologies that we use. It has a very familiar and intuitive command-line interface. Additionally, it includes an API, which makes it easier to use in a programmatic fashion. It has been a very cost-effective alternative to larger router vendors, and we tend to get better performance out of it for the hardware that we use, achieving over four hundred gigs of throughput with very minimal hardware. Throughput is key to us.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We achieve good performance in our data center."
"I am satisfied with the tool overall. Although I haven't used all of its features yet, it's been great for providing internet access to both customers, and employees within the company."
"I get everything I need from this solution."
"This product is very easy to use."
"Cisco's technical support is very good."
"Our customers have seen return on investment and value for money since implementing Cisco Enterprise Routers, and they have been using Cisco equipment for a long period and continue to return to Cisco for replacement technologies and everything else, so they are happy with Cisco equipment."
"It is issue-free."
"The valuable feature is CLI."
"It is surprisingly high performance for very little total cost of ownership."
"The solution has good performance."
 

Cons

"There have been multiple issues when updating iOS to Cisco routers."
"Pricing structure when it comes to Borderless Networks and PIX firewall routers."
"It's not a fair price, it's a bit too high."
"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."
"When compared to PEPLink, Cisco Enterprise Routers are less flexible, and you cannot have more than one user."
"The solution could be more stable and secure."
"The configuration needs improvement. Most routers, like HP or Aruba, use a UI interface. Those solutions are similar and uniform. It's easier for us compared to Cisco because with Cisco you are not using normal commands. They need to enhance the UI to make it more usable."
"These routers are not easy to use for non-professional users, so simplification is something that would improve this product."
"The scalability could improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco Enterprise Routers are expensive."
"It is quite costly. Its price should be reduced."
"Cisco is mid-tier in terms of pricing and quite affordable by most enterprises."
"I believe licensing fees are paid once per year."
"I am happy with the price of Cisco Enterprise Routers"
"I rate the product's price a six or seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is extremely expensive, and ten is very cheap."
"The licensing fee is okay and matches industry standards, which is the benchmark."
"The product is very expensive and does not provide the expected performance for the cost."
"There is not a license required for this solution but the price should be less expensive."
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise44
No data available
 

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 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?
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'...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Netgate TNSR?
On the market TNSR is the lowest cost, but don't let that throw you off. It is the best cooked product in its space. You do have to maintain your yearly licenses though, so it's a good idea to add ...
What is your primary use case for Netgate TNSR?
We use Netgate TNSR as core routers and edge routers for peering. We have multiple edge routers, and we set up peering with our service providers and other peers on those edge routers. We also have...
What advice do you have for others considering Netgate TNSR?
I would absolutely recommend Netgate TNSR. It is surprisingly high performance for very little total cost of ownership. I would rate Netgate at least a nine because their product is made very well,...
 

Also Known As

No data available
TNSR
 

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
US Army, TrustCo Bank, Arkansas State University
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, MikroTik, Juniper and others in Routers. Updated: August 2026.
910,454 professionals have used our research since 2012.