Cisco Ethernet Switches vs Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 24, 2022
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
129
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secu...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
43
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2024, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 18.6%, down from 20.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is 6.7%, up from 6.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
Unique Categories:
No other categories found
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

Jose-Rivera - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 3, 2023
Effectively provides a stable connection for users and includes good technical support
Our company uses the solution to set up local access networks for users and route applications. We work with several models including 9300 and 9500. We plan to increase usage in the future.  The solution effectively provides a stable connection for users.  There is a lot of knowledge in terms of…
JH
Feb 14, 2022
Scalable, beneficial management, but stability and price could improve
The management from Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is very good The range of products could improve from Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access. I have been using Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access for approximately five years. The stability of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access could…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"These switches help to build the best network, the way we want it."
"The most valuable features are network monitoring and management."
"The most valuable feature is that we create a network as a villain."
"The stability is 100%."
"The product is pretty much reliable and stable."
"The solution is highly reliable."
"The most valuable feature is the simplicity of the central management system(CMS)."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches have good performance."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access has good scalability."
"It is very user-friendly. There is no need to use command lines to configure it or to do anything in it. You hardly use command lines, which makes it different from Cisco. In Cisco, the CLI is your best friend. Fortinet has the lowest TCO, so you can use its integrated components without having to buy additional licenses. They provide centralized management without needing to buy or acquire additional licenses. You have an integral or complete vision through a single pane of glass, and you can see everything from one single console without having to buy additional licenses, which is a plus. It works the same way when you add wireless. You can see everything from FortiGate. It has a security processor, which is another plus. It does not have a standard desktop processor. It has a multi-threat security processor, and it is built by Fortinet. So, all the components that you include in a Fortinet solution are proprietary and work in an integral way. It has one single solution, whereas other brands, such as Palo Alto and Check Point, have been acquiring certain solutions, and they're not fully integrated. With Fortinet, everything is integrated. If you start building on Fortinet, everything that you expand to the local LAN or WAN is integrated. You don't have to pay for professional services and other things to do that. Their technical information is also very good. Most of their information is based on how-to, and it can be found online, which is something my clients like."
"The tool's VLAN feature is easy to understand. It was very good."
"The technical support has been very good."
"It is a stable solution from the security front."
"The software is very stable."
"Deploying the solution is a breeze, even a novice can do it."
"The most valuable feature is that I can completely isolate devices that are compromising the network."
 

Cons

"They can make the licensing model a little easier."
"The price is an area with a shortcoming in the solution."
"It could be cheaper, especially the DNA license. One DNA license is around $3,000 for a three-year contract."
"Cisco has a licensing procedure that is very complicated and it changes every six months."
"There could be an improvement in the licensing by reducing the price of the different types, such as essential, advantage, and premium."
"If Cisco Ethernet Switches can work both on-prem and in the cloud, it would be an advantage."
"Cisco has a lot of propriety protocols compared to other products, such as Arista Networks."
"In the future, some of the features could be updated to support the latest functions."
"In the next release, I would like to see more outdoor products."
"I give the stability a seven out of ten because we have noticed when we hook up phones the switching of ELANs et cetera doesn't work as it should."
"In Fortinet, the packet reconstruction in the SD-WAN solution needs a little bit of improvement. When it comes to the Secure Access to the switches or the mix of Fortinet solution, the very small ones do not have the capability to use fiber cables. So, the small FortiGates have to work with the copper cables and cannot use fiber cables. Even though they have the capacity and throughput on all technical connectors, they don't have the interfaces, which is one of the good things with Cisco. They just add models to it. You buy the independent models, and you add them."
"The product must improve its prices."
"We had experienced downtime. I would like to see it to be improved."
"The product could use more security related features."
"We've had some issues with Layer 3 FortiSwitch. We can deploy the device in the cloud. However, we can't deploy this solution in complex environments easily."
"It would be easier if Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access could be managed via cloud, and this is something that could be improved in this product. Bandwidth display could also be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"It is an expensive product."
"The product is expensive."
"We are happy with the pricing from Cisco."
"The cost of the solution is by unit."
"The price is a bit on the high side."
"We get the SMARTnet and one of the switches has that Cisco ONE licensing. It's probably running about $12,000 a year right now."
"It could be cheaper."
"The product is costly for SMB customers compared to other brands available in the market."
"We have an annual licensing cost. There are no additional costs."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access requires a license and the price is expensive."
"Licensing is billed annually and contracts are either one or three years in length."
"It's affordable compared to other switching products, like Cisco switches."
"The solution has reasonable pricing. The firewall costs around 500$ annually."
"The solution is cheaper than Cisco but more expensive than Huawei."
"It's affordable and there are no additional costs, just regular support, and license fees."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Ethernet Switches solutions are best for your needs.
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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
16%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...
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 FortiSwitch is an ethernet switch solution that provides security and performance...
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 us. We decided to go with Juniper. Juniper ethernet switches are a lesser-known...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access?
With FortiSwitch, you can easily identify who is connected to each port, disable ports as needed, and retrieve configurations from FortiGate when required.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access?
Fortinet FortiSwitch is a pricey solution. On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Linz AG
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Ethernet Switches vs. Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.