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Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches vs Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches vs NETGEAR 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 May 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches is 2.5%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 8.8%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Hakan Pehlivan - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced broadcast management with trusted support and intuitive interfaces
Cisco is the best on the Metro Solution side and also strong in the broadcast sector. Cisco and Arista support the IP standard, which is more in demand nowadays for TV broadcasting. Cisco is trusted by most broadcast customers for data centers due to their experience and knowledge. Cisco Linksys switches offer ease of management and experience, especially for engineers holding CCNA certificates. The functionalities and measurements are similar across switches, but Cisco offers a useful web interface.
PRADIPJOSHI - PeerSpot reviewer
Virtual chassis technology enhances connectivity and simplifies management
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 EX series provides a separation of control, management, and data planes, reducing the attack surface area, ensuring a lesser extent of vulnerability. The PoE budget is commendable, and they manage connectivity effectively.
Doug Meuross - PeerSpot reviewer
Can easily integrate with the networks and infrastructures
No maintenance is required for the solution. It is very easy to integrate the product with the other systems in our company's infrastructure since you only need to consider plugging a cable. My company does not integrate the product with any product specifically since we only consider integrations with the networks and infrastructures. As the product needs to be plugged in and it starts working, I can say that it is a reliable solution that works. The tool also offers quality, especially if you consider how you would not know whether an unknown product that you choose would work for you or not. I recommend the product to others. I rate the tool a ten 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 important feature related to this solution is that most of the time, it covers all of what we need for our projects."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The installation is straightforward. We did not face any problems."
"The most valuable features are uptime and stability."
"It is very stable. Performance is very good."
"The solution is stable and reliable."
"It's stable and we never have to worry about it."
"The stability of the program is excellent."
"The most valuable features of Juniper Ethernet Switches are the simple configuration and ruggedness."
"The solution is scalable. It supports my five-year expansion plan. I could expand without a problem."
"I like the simplicity of it."
"The solution is easy to use and has good integration."
"What I like most about this solution is that it is secure."
"The virtual Chassis feature for stacking is good in general, with high bandwidth for the link, which is good."
"This is a lower cost product with better features than the competition."
"It has features that allow us to go back to previous configurations."
"The big winner for NETGEAR is their modular switch: the 96X version. That is something that you don't see in the market anywhere else, except for Cisco who has it at a high level for a high expense. The ability to customize your own switch with their modules is a big plus for what we do in the market right now. Instead of having to piece together standardized switches, trying to make something work, or fitting the design into the mold, the modular switches are aware that you can make a mark in the industry because you purchased one switch and design with different modules added and removed later on for functionality."
"The solution is reliable and it is easy to setup."
"Remote management is the most important thing for us. And monitoring, of course, allows us to see when something is wrong with a client. We get notified that an access point is down, for instance, or that there are too many clients on one access point, so that we can log into the portal and manage the solution with the client instantly, from either a laptop or a cell phone, with the Insight app."
"For what I used this switch for, it did well."
"One of the biggest benefits of the remote management is that it's easy to use and you can use it from a mobile device or tablet with the app they've developed... If one of my engineers is out in the field at a client and an alert comes in from another client, that engineer can take that alert and look at it in real-time."
"The remote troubleshooting features provide a single pane of glass where I can see my all my clients' equipment. If they're reporting a problem, I can go to the Insight Pro interface online and I can bring up that client and I can see all their devices and the status of all their devices."
"Out-of-the-box, it works for our main use case. When passing multicast video across the network, our technicians don't have make any changes. Then, if we do need to make configuration changes for a custom scenario, the web interface is user intuitive so it's easy to use and change."
"The remote management tools are fantastic. The combination of the webpage as well as the app makes life so much easier. I don't need to go and visit sites to do upgrades or any sorts of changes. The firmware can all be deployed remotely. I can see the traffic on each of the switch ports remotely as well, so I can see if we've got problems, down to an individual port. It's very granular."
 

Cons

"The solution's support can use improvement because they are not very good at following up."
"They could work on the pricing and make it more affordable for everyone."
"They just need to simplify the learning curve."
"It would be ideal if they could do more configurations and offer more flexibility. Right now, it's not flexible at all."
"Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches is an expensive solution, and its pricing could be improved."
"The user interface needs a lot of improvement."
"It's no longer stable, the Wi-Fi on this device is no longer stable."
"Linksys support is subpar."
"Jupiter Switches' configuration is a little difficult to understand."
"The operating system could be better."
"More security could be provided, especially with the rising cyber-attacks in business organizations."
"There are multiple areas of improvement in Juniper EX series switches. In terms of speed and pricing, while Juniper provides good quality services, some clients still find the price very high compared to other competitors. Also there is a need for certain features to be enhanced like clear our configuration process which will help to make Juniper switches more stronger. However, there are also multiple challenges including understanding and configuration of certain aspects difficult without assistance. Despite these kinds of challenges, there have been multiple solutions and huge potential of improvement in Juniper."
"The security features for the product should be more unified for the product regardless of the product model."
"You need to make a few local configurations to work with the solution. We have faced issues with the tool's stability."
"The Virtual Chassis Fabric is kind of complicated to troubleshoot sometimes. On the MPLS side, they're good — they're fine for the pseudo-wires and stuff—but they need more work on the LAN. It is difficult to troubleshoot their LAN technologies like Virtual Chassis."
"Wireless and monitoring definitely could be improved."
"My one issue with it is that not all the features of the switch can currently be managed via the portal. For some of the more advanced features, you still have to configure the switch."
"The web interface has been a little sketchy on occasion. Sometimes I have to reload the page to get things to show up properly, but the switch itself seems fine. The web user interface is a little wonky at times."
"The tool needs to improve its network management. The tool can be also more simplified."
"When the power does go out, or if we do a soft shutdown, some of the transceivers or the monitor don't recognize when it turns back on, so I have to physically unplug it and plug it back in and then it works. We're working with NETGEAR's engineers to figure out why that's happening."
"One thing I would like to see improved is the response time for technical support."
"NETGEAR Switches could be more secure. Scalability could also be better. This infrastructure is a bit old, and we need something that will be more secure. Something that will introduce WLAN, and we will need the knowledge to go with that. Some of the switches were used for more than seven years. I think it was just their lifespan that was exhausted. But other than that, there haven't been any issues that required us to complain or get concerned."
"The product could be more robust."
"The IGMP specifics of the web management console could use a bit of clarification."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"The tool's price is reasonable."
"It is cheap."
"Licensing fees for this product are billed on a yearly basis."
"It is costly. Because of its pricing, customers are not ready to buy Cisco solutions, and they are going for other brands."
"Cisco can be quite costly, especially if you're looking to implement more advanced or unique configurations. When keeping things relatively straightforward, they are positioned at the higher end of the pricing spectrum. However, it's worth noting that Cisco offers excellent support, a strong global presence, a robust operating system, and highly skilled professionals in the field of networking infrastructure. These advantages come at a premium, and there's a price associated with all these benefits."
"Cisco Linksys Ethernet SwitchesRev Services should be less expensive."
"The pricing is very aggressive."
"If compared to Cisco, this is a well priced solution. Compared to HP, it is a little bit overpriced. Overall, they are priced in the middle compared to competitors."
"The pricing for the support is very high."
"The price could be cheaper."
"You require the Junos Management Platform in order to manage the switches and you need to purchase the Juniper Ethernet Switches."
"It's was $100,000 per year."
"The price of the Juniper EX Series is reasonable. Cisco is a lot more expensive."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The great thing about the Insight product is that the renewable subscription is much cheaper than the competitors in the market. It is not over $50, per year, so customers buy the equipment and don't have to worry so much about the renewable fees that go along with having such access into their switch, with a cloud-managed solution. There are some other manufacturers where you'll essentially pay the same in hardware as you do in software, just for the cloud solution that supports it; just to keep getting the firmware updates and all of that information. With NETGEAR, you can do multi-year and that is something like 90 percent cheaper than if you're looking at Meraki, for example. It is extremely competitive. It's one of the main reasons we liked it so much."
"There are no licensing costs. It only involves the costs of the devices."
"From a price perspective, the solution comes in higher than a small business product from their competitors. The solution is a bit higher, but it's a fraction of the cost compared to an enterprise switch. For example, a Cisco Catalyst can run approximately $13,000, where their Small Business Series may run $800 on the Cisco side. With NETGEAR, it falls in around the $1,000 to $2,000 range for most of what we use it for. Essentially, at this price point, you're getting a lot of enterprise grade features (e.g., that you would on a Catalyst) on an M4300."
"The pricing is great. The cost of the hardware is low... There are a few solutions that have a lower cost, but NETGEAR is very value-oriented."
"This is a one-time purchase and there are no licensing fees."
"It is a slightly expensive product."
"I sold someone a SonicWall and they had to redo their subscription every year. It was a $300 or $400 subscription they had to pay every year... With NETGEAR... it's only a $10 or $20 subscription per device for the whole year... and you have your license and you have all your support."
"Another issue, when it comes to NETGEAR's competitors, is that other companies are offering the cloud management at no extra charge, whereas NETGEAR charges for it. You have to pay per-device for licenses."
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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
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches?
Regarding pricing, I take the cost of Cisco Linksys Ethernet switches into consideration.
What needs improvement with Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches?
I would like Cisco to improve their technical support, and I have encountered challenges with Cisco Linksys switches....
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?
Throughout my experience, I've deployed Juniper EX switches in various environments, from small enterprise networks t...
How do NETGEAR switches compare with Cisco ethernet switches?
NetGear switches have a lot to offer. They have high availability, zero-downtime stacking, L2 and L3 functionality, a...
Which switches are better - Ubiquiti Unifi or Netgear?
Ubiquiti Unifi offers a great set of features. For starters, it is easy to configure and implement, and also doesn’t ...
What do you like most about NETGEAR Switches?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. I have not faced any issues with the product whatsoever.
 

Also Known As

Linksys Ethernet Switches
Juniper Ethernet Switches
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Linz AG
BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ubiquiti Networks and others in Ethernet Switches. Updated: March 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.