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Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches 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

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secu...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper EX Series Ethernet ...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
71
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is 4.8%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Uri Harf - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration with cloud management simplifies network expansion
Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is expensive, and this initial cost can be a barrier, especially for new businesses setting up from scratch. Although the machine is robust and lasts for years with rare technical issues, the initial price can be high. Sometimes, I have to offer alternatives like Aruba or HP, which might be cheaper.
FauzanRahmanto - PeerSpot reviewer
Have achieved lower costs and gained reliability with some room for better scalability
The security capabilities of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches are comparable to other brands, so there are no additional points for Juniper regarding the security systems. I would rate the price of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten. Regarding stability, I would rate Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches a nine out of ten. I would recommend Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches to other organizations because it is easy to use, the command is easy to learn, and it is very stable. I chose Juniper as my primary vendor because it is very stable, reliable, and the price is lower than competitors. I am the person who usually does the maintenance alone. In my office, my two colleagues and I are the network engineers directly responsible for the operation of the EX devices. The number of users in my organization who have access to Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is around 17 people. Overall, I would rate Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches an eight 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

"What I really love in FortiSwitch: its usability, the graphical user interface, and the ability to be managed by FortiGate."
"The most valuable feature is the breakability after integration with the FortiGate firewall."
"I like that everything flows back to FortiGate, which is the controller, management console, and firewall. There's one central point for the entire network, so the security, switching, wireless, etc., flows back to the FortiGate. The ease of management is what customers like. They don't need separate solutions like Cisco."
"The centralization of control is highly beneficial."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the MAC feature."
"The product is a total solution with the FortiGate, switch, and access point. It is integrated with FortiGate, allowing us to manage all the equipment through it. You can handle everything from a single point."
"My advice those using a firewall Fortigate is: use their APs because they work very well."
"It's easy to be configured and powerful in terms of performance."
"It is easy to configure, and there are three routing switches."
"You willuse almost every feature on every switch to some degree because the utility is valuable."
"The Virtual Chassis, because you have a centralized administration of a set of switches which makes the operation more efficient.​"
"The performance is very good."
"It is a highly stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine to ten out of ten."
"One of the nicest things about Juniper switches is they work well with other vendor products. When you have to go into a situation where other vendor switches are present, you can make it work."
"The campus switches and access switches are the most valuable and simple to deploy for Virtual Chassis."
"Juniper switches are smart and we have all the features that we want. You can rollback to the previous version if you make any mistake during configuration. This is not possible in Cisco."
 

Cons

"The security of the solution could be a bit better."
"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."
"They could provide integration with Fortinet Authenticator."
"We had experienced downtime. I would like to see it to be improved."
"The product's end-user protection feature needs improvement."
"It is always nice when something is cheaper."
"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."
"The solution has SD-WAN but it doesn't have SDN. This should be added."
"We need to start seeing some kind of AI to assist with some of what we really want to accomplish from a policy standpoint to achieve better efficiency."
"Stability could be better, especially during a reboot. We have had some issues recently with the software getting corrupt on reboot, which causes a lot of downtime."
"The configuration could be made simpler."
"The stability of this solution should be improved."
"Jupiter Switches' configuration is a little difficult to understand."
"The upgrading of the system should be simplified and made faster."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is not cheap. The tool needs improvement in UI."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches lack to offer the latest management tools."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have an annual licensing cost. There are no additional costs."
"The product's pricing is less compared to other enterprise solutions."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch is a pricey solution."
"The product is costly for SMB customers compared to other brands available in the market."
"The pricing is quite high."
"The price of the solution could improve, it is expensive."
"The pricing is cheap and only a yearly licensing cost needs to be paid."
"The solution has reasonable pricing. The firewall costs around 500$ annually."
"It's was $100,000 per year."
"The Juniper switches are less expensive than competing brands."
"We only pay for support."
"Relatively affordable per switch."
"The pricing for the support is very high."
"Support prices and licensing scheme need to be improved to allow some features to be purchased at lower costs, for example, RPM​."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches are a less expensive solution than Cisco Ethernet Switches. There is only a one-time purchase for Juniper Ethernet Switches."
"We had a leakage in the support process and decided to end the product's life in order to purchase a new product with support. We did not renew product support as a result."
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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%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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?
The initial cost of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is high compared to other options. Although robust and rarely needs replacement, it can be overqualified for some jobs, which affects the re...
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 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. Now for the QFX model, 5k/10k in CRB mode IP fabric Ethernet switching is horri...
What is your primary use case for Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches?
We deal mostly with Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches products, as we are partners with Juniper products. We work with Juniper wireless. We deal with all the Juniper products and also Cisco and H...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Juniper Ethernet Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs. Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.