HPE Ethernet Switches vs NETGEAR Switches comparison

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Hewlett Packard Enterprise Logo
4,533 views|4,224 comparisons
93% willing to recommend
Netgear Logo
19,652 views|14,066 comparisons
86% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HPE Ethernet Switches and NETGEAR Switches based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Ethernet Switches solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed HPE Ethernet Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,415 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It's fairly lightweight, they don't require a lot of maintenance.""The most valuable feature of the solution is its stability.""HPE Ethernet Switches have a lifetime warranty. I am using an old version of the solution, but I have heard the new models have incorporated a lot of new features, such as remote setup.""I'm a power user, so reliability is crucial. The HPE equipment hasn't failed on me, unlike some other brands like Huawei, which I find more sensitive.""It's stable and performing well.""The performance is great.""The most valuable feature in HPE Ethernet Switches is programmability and analytics.""The best feature of this solution is the lifetime warranty."

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"The most valuable feature is the fact that Insight is cloud-managed. The whole reason behind it is that there is one central place to manage it. You can pre-configure everything and you can get access to it without having to get onto the client's network. That makes it easy to use and deploy.""Netgear switches are highly reliable. We haven't done anything particularly sophisticated with them.""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.""The initial setup is easy.""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.""As far as remoting into it goes, it is very efficient because I can do it from anywhere, through the remote software. I can get right into it, I can change settings really quickly, if a customer needs to add another device into it or if I need to make changes on the VLANs that we created.""Its setup, usage, and access are most valuable. It is a very easy switch to set up.""The remote troubleshooting is pretty easy. You can turn off a port that might have a network loop created, or where there might be a bad NIC card that is creating issues. Being able to turn off that port remotely is fantastic, instead of having to replace the whole switch. Remote management is really easy."

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Cons
"The solution’s licensing could be improved.""We haven't had any issues with this switch in the past 10 years. That's the reason we're still keeping them alive.""The installation can be quite complex. However, that may not be the fault of HP and is rather more related to the way our infrastructure is arranged.""Some users might look for high-speed switching like Cisco or Nexus switches, which can handle larger volumes. HPE's current offerings aren't as robust in that area, but they could improve.""The solution would be easier to set up if its GUI could improve or if it had a wizard.""The solution lacks certain protocols and has a limited warranty.""HPE Ethernet Switches must ensure that the updates and patching are done regularly. When we have new software updates, we can resolve issues quickly.""Configuration can be complex."

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"Lacks switches with additional ports that provide room for new protocols of communications.""I'd like to see a little bit of slowdown on the firmware updates. They've been doing a lot of them. I don't know if that's just because it's such a new product line, but the firmware updates have been a little annoying because they've been coming once a week. For a switch, that's a little extreme.""There is a technical problem they can't seem to solve. It doesn't support multicast packets. In layman's terms, Mac computers can't print over the network.""This product lacks a CLI interface.""The ‘how-to’ guides could do with some improvements. We got in trouble following the stacking and Dante set-up guides. If these would have been accurate, we would not have lost three days.""Their old firmware was a problem for us and we're still working on it. It didn't apply correctly so it took about half of our switches offline, which meant we couldn't use some of the functionality like the firmware updates. Unfortunately with that firmware, which they've sorted out, if you don't go through all the firmware and make sure it's past that point and back online, that's an issue with them. It's something to cautious about""The tool's price could be better.""They need to continue moving forward with their consulting in the AV realm to find out what is needed. They are some differences in the M4300 line and the larger M4500 line right now. They could produce a 1 Gigabit variety that could be a bit cheaper that might fit into that, since the majority of the projects that we see are still in that 1 Gigabit bandwidth threshold. Along with that, a great option would be if it would provide the same modular ability on a lower level."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "There are free software updates and there is a lifetime warranty for a few of the switch series."
  • "Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
  • "This is not an expensive solution."
  • "This is an expensive product."
  • "There are no licensing costs for this solution."
  • "The pricing is very good."
  • "The price is fair."
  • "They are affordable and less expensive than Cisco. Their price was the decider at the time."
  • More HPE Ethernet Switches Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The pricing for what you get with the Insight product line is very fair and the value is there, including the annual licensing fees for the Insight Pro for each device... the Insight Pro level, which is their highest level, where you get a lot of features with the Insight, is a bargain. You get a lot of good features for what you're paying there annually."
  • "We used HPE previously. The reason I switched to NETGEAR was because of pricing differences, which are huge, when you go into 10GB networking... The pricing is quite good... The total cost of the deployment was about 11,000 euros or so. If I had gone with HPE it would have been at least twice as much."
  • "It's a great price-to-performance solution. I think it's singularly the best price-per-performance we can find, if not just straight performance to begin with... The cost of hardware and additional services is lower, absolutely. I wouldn't say "low," but we found it to be lower than other options, and that helps us resell this back to customers who are looking at other things like a Cisco Meraki..."
  • "Insight pricing is okay. It's very competitive. The costs of the hardware and additional services weren't low because Unify is much cheaper, but the costs conformed to the market. When you look at the hardware specs, the price and the warranty, the complete package was much better than any other vendor. If you consider those three main aspects of Netgear Insight and Netgear Insight devices, and you put them next to Ubiquity or Cisco Meraki, or even TP-Link, in our opinion, it's better hardware, it has a better warranty, and for the price you have to pay, it's a pretty good product."
  • "NETGEAR pricing is the best on the market by far. I was shocked when I saw what their price came out as for their subscription. It's extremely reasonable."
  • "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."
  • "The price to performance of this solution is very good. When it comes to pricing, as far as I'm concerned, they're very comparable with Ubiquity. NETGEAR has pricing that is as good as it gets. That's why I use them."
  • "There are two parts to the pricing. There's the pricing of the device itself, which is good. Their licensing model needs work, though. The licensing model doesn't fit the way MSPs do business."
  • More NETGEAR Switches Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Switching to HPE Ethernet Switches greatly improved our network. We used to have both Cisco and HPE Ethernet Switches. Our network performance has increased by 300 percent.
    Top Answer:HPE Ethernet Switches is a fairly cheap solution. The solution does the job well for its price. You have to pay a lot more money for higher features, but then you are probably better off looking at… more »
    Top Answer:Sometimes, we encounter the need for new technologies, especially when we require higher bandwidth. If we can't find what we need with HPE Ethernet Switches, we explore options from other vendors like… more »
    Top Answer:NetGear switches have a lot to offer. They have high availability, zero-downtime stacking, L2 and L3 functionality, and are AV-over-IP ready. NetGear switches also have a command line interface and… more »
    Top Answer:Ubiquiti Unifi offers a great set of features. For starters, it is easy to configure and implement, and also doesn’t require a learning curve because it is easy to use. It is also simple to… more »
    Top Answer:The tool is very easy to deploy as it is a very basic switch.
    Ranking
    10th
    out of 34 in Ethernet Switches
    Views
    4,533
    Comparisons
    4,224
    Reviews
    25
    Average Words per Review
    376
    Rating
    8.3
    4th
    out of 34 in Ethernet Switches
    Views
    19,652
    Comparisons
    14,066
    Reviews
    18
    Average Words per Review
    409
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    HP Ethernet Switches
    NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
    Learn More
    Overview

    HP has created the most open, integrated and software-defined networking portfolio and ecosystem of its kind – driving simplification with networks that understand, adapt to and protect your business applications in real-time. Only HP extends the momentum of software-defined networking everywhere–from the mobile edge to the heart of data centers.

    NETGEAR Ethernet Switches is an Ethernet solution that offers businesses of all sizes the ability to easily set up secure and highly scalable networks. Small to medium-sized companies have the option to choose from three different switching options. The three options that are most appropriate for businesses of this size are the NETGEAR Unmanaged, Plus, and Smart Switch solutions. If you're managing a large enterprise network or a campus network, then NETGEAR Fully Managed Infrastructures is the solution for you. All the NETGEAR Ethernet Switches and solutions are innovative, easy to install and use, reliable, and very cost-effective.

    NETGEAR Ethernet Switches have many features that make them a most effective product. Included in these is the ability to virtually stack IP addresses in such a way that users can scale their network up with ease. These IP addresses are grouped together. Once additional data ports are connected, you have only a single switch to manage and you gain both a much higher level availability of data and a greater level of network resilience.

    Benefits of NETGEAR Ethernet Switches

    Some of the benefits of using NETGEAR Ethernet Switches include:

    • The ability to control and track the performance of your network from a single centralized location. NETGEAR Ethernet Switches has a “single pane of glass” interface that enables administrators to track their network’s data in real time, allowing them to manage everything from one place. If a problem is detected, this management interface will alert the appropriate administrator.

    • A wide array of security features allows you to manage user access, filter incoming traffic for potential threats, and monitor your network for unauthorized traffic. The switches have security capabilities built in in an effort to maximize network protection, while at the same time allowing you to minimize the expenditure of resources required to keep you secure.

    Reviews from Real Users

    There are a number of characteristics that make NETGEAR Ethernet Switches extremely effective. Two major ones are its inherent flexibility and its user-friendly nature. 

    PeerSpot user Kevin W., a network delivery architect at a tech-services company, notes that NETGEAR Ethernet Switches gives users the ability to tailor the switches to fit their needs. He writes, "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."

    PeerSpot user Chris W., a system engineer at Diversified, notes just how easy they are to use when he writes, "The ease of use of these switches is very good because of the Cisco CLI. If you are familiar with CLI, then you can configure the switch that way. It also has a relatively straightforward web interface. Using the web interface is good for beginners or people who aren't familiar with Cisco CLI. However, having a common command line interface method is great for some of our more advanced guys who are familiar with it."

    Sample Customers
    Emirates Palace Hotel
    Blaze Networks
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    University7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Government7%
    Computer Software Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company21%
    Government8%
    Comms Service Provider6%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company18%
    Construction Company18%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Engineering Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company13%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Educational Organization7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business51%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise31%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business37%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise47%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business75%
    Midsize Enterprise8%
    Large Enterprise18%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise52%
    Buyer's Guide
    HPE Ethernet Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Ethernet Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,415 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    HPE Ethernet Switches is ranked 10th in Ethernet Switches with 94 reviews while NETGEAR Switches is ranked 4th in Ethernet Switches with 50 reviews. HPE Ethernet Switches is rated 8.2, while NETGEAR Switches is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of HPE Ethernet Switches writes "They're solid and can last for up to 15 years". On the other hand, the top reviewer of NETGEAR Switches writes "You can stack different models of switches which makes the scalability great". HPE Ethernet Switches is most compared with Cisco Ethernet Switches, Ubiquiti UniFi Switches, H3C Ethernet Switches, Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches and 3Com H3C Switches, whereas NETGEAR Switches is most compared with D-Link Ethernet Switches, Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches, Cisco Ethernet Switches and Ubiquiti UniFi Switches. See our HPE Ethernet Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches report.

    See our list of best Ethernet Switches vendors.

    We monitor all Ethernet Switches reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.