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Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches vs Meraki MS Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 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

Juniper EX Series Ethernet ...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Meraki MS Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Meraki MS Switches is 3.8%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

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.
MajidKhan - PeerSpot reviewer
Remote access enhances troubleshooting with potential for more intuitive interface
We are working with Citrix and router, but in Cisco for Cisco vendor only. We are taking from them since 2015.  The main use case involves some small business customers needing one router, one switch, and two to three access points. It is easy to handle the devices with just a small knowledge of…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The platform is very stable in terms of consistency and reliability."
"It is easy to configure, and there are three routing switches."
"The campus switches and access switches are the most valuable and simple to deploy for Virtual Chassis."
"The security is good."
"The product is very helpful in troubleshooting."
"I like that it's fairly easy to implement these ethernet switches."
"The feature I like the most is the ability to reword changes before committing to the change. We can always reword changes in 10 minutes if they don't work."
"The most valuable feature is that the CLI is the same on all of the Juniper devices, including routers, switches, and firewalls."
"The cloud part of Meraki Switches is very good. They also have a good GUI. It's a complete solution. I like the switching and the monitoring part."
"Meraki's site-to-site VPN function is phenomenal, and the VLAN is simple to use and set up. If you need the VLAN to sort the networks out, that works very well. The performance is also excellent."
"The technical support is very good. They offer some of the best support on the market."
"This product has QoS, decent visibility of what's going on, and it's a managed switch."
"The interface is great. It's easy to understand for the customer."
"They're easy to update."
"To me, this is a product that meets all of the needs that anyone could possibly have for a networking device."
"The top feature of Meraki MS switches for me is Layer 7 application visibility. Another positive in general is that you don't need to set up a console to the switch itself; it dials in to a single dashboard where you can completely manage all your network devices."
 

Cons

"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."
"All Juniper documentation is terrible."
"The interface could be better. It needs improvement."
"The only issue that we have with Juniper Ethernet Switches is the firmware because it is not stable."
"Wireless and monitoring definitely could be improved."
"The tool should improve its fabric."
"Juniper's support could be much better and faster."
"Meraki MS Switches do not offer as many features as their competitors, so we are quite limited in what we can configure on the switches and firewalls."
"There is not much training available for this solution."
"I would like to add a voice capability to Meraki, to make a call or receive a call."
"Less flexibility than in some other solutions."
"Doesn't enable a local configuration without internet access."
"The product has no CLI."
"The troubleshooting could be better."
"We prefer Meeraki to be installed only on a local network rather than in a cloud-managed network. Meraki MS Switches are one of our largest categories, with over thirty-five deployed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We only pay for support."
"The price of the Juniper EX Series is reasonable. Cisco is a lot more expensive."
"The price could be cheaper."
"Support prices and licensing scheme need to be improved to allow some features to be purchased at lower costs, for example, RPM​."
"The pricing is very aggressive."
"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 initial cost of the solution can be expensive."
"For the QFX5000 Juniper switches, the price is about $10,000, but they would probably sell it for $1,000. Nobody can beat Juniper's pricing when it comes to switches. Juniper out-prices everybody, but they get you on the back end, maintenance, service port, and service contract."
"The solution is a bit on the pricey side."
"It depends on what type of equipment you have and other things. We're about $17,000 a year."
"The product's licensing cost is about 30% to 40% of the hardware cost."
"Securing licenses and devices for more than a year can make the product expensive. In general, the product is expensive."
"The pricing is high and it is where we get the most pushback from customers."
"It would be better if they had a one-time purchase option instead of a subscription model."
"Meraki MS Switches is a pricey product. You have to get a license for each product annually. It would have been perfect if there were product bundles."
"This is not a cheap solution."
report
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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
14%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
6%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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?
Throughout my experience, I've deployed Juniper EX switches in various environments, from small enterprise networks to large-scale data centers. In every instance, they have consistently delivered ...
What do you like most about Meraki MS Switches?
The most valuable features of Meraki MS Switches are their reliability and simplicity.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki MS Switches?
Meraki MS Switches, including their licensing, are somewhat expensive, particularly when compared with competitor solutions like HP.
What needs improvement with Meraki MS Switches?
The prices are a little higher than other vendors. However, within the Cisco customer segment, customers mostly recommend it because they are existing users, and they are satisfied with their curre...
 

Also Known As

Juniper Ethernet Switches
MS220, MS320, MS420
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
Cisco Live Milan, Hyatt
Find out what your peers are saying about Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches vs. Meraki MS Switches and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.