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Juniper Session Smart Router vs VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 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 Session Smart Router
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Routers (6th)
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
WAN Edge (5th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Juniper Session Smart Router is 2.2%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN is 7.7%, down from 9.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN7.7%
Juniper Session Smart Router2.2%
Other90.1%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

Vinitha Kundawad - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Implementation Engineer at Cisco
Session-based routing has transformed branch failover and now optimizes application paths
Juniper Session Smart Router is a very good cloud integration router, with very strong application visibility, and WAN path optimization is also present. It has very good simplified branch connectivity, particularly strong automation and API support, and better SaaS performance. Session-based routing instead of tunnel-heavy architecture is one of the best features. Session-based routing and API support in Juniper Session Smart Router have helped me in my work. It helps in session-based routing changes from route-based packets only on destination IP to application session awareness. This can help with a better application experience, and voice or video traffic automatically takes the best WAN path based on latency, jitter, and packet loss. Faster failover occurs; instead of waiting for routing protocol convergence, sessions can dynamically move to healthier links. Additionally, there is improved SaaS performance. In terms of APIs, I have had a very good experience integrating it with automation platforms like Terraform and Ansible. It has reduced manual errors, and my team has been using the API to automate deployment and dozens of other tasks with branch SSR devices. Another feature I can think of regarding Juniper Session Smart Router is that there is no traditional overlay tunnel overhead in many scenarios, which is one of the best features. Dynamic path selection based on latency and jitter makes this one of the standout features.
Mohammed Gawas - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at evolved systems
Enhancements in deployment and monitoring simplify network implementation experience
We are dealing with VMware products including VMware VeloCloud, Cisco Catalyst, and Fortinet FortiGate as a system integrator, handling customer requests.We utilize VeloCloud's centralized orchestration for traffic prioritization. The impact of VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN's Dynamic Multi-Path Optimization on network application performance has been significant. We have tested this feature multiple times, and it was really powerful for steering traffic and packet regeneration, resulting in better flow. We have leveraged the automatic link resiliency feature in VeloCloud SD-WAN, conducting a VoIP test scenario that involved disconnecting link A and seamlessly shifting traffic to link B without any packet loss. However, we have not sold any CPE for VeloCloud in the last one and a half years due to the impact of Broadcom's acquisition. The significance of VeloCloud SD-WAN's deployment flexibility in an organization's network strategy is critical now, as every organization needs to reduce costs and undergo digitalization. SD-WAN provides security and quality of service without needing costly links such as MPLS, and using this CPE from VMware meets the SLA the customer needs. I evaluate VeloCloud's comprehensive visibility into network traffic as enhancing the network security posture. It provides detailed information such as user IP addresses, MAC addresses, and operating systems, giving us visibility for everything related to which customer, end user, application, and link are involved. On a scale of one to ten, I rate VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN a nine.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"For telecom companies, I think zero-trust segmentation is the way to go because if you allow anything that you do not understand, then it becomes a problem."
"They provided us with a customized product according to our requirements."
"Because we are talking directly to engineers in the US, the support is usually the best you can possibly get."
"Juniper Session Smart Router has positively impacted my organization by simplifying SD-WAN deployments, allowing us to operate with fewer staff, as its integration with Juniper Mist AI takes on much of the workload, thereby offering reliable performance and stability without software issues."
"Customer service is very prompt."
"Juniper Session Smart Router has positively impacted my organization by achieving a 30% to 40% reduction in WAN cost, which means less reliance on MPLS, with a 40% faster failover with near-zero user impact during link issues, and 20% to 30% less time spent on troubleshooting, along with fewer outages due to dynamic path selection, which facilitates fast branch deployment."
"I can share specific numbers; we achieved a 30 to 60% WAN cost reduction by reducing MPLS usage."
"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."
"VMware SD-WAN is easy-to-use."
"One of the standout features is its ability to dynamically manage enterprise networks based on applications."
"VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN is recognized as an SD-WAN leader, offering user-friendly solutions that help end customers and enterprises solve network optimization issues efficiently."
"Compared to Fortinet or Cisco, VMware is quite easy to set up, and the management dashboard is intuitive."
"It's easy to deploy and manage. Even a small group of people can manage a large environment. It's stable, easy to deploy, easy to install—all the stuff."
"My advice to others would be to trust the solution and buy it."
"They have a lot of built-ins. There are so many applications defined inside the solution. It makes it so that we don't have to create some policies. Each and every application is already defined in it."
"They make use of a combination of different internet lines, which improves quality."
 

Cons

"Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in several areas such as the steep learning curve because the session-based model is different from traditional networking."
"Juniper Session Smart Router can be improved by simplifying onboarding for traditional network teams and providing better documentation for complex deployments, as well as improving the GUI for operational workflows and better migration tooling."
"Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do."
"Juniper Session Smart Router can improve the integration for Wi-Fi devices and add additional Sassy deployments."
"A key area for improvement in Juniper Session Smart Router is its security stack, which is not as robust as Fortinet."
"Juniper Session Smart Router could improve its documentation to become more competitive. It has very little documentation, and you have to rely mainly so much on support to do something, which I feel should not be that way."
"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks. What we are missing there are wizards. For example, I have two applications, and I want one application to be prioritized against the other. In such a case, a wizard for assigning policies to a service without configuring each step by hand would be very helpful. There should be an overhaul of the GUI of the conductor. The functionality they have got in the Mist portal should be baked into the conductor itself. It would be really great, but as we all know, that won't happen."
"I found some weaknesses on their hardware. They are sometimes breaking very often."
"The only thing that I'm having issues with is on one of the sites, I can't see the location on the map. That's the only thing that can be fixed."
"The stability is good, but it could be better."
"VMware SD-WAN could improve by having more partnerships with other vendors."
"We can't execute commands as fast as we'd like because the graphic user interface is very slow."
"There is no security included, which is something that should be improved."
"They should provide us with the flexibility to scale up."
"The cost of VeloCloud could be lowered."
"Security needs improvement. Also, it needs better scalability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."
"We are currently renegotiating the offer for the licenses and the license bundle model. The license for an ISP has to be different from the license for an end customer. This is something we are currently renegotiating with Juniper, but, of course, the pricing for the licensing is always an issue when you want to get more customers."
"The solution's price combines the license and the bandwidth you used."
"The price of this solution should be lower."
"We pay about $500 USD, or 700,000 Korean won."
"We make monthly payments toward the licensing costs of the solution."
"The minimum cost is $10,000 a month to have a monitoring station set up."
"There is only a standard fee for the solution."
"Overall pricing could be lower. It is much more expensive than traditional hardware vendor pricing."
"VMware SD-WAN provides competitive pricing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
23%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
10%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?
Pricing for Juniper Session Smart Router is premium but is usually justified for enterprises needing advanced WAN optimization and application-aware routing. Some challenges arise from initial lice...
What needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?
Juniper Session Smart Router can be improved by simplifying onboarding for traditional network teams and providing better documentation for complex deployments, as well as improving the GUI for ope...
What is your primary use case for Juniper Session Smart Router?
My main use case for Juniper Session Smart Router in the lab environment where I've tried learning about Juniper networks is basically SD-WAN and application-aware routing for enterprise WAN transf...
What are the biggest differences between Fortinet Fortigate and VMware SD-WAN?
One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. It is a very stable, reliable, and consistent solution. We like that we can manage the entire...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware SD-WAN?
When it comes to setup cost and licensing cost for VMware, it is on the expensive side relative to the market. We are struggling to sell VMware as Fortinet offers SD-WAN with no additional costs. T...
What needs improvement with VMware SD-WAN?
The improvement needed for VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN is in the security area. The security part is the main issue for us when selling VeloCloud compared to Fortinet and Cisco.
 

Also Known As

128T Networking Platform, 128 Technology SD-WAN, Juniper SSR Series
VMware SD-WAN, VeloCloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Revation Systems
Redmond, Coca Cola, Roka Bioscience, MetTel, Deutsche Telekom, Rockford Construction,  The Bay Club, tru Independence, Triton Management Services, DevCon, AXPM
Find out what your peers are saying about Juniper Session Smart Router vs. VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.