Learn what your peers think about Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.

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What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

I haven't seen any issues with deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Seldom

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Standard questions about more clients ports on devices.

How are customer service and support?

Customer Service: Good, but not the best.Technical Support: Good.

How was the initial setup?

We had some questions, but that's it.

What about the implementation team?

We did some prep with the vendor team which was very helpful.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Cisco solutions and some others.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user90057

Owner at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Feb 13, 2014

Pros and cons of both Cisco and Juniper configs, but you can see the benefit of why they organized it the way they did

After being primarily a Cisco user for many years, I find the switch to Juniper refreshing. The CLI is intuitive and I appreciate the hierarchy of the various configuration groups to be much more organized. I also think it is better with regard to config checking, and ensuring that the items entered into the config work with the rest of the config. For example if you happen to forget a line in a policy, or make an error in referencing a particular object, it will not let you commit the config. I know there are pros and cons of both configs, but once you get used to Juniper, you can see the benefit of why they organized it the way they did.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user111924VP of Network/Comms/Infra at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

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Nov 11, 2014

Hi, well to your point about rollbacks, the benefits of this feature are quite obvious in that they provide a fail safe mechanism should your changes inadvertently isolate you from a remote device due to some unforeseen error/mistake (it happens!).
I often hear people compare this age old Junos feature to Cisco's "reload in|at x" command, however if the difference isn't already obvious, that command results is a device reload, whereas Junos rollbacks do not. Picture a scenario whereby your action isolates you from a remote device yet that device is still carrying production traffic loads. In this scenario, the user of rollback would be able to regain access to the device without impact to traffic through the device, whereas the user of the reload command would see an outage. Consider a worst case scenario whereby the device fails to complete its boot cycle and there my friend you have hell on your hands. May as well pack your stuff into a box and grab your coat at that point.

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Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches

January 2026

Free Report: Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.

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879,899 professionals have used our research since 2012.

it_user82779

Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

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 make changes only in areas that concern me without necessarily impacting other areas.

3) Easier rollback when one makes mistakes

4) I think there are less bugs/vulnerabilities in Junos vs IOS.

5) iOS has too many flavors leads to confusion with deployment.

One more advantage of junos over iOS. Juniper adheres closer to the standards than Cisco. Epigraph is nice, auto rp is cool, but with the less protocols in the standards it's much earlier to configure junos.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user111156Consultant

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May 6, 2014

Either vendor has a switch that will do the job. However I perferer Juniper due to

a. rollback is quick and easy in the event of issues arising from chnages
b. easier fault finding (once you get your head around how its implemented)
c. no need check the switch to find which OS feature set is installed and if memory / flash upgrade is required - its all in the OS with very few licenses (usually none) required to get full functionality if you have select the correct product in the first place
d. Hierarchical config is much easier to follow - great concept that most programmers can pickup quickly
e. don't need to learn different variants of the CLI as is required on IOS (even HP manage to stay relatively consistent there)
f. decent speed stacking interfaces on enterprise grade switches (particular 4x00 series)
g. more function for $ (at retail prices)
h. closer to standards than Cisco - easier interoperability in multi vendor environment
i. does not have legacy protocols that are not used or so rarely used that they don't matter in the day and age

Purchase and implementation of Cisco maintenance process is MUCH simpler to the end customer

Worked on both brands for a number of years.

it_user5700

Engineer with 501-1,000 employees

Apr 4, 2013

I found it to be difficult to make the transition from Cisco to Juniper as far as the CLI goes.

Overall, the equipment is pretty good and more affordable than some other solutions. I found it to be difficult to make the transition from CISCO to Juniper as far as the CLI goes, maybe thats just me. I also had more than one instance where a switch would just stop working and I would have to reload the firmware on it and reconfigure it to get it back up and running. This caused me to purchase backup devices to minimize downtime and really cut into the cost savings over CISCO.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

it_user88422Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

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Feb 13, 2014

There's a learning curve for sure but it's definitely a better CLI and it appears Cisco agrees going by the changes in IOS-XR. Once you get your heard round using a tiered structure it just makes more sense. Config tools that JunOS offers like copy, replace and move are really handy if you learn how to use them. These can save you a lot of time. What else...

Commit check / confirm / comment
rollback
traceroute monitor
monitor interface
stacking of pipe "|" commands for example: show interface | match xe | match error
Show configuration | display set

I strongly advise you start looking at and backing up configs using the later format. Sometimes the standard hierarchical display can be easier to read and spot mistakes but for copy and pasting config it's much easier to use the "set" display format. Avoiding using "load merge terminal" will save you headaches IMHO.

Once you learn the power of all the show and config command options start looking at JunOS Scripts - then you'll be blown away.

Also if you have access Juniper offer a IOS to JunOS conversion tool... i2j.juniper.net/release/index.jsp

it_user2589

IT Administrator at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Oct 27, 2012

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Impressive features but switches are facing tough competition

Valuable Features:

From the technology point of view quality, design, and look-and-feel is good. Network administrators can easily manage and configure these network switches. I have easily configured an L3 switch to create a network campus backbone. Low maintenance required. No certification (CCNA, CCIE) is required to become a network administrator to set up a Juniper network.

Room for Improvement:

During price negotiation we found that price is high compared to other switches. High price is obstructing sales in market. I felt that on-site and telephone support is not satisfactory.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Ahmed Mondher

Network And Security Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Nov 25, 2023

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A stable product that needs improvement in UI

Pros and Cons

"The tool's most valuable feature is stability."

"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is not cheap. The tool needs improvement in UI."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product in data centers.

What is most valuable?

The tool's most valuable feature is stability.

What needs improvement?

Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is not cheap. The tool needs improvement in UI.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The tool is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches' scalability is high.

How was the initial setup?

I rate the tool's deployment a ten out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner

Sachitha Wimalaratne

Senior Presales Consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Jul 11, 2023

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An interesting and helpful tool for troubleshooting and debugging

Pros and Cons

"The product is very helpful in troubleshooting."

"The solution is a bit costly compared to other products."

What is our primary use case?

We have done big projects with the solution. We use the solution for the data center and the access layer features.

What is most valuable?

The product is very helpful in troubleshooting. Debugging is quite interesting and very helpful.

What needs improvement?

The solution is a bit costly compared to other products.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for the last three to four years.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The tool is more expensive than its competitors.

What other advice do I have?

Technically, I do not see any drawbacks in the tool compared to its competitors. I would recommend the solution to others. Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner

reviewer1435281

IT at a construction company with 201-500 employees

Mar 29, 2021

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Ethernet switches that are fairly easy to implement, but stability could be better

Pros and Cons

"I like that it's fairly easy to implement these ethernet switches."

"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."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for switching.

What is most valuable?

I like that it's fairly easy to implement these ethernet switches.

What needs improvement?

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.