We are using it as a voice gateway. We need to connect with PSTN, and we are communicating with the outside world through this router.
Senior Solution Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Great performance, reliable, and requires minimal maintenance
Pros and Cons
- "Its performance and stability are most valuable. We are using it for the last five years, and it is constantly up. It didn't create any problems for us."
- "If Cisco can give you one license and allow you to use all the features, that would be the best thing. We are using it only as a voice gateway, and there are other options available, but we need to procure licenses to use those options. We can use it as a security device, or we can use it for connecting the LAN side, but for that, we need all those licenses. They can provide one license and allow you to use all the features. This is my recommendation for Cisco."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Its performance and stability are most valuable. We are using it for the last five years, and it is constantly up. It didn't create any problems for us.
It is very easy to use. The handling of the device is very easy. It doesn't require any maintenance. After many months in a year, we bring it down, and we just do the normal cleaning and maintenance of the device.
What needs improvement?
If Cisco can give you one license and allow you to use all the features, that would be the best thing. We are using it only as a voice gateway, and there are other options available, but we need to procure licenses to use those options. We can use it as a security device, or we can use it for connecting the LAN side, but for that, we need all those licenses. They can provide one license and allow you to use all the features. This is my recommendation for Cisco.
It is quite costly. It would be great if they can reduce its price.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for five years.
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Cisco Enterprise Routers
November 2024
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816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable.
How are customer service and support?
We didn't contact them so far.
How was the initial setup?
Its installation is quite straightforward. Cisco provides plenty of helpful documents. There are many videos available on YouTube and Cisco's site to provide us the required information. So, it was not a problem for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is quite costly. Its price should be reduced.
What other advice do I have?
I would highly recommend this solution to other users. It is very reliable, and its performance is good.
I would rate Cisco Enterprise Routers a 10 out of 10.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
RF Planning Manager at Sabafon
Highly scalabe, always stable, and very flexible
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is flexible."
- "Other products are coming to the market that are not as expensive, Cisco should reduce their price to be more comparable."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for our DataCom Network and various others.
What is most valuable?
The solution is flexible.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for over ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have found it to be scalable with our three million users.
What about the implementation team?
We have Cisco agents that do the deployment of the solution and the install can take a maximum of a few days. We have a team of 20 for maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I have found the price to be expensive for the solution. Other products are coming to the market that are not as expensive, Cisco should reduce their price to be more comparable.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this product to others.
I rate Cisco Enterprise Routers an eight of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Enterprise Routers
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Enterprise Routers. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Sr. Backbone Architect at NTT Global Networks Incorporated
Creates a responsive and intelligent integrated network
Pros and Cons
- "The routing platform is good."
- "I am happy with the price of Cisco Enterprise Routers, but they could offer more discounts to their customers."
What is our primary use case?
We use Cisco Enterprise Routers for implementing properties and features.
What is most valuable?
The routing platform is good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cisco Enterprise Routers for roughly 15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is both stable and scalable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is okay.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was quite straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am happy with the price of Cisco Enterprise Routers, but they could offer more discounts to their customers.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of eight.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Senior Network Engineer at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Stable and easy to use with good support from the vendor and the community
Pros and Cons
- "This product is very easy to use."
- "Cisco has a lot of problems with the graphical interfaces used for management."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use these routers for establishing connections between different sites. These connections allow our users at different locations to access the network.
What is most valuable?
The feature that I like most is the routing.
This product is very easy to use.
What needs improvement?
Cisco has a lot of problems with the graphical interfaces used for management.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been working with Cisco Enterprise Routers for almost 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
These routers are very stable.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is very good.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cisco routers are very pricey. This is the biggest complaint from customers for which we provide support.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for anybody who is considering this product is that it is very easy to use, and there is a large community to support you. I recommend checking the licensing because sometimes when you buy the product, you may forget to check the licensing and warranty information.
We have seen that most clients work with third-parties when it comes to a monitoring solution for Cisco routers.
In summary, this is a good product and one that I recommend.
I would rate this solution a ten 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: reseller
Co-founder and Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
A stable solution with an easy initial setup process
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is scalable."
- "The solution's cloud management capabilities could be better."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to terminate connections at the edge of the network. It helps us handle tasks such as removing MPLS circuits and voice routing for unified communications.
What is most valuable?
The solution's most valuable feature is stability. Its hardware remains stable for a long time. We rarely encounter downtime issues. Also, it has the best operational features.
What needs improvement?
The solution's cloud management capabilities could be better. Its smart licensing process needs to be simplified as well.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for 23 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution's scalability a nine out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support team is helpful and has a good response time.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We use FortiGate as well. It provides more efficient firewall functionality and is more inexpensive than Cisco.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup process is simple.
What about the implementation team?
We have some customers who implement the solution themselves. In some cases, we assist in its deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is costly for small businesses. I rate its pricing a five out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Information Security and Compliance Manager at RSwitch
Highly scalable, helpful technical support, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "One of the most valuable features of this solution is performance."
- "Cisco Enterprise Routers could improve by making their solution more user-friendly. Currently, users need to have extensive knowledge of networking to use them because there is only a command-line interface for the configuration. They should add a graphical interface to allow junior users guidance and more flexibility when doing the configuration."
What is our primary use case?
We are a payment gateway company and we use Cisco Enterprise Routers primarily for connecting with our partners outside on the point-to-point fiber VPN IPsec.
What is most valuable?
One of the most valuable features of this solution is performance.
What needs improvement?
Cisco Enterprise Routers could improve by making their solution more user-friendly. Currently, users need to have extensive knowledge of networking to use them because there is only a command-line interface for the configuration. They should add a graphical interface to allow junior users guidance and more flexibility when doing the configuration.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for approximately six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable compared to others, such as FortiGate.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco Enterprise Routers is highly scalable.
We are payment gateway company that tracks accepting transactions and all the traffic coming from our partners or people outside that want to do a transaction, such as online or ATM on POS, are using the Cisco Enterprise Router. Additionally, the internal staff of 50 are using it.
We do not have plans to increase usage at this time.
How are customer service and technical support?
We did not have any issues with the technical support. However, there could be better documentation for the solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for our Cisco Enterprise Router was complex because of our environment. Before deploying it, we had to comply with some security standards that was a bit difficult.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This solution is expensive compared to competitors. There are additional costs if you want to have their support.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have evaluated other solutions, such as FortiGate.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others in certain situations, it depends on the company and their use case. If the company has a critical environment, I would recommend Cisco Enterprise Routers. The solution is stable and the support is very good.
I rate Cisco Enterprise Routers an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Administrator at OM Networks Pvt Ltd
Great hardware but needs better automation features and could scale easier
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is mostly stable."
- "The automation capabilities need improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily deployed the solution in IP VPN configurations from the head office to branch offices and other centers.
Currently, in Nepal, there are no advanced Enterprise Routers. This is just for routing and VPN supports.
What is most valuable?
Cisco is a great product.
It is excellent hardware.
The agent support has been terrific.
There are no policy or hardware issues at all. The performance is great.
The solution is mostly stable.
If it's a standard setup, the initial implementation can be straightforward.
What needs improvement?
I want to get some advanced features. I want to use advanced features such as SD-WAN or Viptela and vManage or vBond. However, these are not available in Nepal just yet. The supports could be better in Nepal.
The automation capabilities need improvement. Right now, everything is too manual. We'd like to really see much more automation availability.
The scalability could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have good experience with Cisco routers and switches. I've been dealing with the solution for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Mostly the solution is stable, however, there is no 100% certainty in any product. Some could be defective and some could be improved. Some could be weak. However, mostly by-in-large, there is no problem with Cisco products.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In the current device, the scalability is not so good. There are no SD-WAN features in Enterprise Routers. In Nepal, there are normal VPN and normal routing protocols and not many features in SD-WAN.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also work with Sophos, Fortinet, Nutanix, Peplink, and F5 products. We're also Juniper partners.
How was the initial setup?
If we deploy normal routing just for routing purposes, it is very easy and convenient to configure. However, if you get something on IPC again, such as more robust security, there is a little bit of complexity. It's just a little bit more complicated than normal static routing and other routing protocols.
What other advice do I have?
We are Cisco partners. We are a full IT solutions-oriented company.
I'd rate the solution at a five out of ten. While the hardware is good, it doesn't offer very easy scalability and lacks decent automation capabilities.
I'd recommend the solution to other users, however, it depends on customer requirements. If the customer requirement is a very large network and a lot of brands and there are various data centers, I would recommend they install a different device. There are devices coming - such as SD-WAN. There are Viptela and other devices such as vBond. I would recommend those types of devices and suggest that automation and DNA should be installed.
That said if a customer's requirements are not that broad, and they just need routing, or the requirement is just routing and IPC VPN, I would recommend this product.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
IT Consultant at a marketing services firm with 11-50 employees
Easy plug-and-play usage, stable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "What I like the most is that it's an easy plug and play device to work with."
- "The only other thing we struggled with from time to time is when we were configuring access points through a controller."
What is our primary use case?
We are resellers. We provide products for our clients.
I am using this solution for my network in the office.
We mainly sell it to the government departments, who also use it on-premises for their LAN.
What is most valuable?
What I like the most is that it's an easy plug and play device to work with.
What needs improvement?
I haven't really delved deeply into the configuration, so from the router's point of view, I can't provide much of an opinion. From the switches perspective, I feel there isn't much that can be done because again, I have delved into the configuration.
When we set up a LAN and we use Cisco, it makes life easy. If instead, we buy it from the distributor, it comes provisioned with the licenses. We just plug it in, and the network goes up, except when we need to do a VLAN.
The only other thing we struggled with from time to time is when we were configuring access points through a controller. The challenge we had was because our client used a firewall and they used a proxy, which gave us many challenges in relation to the configuration. But other than that, it went well.
The price should be reduced.
Our clients are mainly government and they want to implement CCAT6A and they come up with extremely stringent conditions. It made it difficult for us to even bid because they want gold certified partners. It became a bit tricky for us to submit the bids.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Cisco Enterprise Routers for eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There are no issues with stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's a scalable solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not contacted technical support with this project. We felt it's something we could sort out ourselves and then we managed to sort it out.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's not a fair price, it's a bit too high.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others, but I would ask them to buy from the channel, they shouldn't buy from the market. Because once they buy it from the channel, they do have a lot of benefits that they can derive from it.
I would rate Cisco Enterprise Routers 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
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