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Aruba Instant On Switches vs NETGEAR Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Aruba Instant On Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (4th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Switches is 10.3%, up from 8.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 7.4%, up from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

MashukThakur - PeerSpot reviewer
A centrally managed switches ideal for small and medium businesses but does not have any console access
The solution does not have any console access. For example, if you do not have internet access on your side and you need to configure anything, you should at least have CLI access to do something or manage the solution to put to some IP. It will only work if we have a TSCT on the network. We can port and configure the initial settings before we get the Instant On Switches. I am not working deeply on Instant On devices. I have only installed it in a couple of accommodation sites. Even today, one customer has ordered to install 80 pieces of Instant On. I’ve to order additional 94 access points. I was confused about whether to go with Aruba Instant On or AP-505. Instant On has limited accessibility but AP-505 have cloud or local access on normal infrastructure. This would be better and easier to configure. So, there are further improvements in regard to console access and some limitations with access.
Doug Meuross - PeerSpot reviewer
Can easily integrate with the networks and infrastructures
No maintenance is required for the solution. It is very easy to integrate the product with the other systems in our company's infrastructure since you only need to consider plugging a cable. My company does not integrate the product with any product specifically since we only consider integrations with the networks and infrastructures. As the product needs to be plugged in and it starts working, I can say that it is a reliable solution that works. The tool also offers quality, especially if you consider how you would not know whether an unknown product that you choose would work for you or not. I recommend the product to others. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The online monitoring tool and the configuration of the application with the tool are valuable features."
"Regarding the feature, my clients are currently favoring it because it enables them to switch back to phone functionality."
"The solution has a simple deployment and zero border."
"Setup is easy."
"Aruba's management solutions, like Aruba Central are valuable."
"Aruba Central provides various AI features that we can use. It collects data on health and performance issues for wireless and wired clients."
"The most valuable features I find in Aruba Instant On switches include the access list and VLANs, along with other features such as security and cloud capabilities."
"It is a very stable solution."
"With this, you literally just log in to a website, see all your clients, all your NETGEAR switches, and you can manage them all right there: the VLANs, powering on and off individual ports, rebooting the whole device, the firmware updates. Everything can be done remotely..."
"Technical support is helpful and quick to respond."
"There is a lot of helpful documentation that helps with the configuration process."
"SFP, speed, and 10-Gigabit are the most valuable aspects of this solution. We're an architecture firm and we sometimes deal with large files. Anything we can do to eke out even a fraction of a second less time to get something done over the course of a year adds up. If I can get 10-Gigabit running in my server room, which I am right now, even though we're only gigabit to the desktop, due to the client computers we have, I can get more performance from everybody. I'm ready to start bringing in 10-Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop once I get the hardware to do that."
"The most valuable feature is definitely the fully functional IGMP snooping and querier, out-of-the-box, that the switch provides. With most if not all switches that we've worked with previously, at a minimum you have to enable a couple of different options... It's really a good feature to have that stuff enabled and fully functional out-of-the-box so that [AV techs] don't have to worry about configuring any of that stuff."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"The solution helps transfer data."
"This is a cost-effective solution."
 

Cons

"Some models need enhancement of the web interface to make management and monitoring easier."
"You cannot use many VLANs, like VLAN 10, VLAN 20, VLAN 30, and VLAN 100 on Aruba Instant On AP."
"Some customers have made complaints about Aruba Instant On Switches' stability."
"The product's startup speed is very bad, as it is very slow."
"The pricing is competitive but could be improved."
"Improvements are required in the product's price. I want it to be cheaper."
"The support needs improvement."
"We would like to see more documentation."
"There's a lack of chips and, consequently, a lack of deliveries. They're out of stock at their European warehouse."
"The security features must be improved."
"An area for improvement would be creating a wizard that can do a lot of common stuff. Instead of having some manual configuration for common features, they may want to have a single wizard that could be put in place which would let you walk through creating multiple VLANs and different routes between VLANs in a wizard. Then, you wouldn't have to dig in so deep."
"There are a lot of systems that are moving into different areas. There are a lot of cloud-based things happening. One nice feature that I've seen in other switches is artificial intelligence on the actual porting. They've got AI technology that will tell you when a port is down. They not only tell you when a port is down; they also tell you when a port is running slower. You can do a cable-fault check, or you can do other checks. It would be nice to have this information in NETGEAR. This feature might already be there in a new release of the NETGEAR's firmware, but I haven't seen it."
"The product's scalability has certain shortcomings that can be improved."
"This product lacks a CLI interface."
"One thing I would like to see improved is the response time for technical support."
"They can improve on the commercial part, specifically the cost, as it is higher than other brands."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product has good pricing."
"Aruba Instant On Switches is cheaper than Cisco and expensive compared to some Chinese brand products."
"Pricing is competitive, and there are no supplementary fees."
"The pricing is quite low compared to other products, which is good for the customer."
"We pay an annual licensing fee."
"The product is not cheaply priced, especially when compared to the other vendors in the market."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The license for Instant On Switches is free."
"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..."
"I would rate the tool's pricing a nine out of ten."
"The price point, compared to a lot of the competitors that didn't have the modular switch, was about 20 to 30 percent less expensive."
"The product has the best price in the market."
"It is not expensive."
"I sold someone a SonicWall and they had to redo their subscription every year. It was a $300 or $400 subscription they had to pay every year... With NETGEAR... it's only a $10 or $20 subscription per device for the whole year... and you have your license and you have all your support."
"It is a slightly expensive product."
"NETGEAR Switches' pricing is low compared to other brands. I rate it an eight out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Instant On Switches?
The solution has a simple deployment and zero border.
What needs improvement with Aruba Instant On Switches?
I have run into a couple of problems with the switches. Recently, one of the newer stacks stopped working and had to be rebooted individually. They don't have a lot of diagnostics tools, which coul...
How do NETGEAR switches compare with Cisco ethernet switches?
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...
Which switches are better - Ubiquiti Unifi or Netgear?
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 reconfi...
What do you like most about NETGEAR Switches?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. I have not faced any issues with the product whatsoever.
 

Also Known As

Aruba Instant On 1930 Switches
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

KEMET, Vestavia Hills City Schools, Dropbox
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant On Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
839,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.