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Cisco Ethernet Switches vs Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 23, 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

Cisco Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
134
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper EX Series Ethernet ...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 16.3%, down from 18.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Pradeep Adhav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network security enhancement with sturdy switches despite high costs
The Cisco Ethernet switches are primarily used as regular core switches for networking, distribution, and access levels. We also utilize Cisco Wi-Fi, VPN, and Wi-Fi controllers The Cisco Ethernet switches have improved our network's security, ensuring it is 100% secure by not allowing any…
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The features that I have found most valuable are the core reliability and the switching group. All the features are very generic switching features with high reliability. That is the main key point I can highlight."
"The initial setup was very easy."
"These switches are both stable and scalable."
"The brand name and the service support by Cisco are most valuable."
"Multicast is a great feature of this product."
"The quality of service is one of the main reasons we use Cisco in our organization. It's quite high and very reliable. The switches also end up working for a long time, so there's less need to replace them as often as others. We have some switches in our company that has been running since 2006, for example. They are quite old, but they still work."
"I'm satisfied with Cisco switches. It's stable and beautiful."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the performance of the product."
"The most valuable feature is the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)."
"The solution is easy to use and has good integration."
"The Virtual Chassis, because you have a centralized administration of a set of switches which makes the operation more efficient.​"
"Juniper switches are smart and we have all the features that we want. You can rollback to the previous version if you make any mistake during configuration. This is not possible in Cisco."
"It is stable."
"This is a lower cost product with better features than the competition."
"In terms of performance, Juniper switches have a more user-friendly interface and more features than Cisco products."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the Junos operating system."
 

Cons

"One area for improvement could be integrating a single dashboard for both wired and wireless networks."
"Cisco has a licensing procedure that is very complicated and it changes every six months."
"I think the price should be cheaper to be able to afford more."
"There are some GUI configuration improvements that they can implement in the future for the product models."
"Technical support for integrations with other network products is insufficient and should be improved."
"Could use additional programmability for the switches."
"An area for improvement in Cisco Ethernet Switches is its command-line interface. It works differently than expected if you want to do some implementation. However, it works if it's a simple integration."
"The solution really should offer better pricing. It would help them stay competitive."
"The configuration could be made simpler."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches could improve in the EX 2300 model because it does not support IPsec VPN. Only the models at 3400 or higher support it. Additionally, there is a need for support for Mac which is lacking. Some of their competitors, such as Cisco, support Mac."
"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."
"You need to make a few local configurations to work with the solution. We have faced issues with the tool's stability."
"Their web GUI interface needs to be a lot better, especially when compared to HP. The command line is good, but you have to know how to get around it. The GUI is clunky and very slow."
"The solution is a bit costly compared to other products."
"The security features for the product should be more unified for the product regardless of the product model."
"The management platforms for the network need improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not too expensive."
"The pricing is reasonable so I rate it a six out of ten."
"The product is expensive."
"The last time I bought a 24-port switch, which was a while ago, I paid about five or six thousand Euros. In this part of the world, that's quite expensive for us."
"The price is a bit on the high side."
"In some of the latest switches, the warranty is not included in the pricing and we have to purchase it separately."
"Price-wise, Cisco Ethernet Switches is a product that falls a little bit on the expensive side."
"It is an expensive product since it is used in a large network where you cannot rely on some cheaply priced solution."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches are cheaper than Cisco or HP."
"The maintenance cost is approximately €2,000 ($2,200 USD) per year, including support, for our entire fleet."
"The Juniper switches are less expensive than competing brands."
"The initial cost of the solution can be expensive."
"There is a need to make a payment towards the perpetual licensing model offered by the product and also towards the subscription-based model for hardware replacement."
"Support prices and licensing scheme need to be improved to allow some features to be purchased at lower costs, for example, RPM​."
"The solution's pricing is cheaper than that of Cisco."
"The price of the Juniper EX Series is reasonable. Cisco is a lot more expensive."
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%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?
Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...
Which would you choose - Fortinet Fortiswitch secure access or Cisco Ethernet Switches?
We researched Cisco but ultimately chose Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access, mostly because of the price. Fortinet FortiSwitch is an ethernet switch solution that provides security and performance...
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?
I use Juniper EX series switches for various purposes, including in larger enterprises and software companies. They are proposed for connectivity in VoIP environments using multiple VLAN ID configu...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
Juniper Ethernet Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Linz AG
BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Ethernet Switches vs. Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.