Cisco Linksys and NETGEAR Ethernet switches compete in the networking equipment category, focusing on small to medium-sized businesses. NETGEAR appears to have the upper hand, given its remote management capabilities, ease of deployment, and lifetime warranties.
Features: Cisco Linksys includes value and manageability beneficial for small businesses, plus cost-effectiveness and ease of use. Meanwhile, NETGEAR offers easy remote management, flexible stacking, and strong performance for AV over IP functionalities, supported by an intuitive interface.
Room for Improvement: Cisco Linksys could enhance their offering with advanced security, better warranties, and a more unified software experience. Improved stability over time and a more user-friendly GUI are also desired. NETGEAR could improve speed in their management portals and firmware stability, and better CLI options are often requested. Users also seek more design improvements for rack environments.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Linksys is noted for easy on-premises deployment, with customer service reliability varying by region. NETGEAR earns a strong reputation for streamlined deployment and supportive customer service, regularly partnering with MSPs for enhanced long-term service.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Linksys is affordable for small and medium businesses, though licensing fees make them less competitive against lower-priced options. NETGEAR provides an attractive price-to-performance ratio, offering lifetime warranties reducing user costs, appealing to municipal sectors. While cloud feature licenses add to costs, the ROI for both product lines remains satisfactory in terms of stability and features.
They were easily reachable for technical support in our last project.
I rate Cisco's technical support at eight out of ten.
There are issues distinguishing which switches support cloud features.
The scalability of NETGEAR Switches is easy and very beneficial for us.
NETGEAR's scalability through its Insight Cloud system is on par with Ubiquiti's, although it must offer features beyond its competitors.
We've experienced failures such as a 16-port dying after three to four years.
I would like Cisco to improve their technical support.
There should be an improvement in Cisco's response time and overall competence.
They should introduce features like dual firmware or dual boot that allow systems to be updated without downtime.
They can improve on the commercial part, specifically the cost, as it is higher than other brands.
Pricing can be high when compared to other solutions in the market.
Some high-end switches required for specific advanced features, like precision time protocols, can be more expensive.
Cisco is trusted by most broadcast customers for data centers due to their experience and knowledge.
Some of the most valuable features of Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches include their security features.
The precision time protocol feature caught our interest for future use in specific settings like churches, where low latency is required.
The most valuable features are routing and access control.
NETGEAR Ethernet Switches is an Ethernet solution that offers businesses of all sizes the ability to easily set up secure and highly scalable networks. Small to medium-sized companies have the option to choose from three different switching options. The three options that are most appropriate for businesses of this size are the NETGEAR Unmanaged, Plus, and Smart Switch solutions. If you're managing a large enterprise network or a campus network, then NETGEAR Fully Managed Infrastructures is the solution for you. All the NETGEAR Ethernet Switches and solutions are innovative, easy to install and use, reliable, and very cost-effective.
NETGEAR Ethernet Switches have many features that make them a most effective product. Included in these is the ability to virtually stack IP addresses in such a way that users can scale their network up with ease. These IP addresses are grouped together. Once additional data ports are connected, you have only a single switch to manage and you gain both a much higher level availability of data and a greater level of network resilience.
Benefits of NETGEAR Ethernet Switches
Some of the benefits of using NETGEAR Ethernet Switches include:
Reviews from Real Users
There are a number of characteristics that make NETGEAR Ethernet Switches extremely effective. Two major ones are its inherent flexibility and its user-friendly nature.
PeerSpot user Kevin W., a network delivery architect at a tech-services company, notes that NETGEAR Ethernet Switches gives users the ability to tailor the switches to fit their needs. He writes, "The big winner for NETGEAR is their modular switch: the 96X version. That is something that you don't see in the market anywhere else, except for Cisco who has it at a high level for a high expense. The ability to customize your own switch with their modules is a big plus for what we do in the market right now. Instead of having to piece together standardized switches, trying to make something work, or fitting the design into the mold, the modular switches are aware that you can make a mark in the industry because you purchased one switch and design with different modules added and removed later on for functionality."
PeerSpot user Chris W., a system engineer at Diversified, notes just how easy they are to use when he writes, "The ease of use of these switches is very good because of the Cisco CLI. If you are familiar with CLI, then you can configure the switch that way. It also has a relatively straightforward web interface. Using the web interface is good for beginners or people who aren't familiar with Cisco CLI. However, having a common command line interface method is great for some of our more advanced guys who are familiar with it."
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