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Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secu...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Juniper EX Series Ethernet ...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is 5.5%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 3.1%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

SherifAbdelrahman - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient integration allows streamlined network management with a straightforward setup
I use it for retail business. We are using the FortiSwitch solution for our voice switches and access points as well It has helped us by providing easy management from a single platform through the firewall interface. It's very easy to manage and provides all the insights and vulnerabilities,…
Bona Chhith - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides campus switches and access switches that are simple to deploy, but the code isn't stable enough for a leaf and spine design
If we're building a data center and have Juniper, we have hundreds of Juniper switches in a leaf and spine design architecture, and it's horrible. Sometimes after an upgrade, half of the even port can't be detected. They don't recognize third-party SFPs, and now they claim that they don't support that anymore. There are a lot of issues with the hardware and software. Juniper needs to get their code up to par because it isn't stable enough for a leaf and spine design. If you have over 10,000 VMs or Mac addresses, it doesn't scale. I would love Juniper to have more stable features, hardware, and code. We have so many tickets open with Juniper. The switch reboot doesn't detect the port. About 80% of my problems aren't engineering problems, but are Juniper's problems. In comparison, Arista gives me 10% of the problems that Juniper gives me when it comes to hardware and software. It's falling behind compared to Palo Alto because of its features. Juniper's campus switches and data center switches for the leaf and spine design for the overlay and underlay is horrible. I wouldn't recommend that anyone use Juniper fabric, because there are so many problems, issues, and features that aren't supported.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access has essential features for managing switches."
"The powerful integration capabilities allow us to manage all devices from a single interface through the firewall."
"The most valuable feature of FortiSwitch is its user-friendly interface, which facilitates easy management and propagation of rules throughout the network."
"What I actually use in this deployment are Forti APs (Fortinet Access Points). So, I can see all my office infrastructure from a single console, which is handy. One FortiGate, one FortiSwitch, and five access points, everything under good control. It's really nice to see it all together like this."
"The most valuable feature of this product is its simplicity."
"It is a stable solution from the security front."
"You can hook all the other components to be monitored. You can create policies and block certain people from accessing the Internet."
"The visual scope of the solution is very good. It allows me to see and download all of the network information."
"The ease of management through the command line interface is very good."
"The GUI interface distinguishes it from other vendors and makes it easy to operate."
"The product is very helpful in troubleshooting."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches' most valuable feature is the Juniper-Mist cloud, which facilitates management of the switches and access points."
"One of the most valuable features of Juniper Ethernet Switches is they are rugged."
"The setup phase was straightforward."
"The solution is stable and scalable."
"There is no end to the ability to scale Juniper."
 

Cons

"The central management needs improvement. The initial setup could be easier."
"The product must improve its prices."
"It would also help if they lowered the cost of their service."
"The scalability and technical support can be improved."
"When we started using the solution, it was quite complex but then it became easier to use. It takes a while to get used to the interface."
"I give the stability a seven out of ten because we have noticed when we hook up phones the switching of ELANs et cetera doesn't work as it should."
"An area for improvement would be the segmentation and network in logic networks."
"The security of the solution could be a bit better."
"The stability could be better. We find, for example, Cisco, to be more stable."
"We are not very pleased with their performance."
"The stability of this solution should be improved."
"One potential drawback of the Juniper EX Series has been that those without experience using a command-line interface (CLI) may find it intimidating. However, Junos is working on improving this by offering tools, such as Juniper Mist with Wired Assurance and Apstra. Additionally, the graphical user interface (GUI) could be improved as it has been considered lackluster across the board in Junos."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches lack to offer the latest management tools."
"All Juniper documentation is terrible."
"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."
"The price is in the intermediate range. It is not overly expensive, but also not cheap. It could stand improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We signed up for a three-year license for support and replacement."
"The product is costly for SMB customers compared to other brands available in the market."
"The tool's pricing is fine."
"Price-wise, I find Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access to be an okay product. It is not an expensive product."
"It's affordable and there are no additional costs, just regular support, and license fees."
"The solution is expensive but overall the cost makes sense."
"The pricing is quite high."
"The pricing is cheap and only a yearly licensing cost needs to be paid."
"The Juniper switches are less expensive than competing brands."
"This solution is cheaper than Cisco or HP switches."
"They offer a more competitive pricing structure compared to one of the competitors."
"The maintenance cost is approximately €2,000 ($2,200 USD) per year, including support, for our entire fleet."
"The pricing for the support is very high."
"We only pay for support."
"It's was $100,000 per year."
"We had a leakage in the support process and decided to end the product's life in order to purchase a new product with support. We did not renew product support as a result."
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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
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Educational Organization
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access?
With FortiSwitch, you can easily identify who is connected to each port, disable ports as needed, and retrieve configurations from FortiGate when required.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access?
Currently, I don't have an opinion about the price as I focus on implementation and am not informed about pricing in comparison to other vendors.
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Ethernet Switches?
If compared to Cisco, this is a well priced solution. Compared to HP, it is a little bit overpriced. Overall, they are priced in the middle compared to competitors.
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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Juniper Ethernet Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs. Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.