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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 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

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secu...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
48
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
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is 5.1%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.7%, down from 4.1% 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,…
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

"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access has good scalability."
"Stability and scalability for this product are very good. Setup is easy and deployment can be completed within minutes. The technical support for Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is good."
"You can hook all the other components to be monitored. You can create policies and block certain people from accessing the Internet."
"Deploying the solution is a breeze, even a novice can do it."
"I can say that the product is easy to use...The initial setup of the product was easy."
"It can integrate well with other Fortinet products."
"Having a single dashboard to manage everything simplifies the process."
"The most valuable feature is the breakability after integration with the FortiGate firewall."
"I would rate this solution a 10 out of 10 for scalability."
"The security is good."
"The performance is very good."
"I like the simplicity of it."
"The solution is certainly scalable."
"Juniper is the best when it comes to the core layer."
"The feature I like the most is the ability to reword changes before committing to the change. We can always reword changes in 10 minutes if they don't work."
"The thing that sets Juniper apart from most switches is that when you're in the command line and you make a configuration change, you just write the command and then say "commit confirmed minutes". For example, I'm configuring a switch here in my office, which is five miles away, and I say, "commit confirmed 5". If I can't get back to the interface within five minutes to be able to make sure the switch came up, it rolls back to the previous configuration. This way I do not get locked out, or the switch doesn't get messed up because of the incorrect configuration. That's an automatic feature, which is pretty slick. I haven't seen that feature with other vendors that I've worked with. That's probably my most favorite feature."
 

Cons

"The product could use more security related features."
"The initial setup is pretty easy; we have built a knowledge base. But there's a learning curve for beginners."
"It would also help if they lowered the cost of their service."
"The pricing could be improved, and it could be easier to configure."
"The introduction of AI integration could be valuable for detecting abnormal traffic directly on the switch."
"The solution could provide an active VPN."
"The tool should improve its CLI."
"It could be simpler but compared to the competition, it's not so bad."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is not cheap. The tool needs improvement in UI."
"The only issue that we have with Juniper Ethernet Switches is the firmware because it is not stable."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches' operating systems get corrupted when the power fails. They have to improve this issue. I may have to use a newer version."
"The interface could be better. It needs improvement."
"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 Virtual Chassis Fabric is kind of complicated to troubleshoot sometimes. On the MPLS side, they're good — they're fine for the pseudo-wires and stuff—but they need more work on the LAN. It is difficult to troubleshoot their LAN technologies like Virtual Chassis."
"The initial setup for Juniper switches is complex. Juniper has a new program that solves that problem a little bit, but it is expensive, so I don't use it. It is Juniper Mesh, Juniper Wire, or something like that where you plug in a switch, and it goes out to their cloud, finds a config, and brings it down. So, you can do everything cloud-based, but there is a fee for that. It is expensive, so I've never used it. If we were starting, we would try to do something like that. It is more for a large enterprise for managing hundreds of switches versus what we're doing. They should make its price more cost-effective or include it for new or smaller companies."
"The only issue that we have with Juniper Ethernet Switches is the firmware because it is not stable."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing is easy: FortiCare and that's it."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access requires a license and the price is expensive."
"Price-wise, I find Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access to be an okay product. It is not an expensive product."
"We have to pay for the solution's subscription."
"It's affordable compared to other switching products, like Cisco switches."
"The product pricing seems to be mid-range."
"The tool's pricing is fine."
"The pricing for Fortinet FortiSwitch is not expensive."
"It is an inexpensive product."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches' pricing is high, but that's reflected across the market."
"Juniper costs less than the competition. As a comparison, Cisco is 33% more."
"The pricing of Juniper Ethernet Switches compared to equivalent switches from Aruba, Cisco, and others, Juniper Ethernet Switches are priced a little higher. They are approximately 20 to 50 percent higher. When we receive a new range of models, the prices can come down. The price can also vary by region."
"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."
"They offer a more competitive pricing structure compared to one of the competitors."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"We purchased the box for a one-time charge, and we are paying a yearly support fee of several hundred Euros."
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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%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
8%
University
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 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?
Throughout my experience, I've deployed Juniper EX switches in various environments, from small enterprise networks to large-scale data centers. In every instance, they have consistently delivered ...
 

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: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.