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Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs NETGEAR Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secu...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (5th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access is 6.2%, up from 6.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 9.7%, up from 9.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

SherifAbdelrahman - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 11, 2024
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,…
Beenish Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 10, 2024
Helps with infrastructure planning and provides flexibility to leverage and connect more devices
The solution helps with infrastructure planning. If you have a point-of-sale system, you can use these switches to connect the internet devices through the right Ethernet cable.  That gives more flexibility instead of trying to get the Ethernet cable in the infrastructure wall. We use these…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Deploying the solution is a breeze, even a novice can do it."
"The policies are very good."
"It is very user-friendly. There is no need to use command lines to configure it or to do anything in it. You hardly use command lines, which makes it different from Cisco. In Cisco, the CLI is your best friend. Fortinet has the lowest TCO, so you can use its integrated components without having to buy additional licenses. They provide centralized management without needing to buy or acquire additional licenses. You have an integral or complete vision through a single pane of glass, and you can see everything from one single console without having to buy additional licenses, which is a plus. It works the same way when you add wireless. You can see everything from FortiGate. It has a security processor, which is another plus. It does not have a standard desktop processor. It has a multi-threat security processor, and it is built by Fortinet. So, all the components that you include in a Fortinet solution are proprietary and work in an integral way. It has one single solution, whereas other brands, such as Palo Alto and Check Point, have been acquiring certain solutions, and they're not fully integrated. With Fortinet, everything is integrated. If you start building on Fortinet, everything that you expand to the local LAN or WAN is integrated. You don't have to pay for professional services and other things to do that. Their technical information is also very good. Most of their information is based on how-to, and it can be found online, which is something my clients like."
"The visual scope of the solution is very good. It allows me to see and download all of the network information."
"The most valuable feature is the security switch."
"My advice those using a firewall Fortigate is: use their APs because they work very well."
"It's easy to be configured and powerful in terms of performance."
"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."
"Technical support is helpful and quick to respond."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The tool is stable."
"I'm satisfied with the stability of NETGEAR Switches."
"You are not limited in terms of stacking ports, and especially, if you're using the 96X as a core switch, the scalability, I could see this being very large. If you're using a type of a hybrid topology with a core switch going out to multiple switch stacks, or something like that, I could see the scalability of this being very good, especially considering the kind of backplane switching capacity on the 96X."
"The solution is reliable and it is easy to setup."
"As far as remoting into it goes, it is very efficient because I can do it from anywhere, through the remote software. I can get right into it, I can change settings really quickly, if a customer needs to add another device into it or if I need to make changes on the VLANs that we created."
"The stability is good. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"Its cloud features could be better."
"In the next release, I would like to see more outdoor products."
"The pricing could be improved, and it could be easier to configure."
"The installation is not difficult. However, some features have to be activated from the CLI."
"The central management needs improvement. The initial setup could be easier."
"The product's end-user protection feature needs improvement."
"The solution doesn't support other switches."
"The initial setup is pretty easy; we have built a knowledge base. But there's a learning curve for beginners."
"Though the tool's useability is good, it has certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"They can improve on the commercial part, specifically the cost, as it is higher than other brands."
"When the power does go out, or if we do a soft shutdown, some of the transceivers or the monitor don't recognize when it turns back on, so I have to physically unplug it and plug it back in and then it works. We're working with NETGEAR's engineers to figure out why that's happening."
"Being able to pass AVB traffic over these switches, that would be a huge add. There are not many switches out that support that. The GS728TP NETGEAR switches used to or still do support AVB, but it would be ideal if the 4300 Series could support it as well."
"NETGEAR Switches must look into their competitors since they have all available models."
"The IGMP specifics of the web management console could use a bit of clarification."
"One thing I would like to see improved is the response time for technical support."
"Lacks switches with additional ports that provide room for new protocols of communications."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing is billed annually and contracts are either one or three years in length."
"We have to renew and pay for the licenses."
"It's affordable compared to other switching products, like Cisco switches."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch is a pricey solution."
"We have to pay for the solution's subscription."
"You can buy this equipment in a multitude of ways. You can buy just the hardware, or you can buy the hardware and the licenses."
"The solution has reasonable pricing. The firewall costs around 500$ annually."
"The cost appears to be high in comparison to other competing products although with this product you are paying for what you get."
"It is a slightly expensive product."
"Licensing is always a hassle and a pain point."
"Insight pricing is okay. It's very competitive. The costs of the hardware and additional services weren't low because Unify is much cheaper, but the costs conformed to the market. When you look at the hardware specs, the price and the warranty, the complete package was much better than any other vendor. If you consider those three main aspects of Netgear Insight and Netgear Insight devices, and you put them next to Ubiquity or Cisco Meraki, or even TP-Link, in our opinion, it's better hardware, it has a better warranty, and for the price you have to pay, it's a pretty good product."
"You get what you pay for. From a price comparison, there are cheaper switch makers on the market that are definitely less expensive than NETGEAR. They give you the same functionality, but they don't come with a name. There are solutions like Ubiquiti that are very good. They have the ease of setup, and I find NETGEAR battling a little bit in comparison to Ubiquiti."
"NETGEAR Switches' pricing is low compared to other brands. I rate it an eight out of ten."
"The product has the best price in the market."
"I would rate the tool's pricing a nine out of ten."
"The great thing about the Insight product is that the renewable subscription is much cheaper than the competitors in the market. It is not over $50, per year, so customers buy the equipment and don't have to worry so much about the renewable fees that go along with having such access into their switch, with a cloud-managed solution. There are some other manufacturers where you'll essentially pay the same in hardware as you do in software, just for the cloud solution that supports it; just to keep getting the firmware updates and all of that information. With NETGEAR, you can do multi-year and that is something like 90 percent cheaper than if you're looking at Meraki, for example. It is extremely competitive. It's one of the main reasons we liked it so much."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
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?
The product pricing seems to be mid-range. The licensing structure is not uniform and can be difficult to understand. I rate the pricing around five or six out of ten.
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

No data available
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.