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HPE Ethernet Switches vs NETGEAR Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

HPE Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (4th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of HPE Ethernet Switches is 2.4%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 9.0%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

LuisSilva6 - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides ease of management and has an easy initial setup process
Primarily, we use the product for network and VLAN segmentation across our hospitality property. It forms the backbone of our network, providing connectivity to devices like TVs, phones, access points, and even electrical switches within guest rooms The product's most valuable feature is the ease…
Doug Meuross - PeerSpot reviewer
Can easily integrate with the networks and infrastructures
No maintenance is required for the solution. It is very easy to integrate the product with the other systems in our company's infrastructure since you only need to consider plugging a cable. My company does not integrate the product with any product specifically since we only consider integrations with the networks and infrastructures. As the product needs to be plugged in and it starts working, I can say that it is a reliable solution that works. The tool also offers quality, especially if you consider how you would not know whether an unknown product that you choose would work for you or not. I recommend the product to others. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup is straightforward. The steps are simple, and you can always contact support if needed. Overall, it's easy."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its stability."
"We also get a couple of reports about the user or connected devices for prioritization."
"Switching to HPE Ethernet Switches greatly improved our network. We used to have both Cisco and HPE Ethernet Switches. Our network performance has increased by 300 percent."
"A very robust solution."
"The product has streamlined our smart hospitality services, allowing us to control room amenities like TVs and lights more efficiently."
"We can easily replace components without incurring significant costs in an error or failure."
"The switches are very important in our hospitals, which is a critical environment for our patients. They provide time-effective management and meet our needs."
"The solution is simple to use. I am also impressed with the tool's GUI and CLI."
"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."
"I'm satisfied with the stability of NETGEAR Switches."
"For what I used this switch for, it did well."
"Out-of-the-box, it works for our main use case. When passing multicast video across the network, our technicians don't have make any changes. Then, if we do need to make configuration changes for a custom scenario, the web interface is user intuitive so it's easy to use and change."
"The interface is comfortable for the new employees of our company. I think it's not a problem because our IT team, with probably only two hundred staff, handles our network well. We've tested our recovery systems, and everything is working fine. I don't remember any accidents or issues on our IT network in the last year."
"Netgear switches are highly reliable. We haven't done anything particularly sophisticated with them."
"NETGEAR Switches has valuable cybersecurity features."
 

Cons

"I would also like to see a more centralized private management console for the series of devices. Most solutions are adopting centralized cloud-based management, but my client base believes cloud solutions are too insecure. You've got a few dozen switches, so it would be nice to have the ability to manage them on a "single pane of glass.""
"It is a bit complex to configure."
"The pricing could be better."
"Authentication and other security features are not easily satisfied using the lower-end switches."
"It's gone up in price in the last 12 months."
"The product could always use better technical support."
"The technical support does not match up to the standard of Cisco."
"Technical support needs improvement, as the response time could be better."
"There is a technical problem they can't seem to solve. It doesn't support multicast packets. In layman's terms, Mac computers can't print over the network."
"They can improve on the commercial part, specifically the cost, as it is higher than other brands."
"Perhaps in the future, we will have even more different types of switches and be able to fulfill more collections."
"The web interface has been a little sketchy on occasion. Sometimes I have to reload the page to get things to show up properly, but the switch itself seems fine. The web user interface is a little wonky at times."
"The solution needs centralized management and centralized configuration."
"NETGEAR Switches could be more secure. Scalability could also be better. This infrastructure is a bit old, and we need something that will be more secure. Something that will introduce WLAN, and we will need the knowledge to go with that. Some of the switches were used for more than seven years. I think it was just their lifespan that was exhausted. But other than that, there haven't been any issues that required us to complain or get concerned."
"NETGEAR Switches could provide local technical support services."
"It's worked for the most part, but we've had to power cycle a few devices. We've had to ask customers to manually power cycle them with the power cord, after some of the firmware updates. Their updating needs a little improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is a bit high."
"It is a more expensive solution."
"HP switches are priced well."
"They are affordable and less expensive than Cisco. Their price was the decider at the time."
"HPE costs almost the same as Cisco."
"The price of the solution is expensive."
"It would be great if certain features, like licensing, were included in the base price of the switches."
"There are free software updates and there is a lifetime warranty for a few of the switch series."
"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."
"They are on par with other AV switch manufacturers, e.g., Pakedge, Cisco Small Business Series, and Extreme Networks. Though, they are closer in cost to Extreme Networks. They are more in the mid-range from an AV product price, maybe a bit higher. You can't beat their features compared to other vendors in that product range and capacity. AV specific only, they are mid-range price-wise."
"At its price point, nobody else can compare to what NETGEAR is doing at that 10 Gigabit bandwidth level. We are not seeing a lot of 10 Gigabit need right now in the marketplace. Though, we have done a few projects which have required it. We are still sort of at the 1 Gigabit requirement for the majority of our projects. Honestly, NETGEAR's 10 Gigabit offering has a better value than some of the other vendors' 1 Gigabit offering."
"The price to performance of the switches is excellent. The price point of these switches is great compared to big brands, like Cisco or Extreme Networks, with approximately the same functionality."
"It's a great price-to-performance solution. I think it's singularly the best price-per-performance we can find, if not just straight performance to begin with... The cost of hardware and additional services is lower, absolutely. I wouldn't say "low," but we found it to be lower than other options, and that helps us resell this back to customers who are looking at other things like a Cisco Meraki..."
"From a price perspective, the solution comes in higher than a small business product from their competitors. The solution is a bit higher, but it's a fraction of the cost compared to an enterprise switch. For example, a Cisco Catalyst can run approximately $13,000, where their Small Business Series may run $800 on the Cisco side. With NETGEAR, it falls in around the $1,000 to $2,000 range for most of what we use it for. Essentially, at this price point, you're getting a lot of enterprise grade features (e.g., that you would on a Catalyst) on an M4300."
"Compared to other large names in the marketplace, the price of NETGEAR's product is extremely cost-effective compared to what Cisco or Extreme offer."
"There are two parts to the pricing. There's the pricing of the device itself, which is good. Their licensing model needs work, though. The licensing model doesn't fit the way MSPs do business."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HPE Ethernet Switches?
The solution is very stable and easy to use.
What needs improvement with HPE Ethernet Switches?
Based on my experience, I am quite happy with the switches at the moment and do not see any immediate room for improvement.
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

HP Ethernet Switches
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Emirates Palace Hotel
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Ethernet Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.