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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
7.0
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

"We have scaled it without any issues."
"The solution offers lifetime warranties."
"The most valuable product is the unmanaged HP switch."
"HPE Ethernet Switches offer a good return on investment. They offer a lifetime warranty, which is good. Cisco SMB level only declares a one-year warranty, and for the enterprise level, you need to get a service pack, which costs extra."
"It is a stable product."
"The technical support for this solution has improved from what it was."
"The simplicity of the commands is most valuable. The commands are the same for several devices."
"I value that there is a clear place to find a MAC table with HPE Ethernet Switches."
"We have one client that has three Insight switches and when we make a change to their network... we can make the configuration change and push it down to all three switches at once. We don't have to individually log on to each switch to make the change."
"The tool is very easy to deploy as it is a very basic switch."
"The most valuable features are routing and access control."
"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 tool is crucial in our network setup, especially in our bank's customer service operations. It connects ATMs and links different branches and service centers. Each branch and service center has its network node connected through these switches."
"NETGEAR Switches have increased the throughput and speed of internal communication, and have improved our network efficiency."
"The remote management tools are fantastic. The combination of the webpage as well as the app makes life so much easier. I don't need to go and visit sites to do upgrades or any sorts of changes. The firmware can all be deployed remotely. I can see the traffic on each of the switch ports remotely as well, so I can see if we've got problems, down to an individual port. It's very granular."
"Since it has a web interface, it is easy to set up. You don't have to take three years of training somewhere for a lot of money."
 

Cons

"There could be features for ransomware attack detection and enhanced anomaly detection to identify and mitigate anonymous traffic."
"The pricing is expensive."
"The cost could be better. HPE has to study it carefully with other vendors in the market, like Cisco or Juniper."
"The solution’s licensing could be improved."
"It's gone up in price in the last 12 months."
". There is room for improvement in pricing. One box shouldn't require additional installations. We need a package deal with licenses that are usable for different tasks. Right now, we need a license for every additional feature, which adds up."
"Price is an area for improvement. Cisco is very competitive on price, considering future business. HPE Ethernet Switches and Aruba need to think about their pricing. Aruba's price was 25 percent higher than Cisco's in a recent Central Bank project in Sri Lanka."
"In the next release, I would like to see them include more features like the Aruba solution, to have more possibilities concerning the software design."
"I'd like to see a little bit of slowdown on the firmware updates. They've been doing a lot of them. I don't know if that's just because it's such a new product line, but the firmware updates have been a little annoying because they've been coming once a week. For a switch, that's a little extreme."
"There are some design issues on which they really missed the boat. The problem has to do with rack mounting them because the lights and jacks should all be on the front, and the power on the back. The way they did it makes it really difficult to use them in a rack environment, because when the lights are on the opposite side of the jacks... you usually can't see the back side of a rack. You can't get back there to see, so it's just crazy."
"One thing I have asked for, something that NETGEAR lacks that I would love to see — and from what I understand it's in the works — is a REST API to programmatically interface with multiple switches. That would be a great feature."
"Though the tool's useability is good, it has certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The scalability and warranty should also be improved."
"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."
"Support could be improved."
"I would like an email notification in case of errors or failures. If it was possible for the switch to email out an error log or notification note, especially in cases where we have the switches offsite (on the other side of town), then if something was to go wrong, it would be great to know about it before our client goes to use it for a big event, and it doesn't work. While I know that it does do SNMP, which is sort of standard, in the AV world, that is not always an option for us. We are usually running our own little network box and don't always have access to an SNMP server. We may just have simple Internet access or something similar."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost is set up annually or every three years."
"The tool's pricing is very cheap."
"We need to pay when we buy the switch. We pay for a license to use the software, but it is not required."
"This is not an expensive solution."
"I like HPE switches because you get a perpetual license with the hardware. The initial cost is about the same as other switches, but it starts beating the competitors after three or four years because you don't have to pay for additional annual licensing costs."
"We have to see only the security part when considering licenses because the licenses upgrade."
"HP switches are priced well."
"HPE Ethernet Switches is a fairly cheap solution."
"NETGEAR Switches' pricing is low compared to other brands. I rate it an eight out of ten."
"It's cheaper than Cisco. For the features it offers, the pricing is good."
"For its price, it scales well."
"We used HPE previously. The reason I switched to NETGEAR was because of pricing differences, which are huge, when you go into 10GB networking... The pricing is quite good... The total cost of the deployment was about 11,000 euros or so. If I had gone with HPE it would have been at least twice as much."
"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."
"It is not expensive."
"The price to performance of this solution is very good. When it comes to pricing, as far as I'm concerned, they're very comparable with Ubiquity. NETGEAR has pricing that is as good as it gets. That's why I use them."
"I believe that the pricing is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Educational Organization
8%
Government
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Ethernet Switches?
When compared to Cisco, Aruba is about 40% cheaper. However, Huawei would be even cheaper than Aruba. We can't compare HPE Ethernet Switches with Huawei directly because of different price ranges.
What needs improvement with HPE Ethernet Switches?
HPE Ethernet Switches have room for improvement in the initial setup and integration process, especially when incorporating them into an existing infrastructure with competitor products. It's a cha...
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: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.