Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches and Meraki MS Switches are top contenders in the network switch category. While Juniper is praised for its pricing and support, Meraki is regarded as the superior product due to its features, making it worth the higher price.
Features: User reviews for Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches highlight their advanced security features, flexibility, and robust hardware. Conversely, Meraki MS Switches are praised for their cloud management capabilities, ease of integration, and streamlined operations. While Juniper emphasizes control and customization, Meraki shines in providing cloud-based simplicity and efficiency.
Room for Improvement: Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches need better documentation and a more intuitive management approach according to user reviews. Users feel that Meraki MS Switches can improve in redundancy features and lower subscription costs. The gap highlights Juniper's complexity and Meraki's premium cost.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Users find Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches relatively more complicated to deploy but appreciate the detailed guidance provided by their customer service. On the other hand, Meraki MS Switches are reported as being extremely easy to deploy due to their plug-and-play nature, but some users feel their customer service could be more responsive. Juniper offers extensive support, whereas Meraki excels in ease of installation.
Pricing and ROI: User feedback indicates that Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches have a lower initial setup cost with a favorable ROI over time. Meraki MS Switches, while having a higher setup cost and ongoing subscription fees, are seen by users as providing substantial ROI due to their advanced features and operational efficiencies. This shows a trade-off between upfront investment and long-term benefits.
If the devices are licensed, the support team will assist you depending on the severity level of the case.
Cisco's tech support is pretty good, and I would rate it an eight out of ten.
Meraki should also consider improvements in stacking features, particularly in the lower-end models like NS130, where stacking isn't supported, unlike with Cisco traditional switching.
There are compatibility issues with certain Power over Ethernet (PoE) devices, which we would like to see resolved.
Most people are familiar with the Cisco commands, and it would be beneficial if the switch could be accessed by GUI configuration and by normally accessing the console.
Meraki pricing is a little premium compared to other vendor products.
Pricing is affordable, and licenses for the cloud need to be purchased every three to five years.
If something happens to the device or hardware, Cisco will automatically change the device by the next business day.
We faced issues following firmware updates, which we now handle by performing updates outside of working hours.
The most valuable feature is the ability to access devices from anywhere in the world through the cloud.
One of the most valuable features of Meraki MS Switches is its precise traffic analytics capabilities, allowing us to query the system for any place at any time.
The control plane is in the cloud, and the data plane is local, allowing manageability from anywhere.
Juniper Ethernet Switches are made up of the EX Series product line. These EX Series Ethernet Switches provide branch, campus and data center networks with access, aggregation and core layer switching solutions. The end result is secure, fast and efficient application and data delivery.
Today's enterprise networks increasingly demand mobile access, optimal availability, virtualization, and unified communications. The Juniper Ethernet Switches EX Series caters for all of these requirements, ensuring business continuity, network flexibility and maximum productivity.
Juniper EX Series switches are AI-driven, operated and managed using the Mist AI cloud from Juniper. This gives EX customers simplified operations with insights, anomaly detection and automated troubleshooting, empowering IT teams to deliver the best user experience across the wired network.
Meraki MS Switches are first-line cloud-managed access and aggregation switches that combine the benefits of cloud-based centralized management with a reliable access platform. With cloud management, thousands of switch ports can be configured and monitored instantly over the web.
Meraki MS Switches Features
Meraki MS Switches have many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:
Meraki MS Switches Benefits
There are many benefits to implementing Meraki MS Switches. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:
Reviews from Real Users
Meraki MS Switches is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Some of its major advantages are its accessibility, application visibility, and flexibility features.
Jóhann T., IT Manager at Sund Upper Secondary School, says, “Accessibility is what I find most valuable in Meraki MS Switches, because I'm able to check things and see if they're working, without being on-site at all times.”
A Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company mentions, "The top feature of Meraki MS switches for me is Layer 7 application visibility. Another positive in general is that you don't need to set up a console to the switch itself; it dials into a single dashboard where you can completely manage all your network devices."
John M., user at Baseline Consulting, LLC, comments, "I like the flexibility of the Meraki firewall. It gives you the ability to lock things down. Having multiple VLANs is helpful for the switching infrastructure and firewall. It's crucial when you have a public-facing VLAN, a private-facing VLAN, and a secure VLAN."
PeerSpot user William M., Consulting Engineer at IV4, expresses, "It is easy to deploy, maintain, and update. It has been trouble-free so far. I am still a Cisco command-line bigot, but the web interface makes it a lot easier for our help desk to interact with a client. When the clients call in and say that they aren't able to connect, it takes the help desk 10 minutes or less to look at everything in the enterprise or location. They can look at the firewall, switches, or access points in the dashboard. That's why I like the dashboard."
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