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MikroTik Routers and 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

MikroTik Routers and Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Routers (1st)
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 (5th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of MikroTik Routers and Switches is 5.5%, up from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 9.1%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

AnikIslam - PeerSpot reviewer
Cost-effective protocol support and a straightforward setup with room for login enhancements
In the network operations center, I manage our client's bandwidth. We connect with our clients through BGP and OSPF based on client demands. We also manage routing protocols, policies, internal firewalls, and other details like QE bandwidth, client manage bandwidth management, PoE, PPPoE, and DNS…
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 flexible IP firewall and IP network address translation make it very easy to give access to internal services."
"It's great for small businesses or home offices."
"MikroTik Routers and Switches support every protocol, making them suitable for a wide range of routing policies."
"I have seen a return on investment since we didn't have to pay a licensing fee."
"The routing is nice and straightforward."
"It is a stable solution. I have been using the solution for a while, and I don't face any outages or trouble while using the solution."
"The price is a big factor. They are very affordable, and the quality is high."
"We've enjoyed the fact that it has very good performance."
"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 initial setup was straightforward."
"The most valuable features are routing and access control."
"SFP, speed, and 10-Gigabit are the most valuable aspects of this solution. We're an architecture firm and we sometimes deal with large files. Anything we can do to eke out even a fraction of a second less time to get something done over the course of a year adds up. If I can get 10-Gigabit running in my server room, which I am right now, even though we're only gigabit to the desktop, due to the client computers we have, I can get more performance from everybody. I'm ready to start bringing in 10-Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop once I get the hardware to do that."
"Valuable features include network monitoring and ease of programming for VLANs, etc. I especially like NETGEAR because it's easy to teach system administrators how to use them, how to look at them, how to make changes to them without having the complexity of CLIs, but still having a CLI should we need it."
"This switch is Layer 3, so it is a totally managed system."
"The most valuable feature is definitely the fully functional IGMP snooping and querier, out-of-the-box, that the switch provides. With most if not all switches that we've worked with previously, at a minimum you have to enable a couple of different options... It's really a good feature to have that stuff enabled and fully functional out-of-the-box so that [AV techs] don't have to worry about configuring any of that stuff."
"There is a lot of helpful documentation that helps with the configuration process."
 

Cons

"The product's setup process could be easier."
"This product could offer better integration with VPNs."
"As far as improvements, there are basically only two things I would suggest. First, I think they should provide extensive training for the new releases of products, especially in the LTE space. Second, they could spend more time ensuring that their OS releases are more stable, rather than waiting for things to fall apart on the customer's premises before they make the necessary changes."
"In the Israeli market, we are in need of Hebrew support."
"The login process needs improvement."
"The initial setup could be easier."
"The initial setup can be a bit difficult. The configuration can take a lot of time."
"They could improve their product if they set, for instance, a controller for wireless LAN. That would allow them to really have something more than an access point."
"Support could be improved."
"NETGEAR Switches could provide local technical support services."
"My one issue with it is that not all the features of the switch can currently be managed via the portal. For some of the more advanced features, you still have to configure the switch."
"The tool needs to improve its network management. The tool can be also more simplified."
"The security features must be improved."
"The IGMP specifics of the web management console could use a bit of clarification."
"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."
"The product's scalability has certain shortcomings that can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of the solution is significantly lower than other solutions. There are no additional costs involved."
"MikroTik has very aggressive and competitive pricing."
"The price is affordable."
"This product is cheaper than competing products by other vendors."
"In terms of the economic side, we're completely satisfied. The price is affordable for both SMEs and enterprises."
"In our last project, we used two hundred units and the price was approximately 500 Shekels ($140 USD)."
"When you buy a license, it is for life and you don't need to buy another one every year."
"There is no licensing fee in addition to the hardware, but we do pay an annual fee for support."
"It is not expensive."
"The price point, compared to a lot of the competitors that didn't have the modular switch, was about 20 to 30 percent less expensive."
"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."
"NETGEAR Switches can be considered a big brand, so its pricing point is a bit higher than that of some of the other players in the market."
"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."
"Licensing is always a hassle and a pain point."
"I sold someone a SonicWall and they had to redo their subscription every year. It was a $300 or $400 subscription they had to pay every year... With NETGEAR... it's only a $10 or $20 subscription per device for the whole year... and you have your license and you have all your support."
"For the price, they're good. If you look at Ubiquity switches (which have cloud features too) or even the regular NETGEAR GS switches, these are still price-competitive and come with the cloud features, which is just amazing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Hospitality Company
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How do Cisco Enterprise routers compare with Mikrotik routers and switches?
Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is ve...
Which are better - Ubiquiti UniFi switches or MikroTik routers and switches?
Ubiquiti Unifi is a great solution. For starters, it is easy to configure and implement, and doesn’t require a learning curve because it is easy to use. It is also simple to reconfigure an AP or ga...
What do you like most about MikroTik Routers and Switches?
The price is a big factor. They are very affordable, and the quality is high.
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
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ABB, Boingo Wireless, JPL, HP, Allied Telesis, iPass, Mips Technologies, MicroAge, Matsushita, Telia, undp, WFP, NASA
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about MikroTik Routers and Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.