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NETGEAR Switches pros and cons

Vendor: Netgear
4.1 out of 5
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Pros & Cons summary

NETGEAR Switches offer features like network monitoring, VLAN programming, cloud management for remote configurations, and high performance in AV-over-IP with the 96X model. Users appreciate the stability and efficiency, although firmware updates present challenges. The lack of Multicast support, virtual stacking limitations, and a REST API for automation are noted drawbacks. Improved documentation is necessary as users often seek external information, affecting the ease of use.

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

NETGEAR Switches offer valuable features such as easy remote management and monitoring, making them accessible via mobile devices and tablets for efficient real-time troubleshooting and configuration.
The modular design allows customization of switches using different modules for specific needs, enhancing flexibility and efficiency for various network designs.
The switches provide ease of use in setup and deployment, facilitated by intuitive interfaces that even non-experts can navigate efficiently.
With failover and redundancy features like LACP links, NETGEAR Switches offer reliable performance, ensuring network resilience by allowing backup links in case of failure.
NETGEAR Switches are recognized for their competitive pricing structure and lifetime warranty, making them a cost-effective solution for improving network capacity and speed.

CONS

Additional compatibility with virtual stacking is needed to allow different series to stack together and exceed the six-device limit for larger loops.
There are issues with older firmware causing devices to go offline, affecting functionality.
Support for multicast packets is inadequate, affecting network printing for Mac devices.
Centralized management and configuration, as well as documentation, require improvement for better usability.
Scalability and warranty offerings are lacking, and improvements are needed in those areas.
 

NETGEAR Switches Pros review quotes

JD
Jun 16, 2019
The ability to mix and match is invaluable. So, we didn't have to run massive super extensive switches in the data closets where it wasn't necessary. Being able to manage it all from one place, as all your network configuration settings went live across your entire building from one management console was really handy.
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JC
May 13, 2019
The cloud management has just been huge for us. We have 80 clients and they all have switches... With the cloud-managed Insight ones... we know more information without having to do complicated SNMP traps. We get nice emails, we get a web interface, and we're not having to wait for our RMM tools to get SNMP traffic to notify us. We don't have to do complicated configurations.
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KS
Dec 2, 2018
Their online portal is one of the most useful features. The portal is very user-friendly, so even someone with not a lot of tech experience can go in and see what's going on with the switch.
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NETGEAR Switches
December 2024
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it_user976371 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 13, 2018
The most valuable feature to me is the modular side of things, being able to replace a module and a transceiver at our beck and call. If something goes down, or a piece of equipment is broken, I don't have to replace the whole switch. I can just replace the part that's broken or the part that is no longer working. I can get them back up and working within a matter of minutes, versus having to replace everything and reprogram everything. It's a huge time-saver.
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reviewer1296177 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 27, 2020
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.
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KW
Feb 23, 2020
The big winner for NETGEAR is their modular switch: the 96X version. That is something that you don't see in the market anywhere else, except for Cisco who has it at a high level for a high expense. The ability to customize your own switch with their modules is a big plus for what we do in the market right now. Instead of having to piece together standardized switches, trying to make something work, or fitting the design into the mold, the modular switches are aware that you can make a mark in the industry because you purchased one switch and design with different modules added and removed later on for functionality.
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it_user646785 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 25, 2018
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.
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JM
Dec 24, 2018
It's nice, if there is an issue, to be able to go in through the remote. The fact that the remote doesn't require a static IP... is nice. They initiate the contact to the outside world, without requiring a static to get in.
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EG
Nov 25, 2018
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.
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CS
Mar 15, 2020
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.
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NETGEAR Switches Cons review quotes

JD
Jun 16, 2019
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.
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JC
May 13, 2019
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.
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KS
Dec 2, 2018
Their old firmware was a problem for us and we're still working on it. It didn't apply correctly so it took about half of our switches offline, which meant we couldn't use some of the functionality like the firmware updates. Unfortunately with that firmware, which they've sorted out, if you don't go through all the firmware and make sure it's past that point and back online, that's an issue with them. It's something to cautious about
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Buyer's Guide
NETGEAR Switches
December 2024
Free Report: NETGEAR Switches Reviews and More
Learn what your peers think about NETGEAR Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
DOWNLOAD NOW
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user976371 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 13, 2018
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.
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reviewer1296177 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 27, 2020
An area for improvement would be creating a wizard that can do a lot of common stuff. Instead of having some manual configuration for common features, they may want to have a single wizard that could be put in place which would let you walk through creating multiple VLANs and different routes between VLANs in a wizard. Then, you wouldn't have to dig in so deep.
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KW
Feb 23, 2020
They need to continue moving forward with their consulting in the AV realm to find out what is needed. They are some differences in the M4300 line and the larger M4500 line right now. They could produce a 1 Gigabit variety that could be a bit cheaper that might fit into that, since the majority of the projects that we see are still in that 1 Gigabit bandwidth threshold. Along with that, a great option would be if it would provide the same modular ability on a lower level.
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it_user646785 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 25, 2018
What I'd like to see is more compatibility with virtual stacking, so that 4300-series switches and 3300-series switches will actually stack together and that virtual switch stacks, themselves, are not limited to just six devices, so that they can create larger loops with more bandwidth and more redundancy.
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JM
Dec 24, 2018
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.
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EG
Nov 25, 2018
One area that has room for improvement, and I know NETGEAR is working on it, is adding more features to the products lines in terms of what we can manage through the Insight portal... not all Layer 2 or Layer 3 settings are there yet.
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CS
Mar 15, 2020
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.
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