Arista 7000 series vs. Cradlepoint Routers vs. Fortinet FortiExtender

Core and data center applications are the strengths of Arista products. The distribution layer is also a good fit. For the access layer, it would be more of a niche product.

Incentivized

It has worked great for our emergency vehicles and mobile remote dispatch stations. We did have them at other bases as secondary internet access in the event of failure of our fiber, but I have found that is not as useful as we thought it may have been. I have temporarily disabled cellular on those devices and just did not have the need for it.

Incentivized

Fortinet FortiExtender is well suited to delivering fast 5G and LTE service. The cloud-based system is great so that our agency can manage the cloud from anywhere which is great during remote work. The Fortinet FortiExtender was easy to deploy and the system has been easy to manage. The Fortinet FortiExtender is less appropriate when it comes to the cost to implement and the customer support could be improved.

Incentivized

• The 7304's along side our core network design has provided 100% uptime during the 5 years of deployment.
• The multi-chassis LAG has provided near 100% connectivity to the distribution and access switches.
• Very low maintenance attention is needed.

Incentivized

• Ease of setup. After the SIM card is installed, you can have the device up in a matter of minutes.
• Central management using NetCloud.
• You get the bang for your buck.

Incentivized

• Failover protection by supporting multiple bands.
• Cloud based management helping to manage the system from anywhere.
• Integration with the Fortinet firewall.

Incentivized

• The 7304's lack a graceful non-intrusive upgrade method even though they are dual supervisor.
• I would like to see more integration with Aruba's ClearPass and Airwave products.

Incentivized

• Throughput was not great compared to similar solutions with same sim cards.
• Paid management portal.
• Overly complicated setup mainly due to the paid management portal.

Incentivized

• It is good when any problem occurred in our fiber cables but when it gets problematic then there isn’t any way out for us and its graphic interface is not helpful.
• Its support team is useless and didn’t help in any regard.
• The price is not in our favor.

Incentivized

I have been using some type of device like this for a very long time. We have and will maintain the need for this and have no immediate plan to make any change from Cradlepoint Routers. They have been very solid. These devices are a bit pricey, however worth the money as they always work and are reliable and save IT staff time.

Incentivized

It has always been a pleasure working with that team. They always go above and beyond with getting the device working as you need it to work and are always willing to explain and answer any questions.

Incentivized

I have used the Catalyst 6500 series in the past. From my point of view, the Arista surpasses the Catalyst on just about every front. Originally we were planning on implementing the Nexus 7000/7700 series switches for our core. Though a little more feature rich, it did not provide features we needed that the Arista did. The Nexus also was a confusing and complex platform to work with. Also, the Nexus was a significantly more expensive solution. Although very happy with the Arista switches we may evaluate the Aruba HPE 8400 chassis-based switches along with Arista switches in the future.

Incentivized

I have not used a cellular router before this, so I can't compare.

I am however familiar with Cradlepoint as designing components for Emergency Responders to keep them connected and online while dispatched. That was a deciding factor for us. We wanted something heavy duty and reliable.

Incentivized

By looking at the market of similar devices, we quickly recognized that Fortinet FortiExtenders are very reasonably priced; however, they provide top-level functionality that even some of the competitors don't have.

Incentivized

• The Arista 7000 series met or exceed our data center switching and routing needs.
• It provided a more cost effective alternative to other products we were considering.
• Implementation was quick and easy due to the simple standards-based configuration.

Incentivized

• For the price I don't think it effectively "wow'd" the client.
• Throughput caused our network service to not be fully utilized.

Incentivized

• Backup connectivity is helping us in many ways especially at times when connections run out and we have to perform any action that is essential to be done at times.
• It provides a secure network.
• With direct management, we can monitor and add and remove unwanted devices.

Incentivized