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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms

    Score9.3 out of 10
    N/ACisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms deliver secure, high-performance SD-WAN built for hybrid work, multicloud access, and 5G-ready networks. Powered by Cisco IOS XE, these devices combine flexible routing, SASE integration, and cloud-native agility to support AI-driven networking and edge computing needs.N/A

    pfSense

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ApfSense is a firewall and load management product available through the open source pfSense Community Edition, as well as a the licensed edition, pfSense Plus (formerly known as pfSense Enterprise). The solution provides combined firewall, VPN, and router functionality, and can be deployed through the cloud (AWS or Azure), or on-premises with a Netgate appliance. It as scalable capacities, with functionality for SMBs. As a firewall, pfSense offers Stateful packet inspection, concurrent…

    $179

    per appliance

    Pricing
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformspfSense
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    SG-1100
    $179
    per appliance
    SG-2100
    $229
    per appliance
    SG-3100
    $399
    per appliance
    SG-5100
    $699
    per appliance
    XG-7100-DT
    $899
    per appliance
    XG-7100-1U
    $999
    per appliance
    XG-1537
    $1,949
    per appliance
    XG-1541
    $2,649
    per appliance
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformspfSense
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformspfSense
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    34 Answers
    94%
    Would buy again
    16 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    90%
    Delivers good value for the price
    27 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    17 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    34 Answers
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    28 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    14 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    32 Answers
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    16 Answers
    Features
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformspfSense
    Firewall
    Comparison of Firewall features of Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms and pfSense
    Feature
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms
    -
    Ratings
    pfSense
    8.9
    17 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Identification Technologies00 Ratings8.714 Ratings
    Visualization Tools00 Ratings8.714 Ratings
    Content Inspection00 Ratings9.316 Ratings
    Policy-based Controls00 Ratings8.717 Ratings
    Active Directory and LDAP00 Ratings7.913 Ratings
    Firewall Management Console00 Ratings9.516 Ratings
    Reporting and Logging00 Ratings8.417 Ratings
    VPN00 Ratings9.117 Ratings
    High Availability00 Ratings9.416 Ratings
    Stateful Inspection00 Ratings10.015 Ratings
    Proxy Server00 Ratings8.415 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformspfSense
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    SonicWall NSA Series
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Barracuda CloudGen Firewall
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformspfSense
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (35 ratings)
    9.3
    (30 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.8
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.6
    (14 ratings)
    9.7
    (8 ratings)
    Support Rating
    4.6
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge PlatformspfSense
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    With the flexibility of sizing options, the Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms has worked to deliver solutions for our various needs. Smaller systems offer strong connectivity for office developments. Mid-range options have served our larger campuses well. Our data center deployments of the larger systems have provided up to 100G connectivity and advanced routing solutions. The Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms continues to meet our needs and exceed our expectations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    I believe PFSense is well suited for both home lab environments as well as up to small to mid-size business environments on a tight budget. However, I would implore that anything in production requires the use of the authorized hardware that PFSense sells to receive support. However, in my experience, PFSense is a solid set-and-forget firewall solution.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • More resources for tunneling
    • Ability to use sdwan softwre
    • More memory for tcam tables
    • Ability to utilize T1 lines for PRI
    • Ability to act as a SBC for VoIP communication
    • Rfid usage
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    • Easy to use. Good user interface design! Easy to understand and easy to set up.
    • Lower hardware requirement. 3 years ago, we used an old PC to run it. Now, we have changed to a router device with Celeron CPU and 8GB RAM. It runs smoothly with a 1000G commercial broadband.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • Adding more NIM slots on motherboard
    • Adding PVDM slot for use cases where the router is used only for trans coding
    • Adding more granular tiers for DNA licensing. For example it is a big gap between 2000Mbps (400 Mbps agg) and 1Gbps (2 Gbps Agg)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    • I did kind of mention a Con in the Pro section with OpenVPN.
    • When I create a config for an employee other employees are able to login to that config.
    • I could be doing something wrong when I am making it - I am not afraid to admit that as I am pretty new to all of this, but it seems like it builds a key and I would think the key would be unique in some way to each employee, but I could be wrong.
    • I actually do not have a lot of Con's for this software - I did not get to set this up on our work network so I am not sure of any downfalls when installing.
    • I installed this on my personal machine in a Hyper-V environment to get a feel for it before I started working on it at work and it seemed pretty smooth. I didn't run into any issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    Because I have had no issues with this product line and have grown go really trust in it. One of the besr thing is that this has had less vulnerabilities that the past cisco router that I have dealt with. In my line of work needing to upgrade code is always something that needs to be done after hours and most likely on weekends.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cisco
    We use Cisco Catalyst 8300 Routers for our edge environments. Most of these products are implemented for WAN communication. We have Off sites and these off-sites are configured with C8300 Routers. We felt it pretty easy and secure, although the software versions is the one which gives us some problem. When we try to upgrade the routers with latest IOSXE software, it usually does upgrade, later after digging deeper found the ROMMON Version also need to be upgraded too. May this needs to addressed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    The pfSense UI is easy to navigate and pretty go look at. It is much better than some high dollar firewalls that just throw menus you you. The pfSense UI is quick and responsive and makes sense 99% of the time. Changes are committed quickly and the hardware rarely requires a reboot. It just runs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    I have always had great response time and have never been let down by cisco support. I have had issues where the person who was assisting me was not able to provide a resolution but by utilizing his team members they where able to come together to provide a answer and resplve the situation.
    Incentivized
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    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    pfSense+ basic provides "As Available" email support. pfSense+ Pro offers 24 hr turn around email support. pfSense+ Enterprise offers 24/7 phone support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    the licensing is messy
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Compared to the Cisco 2000 Series Connected GRID Routers, CGR2010, the Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms is more powerful in processing, and it has the capability to do the segment routing. It is easier to install physically and occupies less space in the rack, consumes less power, and saves more for the company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    Meraki has a unified management login for all devices, which is nice. It also has decent content filtering, both areas where pfSense is weaker. Where pfSense far ouclasses Meraki is in the ease of use and the other width of features. These include features such as better VPN interoperability, non-subscription based pricing, auditability, not relying on the infrastructure of a third party, more transparency of what's actually going on, easier to deploy replacements if hardware fails. Additionally, the NAT management for pfSense seems to be a bit better, as you can NAT between any network segment and not just the LAN segments out the WAN interfaces.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Improving the performance and the availability, it has increased the SLA we can ensure to the customers and so the sales has increased
    • The initial expense is really high so the breakeven point is not so near
    • The opex for licensing is high too
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Netgate (Rubicon Communications, LLC)
    • pfSense can be installed on commodity hardware with no licensing fees. With a simple less than 10 minute restore time, on most hardware, it's an extremely inexpensive way to achieve the same results that some of the more expensive vendors provide.
    • The easy to use interface has allowed configuration management to be preformed by lower level technicians with quick and easy training.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots