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Cisco Ethernet Switches vs. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Ethernet Switches

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ACisco offers Ethernet switches.N/A

    MikroTik CRS Series

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AMikroTik offers a series of Cloud Router Switches (or their CRS series), their flagship products.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Ethernet SwitchesMikroTik CRS Series
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Ethernet SwitchesMikroTik CRS Series
    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 Ethernet SwitchesMikroTik CRS Series
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    MikroTik
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    80%
    Delivers good value for the price
    4 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Ethernet SwitchesMikroTik CRS Series
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    RUCKUS Ethernet Switches
    Score1 out of 10
    Cisco Routers
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    HPE Aruba Networking Switches
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Cisco Routers
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Ethernet SwitchesMikroTik CRS Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (12 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Ethernet SwitchesMikroTik CRS Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Cisco is a name well known in the IT field. The technology is tried and true and they have built a reputation on a solid platform. Though many people do not like the cost of the devices and the continued fees associated with long term ownership, you get what you pay for. I dont hesitate to recommend Cisco because I know people will get a solid product that will last a long time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MikroTik
    MikroTik Cloud Router Switch work very well as layer2/3 switches in enterprise environments, aggregation or distribution layers. Example: in our case (ISP) we use CRS326 and CRS317 at multi-dwelling units to finish the customer lines, manage vlans of service and apply basic qos. They offer a good variety of ports 1/10G, which is perfect for connecting other ISPs or connecting corporate end users. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch would work fine in low-traffic Routing and Switching, you could configure L3 Hardware offloading and serve some significant traffic, but you may missing some features like, mangle, nat, firewall or other things that may be solved with other device in an upper layer of infrastructure. Based on our experience MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is not good for high performance traffic, they are not optimized for heavy L3 routing task. Example: if you use a CRS as core or router in a small DC or IX the result is traduced on high cpu usage and load performance. If you are looking for special works, MikroTik Cloud Router Switch in this aspect is out.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • Easy setup and configuration. While the web UI has its quirks, setting up VLANs and other tasks which can be exceedingly complicated on other switches, are much easier on Cisco SG switches. You also have the ability to upload an existing configuration to switches, which can speed up the task of deploying many identical switches.
    • Features for the price. Getting a 48 port L3 switch with PoE+ for less than $2,000 is a great value.
    • Reliability. We have hundreds of the SG switches in dozens of client sites, many in harsh conditions, and they just keep going.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MikroTik
    • L3 Hardware Offloading
    • Vlan segmentation
    • Traffic troughput
    • Port density
    • Cost effective
    • Port Isolation
    • Trunk, access and hybrid configurations
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • The web UI has taken a turn for the worse with the latest firmware on the SGx50 models -- the bifurcation between basic and advanced modes and the changes to the way VLANs are modified is a step backward in my opinion.
    • The power bricks on smaller models are enormous. I'm sure, however, keeping this circuitry external to the switch is what keeps my switches running year after year in hot environments.
    • Fans can be a bit loud on larger switches -- this is true of pretty much any 1U device though.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MikroTik
    • L3 features like firewall IPsec NAT
    • LACP with more than 4 interfaces
    • Centralized Management platflorm
    • Limited Hardware offloading insight
    • Outdated web interface
    • CLI usability
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    for their relialiabilty
    Read full review
    MikroTik
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    MikroTik
    Powerful features at a low price: MikroTik Cloud Router Switch provides a good variety of features that are not present on more expensive brands. Flexible deployment options: SwOS for simple switching use cases and RouterOS for more advanced configurations. Winbox is a fast and responsive tool for configuring, maintain and monitoring the traffic or other variable. Why it doesn't score higher, we think that the learning curve for new users could be hard. Sometimes the logic configuration can be unintuitive example: bridge filtering, vlan interfaces. Inconsistent UX Across RouterOS versions, some features may change without clear documentation causing confusion missconfig or incompatibility between versions. Documentation and support are poor, official documentation is fragmented and depht in some cases, the active community should be your best friend.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Cisco is more enterprise level, more reliable, and generally more feature rich but also very expensive. That being said old or refurbished Cisco switches are much more affordable and in comparison to even new switches from the competitor they are still a great value even though they are used. I like Ubiquiti switches as well but Cisco is usually better overall.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MikroTik
    We chose MikroTik Cloud Router Switch because it met our technical requirements without significantly affecting our budget. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch offers a performance reliable and scalable for access and aggregation roles and is easy to integrate with our existing infrastructure (Mikrotik CCR). While it doesn't offer enterprise-class UX, or automation frameworks out the box, its disruptive focus, control and granular configuration convert it in an attractive option for ISP operations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • Failure on Cisco Switches, from my experience, is rare in the first 5 years the device is up.
    • I have see the Cisco 6500 switches go 5 years without a reboot, which is nothing short of amazing.
    • The service that you get is top notch and available 24/7, and you really cannot put a price on that.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MikroTik
    • Significant Cost Savings
    • Rapid deployment and flexibility
    • Bottlenecks in wrong scenario of use
    • Manual configuration overhead
    • Perception and vendor approval barriers
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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