Cisco Routers vs. MikroTik Routers and Switches

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Routers
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Cisco routers support secure, reliable enterprise connections. These enterprise routers help users implement an intent-based, future-ready WAN that is constantly learning, adapting, and protecting. Deploy routers for the branch, cloud, co-location, or the data center with any type of connectivity, including MPLS, Internet, and 4G LTE. With over 30 years of experience and an end-to-end portfolio, Cisco routing solutions can deliver for today’s networking needs. The vendor promises to help…N/A
MikroTik Routers and Switches
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Latvian company MikroTik offers routers and switches.N/A
Pricing
Cisco RoutersMikroTik Routers and Switches
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco RoutersMikroTik Routers and Switches
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 RoutersMikroTik Routers and Switches
Considered Both Products
Cisco Routers
Chose Cisco Routers
Mikrotik Routers are very inexpensive and lightweight routers. They support many features that enterprise routers support like routing protocols, ACLs, Nating, radius server-based authentication, GUI management, and many more. However, it is not built to handle large amounts of …
MikroTik Routers and Switches
Chose MikroTik Routers and Switches
Cisco Routers are one of the best in the market, however they are also very expensive and not suitable for a small deployment or any deployment which requires just a couple of routers. MikroTik on the other hand are less expensive and provides many features that you require for …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Cisco RoutersMikroTik Routers and Switches
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies

No answers on this topic

Cisco Routers
Cisco Routers
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

Cisco Routers
Cisco Routers
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco RoutersMikroTik Routers and Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
9.4
(21 ratings)
9.0
(6 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco RoutersMikroTik Routers and Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Cisco has a very easy CLI and most importantly it is known to most network engineers. There is a huge possibility that Cisco solutions are available over the Internet for a particular problem or a use case. Cisco has been improving ever since, however, Cisco can improve in areas such as rollback or error checking mechanism during the configuration, Juniper Networks Routers has done a great job in this area. Cisco is well suited for enterprise environments, however, for Service Provider Networks there are many options available.
Read full review
Mikrotik
MikroTik is suited for large companies that require advanced distributions in terms of contracted bandwidth, and in the same way, allows a single device to specify filtering and firewall rules without acquiring an additional device. There is a range for small companies which is more economical and less robust, but in case it's not necessary, such a strict control over the data consumption of the company is not a feasible solution.
Read full review
Pros
Cisco
  • Cisco routers offer networks for the WAN, the LAN and the cloud include advanced analytics, optimization security incorporated with them you can have a comprehensive and proven solution.
  • They are well designed to support coherent optics to drive the convergence of optical layers, as well as systems that offer lower power consumption
  • They are very reliable for networks that are constantly growing traffic with fixed or modular systems that allow handling large traffic flows
  • They are quite friendly and easy-to-use computers on their different platforms, whether ios, ios xe, XR
Read full review
Mikrotik
  • Affordable, it has more features compared to other brand at the same price.
  • Widely available, by today it's easy to obtained one, even online retailers sell it.
  • Highly customizable, you may write a powerful script to enhance the function.
  • Flexible, you can make different configuration approach based on you needs.
Read full review
Cons
Cisco
  • Software-defined radios could be used so that both the radios could be converted into 5 GHz model to provide enhanced connectivity in network congestion scenarios.
  • Support for low power IoT devices.
  • Should provide more details about devices connected to the access points such as the risk score of the devices.
  • Enhanced encryption algorithms and quick firmware upgrades.
Read full review
Mikrotik
  • Some of the wiki articles have not been updated or are not accurate enough. We spent a couple of days trying to find an example of implementing a mobile IPSec client solution. But once this has been implemented, it has been solid (always worked). A bigger community would help, and I am finding it hard to find the time to contribute to these articles.
Read full review
Usability
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Mikrotik
Almost perfect, despite some issue that need to be addressed by the manufacturer. If this issue has been addressed, a full 10 mark will be given.
Read full review
Support Rating
Cisco
No answers on this topic
Mikrotik
There is no SOC, NOC, where you can contact to try to resolve any difficulties. The problems that these devices have are solved largely through the community, with workaround alternatives, or if the support team responds to a request, the response times are too high for the current needs of technological communications.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
Cisco routers are great and are the industry standard. They have proven their ability to last and [continually] provide support for their devices. You can go into a lot of IT closets and see old Cisco switches and routers. Why? because they are workhorses and they last. Their compatibility [with] other systems and hardware makes them hard to beat.
Read full review
Mikrotik
Cisco Routers are one of the best in the market, however they are also very expensive and not suitable for a small deployment or any deployment which requires just a couple of routers. MikroTik on the other hand are less expensive and provides many features that you require for a small scale deployment. they fit in with the budget and do what you need them to.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • Network management has become easy and fast with cloud based portal.
  • Network policies could be rolled out quickly across the devices.
  • Improvement in Network security.
  • Stable internet connection has lead to less downtime and more productivity.
  • Stable internet connection in each location within the organization.
Read full review
Mikrotik
  • First of all it's cheaper than Cisco routers.
  • It has more functionality than Cisco routers that cost 4 times more.
  • It has a GUI. But it has CLI too.
Read full review
ScreenShots