Likelihood to Recommend 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.
Read full review 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 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. Read full review 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 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. Read full review 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 Likelihood to Renew for their relialiabilty
Read full review Usability 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 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 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.
Read full review 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 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. Read full review 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