Compare Meraki MS Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches
Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki MS Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: November 2021.
554,382 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
"You can access a single pane of glass and configure all the devices via the same access."
"The main features of Meraki MS Switches are integration, high quality, and hardware guarantee."
"Provides good statistics and it doesn't require teaching command lines."
"I have found the solution to be stable."
"The most valuable feature is the granular visibility that they provide with a single pane of glass."
"They're easy to update."
"You can connect from the dashboard itself. It is very easy to operate."
"This product has QoS, decent visibility of what's going on, and it's a managed switch."
"Out-of-the-box, it works for our main use case. When passing multicast video across the network, our technicians don't have make any changes. Then, if we do need to make configuration changes for a custom scenario, the web interface is user intuitive so it's easy to use and change."
"Since it has a web interface, it is easy to set up. You don't have to take three years of training somewhere for a lot of money."
"The High Bandwidth AV-over-IP functionality of these switches has been fantastic, especially in leaf-and-spine. We've been able to build redundancy and they seem to outperform even the Cisco Catalyst, which is about twice as expensive as the M-series switches are."
"For what I used this switch for, it did well."
"The most valuable feature is definitely the fully functional IGMP snooping and querier, out-of-the-box, that the switch provides. With most if not all switches that we've worked with previously, at a minimum you have to enable a couple of different options... It's really a good feature to have that stuff enabled and fully functional out-of-the-box so that [AV techs] don't have to worry about configuring any of that stuff."
"SFP, speed, and 10-Gigabit are the most valuable aspects of this solution. We're an architecture firm and we sometimes deal with large files. Anything we can do to eke out even a fraction of a second less time to get something done over the course of a year adds up. If I can get 10-Gigabit running in my server room, which I am right now, even though we're only gigabit to the desktop, due to the client computers we have, I can get more performance from everybody. I'm ready to start bringing in 10-Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop once I get the hardware to do that."
"The big winner for NETGEAR is their modular switch: the 96X version. That is something that you don't see in the market anywhere else, except for Cisco who has it at a high level for a high expense. The ability to customize your own switch with their modules is a big plus for what we do in the market right now. Instead of having to piece together standardized switches, trying to make something work, or fitting the design into the mold, the modular switches are aware that you can make a mark in the industry because you purchased one switch and design with different modules added and removed later on for functionality."
"The ease of use of these switches is very good because of the Cisco CLI. If you are familiar with CLI, then you can configure the switch that way. It also has a relatively straightforward web interface. Using the web interface is good for beginners or people who aren't familiar with Cisco CLI. However, having a common command line interface method is great for some of our more advanced guys who are familiar with it."
Cons
"It would be good to include the command-line access someday."
"The pain point for our customers is the pricing and it should be reduced to make it more competitive."
"Better alerting capabilities are needed because they do not provide enough notification or detail about events."
"The cameras should be better integrated."
"In terms of troubleshooting, if we get more tools there is an issue."
"Less flexibility than in some other solutions."
"On the switches, I don't know a whole lot that I would change. Different levels of switches have different layer 2 and layer 3 functionality. It's always nice to have layer 3 functionality across the board if you can, but that drives up the cost. They've got different lines for different amounts of layer 3 functionality. However, on their models that do include full layer 3 access, when you choose to use layer 3 on a switch, it doesn't have the full functioning routing capabilities of an MX firewall. It can be limiting in some of those aspects."
"Some people would have some reservations about the yearly subscription. Maybe they could offer an option of having a one-off or perpetual license to let people test it and see how it goes."
"An area for improvement would be creating a wizard that can do a lot of common stuff. Instead of having some manual configuration for common features, they may want to have a single wizard that could be put in place which would let you walk through creating multiple VLANs and different routes between VLANs in a wizard. Then, you wouldn't have to dig in so deep."
"One thing I have asked for, something that NETGEAR lacks that I would love to see — and from what I understand it's in the works — is a REST API to programmatically interface with multiple switches. That would be a great feature."
"They need to continue moving forward with their consulting in the AV realm to find out what is needed. They are some differences in the M4300 line and the larger M4500 line right now. They could produce a 1 Gigabit variety that could be a bit cheaper that might fit into that, since the majority of the projects that we see are still in that 1 Gigabit bandwidth threshold. Along with that, a great option would be if it would provide the same modular ability on a lower level."
"Being able to pass AVB traffic over these switches, that would be a huge add. There are not many switches out that support that. The GS728TP NETGEAR switches used to or still do support AVB, but it would be ideal if the 4300 Series could support it as well."
"The web interface has been a little sketchy on occasion. Sometimes I have to reload the page to get things to show up properly, but the switch itself seems fine. The web user interface is a little wonky at times."
"The ‘how-to’ guides could do with some improvements. We got in trouble following the stacking and Dante set-up guides. If these would have been accurate, we would not have lost three days."
"The technical support could be more helpful."
"If they could come up with ways to look at metrics on it while the video is capping through the system, that would be nice. There could be some interesting uses for that, but it's a long way off."
"We don't use standard licensing. Most of the time, we use the advanced security model. If there is a drawback to Meraki, it is the cost, but you also have to evaluate it based upon the other factors that you do get. Their support is really good; their hardware is really good. The ease of configuration and deployment is really good, but it is more expensive than most."
"It would be better if they had a one-time purchase option instead of a subscription model."
"I don't have an issue with the price of this solution."
"The pricing is overvalued in relation to the product's performance."
"The pricing is high and it is where we get the most pushback from customers."
"The licensing is purchased on a one, three, five, and seven year basis."
"They can get the price down for small businesses. The way I bought it, I paid hardly anything, and I got all my licensing with it. The firewall appliance is around $900, and the switches are around $150. This is for the device itself. For licensing, I signed at $70 or something like that for the switch. Technical Support is included in this."
"We paid for our switches outright, at a cost of between $15,000 USD and $18,000 USD."
"The price-to-performance of the solution is very good. You get very performance for a low cost per port. Compared to standard AV switching, NETGEAR is probably the best value out there."
"We find the cost of NETGEAR hardware and additional services to be below average compared to the top tier. There are still cheaper products out there, but they lack in functionality."
"Compared to other large names in the marketplace, the price of NETGEAR's product is extremely cost-effective compared to what Cisco or Extreme offer."
"At its price point, nobody else can compare to what NETGEAR is doing at that 10 Gigabit bandwidth level. We are not seeing a lot of 10 Gigabit need right now in the marketplace. Though, we have done a few projects which have required it. We are still sort of at the 1 Gigabit requirement for the majority of our projects. Honestly, NETGEAR's 10 Gigabit offering has a better value than some of the other vendors' 1 Gigabit offering."
"The pricing is very good for 10GbE switches and you get a lot of throughput. It is about 60 percent of the costs of other switches from competitive manufacturers, which is really good."
"This is a one-time purchase and there are no licensing fees."
"From a price perspective, the solution comes in higher than a small business product from their competitors. The solution is a bit higher, but it's a fraction of the cost compared to an enterprise switch. For example, a Cisco Catalyst can run approximately $13,000, where their Small Business Series may run $800 on the Cisco side. With NETGEAR, it falls in around the $1,000 to $2,000 range for most of what we use it for. Essentially, at this price point, you're getting a lot of enterprise grade features (e.g., that you would on a Catalyst) on an M4300."
"The pricing is great. The cost of the hardware is low... There are a few solutions that have a lower cost, but NETGEAR is very value-oriented."
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Ethernet Switches solutions are best for your needs.
554,382 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Top Answer: Easily installable, with good scalability, stability and technical support.
Top Answer: I choose to rate the product a nine out of ten because of the cost. Remember, you and I are not paying for the equipment. Someone is paying for it. Someone has to be willing to pay the premium for… more »
Top Answer: Performance is an area in need of improvement. Other systems, such as Juniper switches, perform better for the same or less money. For consistency and ease of use, Cisco is definitely better, but… more »
Top Answer: NetGear switches have a lot to offer. They have high availability, zero-downtime stacking, L2 and L3 functionality, and are AV-over-IP ready. NetGear switches also have a command line interface and… more »
Top Answer: Ubiquiti Unifi offers a great set of features. For starters, it is easy to configure and implement, and also doesn’t require a learning curve because it is easy to use. It is also simple to… more »
Top Answer: The solution is fast, even though you might not necessarily get the speed out of the internet anyway.
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5,420
Comparisons
4,265
Reviews
28
Average Words per Review
498
Rating
8.8
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22,824
Comparisons
17,926
Reviews
6
Average Words per Review
1,484
Rating
8.7
Compared 29% of the time.
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Compared 24% of the time.
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MS220, MS320, MS420
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
The Cisco Meraki MS brings the benefits of the cloud to networks of all sizes: simplified management, reduced complexity, network wide visibility and control, with lower operational cost for campus and branch deployments. Cisco Meraki access switching is available in both Layer 2 and powerful Layer 3 models. Mission-critical features like deep, Layer 7 application visibility, network topology, virtual stacking, QoS for business critical applications, 802.1X access control, and more are present in all models.
NETGEAR Ethernet Switches, branded as NETGEAR ProSafe Switches, comes in all shapes and sizes, so you are sure to find the right solution to fit your business requirements.
If you're a small to medium sized company, you'll have three switching options NETGEAR Unmanaged, Plus, and Smart Switch solutions. If you're managing a large enterprise network or a campus network, then NETGEAR Fully Managed Infrastructures is the solution for you. All the NETGEAR Ethernet Switches and solutions are innovative, easy to install and use, reliable, and very cost-effective.
Learn more about Meraki MS Switches
Learn more about NETGEAR Switches
Cisco Live Milan, Hyatt
Blaze Networks
Computer Software Company18%
Comms Service Provider18%
Healthcare Company12%
Construction Company12%
Comms Service Provider28%
Computer Software Company18%
Manufacturing Company5%
Government5%
Aerospace/Defense Firm11%
Government11%
Agriculture11%
University11%
Comms Service Provider30%
Computer Software Company16%
Government6%
Educational Organization5%
Small Business64%
Midsize Enterprise20%
Large Enterprise16%
Small Business63%
Midsize Enterprise19%
Large Enterprise19%
Small Business28%
Midsize Enterprise17%
Large Enterprise55%
Find out what your peers are saying about Meraki MS Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: November 2021.
554,382 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Meraki MS Switches is ranked 7th in Ethernet Switches with 33 reviews while NETGEAR Switches is ranked 2nd in Ethernet Switches with 9 reviews. Meraki MS Switches is rated 8.8, while NETGEAR Switches is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Meraki MS Switches writes "Offers the ability to select multiple ports at a time in a checkbox". On the other hand, the top reviewer of NETGEAR Switches writes "When passing multicast video across the network, technicians don't have make changes". Meraki MS Switches is most compared with Aruba Switches, Ubiquiti UniFi Switches, HPE Ethernet Switches, Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access and Juniper Ethernet Switches, whereas NETGEAR Switches is most compared with Ubiquiti UniFi Switches, Cisco Ethernet Switches, Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches, D-Link Ethernet Switches and Dell PowerConnect Switches. See our Meraki MS Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches report.
See our list of best Ethernet Switches vendors.
We monitor all Ethernet Switches reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.