Cisco Enterprise Routers Reviews

The clients are using Cisco Enterprise Routers for normal NATting purposes. The clients usually have it on-premises.

The advantage of Cisco Enterprise Routers is that it is very easy to use and has many options available. Users can utilize CME, data capabilities, IPsec, dual NATting, ISP load balancing, and ACLs for user restrictions.

Regarding VPN connectivity in the product, IPsec is available.

The Quality of Service capabilities in Cisco Enterprise Routers are far better than other products, and implementations depend on the customer's scope of work. When comparing with other routers, Cisco Enterprise Routers is the best solution I have experienced, and it performs its functions exceptionally.

The only disadvantage is that the router comes with specific interfaces, typically two or three, and adding another interface requires an additional card, which increases the cost. Otherwise, everything functions properly. Cisco Enterprise Routers are significantly better than any other router I have used, and we typically recommend Cisco routers to our clients rather than other options.

I have been selling Cisco Enterprise Routers for more than eight years.

Cisco Enterprise Routers are very easy to install. When compared with other products, Cisco Enterprise Routers are simple to install and configure.

Regarding stability, Cisco Enterprise Routers are stable and reliable, with no significant glitches in performance.

In terms of scalability, Cisco Enterprise Routers are easy to scale.

I have never opened a TAC case with Cisco because all documentation can be found easily on Google through the Cisco community. With other products such as FortiGate, I usually open a TAC case whenever I encounter a problem.

Negative

I am partnered with all the popular vendors, but we mostly prefer Cisco Enterprise Routers because it is a reliable product. Although it is expensive, the reliability and ease of use through CLI configuration make it superior to any other product. This is the primary reason we mostly deal with Cisco.

The pricing is not cheap. When we provide quotations to clients, they often comment on the expense. However, we recommend the solution, and after procurement, all clients are satisfied with Cisco Enterprise Routers.

I am comparing Cisco Enterprise Routers to Huawei, Aruba, H3C, and Ruckus.

The failover capability in Cisco Enterprise Routers helps minimize network downtime overall, taking only two to three seconds to switch for ISP failover capability.

The advanced routing features such as BGP are very easy to configure, including OSPF configuration.

In comparison with other vendors such as Aruba and Ruckus, Cisco Enterprise Routers are better due to increased reliability and ease of use, though they remain more expensive. This is the main difference compared to other vendors.

The performance and reliability of Cisco Enterprise Routers merit a rating of 10 out of 10. My overall experience with Cisco Enterprise Routers rates at 10 out of 10.

In my case, I use Cisco Enterprise Routers for voice communication systems, so I need a specific coverage of service between the sites. In our company, we use switches that are validated and certified by our suppliers because if it is not working with them, then we cannot use them. Sometimes, we use Aruba in our company, while at times, we use Cisco, depending on the manufacturer or system supplier. Sometimes, it gets difficult when you mix some things from one supplier to the other, but the product works in the end.

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it makes it possible for users to use encryption and decryption since our company aims to achieve transparency, and without it, the other system on which it is used won't support it.

The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required to be made by making it cheaper.

At times, our company needs to exchange the equipment because it is not supported anymore or because it is out of service. When it comes to Cisco Enterprise Routers, and you look at the cost of ownership, there is a need to consider the fact that my company undertakes projects that are on systems that should be running for more than fifteen or twenty years, which is an area that is always difficult. If you must exchange the equipment because it is no longer supported, then it would be nice if Cisco provided discounts for the new products, especially if you stay with the same supplier. In our company, we may use Cisco, Dell, or Aruba, especially in scenarios where Cisco does not allow or fulfill our requirements. They should be hardware exchange contracts when dealing with equipment from Cisco, Dell, or any independent vendor.

I have been using Cisco Enterprise Routers for four years. My company is a platinum partner of Cisco. I use the solution's latest version as described by our company's security policy since nowadays we are not allowed to use or do the migration or upgrade part of routers or switches, and we need to consider exchanging them instead.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a seven or eight out of ten.

My company mostly deals with small-sized businesses that use the solution.

I rate the technical support a seven or eight out of ten.

Neutral

I would rate the initial setup a seven or eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is a difficult setup phase, and ten is an easy setup phase.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

The solution can be deployed in a day. At times, the deployment process may take a week, depending on the other interconnections in an environment.

The return on investment from the product is high, considering factors like availability and the name of the product in the market.

I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price.

I rate the overall tool an eight out of ten.

The major purpose of our using Cisco Enterprise Routers is to terminate the 0.2 internet links because we don't use net features on the router. We prefer to configure NAS and other publishing through Cisco activities. We use the routers to create GRE channels with our different sites.

We use Cisco routers, firewalls, switches, and the Cisco Eyes and NAT solution in our environment. I have also done some R&D to implement mass cloud infrastructure for my client.

We're using the ISR series at the moment. The version is 4451 or 4431. These are public routers. We have permitted our major internet links on these routers.

This is an edge device for my organization. Normally, the enterprise company has one or two Cisco routers because they use it for internet termination and PLS termination.

I am using version 16.4 of the ISR router.

It's highly stable. We rarely see any bugs or abnormalities in our Cisco routers, especially for the ISR series. We have used the ASR 1000, and that was highly stable.

You cannot configure internet policies or other options on Cisco routers. If you have a very limited budget, you can't afford two different pieces of equipment, and you can't afford yearly licensing.

I would like Cisco to launch a small business router that has firewall capabilities as well. It would be a great initiative for small businesses.

I would like to see two additional features: a remote access VPN with the MFA, multifactor authentication capabilities. At the moment, the ISR series only supports MFA, but not every company likes to use that tool. I think Cisco needs to consider MFA for the remote access VPN and should incorporate other MFA solutions as well.

I would also like there to be some firewall features included in the routers. I'm not talking about a full-fledged firewall feature, but a limited set of features that can be used on the small and medium-sized enterprise level. These two features would be a great initiative.

I would also like to recommend the licensing feature. Previously, the Cisco licensing model was either a perpetual or annual smart license. Now, Cisco has totally shifted over to the smart licensing feature, and perpetual licenses are about to be eliminated from Cisco. The licensing feature is a bit costly if we compare it to other vendors. The licensing features of the F5 are perpetual, but the support has periodic renewal. The license to use Cisco features like a firewall or the routers are actually yearly based and not perpetual.

The lead times are extremely high. Normally, it's six to eight months initially, and they prolong it to up to one year for new device delivery by Cisco.

If you say you need a brand new router, switch, or fiber from Cisco within one month, you will never get it, unless some stock is readily available with your vendor. Otherwise, it will initially take six to eight months, and then that will be prolonged to one year. This is what we're experiencing with our clients right now.

I have used Cisco Enterprise Routers since 2012.

It's highly scalable, but there is some cost involved. If you need one gig throughput, you don't need to procure another offer. You just need to purchase the throughput license, and you can increase the throughput. These are very costly licenses. 

I would rate the scalability as eight out of ten. 

For the initial setup, I would rate it as 10 out of 10. It's very user-friendly and simple to implement Cisco devices.

Deployment didn't take more than one hour.

Even the command line is very user-friendly. A layman could very quickly understand Cisco's command line.

We're an IT consulting company and we have our own engineers to deploy the solution. We provide IT services to the other companies in our country as well.

There are different series for the routers and different licenses for each series. It depends on which series you're going to choose and which router model you're going to choose in that series. There is a base license, throughput license, and boost performance license.

For a boost performance license, the cost is $2,000 to $2,500.

There is an additional cost for more scalability.

I would rate this solution as nine out of ten. I'm only deducting a point because of the licensing cost. Scalability is very costly. Cisco is going to shift to smart licensing, which means you get the license for a specific period of time, and then you need to incur some cost to renew that license.

I highly recommend Cisco. It's highly stable and highly scalable, which is the reason why they're unable to fulfill orders globally.

Before I would recommend Cisco to someone, I would review the project and business needs. Why do they want to use the Cisco Enterprise router or Cisco equipment? What is the business nature? What are the requirements? What is the budget? These things need to be discussed before suggesting any solution. I am a solution provider, so it's the core business of my company to set up IT infrastructures for the other companies.

I always intend to know what kind of business someone is running, what are their prospects, what are the expectations from the infrastructure, and what is the total budget they want to incur on the infrastructure. For a businessman, IT is just an overload. There's a burden on the budget. If you have a garment business and someone suggests that you buy a $4,000 router, you will say, "Why?"

First of all, analyze your requirement, business, and network, and then I can suggest the best possible solution. It could be Cisco or another third party because if you say, "I have only $1,000 for this IT infrastructure," you will need to buy switches, the router, and everything else for $1,000. You can't even get a small enterprise router in the $1,000 range from Cisco.

In my company, the tool is used mostly in our branches.

The benefit from the use of the product in my company stems from the fact that it is a tool that is considered to be a leader in the market while offering good support and stability, making it an overall good product.

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that the product's overall look and feel is good, making it a user-friendly tool.

The product's pricing is an area that is too fuzzy to deal with, in my opinion, making it an area where improvements are required.

The product's deployment phase can be made slightly better and more intuitive.

I have been using Cisco Enterprise Routers for ten to twelve years.

It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Around 110 people, consisting mostly of members of my company's IT team and network administrators, use the solution in my company.

During weekdays or normal days, it is easy to get hold of Cisco's support team, but during holidays or weekends, it becomes challenging and problematic for users to reach the support team. It is important to know that the support offered by Cisco is comparatively better than the support offered by its competitors.

The solution's deployment phase is okay since it is a process that may not seem too easy, but at the same time, one may not experience any hassles.

I rate the product's deployment phase a five out of ten.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

Considering the configuration phase that takes time, the solution can be deployed in a time frame between three to four hours to two or three days.

In comparison with other products, I rate the product's ability to provide my company benefits in terms of time and funding at twelve or thirteen, even if the benchmark you provide is ten to the maximum.

I rate the product's price a six or seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is extremely expensive, and ten is very cheap. Apart from the licensing costs attached to the solution, a user has to pay towards the product's RMA and support costs.

My company's support team, consisting of 20 to 25 engineers, deals with the product's upgrades, failover testing, and everything else.

I rate the overall tool an eight out of ten.

I use Cisco routers in my company to provide internet connectivity to all our devices, such as computers and WiFi. Essentially, I use these servers to facilitate internet access for the entire company. HPE is the server we are using in our company.

I am satisfied with the tool overall. Although I haven't used all of its features yet, it's been great for providing internet access to both customers, and employees within the company. I'm looking forward to learning more about the other features and using them in the future.

I don't think I can improve the tool. For that, I would need to learn all of its features and how to use them. But for now, I am satisfied with the tool because it provides me with what I need. In short, I don't have any idea if I want any improvements in the solution.

Sometimes, I find it hard to learn how some features of the router work. So, these are the issues that may arise when a user might not have knowledge about the product.

I have been working with HPE servers since 2019, which adds up to about three to four years. As for Cisco, I have been working with them for two years now, and with Cisco routers specifically, for about one year. I am also working with Cisco Enterprise Routers.

I love all Cisco devices since it has a lot of features, including the ones that are essential to me. Stability-wise, I rate this solution a ten out of ten.

The router I am using right now is enough for my needs. There are many features that I would like to use, and I am learning about them. The tool is sufficient for me at present.

The router is the main device in my company. So, everyone who wants to access the internet will go through it. However, I am the only one with access to the router and its features. Thus, all other people have to access the internet through the router as a user without access to its features, and they may not even be aware of the process. They only have access to the internet without the knowledge of how it works. Since I am in the IT section, I have access to all the necessary details.

I have experience with Cisco UCS C-Series, HPE ProLiant DL, and Linux, specifically Cisco and HPE.

I haven't worked with routers from vendors other than Cisco. Even at home, I have a small Cisco router. Nowadays, some people use TP-Link and D-Link, but I feel that Cisco is the best for me. For small companies or small houses, Cisco routers are very good.

I had someone help me with the setup process, which wasn't a complicated process. Although it may seem complicated the first time you go through it, doing it a second time, you may not feel that it is a complicated process.

It was not just the router but the whole network, which means there were other devices also. So, the deployment process took just one month.

I received help from a consultant.

The pricing of Cisco routers is reasonable at times. But, here in my country, it is expensive because we get the product from outside our country, which involves a lot of processes. But, outside my country also, I don't think it is reasonable. Only owing to the features it provides, it is reasonable.

I don't know the amount paid by the ones who purchased the solution a few years ago, but I know that they bought the license.

My advice for the people who want Cisco routers is that I think they have to learn how to use them because there are a lot of features that they can use in the solution. But if they don't know how to use it, then they shouldn't buy it. They have to learn everything about the router so that they can use the very good features of the router. So, they need to get knowledge about the router and its features. Once you know how to use it, it's satisfying.

To understand the router and its features, I usually rely on Google, Cisco's website, and occasionally other websites. I find the documentation on the Cisco website to be great since they know how to explain the features well since the routers are their products. I rate this solution a ten out of ten, at times a nine out of ten, but not lower than that.

We mainly use the solution for a branch router, and it works very efficiently. We use it for data centers and servers. 

The after-sales service and support Cisco offers are great. It's a great differentiating feature that sets them apart from the competition.

The features are good. They are robust and well-made, unlike other competitors, like Huawei, where the products are not made of good materials. 

The performance is quite good.  

It's scalable.

For the most part, it is straightforward to set up. 

We need more cloud functionality and more intelligent routing features.

They need to improve cost efficiency. It's an expensive product.

I've been using the solution for 15 years. 

This is a stable, robust product. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It is reliable. The performance is excellent.

There are different sizes for the routers. You need to get the right sizing base don your needs. 

The solution is scalable. You can have one router per premises and multiple branches and it will work well in an enterprise any size.

They have data sheets online that are easy to access so that you can see the capacity of various routers. You just need to choose the right one for your business.

Support is great. The operator can open a case, and a Cisco support engineer can directly interact with the case to troubleshoot. They have a quick turnaround as well.

Cisco offers quality support. They are excellent. 

I'm also familiar with Huawei, and I find them to be not quite as well-made as Cisco. However, they both have similar functionality and serve the same purpose. 

The initial setup is straightforward. The setup doesn't take a long period of time. 

The deployment is very similar to what you would expect from other vendors. You do need to do some architectural design before implementing. You need to have a good understanding of the layout of the network and what you will need. 

Cisco does provide training online that is available readily from anywhere. Most people are quite familiar with Cisco, and those who are not can learn a lot online. 

How much technical staff you will need will depend on how big of a deployment you are planning. Typically, two to three engineers are sufficient. However, it can vary from project to project. 

The solution is a bit expensive. They should consider better pricing.

They have turned to subscription-based licensing. However, it may not be as cost-effective. 

Prices vary. There are different license models to choose from. 

I use various versions of the solution, from legacy routers to the latest version. It can be deployed on-premises and also has cloud solutions as well. 

Cisco is dominating the market in my region. 

I'd recommend Cisco Routers to others. 

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten based on the cost of the product, which is expensive. 

We use the solution to create a secure connection between IT devices and the ISP network.

The solution allows us to connect our web applications to the systems and enable security control on the ISP network.

The solution has a robust performance and provides essential features for router switching and operations. Also, its technical support team is well-trained, and some hold CCNA certifications.

The solution's price could be better. Also, they could provide combined features for total security, including access points for Wi-Fi. In addition, there needs to be an integration with SD-WAN.

We have been using the solution for more than 30 years.

The solution is very stable.

The solution's scalability depends on the type of device.

The solution's technical support services are excellent. 

The solution's initial setup process is easy. Although, it might appear complicated compared to devices based on the graphical interface. An expert can deploy it in 30 minutes to an hour. At the same time, an end user might take a day to complete the process.

We received technical assistance from the solution's distributors and resellers.

The solution is expensive.

The solution is very stable compared to other products.

I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We use this solution to secure and separate our network. We use the router to install the internet gateway.

When there is a problem, it hampers the scope of work. So if they could reduce the response time, it'll be helpful to us. In addition, the UI could be more user-friendly.

We have been using this solution for the last two years. It is deployed on-premises.

It is a stable solution. Cisco devices are very stable.

It is very scalable. We have two sites, our head office site and our factory site. We have a total of about 1600 users on the factory site. We only require four to five people for maintenance, and the maintenance has different levels, admin, physical and support maintenance. There are three people in admin maintenance and three to four in support and other maintenance.

We have not used any technical support from Cisco.

We used Cisco Router 2911 before this.

There was some complexity in setting up the existing network to the new network. It took almost six months to implement. However, the timeline was impacted by COVID. There were no issues with the product, but the issue was upping the tunnel and upgrading systems.

Our vendor and partner helped us with installation. The vendor did the initial configuration, and now we are taking care of the maintenance.

I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.

I rate the solution a nine out of ten.