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Aruba Instant On Switches vs NETGEAR Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Instant On Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (4th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Switches is 9.7%, up from 9.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 7.5%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

MashukThakur - PeerSpot reviewer
A centrally managed switches ideal for small and medium businesses but does not have any console access
The solution does not have any console access. For example, if you do not have internet access on your side and you need to configure anything, you should at least have CLI access to do something or manage the solution to put to some IP. It will only work if we have a TSCT on the network. We can port and configure the initial settings before we get the Instant On Switches. I am not working deeply on Instant On devices. I have only installed it in a couple of accommodation sites. Even today, one customer has ordered to install 80 pieces of Instant On. I’ve to order additional 94 access points. I was confused about whether to go with Aruba Instant On or AP-505. Instant On has limited accessibility but AP-505 have cloud or local access on normal infrastructure. This would be better and easier to configure. So, there are further improvements in regard to console access and some limitations with access.
Umang Shah - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient routing and access control with an easy setup
We use NETGEAR Switches for networking, particularly for switch-to-switch connectivity. We connect them with core switches, especially for camera installation NETGEAR Switches have increased the throughput and speed of internal communication, and have improved our network efficiency. The most…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The product's initial setup phase is very simple."
"The stability is fine. I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. Almost a ten on a ten."
"Aruba's management solutions, like Aruba Central are valuable."
"It is a very stable solution."
"We use Aruba Instant On Switches for general communication, sending files, and going to the internet."
"I have enjoyed the switches. They are fairly easy to use."
"The solution's pricing is slightly cheaper than that of Cisco."
"It is easy for deployment and configuration."
"The solution is stable."
"The cloud management has just been huge for us. We have 80 clients and they all have switches... With the cloud-managed Insight ones... we know more information without having to do complicated SNMP traps. We get nice emails, we get a web interface, and we're not having to wait for our RMM tools to get SNMP traffic to notify us. We don't have to do complicated configurations."
"The most valuable features are routing and access control."
"We have a wide range of switches for various applications, including a collection specifically designed for ProAV, as well as Multi-gig Switches, which are also quite well-known or unique."
"Remote management is the most important thing for us. And monitoring, of course, allows us to see when something is wrong with a client. We get notified that an access point is down, for instance, or that there are too many clients on one access point, so that we can log into the portal and manage the solution with the client instantly, from either a laptop or a cell phone, with the Insight app."
"With this, you literally just log in to a website, see all your clients, all your NETGEAR switches, and you can manage them all right there: the VLANs, powering on and off individual ports, rebooting the whole device, the firmware updates. Everything can be done remotely..."
"You are not limited in terms of stacking ports, and especially, if you're using the 96X as a core switch, the scalability, I could see this being very large. If you're using a type of a hybrid topology with a core switch going out to multiple switch stacks, or something like that, I could see the scalability of this being very good, especially considering the kind of backplane switching capacity on the 96X."
"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."
 

Cons

"The difficulty with the tool is in the area of troubleshooting."
"The solution’s initial setup is very complex."
"Some L3 features could be included in the solution."
"The pricing is competitive but could be improved."
"Tracking with instant switches needs improvement."
"It could have an MSP portal version."
"Its scalability needs improvement."
"The product's startup speed is very bad, as it is very slow."
"NETGEAR Switches could be more secure. Scalability could also be better. This infrastructure is a bit old, and we need something that will be more secure. Something that will introduce WLAN, and we will need the knowledge to go with that. Some of the switches were used for more than seven years. I think it was just their lifespan that was exhausted. But other than that, there haven't been any issues that required us to complain or get concerned."
"There's a lack of chips and, consequently, a lack of deliveries. They're out of stock at their European warehouse."
"Though the tool's useability is good, it has certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"NETGEAR Switches could provide local technical support services."
"There is a technical problem they can't seem to solve. It doesn't support multicast packets. In layman's terms, Mac computers can't print over the network."
"The security features must be improved."
"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."
"Support could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing is competitive, and there are no supplementary fees."
"The product has good pricing."
"The pricing is quite low compared to other products, which is good for the customer."
"The license for Instant On Switches is free."
"We pay an annual licensing fee."
"I give the price seven out of ten."
"If one is very bad, and ten is a very good price, I rate the tool's price as a six."
"It is an expensive solution."
"It is a slightly expensive product."
"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."
"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."
"They're good value. They're good entry-level switches. I know Cisco generally has a lot more capability. But, for an organization this size, we don't need that. So they're good value for the cost and what we need."
"NETGEAR Switches can be considered a big brand, so its pricing point is a bit higher than that of some of the other players in the market."
"It's cheaper than Cisco. For the features it offers, the pricing is good."
"There are two parts to the pricing. There's the pricing of the device itself, which is good. Their licensing model needs work, though. The licensing model doesn't fit the way MSPs do business."
"The product has the best price in the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Instant On Switches?
The solution has a simple deployment and zero border.
What needs improvement with Aruba Instant On Switches?
I have run into a couple of problems with the switches. Recently, one of the newer stacks stopped working and had to be rebooted individually. They don't have a lot of diagnostics tools, which coul...
How do NETGEAR switches compare with Cisco ethernet switches?
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...
Which switches are better - Ubiquiti Unifi or Netgear?
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 reconfi...
What do you like most about NETGEAR Switches?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. I have not faced any issues with the product whatsoever.
 

Also Known As

Aruba Instant On 1930 Switches
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

KEMET, Vestavia Hills City Schools, Dropbox
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant On Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.