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Brocade Ethernet Switches vs NETGEAR Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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

Brocade Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
23rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (6th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Brocade Ethernet Switches is 1.5%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 6.9%, down from 8.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
NETGEAR Switches6.9%
Brocade Ethernet Switches1.5%
Other91.6%
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

PB
Data Center Admin at Sysnet Global Technologies
Experience seamless configuration with secure and adaptable network solutions
I use Brocade Ethernet Switches because they are scalable. I recommend them since they are easy to configure. They are connected and used every day in our operations It is good and scalable. It is easy to configure and provides good technical support. Brocade Ethernet Switches are good to…
Tomas Devriese - PeerSpot reviewer
Teamleader Av Installers at solufak
VLAN support has improved audiovisual installations and secures network traffic for our projects
Our major use cases include audiovisual installations and we mainly use the AV line for that. We work with the VLAN support feature The best things about NETGEAR Switches are the support they provide and the ease of implementation. The ease of installation helps with network performance. It helps…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is easy to configure and provides good technical support."
"The technical support is good."
"CLI and supported technologies are very close to Cisco."
"The reliability of Brocade is the most valuable feature. The solution has been up and running for over ten years without any fail, fixes required, or breakdowns. It is a very strong piece of equipment."
"The switches last for a very long time; it's stable for doing its functions as a black and gray switch, and it's a very good switch, at least the older ones, which I have been using for ten years and are still in use."
"One of the valuable features of this solution is that it works with the concept of zoning, where there's a zone for each server and services in the storage, and when the link of a full port is failing, it automatically switches to another port so you don't lose the connection, which is pretty important for the high level of availability of the applications and the access to the storage data."
"I have been using this solution for a long time and kept with it, because everything I need is covered by it."
"The most valuable feature of Brocade Ethernet Switches is the good range of access it provides."
"This is a cost-effective solution."
"For what I used this switch for, it did well."
"NETGEAR Switches has valuable cybersecurity features."
"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."
"NETGEAR Switches have increased the throughput and speed of internal communication, and have improved our network efficiency."
"The solution is very powerful and versatile."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. I have not faced any issues with the product whatsoever."
"With NETGEAR hardware, we have lifetime support and lifetime trade, so I didn't see any reason not to change."
 

Cons

"Brocade Ethernet Switches could improve by having better compatibility with web management of older versions."
"Brocade Ethernet Switches need a better interface and centralized management."
"Technically the product is always improving the software part, but the hardware needs to be more reliable."
"There are some performance issues that I would like to see improved."
"The solution could be more secure."
"It should be simpler. There are still some things that can be simpler in the Brocade switches."
"You need skills and knowledge to configure brocade switches."
"No graphical interface."
"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."
"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."
"The only true con for NETGEAR is they are known more for residential applications, wireless routers, wireless pieces, etc. They don't have the reputation of a Cisco or Extreme on the enterprise side."
"Though Netgear Ethernet switches are available in the market at a lower price than Cisco Switches, the ultimate market leading switches, they lag the edge of superior security features in them."
"I would like an email notification in case of errors or failures. If it was possible for the switch to email out an error log or notification note, especially in cases where we have the switches offsite (on the other side of town), then if something was to go wrong, it would be great to know about it before our client goes to use it for a big event, and it doesn't work. While I know that it does do SNMP, which is sort of standard, in the AV world, that is not always an option for us. We are usually running our own little network box and don't always have access to an SNMP server. We may just have simple Internet access or something similar."
"A slightly more featureful CLI interface would be great."
"Netgear switches could be cheaper."
"Perhaps in the future, we will have even more different types of switches and be able to fulfill more collections."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Brocade Ethernet Switches is expensive."
"The price point, compared to a lot of the competitors that didn't have the modular switch, was about 20 to 30 percent less expensive."
"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."
"The price to performance of this solution is very good. When it comes to pricing, as far as I'm concerned, they're very comparable with Ubiquity. NETGEAR has pricing that is as good as it gets. That's why I use them."
"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 great thing about the Insight product is that the renewable subscription is much cheaper than the competitors in the market. It is not over $50, per year, so customers buy the equipment and don't have to worry so much about the renewable fees that go along with having such access into their switch, with a cloud-managed solution. There are some other manufacturers where you'll essentially pay the same in hardware as you do in software, just for the cloud solution that supports it; just to keep getting the firmware updates and all of that information. With NETGEAR, you can do multi-year and that is something like 90 percent cheaper than if you're looking at Meraki, for example. It is extremely competitive. It's one of the main reasons we liked it so much."
"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 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."
"NETGEAR is a cost-effective solution when going for a small enterprise."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Brocade Ethernet Switches?
To improve, it could be made easier to configure with a graphical interface.
What is your primary use case for Brocade Ethernet Switches?
I use Brocade Ethernet Switches because they are scalable. I recommend them since they are easy to configure. They are connected and used every day in our operations.
What advice do you have for others considering Brocade Ethernet Switches?
I would recommend Brocade Ethernet Switches because they are easy to configure and have good technical support. I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETGEAR Switches?
If I were to rate price, I would give it eight or nine points. It is an expensive product.
 

Also Known As

No data available
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Ajubeo, Akquinet AG, Big Data Analytics Provider Boligkontoret Danmark Bristol is Open, CDE Lightband, Cicero School District 99, City and County of San Francisco, Department of Emergency, City of Chattanooga, Cloudscale.sh
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about Brocade Ethernet Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.