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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Huawei Enterprise Routers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 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

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
Ranking in WAN Edge
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (6th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (2nd)
Huawei Enterprise Routers
Ranking in WAN Edge
8th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Routers (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

Igor Van Den Ouden - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables secure and flexible branch connectivity with application-aware routing
The valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN include its security policies and zone-based firewall that are applied to every site, as well as application-aware routing. Security is standard compliant, eliminating config drift that was prevalent before manual configurations. Application-aware routing offers flexibility in using different lines for traffic, depending on the policy implemented.
Udochi Ododo - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to configure and troubleshoot, but they need more visibility in the licensing model
Huawei needs to be a bit more open with their licensing model. What I find is that when you buy equipment, you expect that you have a particular feature. By the time you want to use that feature, you realize that you need to acquire a license for it. That is the one thing that I think they need to improve on. Essentially, they need to open their licensing model such that when a customer buys a device, they have a full view of all of the available licenses for it. It's not at the time of use that the customer will now be informed that they need to purchase an additional license.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is stable and reliable."
"I like the feature that lets you transfer from old devices to new devices without changing the hardware and subscription."
"Any technical support we needed was great."
"I like creating policies. This way, we can better utilize our WAN circuit and get better rates. Its GUI is user-friendly, and the CLI is also great."
"The solution provides good consolidation, centralization, and manageability for edge routers."
"The most valuable feature is the application-level routing."
"Cisco SD-WAN's most valuable feature is the ease of transition."
"Cisco SD-WAN is valued for its operational efficiency and ease of operation."
"The solution provides support for 5G connectivity."
"The initial setup is easy."
"We use the solution for point-to-point connectivity, aggregation, and radio connectivity on mTLS."
"The product is very reasonably priced."
"The product has valuable support services."
"When we started, the connection was amazing for the 100G between the switches and the co-switch. What the students typically use for school is a maximum is 40 so they now have faster technology."
"The product is easy to improve and deploy in terms of configuration for engineers and technical executives."
"The product’s technical support team is responsive."
 

Cons

"When you buy the equipment, they should already put it into your cloud account. It should already be set up so that we can manage with vBond. We came across an issue where it wasn't resolved in the DNS. We are using Umbrella, so we need to create a VPN IPSec tunnel to Umbrella to enable the users to browse. I would really like to see an internal built-in firewall so that we don't have to go to Umbrella. This functionality might already be there. We are quite new to this solution, and we are still learning about it."
"It is the best solution that I ever had, but there might be something better than this in the future."
"I would like to see a better, web-based interface to make changes to the configuration or to view statistics."
"There should be more security features in the hybrid and on-premise deployments of Cisco SD-WAN. The cloud has most of the security features."
"We have found that their SD-WAN has a lot of scope for improvement."
"Cisco's router and voice gateway has not been available since the launch of SD-WAN."
"Cisco could do more to offer bundling of the SD-WAN and other solutions."
"The initial setup could be a bit less complex."
"It would be better if local storage management was more flexible, so that unused data could be easily removed."
"It would be better if the vendor provided support for small enterprises."
"The solution's technical support could be improved."
"The only problem I see is configuration loss."
"We have found we have to restart the routers or reconfigured them a lot of the time, this issue should improve. The quality of the hardware needs to be more durable."
"The configuration is complex and should be simplified."
"Lacks sufficient market availability."
"There is not much of a technical team for Huawei available in Pakistan as compared to Cisco with respect to very complex networks."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's costly. The cost is high compared to competitors."
"We can only buy three-year licenses, not monthly. The cost seems high for us, especially since we're in Vietnam, which isn't a rich country. But we still like the product because it is good."
"The initial cost is quite significant, but the investment is worthwhile."
"You can get subscriptions for three or five years."
"For 600 links, the license for Cisco SD-WAN costs us US$250k a year."
"When purchasing, there are so many features available that it's quite confusing deciding which to choose. And some of the devices force you to buy licenses you don't want."
"The license consists of an annual fee."
"This is not a cheap option but if you move from Capex to Opex, I expect you should have lower costs."
"These routers are not too expensive."
"The solution's price is reasonable."
"The price is reasonable compared to Cisco's."
"There are additional licensing costs. I am aware of additional licenses and which services are added to the router."
"Huawei offers a cheaper enterprise router solution than Cisco."
"The product is inexpensive, but there is an extra cost for replacement of the device."
"The solution is cheap compared to Cisco."
"The product is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
45%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco SD-WAN?
When considering the most valuable features of Cisco SD-WAN, the decoupling of self-monitoring stands out significantly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco SD-WAN?
The pricing for Cisco SD-WAN is rated eight out of ten, with some variability depending on the reseller discounts and the size of the enterprise. It is also relatively cost-effective for smaller bu...
What needs improvement with Cisco SD-WAN?
The main area for improvement in Cisco SD-WAN is the lack of documentation, which often lags behind the software releases. This is especially notable since Cisco acquired the solution and is still ...
What do you like most about Huawei Enterprise Routers?
The solution provides support for 5G connectivity.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Huawei Enterprise Routers?
The product is very cheap and offers a huge discount as they are trying to enter the market. However, you have to pay extra for some services and support.
What needs improvement with Huawei Enterprise Routers?
The documentation is somewhat lacking and not easy to navigate. There are some errors and misleading information. The general appearance of the company site is also not user-friendly for downloadin...
 

Also Known As

Cisco SD-WAN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Doyle Research, Ashton Metzler & Associates
Bus Online, VisionChina Media Inc. (VisionChina), China Network Television (CNTV), Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, ABC, BovenIJ hospital
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs. Huawei Enterprise Routers and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.