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Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center 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

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (4th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center is 1.7%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 9.0%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Rias Majeed - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables easy management of traffic and enhances security
FortiSwitch Data Center allows for centralized management of both Fortinet switches and firewalls from a single interface. This integration makes network management streamlined and secure. Additionally, the controllers are built into the firewall, which enables easy management of traffic and enhances security. Unlike some solutions, a Fortinet firewall is not just a firewall; it also acts as a full-fledged router.
Doug Meuross - PeerSpot reviewer
Can easily integrate with the networks and infrastructures
No maintenance is required for the solution. It is very easy to integrate the product with the other systems in our company's infrastructure since you only need to consider plugging a cable. My company does not integrate the product with any product specifically since we only consider integrations with the networks and infrastructures. As the product needs to be plugged in and it starts working, I can say that it is a reliable solution that works. The tool also offers quality, especially if you consider how you would not know whether an unknown product that you choose would work for you or not. I recommend the product to others. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"A valuable feature of FortiGate is its management integrity."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center's scalability is good."
"The single pane of glass that helps us manage everything through FortiManager is the most important feature."
"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center offers flexibility and control over the entire network from a single pane of management."
"I have found the solution to be scalable."
"The solution has made configuration and setup very, very easy."
"Based on my use cases, Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center was a great product that was easy to manage and work with while being a powerful tool."
"It is very stable."
"Netgear switches are highly reliable. We haven't done anything particularly sophisticated with them."
"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."
"This switch is Layer 3, so it is a totally managed system."
"For what I used this switch for, it did well."
"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."
"The stability is good. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. I have not faced any issues with the product whatsoever."
"The initial setup is easy."
 

Cons

"Compatibility with infrastructure from other vendors like Cisco and Sophos can be further improved."
"There is room to improve the integration between FortiSwitch and other third-party solutions, as challenges arise when integrating with different vendors."
"They could improve availability and security by detecting and preventing switch attacks."
"There is room for improvement in customer support and device speed. Sometimes, customer support does not provide prompt assistance, leaving projects hanging."
"Does not have as many features as other solutions, such as segmentation and analytics engines."
"The FortiSwitch product was initially quite complex."
"With IT products, there is always room for improvement."
"Routing is an area in Fortinet FortiSwitch with certain shortcomings where improvements are needed."
"What I'd like to see is more compatibility with virtual stacking, so that 4300-series switches and 3300-series switches will actually stack together and that virtual switch stacks, themselves, are not limited to just six devices, so that they can create larger loops with more bandwidth and more redundancy."
"One thing I would like to see improved is the response time for technical support."
"The tool is good, but we probably need another model with PoE connections. Our office plans to switch from analog phone lines to VoIP next year, and we need a model that supports this transition and can handle the required technology. Additionally, improved support for newer technologies like Wi-Fi would be beneficial."
"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."
"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."
"When the power does go out, or if we do a soft shutdown, some of the transceivers or the monitor don't recognize when it turns back on, so I have to physically unplug it and plug it back in and then it works. We're working with NETGEAR's engineers to figure out why that's happening."
"The IGMP specifics of the web management console could use a bit of clarification."
"There is a lot of delay in the data coming to the servers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center is expensive."
"This solution is expensive but it does not require a license."
"The product is less expensive than one of its competitors."
"It is reasonably priced."
"We pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution, which is expensive."
"The tool's pricing is lower than Cisco's."
"The product has a mid-range price."
"The solution is not expensive."
"We used HPE previously. The reason I switched to NETGEAR was because of pricing differences, which are huge, when you go into 10GB networking... The pricing is quite good... The total cost of the deployment was about 11,000 euros or so. If I had gone with HPE it would have been at least twice as much."
"The product is priced economically."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"For its price, it scales well."
"Insight pricing is okay. It's very competitive. The costs of the hardware and additional services weren't low because Unify is much cheaper, but the costs conformed to the market. When you look at the hardware specs, the price and the warranty, the complete package was much better than any other vendor. If you consider those three main aspects of Netgear Insight and Netgear Insight devices, and you put them next to Ubiquity or Cisco Meraki, or even TP-Link, in our opinion, it's better hardware, it has a better warranty, and for the price you have to pay, it's a pretty good product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center?
The Fortinet switches come with no additional cost as they are open source, with only hardware warranties applicable.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center?
There is room for improvement in customer support and device speed. Sometimes, customer support does not provide prompt assistance, leaving projects hanging. Additionally, improving the speed of th...
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

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.