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HPE 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

HPE Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NETGEAR Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (4th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of HPE Ethernet Switches is 2.5%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 8.8%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Ashley Magee - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable and long-lasting network equipment with good customer support
Our primary use case for the switches is for a small business we run. It's mostly in the office, but we also have a plant where we run a lot of monitoring equipment There have been no significant improvements to our network performance as the switches we are using are quite old and we have not…
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

"You can scale the product as needed."
"The most valuable features of HPE Ethernet switches include configuring VLAN trunking and the overall ease of configuration."
"We have scaled it without any issues."
"It is a scalable solution."
"HPE is very reliable because it has a lifetime warranty, so the switches didn't give us any problems."
"The product has streamlined our smart hospitality services, allowing us to control room amenities like TVs and lights more efficiently."
"HPE Ethernet Switches offer a good return on investment. They offer a lifetime warranty, which is good. Cisco SMB level only declares a one-year warranty, and for the enterprise level, you need to get a service pack, which costs extra."
"Switching to HPE Ethernet Switches greatly improved our network. We used to have both Cisco and HPE Ethernet Switches. Our network performance has increased by 300 percent."
"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."
"Their online portal is one of the most useful features. The portal is very user-friendly, so even someone with not a lot of tech experience can go in and see what's going on with the switch."
"The solution is very powerful and versatile."
"SFP, speed, and 10-Gigabit are the most valuable aspects of this solution. We're an architecture firm and we sometimes deal with large files. Anything we can do to eke out even a fraction of a second less time to get something done over the course of a year adds up. If I can get 10-Gigabit running in my server room, which I am right now, even though we're only gigabit to the desktop, due to the client computers we have, I can get more performance from everybody. I'm ready to start bringing in 10-Gigabit Ethernet to the desktop once I get the hardware to do that."
"Netgear switches are highly reliable. We haven't done anything particularly sophisticated with them."
"NETGEAR Switches has valuable cybersecurity features."
"The solution is reliable and it is easy to setup."
"We use these switches to help us leverage and connect more devices."
 

Cons

"Some users might look for high-speed switching like Cisco or Nexus switches, which can handle larger volumes. HPE's current offerings aren't as robust in that area, but they could improve."
"Sometimes, we encounter the need for new technologies, especially when we require higher bandwidth. If we can't find what we need with HPE Ethernet Switches, we explore options from other vendors like Cisco."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"Price is an area for improvement. Cisco is very competitive on price, considering future business. HPE Ethernet Switches and Aruba need to think about their pricing. Aruba's price was 25 percent higher than Cisco's in a recent Central Bank project in Sri Lanka."
"When we have a lot of clients on the system, we lose signal and have to restart our antenna."
"The solution could be more stable."
"I would also like to see a more centralized private management console for the series of devices. Most solutions are adopting centralized cloud-based management, but my client base believes cloud solutions are too insecure. You've got a few dozen switches, so it would be nice to have the ability to manage them on a "single pane of glass.""
"There have been no significant improvements to our network performance as the switches we are using are quite old and we have not been able to take advantage of any new features."
"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 product's scalability has certain shortcomings that can be improved."
"There are a lot of systems that are moving into different areas. There are a lot of cloud-based things happening. One nice feature that I've seen in other switches is artificial intelligence on the actual porting. They've got AI technology that will tell you when a port is down. They not only tell you when a port is down; they also tell you when a port is running slower. You can do a cable-fault check, or you can do other checks. It would be nice to have this information in NETGEAR. This feature might already be there in a new release of the NETGEAR's firmware, but I haven't seen it."
"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."
"Support could be improved."
"The tool does not offer extra firewall security."
"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."
"This product lacks a CLI interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"I believe HPE is less expensive than Aruba's and UniFi and that is why certain clients have chosen them as their solution."
"The licensing cost is set up annually or every three years."
"The box itself is cheap, but when we have to install new features, it becomes very expensive."
"HPE Ethernet Switches is a fairly cheap solution."
"The tool's pricing is very cheap."
"The license cost is yearly."
"It is a more expensive solution."
"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."
"We find the cost of NETGEAR hardware and additional services to be below average compared to the top tier. There are still cheaper products out there, but they lack in functionality."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"Another issue, when it comes to NETGEAR's competitors, is that other companies are offering the cloud management at no extra charge, whereas NETGEAR charges for it. You have to pay per-device for licenses."
"You get what you pay for. From a price comparison, there are cheaper switch makers on the market that are definitely less expensive than NETGEAR. They give you the same functionality, but they don't come with a name. There are solutions like Ubiquiti that are very good. They have the ease of setup, and I find NETGEAR battling a little bit in comparison to Ubiquiti."
"The product is priced economically."
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HPE Ethernet Switches?
The solution is very stable and easy to use.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Ethernet Switches?
When compared to Cisco, Aruba is about 40% cheaper. However, Huawei would be even cheaper than Aruba. We can't compare HPE Ethernet Switches with Huawei directly because of different price ranges.
What needs improvement with HPE Ethernet Switches?
HPE Ethernet Switches have room for improvement in the initial setup and integration process, especially when incorporating them into an existing infrastructure with competitor products. It's a cha...
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

HP Ethernet Switches
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Emirates Palace Hotel
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Ethernet Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,823 professionals have used our research since 2012.