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Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches vs MikroTik Routers and 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

Juniper EX Series Ethernet ...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
14th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MikroTik Routers and Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
Routers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MikroTik Routers and Switches is 6.6%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

PRADIPJOSHI - PeerSpot reviewer
Virtual chassis technology enhances connectivity and simplifies management
Juniper EX series switches offer great technology, particularly their Virtual Chassis technology, which is an excellent feature for stacking switches and functions like a single virtual switch. The EX series provides a separation of control, management, and data planes, reducing the attack surface area, ensuring a lesser extent of vulnerability. The PoE budget is commendable, and they manage connectivity effectively.
AnikIslam - PeerSpot reviewer
Cost-effective protocol support and a straightforward setup with room for login enhancements
In the network operations center, I manage our client's bandwidth. We connect with our clients through BGP and OSPF based on client demands. We also manage routing protocols, policies, internal firewalls, and other details like QE bandwidth, client manage bandwidth management, PoE, PPPoE, and DNS…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The campus switches and access switches are the most valuable and simple to deploy for Virtual Chassis."
"It's easy to use."
"In terms of performance, Juniper switches have a more user-friendly interface and more features than Cisco products."
"Juniper is the best when it comes to the core layer."
"I chose Juniper as my primary vendor because it is very stable, reliable, and the price is lower than competitors."
"The most valuable features of Juniper Ethernet Switches are the simple configuration and ruggedness."
"Compared to Cisco, Juniper offers better stability and low prices."
"The most valuable feature is that the CLI is the same on all of the Juniper devices, including routers, switches, and firewalls."
"It's pretty stable."
"The radius and wireless features are the most valuable aspects of the solution."
"It is a stable solution. I have been using the solution for a while, and I don't face any outages or trouble while using the solution."
"We use the product for VPN."
"MikroTik Routers and Switches are good and easy to use."
"I find MikroTik Routers and Switches easy to install and maintain."
"MikroTik routers are very user-friendly and easy to manage"
"The most valuable feature is the price because it's highly cost-effective concerning the functionalities provided within the box. The solution is stable. The solution is scalable. The initial setup is straightforward. I would recommend the solution because it provides value for money."
 

Cons

"They could provide better security tools."
"The technical support from Juniper Ethernet Switches could be better."
"All Juniper documentation is terrible."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches lack to offer the latest management tools."
"Jupiter Switches' configuration is a little difficult to understand."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is not cheap. The tool needs improvement in UI."
"In an upcoming release, Juniper Ethernet Switches could improve by having more microservices."
"The interface could be better. It needs improvement."
"It would be very good if these products are accessible via different kinds of shells and GUI. It will make these solutions very usable."
"I would like to see some content filtering with MikroTik Routers and Switches."
"There is an area of improvement. The firewall features are self-contained, but features like email scanning and voice control should be improved. This is the best routing product."
"This product could offer better integration with VPNs."
"The user interface is not very good."
"It is slow, old and unfriendly."
"The solution is a complicated device."
"They can improve the way the user interface is laid out. Their user interface is slightly geeky. There is more than one way to do the same thing in the user interface, and they need to work on that."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I think the tool's prices are competitive with the vendors."
"The price could be cheaper."
"For the QFX5000 Juniper switches, the price is about $10,000, but they would probably sell it for $1,000. Nobody can beat Juniper's pricing when it comes to switches. Juniper out-prices everybody, but they get you on the back end, maintenance, service port, and service contract."
"Support prices and licensing scheme need to be improved to allow some features to be purchased at lower costs, for example, RPM​."
"The product's pricing is less and almost half of Cisco's."
"This solution is cheaper than Cisco or HP switches."
"Juniper Ethernet Switches are a less expensive solution than Cisco Ethernet Switches. There is only a one-time purchase for Juniper Ethernet Switches."
"The price of the Juniper EX Series is reasonable. Cisco is a lot more expensive."
"There is a one-time license fee for the use of this solution and it is less expensive than Cisco products."
"The tool is cheap."
"In our company, we are using MikroTik without a license...However, we are planning to buy their services and subscriptions."
"MikroTik's equipment is very cheap compared to Cisco and Huawei."
"They are very cheap and not at all expensive."
"Pricing is not an issue."
"MikroTik is very cost-effective and quite good for the price. It performs very well. For one of our customers, the existing setup comprises Cisco Catalyst switches, and it is about 10 to 15 years old. We're looking into upgrading in a cost-effective way to get the performance and yet still be at par with the quality and expectations that customers have from Cisco. Price-wise, Cisco is really expensive, and customers are expecting something different than Cisco so that they can save on IT costs. They don't have the same budget that they had before when they installed Cisco products. That's why they're looking for a solution that can provide performance and features without too much money or investment. We're looking at some alternative brands, such as NETGEAR and MikroTik, to support our proposal."
"There is a lifetime subscription already embedded when you buy the product."
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Comparison Review

it_user82779 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 29, 2014
Benefits of Juniper vs Cisco
Both are decent products. I prefer Juniper for the following reasons: 1) Cleaner separation of data plane from control plane. Higher end Cisco devices are better at this but most of the lower end products still seem to be more integrated than I like. 2) The Hierarchical config design means I can…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Computer Software Company
15%
Hospitality Company
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

In terms of ethernet switches, would you go with Cisco or Juniper?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Cisco or Juniper Ethernet switches were the better fit for us. We decided to go with Juniper. Juniper ethernet switches are a lesser-known...
What advice do you have for others considering Juniper Ethernet Switches?
Juniper EX model is ok for the campus network as the ex4300 is EOL in a few years and the new ex4400 is the standard. Now for the QFX model, 5k/10k in CRB mode IP fabric Ethernet switching is horri...
What is your primary use case for Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches?
Throughout my experience, I've deployed Juniper EX switches in various environments, from small enterprise networks to large-scale data centers. In every instance, they have consistently delivered ...
How do Cisco Enterprise routers compare with Mikrotik routers and switches?
Cisco Enterprise Routers are very stable and easy to use. They offer a very solid performance and are very secure. They also have a very good, long lifespan. We feel the command configuration is ve...
Which are better - Ubiquiti UniFi switches or MikroTik routers and switches?
Ubiquiti Unifi is a great solution. For starters, it is easy to configure and implement, and doesn’t require a learning curve because it is easy to use. It is also simple to reconfigure an AP or ga...
What do you like most about MikroTik Routers and Switches?
The price is a big factor. They are very affordable, and the quality is high.
 

Also Known As

Juniper Ethernet Switches
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BlackLotus, Staminus, Community Bank, BAS Group, Cloud Dynamics, Privalia, Fluidata, and Tesla Motors.
ABB, Boingo Wireless, JPL, HP, Allied Telesis, iPass, Mips Technologies, MicroAge, Matsushita, Telia, undp, WFP, NASA
Find out what your peers are saying about Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches vs. MikroTik Routers and Switches and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.