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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
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
68
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MikroTik Routers and Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Routers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is 2.7%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MikroTik Routers and Switches is 6.3%, 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 virtual Chassis feature for stacking is good in general, with high bandwidth for the link, which is good."
"It's easy to use."
"Juniper supports all our connectivity infrastructure in our datacenter, supporting optimal availability and performance for services.​"
"You willuse almost every feature on every switch to some degree because the utility is valuable."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the Junos operating system."
"The most valuable feature is the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)."
"The Juniper Ethernet switch feature I find the most valuable is reliability."
"We have found the product to be scalable."
"Load balancing is one of the valuable features of the solution...In short, MikroTik provides a very user-friendly GUI option."
"The most valuable aspect of this solution is the combination of value for money. They're extremely cost effective, yet they provide you with an extensive feature set of things you can do across the board. Also, they're pretty reliable, as far as equipment goes."
"The solution offers very good multi-routing."
"This equipment is resilient and available at a good price."
"These routers and switches are very stable."
"The setup is easy."
"MikroTik Routers and Switches are good and easy to use."
"It's very user-friendly."
 

Cons

"The stability could be better. We find, for example, Cisco, to be more stable."
"The operating system could be better."
"Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches is not cheap. The tool needs improvement in UI."
"Juniper should consider reducing its pricing. The Mist licenses are quite expensive and should be more affordable."
"The durability of the devices could be better."
"Jupiter Switches' configuration is a little difficult to understand."
"The difficulty of the installation of Juniper Ethernet Switches depends on the environment it is being implemented in. It is fairly straightforward in terms of being able to source the technical information as we need it. However, this process could improve."
"We are undergoing a migration to software-defined networking. Different vendors have to integrate with each other and we are not seeing this type of capability within Juniper. We are getting left behind in this technology trend by staying with this solution. Juniper is also losing a bit of market share because of this."
"The product needs to include more power."
"The solution needs to be more robust. In case of power fluctuations, MikroTik routers are more vulnerable to malfunctioning."
"The user interface allows you to do a lot of things, but it is not user-friendly."
"It would be nice if the interface was easier to use."
"In the Israeli market, we are in need of Hebrew support."
"Troubleshooting can be complex."
"I would like to see a cluster feature added, where multiple devices can be configured and managed as one. One is in a standby state while the other is active, and if one fails then the other takes over."
"Improvements could be made in terms of SD-WAN capabilities and zero-touch provisioning."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the Juniper EX Series is reasonable. Cisco is a lot more expensive."
"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."
"If compared to Cisco, this is a well priced solution. Compared to HP, it is a little bit overpriced. Overall, they are priced in the middle compared to competitors."
"Juniper costs less than the competition. As a comparison, Cisco is 33% more."
"The price could be cheaper."
"The pricing of Juniper Ethernet Switches compared to equivalent switches from Aruba, Cisco, and others, Juniper Ethernet Switches are priced a little higher. They are approximately 20 to 50 percent higher. When we receive a new range of models, the prices can come down. The price can also vary by region."
"It's was $100,000 per year."
"We purchased the box for a one-time charge, and we are paying a yearly support fee of several hundred Euros."
"They are very cheap and not at all expensive."
"There is no licensing fee in addition to the hardware, but we do pay an annual fee for support."
"The tool has a low price."
"The solution is not expensive."
"When you buy a license, it is for life and you don't need to buy another one every year."
"It's definitely worth the investment."
"The tool is cheap."
"MikroTik has very aggressive and competitive pricing."
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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
15%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Hospitality Company
7%
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: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.