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Juniper Session Smart Router vs VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

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 Session Smart Router
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.1
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Routers (3rd)
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
WAN Edge (4th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Juniper Session Smart Router is 2.1%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN is 7.6%, down from 9.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN7.6%
Juniper Session Smart Router2.1%
Other90.3%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

Esther Sultaana - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Consultant Storage at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Secure healthcare connectivity has protected patient data and supports reliable telemedicine
Everything can be improved. It could improve its security stack with malware detection, particularly in healthcare because of ransomware. Now you have IoT vulnerabilities, so something like advanced malware detection or threat analysis would help. This is something I worked with around 2016 to 2017. Perhaps they have added those features, but I know they didn't have it then. Some security profiles for specific medical devices would be helpful. Sandboxing would be good. Dedicated telemedicine routing profiles would be beneficial because we have a lot of telemedicine going on. Real-time sessions for clinicians may need pre-built templates for EHR and EMR. I think those would be good if they're not already there. I don't know what the latest router has, but I know they didn't have those features then. There can always be improvements because technology is constantly advancing. It is a very solid router, and that is one of many industries that could utilize it. Healthcare is one such industry, and if it works for healthcare, then that is a major plus for that router.
KH
Senior Manager at NOVA Global
User-friendly deployment optimizes network infrastructure for global carriers
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN is recognized as an SD-WAN leader, offering user-friendly solutions that help end customers and enterprises solve network optimization issues efficiently. Its proprietary Dynamic Multipath Optimization (DMP) technology is regarded as the most powerful and valuable function by VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN. I see customer transformation to VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN networks showing a 30 to 40 percent increment per year.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Because we are talking directly to engineers in the US, the support is usually the best you can possibly get."
"The solution is especially Session's smart, application-aware, AI-based."
"The best feature is the easiest way to deploy configuration and also back up them, and also to roll back quickly if there's an incident."
"The biggest advantage of Juniper Session Smart Router that really stands out is its reliability and performance."
"Juniper Session Smart Router's real-time analytics and visibility features are easily accessible."
"Juniper Session Smart Router has positively impacted my organization by simplifying SD-WAN deployments, allowing us to operate with fewer staff, as its integration with Juniper Mist AI takes on much of the workload, thereby offering reliable performance and stability without software issues."
"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."
"They provided us with a customized product according to our requirements."
"Overall as an experience, I have found that customers like the UI/UX experience that they receive from VMware."
"The cloud gateway is a very good feature for scaling purposes, etc."
"We define the quality of service layer to improve their application service experience globally."
"The most valuable feature of VMware SD-WAN is the virtualization platform. You can use the software on any hardware. Additionally, the solution is easy to use."
"If you are looking for automation and want to free up your IT to focus on other things, I recommend VMware SD-WAN."
"The most valuable feature of VMware SD-WAN is flexibility. It is more flexible than other vendors."
"VMware SD-WAN can be used for on-premise and cloud integrations."
"SD-WAN is cloud-based and you can manage multiple sites within one single pane of glass."
 

Cons

"Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do."
"My overall rating for Juniper Session Smart Router as a product is that earlier it was good, but currently, the replacement of the devices is very difficult, and the staff is also a challenge."
"Everything can be improved. It could improve its security stack with malware detection, particularly in healthcare because of ransomware."
"A key area for improvement in Juniper Session Smart Router is its security stack, which is not as robust as Fortinet."
"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks. What we are missing there are wizards. For example, I have two applications, and I want one application to be prioritized against the other. In such a case, a wizard for assigning policies to a service without configuring each step by hand would be very helpful. There should be an overhaul of the GUI of the conductor. The functionality they have got in the Mist portal should be baked into the conductor itself. It would be really great, but as we all know, that won't happen."
"Juniper Session Smart Router could improve its documentation to become more competitive. It has very little documentation, and you have to rely mainly so much on support to do something, which I feel should not be that way."
"Juniper Session Smart Router should have a more user-friendly graphical interface because the user interface is complex, and some upgrade operations are sometimes difficult."
"Juniper Session Smart Router can improve the integration for Wi-Fi devices and add additional Sassy deployments."
"I would like for them to upgrade to 5G integration. Our customers have 4G now and the connectivity isn't good. It should be much faster."
"There is room for improvement with respect to security."
"VMware SD-WAN could improve by having more partnerships with other vendors."
"VMware SD-WAN could be improved with more automation and more integration, but each vendor could use these improvements."
"Implementing VMware is much more difficult, time-consuming, and expensive than implementing Fortinet or Check Point."
"Its integration with the security systems would be a nice implementation. They can also consider using a management platform for both network and security operations. This would be a great improvement."
"VMware SD-WAN doesn't have the best built-in firewall."
"In an upcoming release, the solution can be more functional and have additional features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."
"We are currently renegotiating the offer for the licenses and the license bundle model. The license for an ISP has to be different from the license for an end customer. This is something we are currently renegotiating with Juniper, but, of course, the pricing for the licensing is always an issue when you want to get more customers."
"We pay about $500 USD, or 700,000 Korean won."
"The price of this solution should be lower."
"Price would be a challenge for customers, because it is expensive."
"VMware SD-WAN provides competitive pricing."
"I would rate the product’s pricing a six out of ten since the license is costly."
"The price of the solution could be reduced."
"The price is reasonable for this solution, but the only challenge for us is that the Rand currency fluctuates to the dollar and provides some complexities. The price might go up just because the Rand has actually lost value."
"The cost of VMware SD-WAN is high, but I think you can still get better pricing if your volume is high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
21%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?
I personally did not do the pricing. I imagine it was okay because the company did purchase it. In a lot of instances, particularly as it pertains to healthcare, they don't want to spend too much. ...
What needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?
I think the current Juniper focuses more on switching rather than routing, which is a weak point in the product. Currently, I and my customers have not utilized the Session Awareness feature of Jun...
What is your primary use case for Juniper Session Smart Router?
I have been running my own company and working with Juniper Session Smart Router for almost 10 to 12 years because Larsen & Toubro is my client who will use Juniper devices for switching and fi...
What are the biggest differences between Fortinet Fortigate and VMware SD-WAN?
One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. It is a very stable, reliable, and consistent solution. We like that we can manage the entire...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware SD-WAN?
When it comes to setup cost and licensing cost for VMware, it is on the expensive side relative to the market. We are struggling to sell VMware as Fortinet offers SD-WAN with no additional costs. T...
What needs improvement with VMware SD-WAN?
The improvement needed for VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN is in the security area. The security part is the main issue for us when selling VeloCloud compared to Fortinet and Cisco.
 

Also Known As

128T Networking Platform, 128 Technology SD-WAN, Juniper SSR Series
VMware SD-WAN, VeloCloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Revation Systems
Redmond, Coca Cola, Roka Bioscience, MetTel, Deutsche Telekom, Rockford Construction,  The Bay Club, tru Independence, Triton Management Services, DevCon, AXPM
Find out what your peers are saying about Juniper Session Smart Router vs. VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.