Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch 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

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
18th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Routers (5th)
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 August 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is 1.6%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 8.5%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Anthony Quarshie - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides robust routing capability but needs simplified documentation
I am using it, and I recommend it to my customers in the financial sector The router power is the most valuable aspect. I have not tried AppSec. Everything, I do on my own with Sage or something similar. I do not rely on technical support. I have used the solution for a couple of years, like…
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

"Regarding security and visibility in monitoring, it is very good, the GUI is very intuitive, and it has many more features than those from major vendors."
"The most valuable feature is that it has better throughput than its competitors."
"It is easy to set up the solution."
"The performance has been good."
"The best aspect is that it remains affordable."
"This solution is very similar to the on-premises version making it easy to use for those who know the architect."
"Some of the most valuable features are the simplicity, cost, usability, and power. As a package, it's extremely effective."
"It's a well-rounded solution for routing."
"The most important feature is the failover, the LACP links. That's the dual set it allows. We have redundant core switches and, if one fails or one network adapter fails, the other one can take over without problems."
"The solution is reliable and it is easy to setup."
"Valuable features include network monitoring and ease of programming for VLANs, etc. I especially like NETGEAR because it's easy to teach system administrators how to use them, how to look at them, how to make changes to them without having the complexity of CLIs, but still having a CLI should we need it."
"The product is easy to deploy."
"The tool is crucial in our network setup, especially in our bank's customer service operations. It connects ATMs and links different branches and service centers. Each branch and service center has its network node connected through these switches."
"The interface is comfortable for the new employees of our company. I think it's not a problem because our IT team, with probably only two hundred staff, handles our network well. We've tested our recovery systems, and everything is working fine. I don't remember any accidents or issues on our IT network in the last year."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. I have not faced any issues with the product whatsoever."
"This is a cost-effective solution."
 

Cons

"If MikroTik had a marketing team and support team in India then it would be much easier for us to get the product, as well as support."
"MikroTik Cloud Router Switch needs improvement in the area of security, although the recent models are addressing this."
"It happens that you may find your network is down, if you reboot the switch, they come up. However, sometimes, they reset themselves. That's a big issue."
"There has to be more development in the OS. It's complex for this switch as compared to others like Cisco. For NetGear and Cisco, it's easy to adapt the VLAN concept but it should be simplified for MikroTik."
"Improvements are needed with respect to some of the security, especially for VPN links between vendors other than Cisco."
"The RAM capacity offered by the product needs to be increased, as it is one area where the tool currently has some shortcomings."
"The user interface could improve and they should allow a license for IBS."
"Stuff that I'd like to be improved is really just training and documentation because I think the feature set is full. Another improvement I'd suggest is that their new, bigger releases should be a bit more stable."
"Perhaps in the future, we will have even more different types of switches and be able to fulfill more collections."
"The M4250 switches needs more SFP models."
"They can improve on the commercial part, specifically the cost, as it is higher than other brands."
"NETGEAR Switches could be more secure. Scalability could also be better. This infrastructure is a bit old, and we need something that will be more secure. Something that will introduce WLAN, and we will need the knowledge to go with that. Some of the switches were used for more than seven years. I think it was just their lifespan that was exhausted. But other than that, there haven't been any issues that required us to complain or get concerned."
"Support could be improved."
"Centralized monitoring is there, but competitors like Cisco Prime are at a higher level of centralized monitoring."
"Support needs to be improved."
"The main negative thing is the speed. When you use the portal, if you have a lot of customers and locations in the portal, and you need to scroll through those clients or those locations, it takes a pretty long time to load those pages and to select the client. That's the problem in the portal on the laptop, and it's the same problem in the portal on the app."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe the price of the tool is high, but it is okay for the services we get from it."
"They came with the licensing when we purchased them."
"In Pakistan, if you buy this cloud router, it's approximately $700 for the device."
"This product has a one-time cost and there is no licensing fee."
"The price is competitive."
"MikroTik is really cheap compared to the competitors."
"I consider it to be a cost-effective solution."
"The licensing for MikroTik is great. It's easy to enter, especially for small businesses. Their model is great."
"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."
"The price-to-performance of the solution is very good. You get very performance for a low cost per port. Compared to standard AV switching, NETGEAR is probably the best value out there."
"I sold someone a SonicWall and they had to redo their subscription every year. It was a $300 or $400 subscription they had to pay every year... With NETGEAR... it's only a $10 or $20 subscription per device for the whole year... and you have your license and you have all your support."
"In terms of the NETGEAR stuff, there weren't any surprises. The costs were definitely fair, especially considering what we were replacing. For the equivalent performance from a non-AV over IP solution, it would have been easily been in the $40,000 range. Comparing it to standard AV video switching, the price was very good, especially considering now they can add-on without any massive additional costs."
"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."
"It's cheaper than Cisco. For the features it offers, the pricing is good."
"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."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Ethernet Switches solutions are best for your needs.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
9%
Hospitality Company
9%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?
The tool has impacted our company's network costs and productivity in a perfect manner and percentage-wise, I can say it is 120 percent.
What needs improvement with MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?
Regarding improvements in the MikroTik Cloud Router Switch, I am not sure as it is a good product. The performance could potentially be improved, but for this market segment, it is a good product. ...
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

MikroTik CRS Series
NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Blaze Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about MikroTik Cloud Router Switch vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.