MikroTik Cloud Router Switch vs NETGEAR Switches comparison

MikroTik and Netgear are both solutions in the Ethernet Switches category. MikroTik is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.7, while Netgear is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.7. MikroTik holds a 2.0% mindshare in ES, compared to Netgear’s 7.3% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of MikroTik users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Netgear users who would recommend it.

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

Read 25 MikroTik Cloud Router Switch reviews

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2,664 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

NETGEAR Switches

Read 57 NETGEAR Switches reviews

10,834 Views
9,859 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

NETGEAR Switches

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

NETGEAR and MikroTik compete in the network switch market, catering to businesses of varying sizes. Each has unique strengths, with NETGEAR excelling in affordability and ease of use, and MikroTik offering advanced configuration tools.

Features: NETGEAR Switches are known for affordability, low power consumption, and setup simplicity. They feature auto full duplex sensing and robust remote management, ideal for small enterprises. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch boasts advanced configuration flexibility, stability, and cost-effectiveness for small to medium business environments.

Room for Improvement: NETGEAR could enhance traffic management and expand security to support complex VLANs. Improving CLI usability and addressing VLAN management issues on specific models would also be beneficial. MikroTik could enhance security features like VPN links and intrusion detection systems. Better documentation and user interface design are suggested for easier configurations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NETGEAR’s on-premises deployment is straightforward, with mixed customer support, needing improved technical guidance. MikroTik offers on-premises and cloud options, praised for support responsiveness, but requiring more extensive documentation and setup guides.

Pricing and ROI: NETGEAR has competitive low-cost structures without extensive licensing fees, offering a good price-to-performance ratio, which benefits budget-conscious businesses with substantial ROI through savings. MikroTik remains one of the cheapest, particularly in certain markets like Cameroon, noted for cost-effectiveness and initial savings compared to competitors like Cisco.

To learn more, read our detailed MikroTik Cloud Router Switch vs. NETGEAR Switches Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch vs. NETGEAR Switches

August 2026

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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

17th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Routers (5th)

NETGEAR Switches

Ranking in Ethernet Switches

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

LAN Switching (8th), AV Over IP Switching (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is 2.0%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NETGEAR Switches is 7.3%, down from 8.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Ethernet Switches Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
NETGEAR Switches	7.3%
MikroTik Cloud Router Switch	2.0%
Other	90.7%

Ethernet Switches

Featured Reviews

Andriejus Artamonovas

IT Specialist at a outsourcing company with 501-1,000 employees

Has supported deeper configuration through traffic mirroring and advanced VLAN setup

The main reason why MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is usually chosen is its raw performance to price ratio. In comparison to UniFi switches, MikroTik Cloud Router Switch can mirror all ports for traffic inspection for further traffic analysis, which UniFi cannot do. VLANs in MikroTik Cloud Router Switch are always useful. The way MikroTik implements VLAN-aware switching at the bridge level is hidden in the configuration. Making CRS work as a simple VLAN-aware switch requires deeper configuration, which is not intuitive. VLANs support individual interfaces not part of the bridge, allowing for double VLANing. You can create a VLAN interface in the interfaces context and also create a bridge interface, add physical ports, create VLANs for that bridge interface, and assign tagged and untagged ports and VLANs. Load balancing is one of the key components. The feature itself is quite efficient and works reliably on MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. The very basic setup is one of my favorites because they have their protocol where I can connect through the MAC address right on Layer 2, and I don't lose connectivity to the switch if I mess up with bridging or IP addressing.

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Tomas Devriese

Teamleader Av Installers at solufak

VLAN support has improved audiovisual installations and secures network traffic for our projects

Our major use cases include audiovisual installations and we mainly use the AV line for that. We work with the VLAN support feature The best things about NETGEAR Switches are the support they provide and the ease of implementation. The ease of installation helps with network performance. It helps…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"MikroTik is the most stable device; it’s easy to configure, there are no bugs or glitches, it’s reliable, and the performance is good."

"There are a lot of features to control permitting or stopping packets in the network."

"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."

"The technical support for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is superb."

"It is easy to set up."

"It's a well-rounded solution for routing."

"The wiki page that describes the scripting and other features is very good."

"This solution is very similar to the on-premises version making it easy to use for those who know the architect."

More MikroTik Cloud Router Switch pros

"The solution is simple to use. I am also impressed with the tool's GUI and CLI."

"Some of the Netgear Ethernet Switches are available in the market at a low cost, so they are easily available."

"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."

"For us to have a system where we can run a 4K video source virtually anywhere in a building without having to worry about really expensive matrix switchers, this is the way AV is going in the next little while."

"NETGEAR Switches is great because it comes preconfigured and designed specifically for AV and that suits our needs."

"The remote troubleshooting is pretty easy. You can turn off a port that might have a network loop created, or where there might be a bad NIC card that is creating issues. Being able to turn off that port remotely is fantastic, instead of having to replace the whole switch. Remote management is really easy."

"The performance is excellent."

"NETGEAR Switches have increased the throughput and speed of internal communication, and have improved our network efficiency."

More NETGEAR Switches pros

Cons

"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."

"MikroTik has a three to five year maximum lifespan."

"Technical support is not very good. It isn't comprehensive."

"In medium to large sectors, there's a necessity for managing aspects like proxy firewalls."

"Antispam and antivirus features should be included in the future."

"The user interface could improve and they should allow a license for IBS."

"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."

"Most of the time, the MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is stable. If I were to rate the stability on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is the best, I would give it a 5."

More MikroTik Cloud Router Switch cons

"There's a lack of chips and, consequently, a lack of deliveries. They're out of stock at their European warehouse."

"This solution doesn't have a CLI interface."

"The ‘how-to’ guides could do with some improvements. We got in trouble following the stacking and Dante set-up guides. If these would have been accurate, we would not have lost three days."

"There is a lot of delay in the data coming to the servers."

"Their old firmware was a problem for us and we're still working on 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."

"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."

"The product's scalability has certain shortcomings that can be improved."

More NETGEAR Switches cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In Pakistan, if you buy this cloud router, it's approximately $700 for the device."

"The licensing for MikroTik is great. It's easy to enter, especially for small businesses. Their model is great."

"MikroTik is really cheap compared to the competitors."

"This product has a one-time cost and there is no licensing fee."

"I consider it to be a cost-effective solution."

"They came with the licensing when we purchased them."

"I believe the price of the tool is high, but it is okay for the services we get from it."

"The price is competitive."

More MikroTik Cloud Router Switch pricing and cost advice

"They are on par with other AV switch manufacturers, e.g., Pakedge, Cisco Small Business Series, and Extreme Networks. Though, they are closer in cost to Extreme Networks. They are more in the mid-range from an AV product price, maybe a bit higher. You can't beat their features compared to other vendors in that product range and capacity. AV specific only, they are mid-range price-wise."

"The price point, compared to a lot of the competitors that didn't have the modular switch, was about 20 to 30 percent less expensive."

"For its price, it scales well."

"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."

"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."

"It's a great price-to-performance solution. I think it's singularly the best price-per-performance we can find, if not just straight performance to begin with... The cost of hardware and additional services is lower, absolutely. I wouldn't say "low," but we found it to be lower than other options, and that helps us resell this back to customers who are looking at other things like a Cisco Meraki..."

"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."

"I believe that the pricing is reasonable."

More NETGEAR Switches pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

13%

Educational Organization

10%

Manufacturing Company

Marketing Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

University

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	2

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	43
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	11

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?

The Python solution pricing is on the lower side.

See all answers

What needs improvement with MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?

It can be difficult to identify key functions for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch. I experience functionality limitations, particularly when trying to find specific features. It would be beneficial to...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?

I mostly work with network equipment now, focusing mainly on routers. I work with FortiGates and MikroTik routers. When referring to FortiGate routers, I mean the firewalls, but not the enterprise-...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NETGEAR Switches?

If I were to rate price, I would give it eight or nine points. It is an expensive product.

See all answers

Comparisons

MikroTik Routers and Switches vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Enterprise Routers vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

Compared 7% of the time

TP-Link Omada Switches vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

Compared 7% of the time

Huawei Enterprise Routers vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Data Center vs MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

Compared 5% of the time

More MikroTik Cloud Router Switch Competitors

Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches vs NETGEAR Switches

Compared 34% of the time

Ubiquiti UniFi Switches vs NETGEAR Switches

Compared 9% of the time

D-Link Ethernet Switches vs NETGEAR Switches

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Ethernet Switches vs NETGEAR Switches

Compared 5% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs NETGEAR Switches

Compared 4% of the time

More NETGEAR Switches Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

July 2026

Download MikroTik Cloud Router Switch product report

Buyer's Guide

NETGEAR Switches

July 2026

Download NETGEAR Switches product report

Also Known As

MikroTik CRS Series

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

Overview

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch offers a balance of price and performance ideal for businesses needing efficient routing and traffic management. It enables load balancing, VLAN support, and comprehensive monitoring, making it suitable for diverse network environments.

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is recognized for its flexible routing capabilities and cost-efficient solutions, benefiting sectors like public services and education. With user-friendly setup and advanced configuration options, it efficiently manages ISP business routes, integrates into corporate networks, and scales for government projects and data centers. However, it could benefit from improvements in security aspects like VPNs, and better technical support. While admired for intuitive interfaces, there’s a desire for enhancements in hardware quality, MPLS support, and OS utilization.

What are the key features of MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?

Flexible Routing: Allows for sophisticated traffic management suited for ISPs and corporate networks.
Intuitive Interfaces: User-friendly GUI and command-line setup for ease of use across tech levels.
Advanced Security: Offers firewall features and VPN support for secure network environments.
Load Balancing: Efficiently manages network traffic to optimize performance.
VLAN Support: Enables segmenting networks to enhance security and management.

What benefits should users expect in MikroTik Cloud Router Switch?

Cost Efficiency: Competitive pricing aligned with high-performance delivery.
Scalability: Adaptable to network size, from small organizations to data centers.
User-Friendly: Simple setup and flexible configuration reduce deployment time.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Effective tools for real-time traffic and network status insights.
Support for Diverse Applications: Integrates well into educational, governmental, and commercial settings.

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch sees extensive use in industries requiring robust networking, like ISPs for core routing and client management, as well as government and educational sectors for large-scale network integration. Key users include distributors and service providers, leveraging its traffic control and secure routing in complex environments.

MikroTik

NETGEAR Switches offer ease of setup, low cost, and power efficiency. With robust remote management and modular designs, they are ideal for small businesses and large enterprises, ensuring reliable performance and flexible connectivity solutions.

NETGEAR Switches provide intuitive interfaces with both GUI and CLI options, supporting VLANs, multicast, and stackable configurations. Their competitive pricing, lifetime warranty, and powerful AV-over-IP capabilities make them a preferred choice. Despite their strengths, there is room for improvement in virtual stacking compatibility, feature expansion on the Insight portal, and consistent firmware management. A more refined remote management tool and enhancements in scalability and security are also needed. NETGEAR Switches' scalability serves sectors such as audiovisual, education, and healthcare.

What are the key features of NETGEAR Switches?

Ease of Setup: Simple installation process with user-friendly interfaces.
Cost Efficiency: Competitive pricing with valuable features for investment.
Power Efficiency: Designed to minimize energy consumption.
Remote Management: Offers robust remote and cloud-based control capabilities.
Modular Design: Flexible structures for easier network customization.
AV-over-IP Capabilities: Supports audiovisual transmission over IP networks.
VLAN and Multicast Support: Enhanced network segmentation and data transmission.

What benefits should be considered in reviews?

Competitive Pricing: Provides great value for a wide range of features.
Lifetime Warranty: Peace of mind with long-term support and coverage.
Reliable Performance: Consistent and stable network operations.
Scalability: Easily adjustable to fit growing business needs.
Excellent Technical Support: Backed by a knowledgeable support team to assist users.

IT service providers utilize NETGEAR Switches for small to medium business infrastructures, enabling 10GB internet and office network expansion. Models like M4300, GC728XP, and GC752XP are deployed for enterprise connectivity and Pro AV tasks in audiovisual, educational, and medical sectors, offering robust performance and management.

Netgear

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Blaze Networks

Buyer's Guide

MikroTik Cloud Router Switch vs. NETGEAR Switches

August 2026

Free Report: MikroTik Cloud Router Switch vs. NETGEAR Switches

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