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Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series Routers vs. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series Routers

    Score9.8 out of 10
    N/ACisco 1100 Series Industrial Integrated Services routers are compact, modular, and ruggedized, with a design that is optimal for mission-critical cases. It offers stronger industrial router security and simplified management with SD-WAN architecture, edge compute, and IOS XE.N/A

    MikroTik CRS Series

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AMikroTik offers a series of Cloud Router Switches (or their CRS series), their flagship products.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series RoutersMikroTik CRS Series
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series RoutersMikroTik CRS Series
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series RoutersMikroTik CRS Series
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    MikroTik
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    57 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    49 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    58 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    42 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    41 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series RoutersMikroTik CRS Series
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Routers
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Routers
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Routers
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Routers
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series RoutersMikroTik CRS Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.8
    (58 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.3
    (10 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.8
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series RoutersMikroTik CRS Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    It really suited our requirement really well and also was quite cheap to be honest for the performance level it has. So I would highly recommend it. Definitely in that sort of an environment I described in a sort of remote location where it might have high humidity or it might have a wider range of temperatures, it's been an organized model, it's well suited to that. It's also very useful. Where do you have connections, which tends me a lot more common I think in that sort of ruggedized type environment. For other peripherals like door sensors and serial connections. Where it's not so useful is the form factor doesn't really sit being mounted in a data center type environment. So that's not really what it's intended for. So it's not surprising the form factor means it takes a little about two to three U of space, which is a lot more than a standard router takeoff, but that's not really as intended purpose, so that's not a big problem.
    Incentivized
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    MikroTik
    MikroTik Cloud Router Switch work very well as layer2/3 switches in enterprise environments, aggregation or distribution layers. Example: in our case (ISP) we use CRS326 and CRS317 at multi-dwelling units to finish the customer lines, manage vlans of service and apply basic qos. They offer a good variety of ports 1/10G, which is perfect for connecting other ISPs or connecting corporate end users. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch would work fine in low-traffic Routing and Switching, you could configure L3 Hardware offloading and serve some significant traffic, but you may missing some features like, mangle, nat, firewall or other things that may be solved with other device in an upper layer of infrastructure. Based on our experience MikroTik Cloud Router Switch is not good for high performance traffic, they are not optimized for heavy L3 routing task. Example: if you use a CRS as core or router in a small DC or IX the result is traduced on high cpu usage and load performance. If you are looking for special works, MikroTik Cloud Router Switch in this aspect is out.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • Scalability provides the flexibility to add or update WAN and storage components.
    • Highly programmable with built-in multi-layer security, ideal for workflow automation and rapid service deployment
    • 5G-ready and dual WAN gigabit connectivity, Two cellular modules provide simultaneous connectivity to two cellular networks for WAN redundancy.
    • Provides a simplified data management system
    • The company maintains a stable internet flow.
    Incentivized
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    MikroTik
    • L3 Hardware Offloading
    • Vlan segmentation
    • Traffic troughput
    • Port density
    • Cost effective
    • Port Isolation
    • Trunk, access and hybrid configurations
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • The configuration is not easy to do with the console. A more user-friendly approach would be appreciated.
    • When a problem occurs doing the configuration, the debug information is not very helpful.
    • WiFi capability would be great.
    • Maybe have a version with GPU to be able to run AI models on it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    MikroTik
    • L3 features like firewall IPsec NAT
    • LACP with more than 4 interfaces
    • Centralized Management platflorm
    • Limited Hardware offloading insight
    • Outdated web interface
    • CLI usability
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    They are positive routers for us, since they are highly durable and with minimal energy consumption, they generate great confidence to continue using them in the future. We are very happy because it has increased the positive aspects of our network and our technological security, since we can trust that our information will be completely safe with these routers.
    Incentivized
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    MikroTik
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cisco
    These worked well out of the box. Low cost, easy to manage, stable code base. Its small footprint and DIN rail mounting is welcome for crowded enclosures. It also is very easy to replace if something goes wrong. I especially appreciate that when 5G becomes available, I can simply replace the modem without incurring significant costs to replace and rewire the router.
    Read full review
    MikroTik
    Powerful features at a low price: MikroTik Cloud Router Switch provides a good variety of features that are not present on more expensive brands. Flexible deployment options: SwOS for simple switching use cases and RouterOS for more advanced configurations. Winbox is a fast and responsive tool for configuring, maintain and monitoring the traffic or other variable. Why it doesn't score higher, we think that the learning curve for new users could be hard. Sometimes the logic configuration can be unintuitive example: bridge filtering, vlan interfaces. Inconsistent UX Across RouterOS versions, some features may change without clear documentation causing confusion missconfig or incompatibility between versions. Documentation and support are poor, official documentation is fragmented and depht in some cases, the active community should be your best friend.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    It is a technical support very capable of responding to each of our needs, they are fast and with adequate and very timely responses, from the beginning of the implementation they gave us good suggestions so that the routers were successful, the attention they gave us was great and no hiccups.
    Incentivized
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    MikroTik
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    We did wish there was a rack mountable router option with a similar pricepoint. While being deployed in remote sites, they often still have standard racks rather than DIN rail mounts and would use less space if they were a standard 1U size and shape. Modules take up extra Us of space.
    Incentivized
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    MikroTik
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    I have not experienced performance from other networking platforms though Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series Routers is very powerful and most effective in service delivery. The operational cost can be afforded by both small and large-scale businesses. Workflow automation enhances faster service delivery and creates room for the deployment of new services. I commend this platform to any organization that is struggling to realize development dream in networking programs.
    Incentivized
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    MikroTik
    We chose MikroTik Cloud Router Switch because it met our technical requirements without significantly affecting our budget. MikroTik Cloud Router Switch offers a performance reliable and scalable for access and aggregation roles and is easy to integrate with our existing infrastructure (Mikrotik CCR). While it doesn't offer enterprise-class UX, or automation frameworks out the box, its disruptive focus, control and granular configuration convert it in an attractive option for ISP operations.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • The routers of the Cisco Catalyst IR1100 IR1100 series guarantee that every corner of the company maintains and maintains the same speed. It is better to implement and promote the fluidity of the work to continue using this system. The consumption of low energy consumption is interested because the completion is completed.
    • The overall management of server power efficiency has been greatly improved.
    Incentivized
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    MikroTik
    • Significant Cost Savings
    • Rapid deployment and flexibility
    • Bottlenecks in wrong scenario of use
    • Manual configuration overhead
    • Perception and vendor approval barriers
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots