CHOOSING YOUR FIRST ISP HARDWARE STACK SHOULD NOT FEEL LIKE ROULETTE
Choosing your first ISP hardware stack should not feel like roulette, but for many teams it does. They look at Juniper, Arista, Mikrotik, Cisco, and Arrcus and feel stuck. Each vendor looks strong on paper, but the tradeoffs are not obvious without deep experience. The result is comparison paralysis, delayed decisions, or choices based on brand reputation instead of real requirements.
The mistake many first time ISPs make is asking which vendor is best. The better question is which vendor fits the stage and goals of the network. Mikrotik is often attractive early because of price and flexibility, but it requires strong in-house knowledge and discipline to scale safely. Juniper is a common choice for service providers who want mature routing features, predictable behavior, and long term stability. Arista is strong in environments where performance, automation, and consistency matter, especially in modern data center style networks. Cisco is widely known and trusted, but cost and operational complexity can be hard to justify in early ISP stages. Arrcus fits teams that want a modern routing stack with flexibility, but only when they already have strong operational maturity.
A simple way to decide is to look at 3 things. First, what level of routing complexity you need today and in the next 12 to 24 months. Second, how strong your operational team is when it comes to automation, upgrades, and troubleshooting. Third, how much risk you can afford if something behaves unexpectedly under load.
At ITcare, we help new ISPs make these decisions based on real operating experience, not vendor marketing. We design the architecture first, then choose hardware that fits the design, the budget, and the growth plan. This avoids costly rework later and gives teams confidence that their first stack will not hold them back.
