Cisco Ethernet Switches Reviews

I use Cisco Ethernet Switches as a core product in the infrastructure that serves as the backbone of my network.

The most valuable feature of the solution is the performance of the product.

I don't like the fact that the product is very expensive. There are a lot of software subscriptions to which a user needs to subscribe other than the support and services offered by Cisco. In general, Cisco is a very good product but expensive.

There should not be different licenses for subscriptions, Cisco SMARTnet Service, or support, and they should all be made available under one single license. If you want to use the support offered by Cisco, you may not have access to the support services. The support services may be offered as a part of a subscription that needs to be purchased while getting users to space separately for Cisco SMARTnet Service, while in general, everything should be available in a single license.

Cisco always announces the end of life support, which is really great, but Cisco should also offer the buyback option for existing customers instead of getting them to make new investments to use Cisco products.

I have experience with Cisco Ethernet Switches.

The solution's stability is very high. The benefit a user experiences with Cisco is that it is easy to find a lot of knowledgeable people in the market. Many people understand Microsoft, but it doesn't mean that Windows is the best compared to Linux, which is more stable but they are used less in the market.

Regarding the product's scalability, the scalability option will be available as long as the product or the hardware does not reach the end of life or support.

All the people working in my company use the solution, which comes to more than 8000 people.

My company plans to increase the number of users who use the solution.

I have experience with the technical support offered by Cisco's support team, and I feel that they were a bit slow in their response.

The product's initial setup phase was easy because our company got help from an engineer associated with Cisco. If you don't get any help from an engineer from Cisco, then the setup phase will be difficult. In my company, we have a Cisco-certified engineer on our team.

The time period required to deploy the product is something that depends on the project, but if you have the right people with the right skills, then it doesn't take too much time to deploy the solution.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

For the deployment process, you designed the network and built the infrastructure before testing the product with the help of PoC. The deployment phase may seem like a long process, and it is not something that is applicable only to Cisco since the same process is followed for the switches from other brands like Huawei and HPE.

In my company, we need more than three people, consisting of a system engineer, network, and technical support, to not just take care of the deployment part of the solution but also to monitor it twenty-four hours, seven days a week.

My company takes care of the product's installation process with the help of our in-house team.

If a person plans to buy a new switch or a new product launched by Cisco recently, then there is a guarantee that it will last for seven to ten years, meaning the return on investment is high.

It is an expensive product.

Considering the present products in the market, Cisco is a leader in the networking world, but price-wise, products from Cisco are priced crazily.

To those who plan to buy the solution, I would suggest that they speak directly to the vendor and not to a consultant so that they can secure a better deal. Dealing with the vendor always fractures positive responses, especially in terms of the costs attached to the solution.

I rate the overall product a nine out of ten.

I use Cisco Ethernet Switches to provide end-user connectivity in an optimized, balanced, and stable way. Before being a security engineer, I was a network architect or network manager. In that case, Cisco Ethernet Switches were mostly related to the classic set of data centers.

Cisco Ethernet Switches are more stable than other products.

The solution's pricing could be improved. Cisco is one of those market leaders who always try to benefit from having a market-leading position. Cisco gradually increased prices for the same products they delivered over the decade.

I have been using Cisco Ethernet Switches for 17 years.

I rate Cisco Ethernet Switches a nine out of ten for stability.

Around 3,000 users use the solution in our organization.

I rate Cisco Ethernet Switches a nine out of ten for scalability.

The solution's first-line technical support is terrible. The second-line support is always adequate. I always tend to skip the first-line support because most of these people just run by a script book, and they start to panic when they don't see a solution in the script. So, I tend to always ask for second-level agents.

The solution’s initial setup is straightforward.

The solution's deployment time depends on the company's size and client requirements. For the solution's deployment, we start with the analysis phase, the financial aspect, the implementation phase, the operational phase, and hypercare.

Users have to pay an annual licensing fee for Cisco Ethernet Switches, which is expensive.

Cisco asks for an additional fee for the support part, whereby you become eligible to download firmware updates.

In the case of Cisco, users should not limit their knowledge about the hardware from Cisco but should also deep dive into general network services and topologies. Users should not consider Cisco a specific and unique brand but should understand the services that run under Cisco appliances.

Overall, I rate Cisco Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten.

I am using Cisco Ethernet Switches in my company.

The solutions meet my sign and safety requirements, integrate easily with my firewall device, and ensure the stability of our network.

The IP routing is the most important feature. It has saved my devices and PC printers and it is a very important feature.

AI technology must be involved in the future. Also, it would be better to have a little bit lower price or another licensing model.

I have been working with Cisco Ethernet Switches for about 14 years.

Till now, I have not placed any maintenance requests because this device is stable all the time.

Cisco Ethernet Switches are scalable.

I haven't needed technical support because the device is stable all the time.

Positive

Before Cisco Switches, I worked with 3Com devices, but only a few. I switched because Cisco is the most popular company.

The integration was easy.

Cisco is more expensive in my country. It is usually just one payment, and I do not need to pay for maintenance or support.

I strongly recommend Cisco Ethernet Switches.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Cisco Ethernet system serves our needs primarily for user integration and connectivity, providing access to the Internet and services. One scenario where Cisco switches significantly improved our network performance was when we faced challenges with traditional network setups. The features that proved highly effective for network management include comprehensive visibility, an all-in-one solution for management, stability, connectivity, and troubleshooting capabilities.

We use Cisco Ethernet system for user connectivity, with multicast being an advanced feature that helps alleviate some of our work challenges. In terms of scalability, we utilize stacks which have proven to be reliable and easy to manage. As for security functionalities, we rely on Palo Alto for our network's safety. I would prefer to discuss detailed information via email for a comprehensive review.

Improvement as per customer requirements. 

I have been using Cisco Ethernet Switches for the past 4 years. 

As for stability, I have found the feature to be highly stable with minimal issues.

Although we also use HPE switches in other departments, I lean towards Cisco due to its reliability and performance.

Installing Cisco Ethernet system is relatively straightforward, especially since we are familiar with the process. However the installation may require some technical expertise.The deployment process for Cisco Ethernet system typically takes about a day with our team's support. For more complex configurations, it may require additional time depending on the customer's requirements. One major challenge we face is with licensing, especially for Cisco's wireless features. Understanding and managing license changes over time, such as moving to new licenses for VPN support, can be challenging for customers. We often need support from Cisco to navigate these licensing challenges.

While Cisco's pricing can be a concern, particularly with support fees, its overall features and support community make it a solid choice.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate Cisco Ethernet system as a 9 for its overall functionality and support, with the caveat of considering pricing and support options carefully before making a decision

We use the solution for everything. We primarily use the solution in our office and for our data center. We're using older versions. 

The main issue is that the company did grow way too fast. We have issues with merging companies and installing a network device, and it's hard to manage them. Everything is still manual around here. Nothing is centralized. 

Small business devices most of the controls have been very good.

The community is very helpful.

Catalyst switches are the same quality as Dell switches. The quality is identical. 

The solution is extremely stable. The performance is excellent.

The more expensive versions can be more expensive, and the switches cannot take the heat. Some of the rooms they are in are too hot for the switch.

We need more management tools for the solution. 

I don't have any notes for new features. 

There should be fiber switches that could be capable of doing more things. 

I've used the solution for a very long time. I've used them for probably 25 years - since Cisco first offered them.

It's very stable. I'd rate it ten out of ten. 

I do not like the way the stack feature is done on Cisco. I mostly prefer Fortinet or ESL from Brocade. It's way more flexible and straightforward, and you just need to understand the logic. With Cisco, it's a black box. It's hard to understand. 

It is possible to scale. However, you do reach a limitation with eight switches placed together. We have four switches in the data center, so we've never hit a scalability threshold. 

We have five admins on the solution, and across the company, we have 30 people that have access to the solution. 

I've never had to use technical support. I've only had a small issue on the firewall, and I reached out to the community to troubleshoot. 

I've also used Palo Alto and Fortinet. I used Brocade switches six to ten years ago. It is now Extreme Networks, and I am interested in trying Extreme. I have two Extreme switches right now. 

Fortinet is really user-friendly and easy for even non-technical people to understand. However, the information from Fortinet is really specific. With Cisco, you just have to press the questions mark, and you have a description of every menu. Extreme is like Juniper. You have to create the VLAN, which can be difficult to read if you have a lot of VLAN, although the scalability is great. 

If you are familiar with the technology, it is straightforward. You do need knowledge. It's not extremely simple. For me, since I am knowledgeable, I'd rate the ease of implementation eight out of ten.

We have an ongoing deployment. Deployments of us are never-ending. We are always working on new sites. 

Even level-one support can do a copy-paste and deploy the switches, so our process at this point is very fast.

The pricing depends on the model. The C-1000's are okay. They are not cheap yet not expensive. I'd rate the pricing seven out of ten.  

All the devices we order from Cisco come from Germany. We simply buy devices. We don't have a relationship with Cisco. 

The big thing with Cisco is the great community. It's really easy to find whatever you need online.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. It's not quite user-friendly. They do get it right with Meraki, however, that isn't for the type of company we have. If you have an internet issue and can't reach the switch from the cloud, Meraki will give you issues. 

Our company uses the solution to set up local access networks for users and route applications. We work with several models including 9300 and 9500. We plan to increase usage in the future. 

The solution effectively provides a stable connection for users. 

There is a lot of knowledge in terms of Cisco networking, so you can very quickly find technical support. 

To keep up with the market, the solution should have better evolution and innovation. 

More security features should be added. 

I have been using the solution for five years. 

The solution is stable so I rate stability a nine out of ten. 

The solution is scalable so I rate scalability an eight out of ten. 

Technical support is good so I rate it a nine out of ten. 

Positive

The setup is very simple. 

The pricing is reasonable so I rate it a six out of ten. 

Be sure you have an understanding of how many appliances you need and how many users you have to cover, so that you have a good and proper design for the solution. 

I rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

We are a university with around 1,000 instructors and more than 15,000 students. We use Cisco for access points and endpoint cable networks. We used the 9000 series for years, and now we are working with the Catalyst 9300. Before that, we were using a 2960 switch and a 6500 for the Cisco side.

I have been working with Cisco Ethernet switches more than 20 years.

I rate Cisco switches 10 out of 10 for stability. 

I rate Cisco switches 10 out of 10 for scalability. We design our networks to be scalable. Scaling is only a matter of procuring new devices. 

I rate Cisco support 10 out of 10. We have a good technical support provider in Turkey that offers support, and we work closely with Cisco. Everything is sorted. 

Positive

We have enough experience with Cisco, so it's easy for us to deploy and configure their switches. 

The price depends on the license type and the number of devices. Each device is licensed. It could be cheaper, especially the DNA license. One DNA license is around $3,000 for a three-year contract. 

I rate Cisco Ethernet switches nine out of 10. Cisco is the leader in networking hardware. 

My former employer used the solution to build a campus network that included one distribution switch for each of its 200 buildings. 

Every building had its own Catalyst 3750 Series switch that provided access layers connecting back to 7600 Series distribution switches and routers. We used the MPLS network to build OSPF and PGP and provide multiple services with their own VRFs such as data NPT television and building management systems. 

The solution provided a high-end throughput that was easy to handle, implement, and route. 

The solution can handle a huge network with tons of traffic.

The solution should offer a method for user-based load balancing. Load sharing exists but the only balancing available is for the server load and not the Internet. 

Most engineers now prefer a GUI that is not part of this solution. In my experience, GUI is not required because the solution's commands are very familiar, easy to understand, and available via Google or the solution's portal. 

I have been using the solution for eleven years. 

The solution is very stable because of its good performance and long life. 

The solution is scalable and depends on the desired model. You can create multiple contexts and extend your network by adding Nexus 5000 or 2000 for connections. 

I am currently working on a big project with thousands of routers and 70% of them are Cisco switches. Scalability is not dependent on the number of users but is instead about providing access to the network. 

I contacted technical support many times in the past and received helpful, straightforward, and responsive assistance. 

Recently, I worked with them on an encryption issue and didn't receive a solution for three weeks. This experience was disappointing but others have been resolved satisfactorily. 

The setup was straightforward. 

It takes about four hours to build both chases and install the supervisor engine, line cards, and fiber connectivity before uploading and confirming configurations. 

The pricing for individual use is expensive but partners receive discounts of 70-80 percent for high-end use. 

I used to face many physical hardware issues with FortiGate that I don't experience with the solution because it is straightforward to install, upgrade, and configure. 

The solution's logistical perspective is easy to understand and troubleshoot when configuring protocols and manipulating routes.

When choosing a router, it is important to match solutions to requirements. This is a high-end router so important things to consider are use, budget, and desired performance. 

I am not familiar with all of the solution's features. Based on my use cases, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.