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Daniyal Khalid - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Solutions Specialist at Google
Vendor
Jul 17, 2023
A reliable and stable product for endpoint and server connectivity
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is pretty much reliable and stable."
  • "The technical support should be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I use the product for endpoint and server connectivity. I also use it as a core switch.

What is most valuable?

The product is the best in the market. It always works whether the environment is cold or hot. The product is pretty much reliable and stable.

What needs improvement?

The technical support should be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for seven years.

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Cisco Ethernet Switches
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Ethernet Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the tool’s stability a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of the solution depends on the models. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

I have contacted support many times. The support is good, but not that good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward and simple.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is not too expensive.

What other advice do I have?

If someone uses the solution for the first time, they must know that network design is the most important part. They must pick the right models. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Sr. Information Officer at Merino Industries Ltd (Merino Group)
Real User
Jan 25, 2023
They're reliable and high-performing
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco switches are trouble-free. They are reliable, and their performance is excellent."
  • "We have supply issues when ordering switches. It used to be a minimum of six to eight weeks. Now it has become around six months. That's the only issue we have."

What is our primary use case?

We recently replaced the BGP router and L3 switches. We're planning to replace some other switches also. We are having 22 switches distributed through my location with 24 ports. All the users are connected to those. We will increase our usage as we expand all over India. 

What is most valuable?

Cisco switches are trouble-free. They are reliable, and their performance is excellent. 

What needs improvement?

We have supply issues when ordering switches. It used to be a minimum of six to eight weeks. Now it has become around six months. That's the only issue we have. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Cisco Ethernet switches for more than 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I give Cisco Ethernet switches 10 out of 10 for stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I give Cisco Ethernet switches 10 out of 10 for scalability.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco support is excellent.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up Cisco switches isn't too complex, but it isn't easy. It could be more straightforward. One engineer can complete the setup in two to four hours.

What about the implementation team?

We engaged the vendor who supplied us and helped deploy the switches.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Cisco Ethernet switches 10 out of 10.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Ethernet Switches
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Ethernet Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Responsable Infrastructures, Réseaux & Télécoms at a university with 201-500 employees
Real User
Feb 25, 2022
Customizable interface with good good throughput and the ability to expand
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support has always been helpful."
  • "They are really, really, good switches."
  • "We'd like the pricing to be lowered."
  • "The pricing of the solution is pretty high. Compared with other switches, such as Huawei or HPE, it's very, very expensive."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution in the access layer for connecting EP-phone, PC, and access points. We use Cisco, like 3850, for the aggregation layer, and we use 6500 catalyst switches for the core layer.

What is most valuable?

They have very good throughput and backup for their energy. We find, stock-wise and energy-wise, it's easy to use with the CLA command.  

I can create a lot of interfaces, or SDI interfaces for VLAN and SNMP. I can show it with my SNMP platform. I can gain much access to them. They are really, really, good switches.

The solution is stable.

The scalability has been great.

We find the setup process to be simple. 

Technical support has always been helpful.

What needs improvement?

Stock-wise, the solution can improve.

The patching and updating could be better.

We'd like the pricing to be lowered. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is quite good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of the product is great, If a company needs to expand, it can. There is a lot of stacking and cascading that can happen.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support from Cisco has been great. They are helpful and responsive. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We primarily use Cisco in our company.

How was the initial setup?

It's a very easy to deploy product. It's just a question of buying the cable for stacking and getting it done.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing of the solution is pretty high.

Compared with other switches, such as Huawei or HPE, it's very, very expensive. ON top of that, the campus network, it's not an area that has a high budget. We have to have work towards minimizing this price.

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.

I would recommend the solution to other users and companies. It's great for small to large enterprises. Just the number of ports that we can create makes a difference. We can use a lot of switches with 48 ports. In the smaller cases, we can still use 12 ports. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
PeerSpot user
Network Tech Leader at a aerospace/defense firm with 201-500 employees
Real User
Feb 22, 2022
They're useful for routing and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is really easy."
  • "Cisco appeared to be the more easy to operate through the years regarding the stability of the product series, the CLI, support and documentation."
  • "There's are other products that are better for network programmability. Cisco isn't as programmable as some preferred vendors. For example, on iOS 6 products, you have to commit the change directly on the running configuration. If you have a generic product you can do this, so it can improve in programmability."
  • "There's are other products that are better for network programmability. Cisco isn't as programmable as some others vendors."

What is most valuable?

We are routing with the Cisco switches, so there are a lot of features, but no single one stands out. 

What needs improvement?

There's are other products that are better for network programmability. Cisco isn't as programmable as some others vendors. For example, on devices running iOS XE, you  dont have candidate configuration datastore when you use netconf like you would have on arista, juniper or others. Changes are directly applied on running configuration so there is no room for error once you commit changes to devices.

So it will be good for them to implement other config datastores because when it go to programming, review it's important so we need to be abe to have at least a candidate configuration datastore.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Cisco Ethernet Switches for 15 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Ethernet Switches are stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco Ethernet Switches are scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco support is good once you reach a technician, but the website is a mess. I don't like the website.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I didn't use previous solution and then swith, but evaluate others vendors sometimes because their was in use in a company we bought, sometimes because their were shipped as a bundle with some hardware vendors solution for private cloud or storage solutions etc. Thought ome of them have some good features, Cisco got a better average rate when you take the whole thing.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is really easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of Cisco switches could be lower. The cost is growing compared to other products, and it's more segmented. A Cisco switch is more expensive than before. For example, stackable models used to be provided with stacking ports and stacking cable. Now it's split you have to buy stacking kit separately. I don't know if they are the only ones like this or if this is standard now.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes other options have been evaluated but Cisco appeared to be the more easy to operate through the years regarding the stability of the product series, the CLI, support and documentation.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Cisco Ethernet Switches eight out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Ayman Said - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure System's Manager at ICAPP (Americana Group)
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Feb 20, 2022
Reliable, straightforward implementation, and highly scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup was for Cisco Ethernet Switches was straightforward."
  • "The stability of Cisco Ethernet Switches is very stable."
  • "Cisco Ethernet Switches could improve if they removed the command line interface and replaced it with a better GUI. It is too difficult at the moment, we always need to figure out the commands."
  • "Cisco Ethernet Switches could improve if they removed the command line interface and replaced it with a better GUI. It is too difficult at the moment, we always need to figure out the commands."

What is our primary use case?

I am using the Cisco Ethernet Switches in the food industry.

What needs improvement?

Cisco Ethernet Switches could improve if they removed the command line interface and replaced it with a better GUI. It is too difficult at the moment, we always need to figure out the commands.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Ethernet Switches for approximately six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of Cisco Ethernet Switches is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco Ethernet Switches are scalable.

We have approximately 250 people using the Cisco Ethernet Switches.

How are customer service and support?

I did not have any experience with the technical support of Cisco Ethernet Switches.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were previously using Aruba switches and we migrated to Cisco because of the groups' direction, it was not a fault of Aruba switches. Aruba switches are great. We were working with Aruba for 10 years without any problem, and they gave us a lifetime warranty for the switches. If we had a faulty switch they would give us new ones.

The service from Aruba was very good, but I think that Cisco solutions are more professional for something VLANs. I didn't try Aruba with VLANs, however, we make all of our VLANs with Cisco.

I prefer Aruba solutions because they are easier to use.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was for Cisco Ethernet Switches was straightforward.

I rate the implementation of Cisco Ethernet Switches a four out of ten.

What about the implementation team?

The implementation of Cisco Ethernet Switches was done with a partner and our experience was very good.

We are in a manufacturing environment running 24 hours a day. We have a dedicated team of three that works on the switches and network.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have a one-year license to have the Smart Net Total Care service. The license to use the Cisco Ethernet Switches comes with the initial purchase of the solution.

I rate the price of Cisco Ethernet Switches a two out of five.

The cost of Cisco Ethernet Switches is expensive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have evaluated other switches, such as Aruba.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others looking to purchase a Cisco Ethernet Switch is the best use case depends on many factors. For example, the number of users, details of the company, type of network, and how large the network is. If the company is small to medium-sized I would recommend Aruba. For larger companies, I would recommend Cisco Ethernet Switches.

I rate Cisco Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1699986 - PeerSpot reviewer
First Assistant Vice President at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Jan 13, 2022
A good range of products, feature-rich, and straightforward to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco technical support on the backend, from the OEM, is very good."
  • "The local support resources for Cisco in Bangledesh are very poor and should be increased."
  • "For each of the features that I want to use on a Cisco device, we have to purchase a license."

What is our primary use case?

We are a financial institution and we use Cisco Ethernet Switches as part of our network infrastructure.

What is most valuable?

The Cisco product range is quite good and they have a lot of features available.

What needs improvement?

For each of the features that I want to use on a Cisco device, we have to purchase a license. For example, if we want the security features then we have to purchase that in another bundle. The price becomes more expensive than products from Juniper.

The local support resources for Cisco in Bangledesh are very poor and should be increased.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Cisco Ethernet Switches for approximately three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco products are stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco Ethernet switches are scalable. We have approximately 1,500 people using them in the company. We have a plan to increase our usage of Cisco by implementing an SD-WAN.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco technical support on the backend, from the OEM, is very good. They are very experienced. However, the local partner and technical support in Bangledesh need to be improved.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Currently, I am also using a Juniper product. The split between Cisco and Juniper devices is approximately 50/50.

We are switching to Juniper because they are more cost-effective.

One of the reasons that we still have Cisco devices is that they have offerings that are not available from Juniper. Juniper is good, but they only have routing and switching products, whereas Cisco has products such as Cisco ASA that we use. In that regard, Cisco can provide more value-added.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is really straightforward.

Our deployment took quite a long time. It was between three and six months.

We have six people in our network team and they are in charge of maintenance.

What about the implementation team?

Our local Cisco partner assisted us with the implementation and deployment.

The technical person from the local partner was not as skilled as we expected, which is something that should be improved.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This is quite an expensive product.

We do not pay on a monthly basis. The fees are included when you purchase the device.

When we want an extra feature then we need to purchase another license bundle.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are looking to gain some experience in using Mikrotik routers and switches.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Consultant - Smart Buildings at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Reseller
Jan 11, 2022
High reliability and super stable for a wide range of use cases
Pros and Cons
  • "The features that I have found most valuable are the core reliability and the switching group. All the features are very generic switching features with high reliability. That is the main key point I can highlight."
  • "Cisco Ethernet Switches have the best stability."
  • "An improvement would be to change their market intention. Almost all the Cisco switches are now coming with a license called DNA. D for Delta, N for number and A for apple. That feature is required, he must purchase it and it is a mandatory thing that has been introduced. This is not matching with the Asian market."
  • "DNA licenses, in most cases, are not required, but it should be told to the customers and added to the quotation, because we cannot remove it."

What is our primary use case?

The use cases that we have delivered to our customers include for hotel enterprises, government organizations, even military locations. This includes access switches and also distribution switches - perhaps for some organizations in call and data centers, as well.

What is most valuable?

The features that I have found most valuable are the core reliability and the switching group. All the features are very generic switching features with high reliability. That is the main key point I can highlight.

What needs improvement?

Feature-wise, almost all the features are there, but an improvement would be to change their market intention. Almost all the Cisco switches are now coming with a license called DNA. D for Delta, N for number and A for apple. That feature is required, he must purchase it and it is a mandatory thing that has been introduced. This is not matching with the Asian market, because let's say you are purchasing a vehicle and you don't want to have a reverse camera, right? But if the manufacturer is forced, fully telling you that you definitely should buy it, this is not fair in that way. DNA licenses, in most cases, are not required, but it should be told to the customers and added to the quotation, because we cannot remove it. This is not matching or suitable for the Asian market. It is not a requirement of the customer and it is forcefully added by the vendor. It's just a license, which you have to purchase for one year or three years, and it will never be used in some cases. In some cases, some specific customers may require that there should be the option to add it. But if it is not required by the customer, it should be optional.

In terms of what I would like to see in the next release, it would be good if they could introduce a switch which can work on cloud and on a local deployment. Maybe the same switch will work. Because some switches are only working alone with local deployments, and some switches are working with cloud based environments. So if the same switch could work on both cloud and from its node, that will be great.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Ethernet Switches for probably six to seven years.

I'm an integrator. We are using the latest version. I'm doing the designing and selling. I'm selling the latest version of these switches.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Cisco Ethernet Switches have the best stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability in the sense varies with switching. Some switches are fixed, which we cannot expand with the design, but some switches are those you can expand. It's basically the design. So scalability is good.

How are customer service and support?

They have great, great technical support from 100 miles to 200 miles.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup is straightforward to complete. It is very user friendly for the engineer to configure the deploy.

Implementation time depends, but in general, if it is a basic pre-plan implementation, it'll take only a few hours to configure and complete the installation. Maybe one or two hours, also we can complete it if it is a pre-plan, simple deployment. If it is a complex kind of networking fast structure, it'll depend on the solution and the configuration.

It also depends on the solution. If it is one switch, just one one engineer can deploy it. If it is two switches, also one engineer can, but if it is a complex network, it depends on how many switches and how complex it is. Basically, for switch one you can put only one engineer and that also can be done using a technician level person and by remote logging or you can manage it with over the phone instruction.

What other advice do I have?

Cisco is the leader of networking and I would recommend it for anyone.

On a scale of one to ten, I would give Cisco Ethernet Switches a 10.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior Presale Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 20
Jan 11, 2022
Supremely reliable but would benefit from bulk fixing and patching.
Pros and Cons
  • "The features that I have found most valuable with Cisco switches are that once you get your configuration you can rest assured that it will work. The OS is not going to be failing intermittently or anything like that. Once you get your configuration end-goal right, the firmware and the OS are usually very stable enough to work a long time without support. Support is needed once in a while. My experience is that the Cisco switches are usually rocket."
  • "The features that I have found most valuable with Cisco switches are that once you get your configuration you can rest assured that it will work."
  • "In terms of what could be improved, there is the bulk issue that is sometimes experienced with Cisco products we've used."
  • "In terms of what could be improved, there is the bulk issue that is sometimes experienced with the Cisco products we've used."

What is most valuable?

The features that I have found most valuable with Cisco switches are that once you get your configuration you can rest assured that it will work. The OS is not going to be failing intermittently or anything like that. Once you get your configuration end-goal right, the firmware and the OS are usually stable enough to work a long time without support. Support is only needed once in a while. My experience is that the Cisco switches are usually rocket.

What needs improvement?

In terms of what could be improved, there is the bulk issue that is sometimes experienced with the Cisco products we've used. I don't know how it could be possible to be done, but it would be very good if there was an automated patching system. It would be a very big and difficult one, because some of these routers or switches or products are not even within an internet environment. This is especially limited with the switches. Routers can be connected to the internet and switches might not even have internet access and might just be for the local area network. If it has an internet connection, that would be great and if it has an automated parking code inside of the POE this would help them to patch without the user's input.

In the next release, I would like to see bulk fixing. That is basically what I do now. If we could have an automated patch for Cisco to just be standard for patching switches or routers or firewalls by default without the input of anyone adjusting, that would be great.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco Ethernet Switches since 2009, so probably for 13 years now.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, normally you have a 24 port switch or a 48 port switch, which are fixed to scalability. So you can't really go beyond what has been provided. If it's a 24 switch, it's 24 users, if it's 48 it's 48, except if you're using the switch as an extender for a wireless device. That is a different conversation, but if you're using it in a LAN environment and for a connected, wired connection, then you can't scale.

But you can connect multiple switches to themselves and stack them and make it one switch depending on your design.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is pretty easy. It's usually easy to configure, especially when you are using it for basic switching. It is usually easy to configure the VLAN, the PTPs and all of that.  The major work lies with your architecture and your design and how you want to use the solution, because once you get the architecture right, then your configurations and all will be very simple. But if you don't, you might have to do a lot of work when it comes to configuring.

A lot depends on how you configure it from the beginning. It's going to influence how it's going to work the rest of the time.

What other advice do I have?

When it comes to switches and routers, I will always prefer Cisco over any other.

On a scale of one to ten, I'll give Cisco Ethernet Switches a seven because switch-wise, I think Juniper switches are also very good in performance. Especially the high end switches.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
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Updated: March 2026
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Download our free Cisco Ethernet Switches Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.