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Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches vs Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch E...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
24th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco N9300 Series Smart Sw...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
26th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

MK
Operational Manager at Astrah Technologies
Has enabled reliable access control with good scalability
The primary use case is access control and normal LAN usage, including internet and email. For example, I have deployed the solution in airport scenarios where there are many users The most valuable feature for me is the stability of the switches. They do not hang often and are very reliable,…
Thu Al-Faqar Salah - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at V2X
Modern data center fabric has delivered zero packet drops and simplified traffic control
Regarding improvements for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches, I think the only issue that could prevent users from using these devices is the smart licensing, as the license model could be much simpler and more cost-effective. Managing Cisco licensing and tiered subscriptions involves unnecessary operational overhead for deployment and renewal. Also, if you are planning to use ACI mode, most of the concepts such as VRF, EPG, and tenant will change. When deploying in ACI mode, the architecture has a steep learning curve, as the policy-driven model requires expensive and specialized training, and many concepts will change for traditional network engineers, requiring them to adapt and learn. Additionally, most of the issues I faced are related to hardware cost specifically, so if we could get a model that is less costly and more cost-effective with simpler licensing, it would be much better. Regarding further improvements, I remember something about the upgrade process. When we did the upgrade for the N9300, changing the image took us around 12 to 15 minutes, which was really a long time. This happened for more than one switch, so I do not know if it is a bug or if this is something normal, but I think they need to address it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches' best features are it's easy to deploy, manage, and maintain, with services coming through one vendor."
"Enables direct access to clusters."
"This is a dependable switch which will help you sleep at night."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the wireless access points that enable direct access to clusters, and this is also a very stable and scalable solution."
"The fibre ports that are 10 Gb capacity helped with the travel of a lot of regular as well as video data. Fibre can handle a lot more virtual data than copper twisted-pair, so we got a lot more data and a lot more traffic signals back through the fibre ports, faster, than with copper."
"The most valuable feature for me is the stability of the switches."
"It's easy to extend the stack, We don't use the smaller switches, but it's going well for the rest."
"All of the features in these switches are good."
"When you buy a Cisco device, you are going to forget about it after plugging it in because the device is powerful."
"Cisco products are very strong and stable."
"The integration is very good, and there is very low CPU utilization, so multiple users can work without any problem."
"Performance-wise, Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches is a great machine to work with."
 

Cons

"Sometimes I feel that the Alcatel switches are not working harmoniously with some of the Cisco switches."
"I could see them possibly creating a more intuitive software. It's very user-friendly, but there are some things that aren't very intuitive when programming the switches."
"I find the CLI hard to use. I wish we could do more in the GUI interface."
"The solution could be more user friendly and there are issues with technical support where the response time is sometimes very slow."
"The price should be lowered so that we can capture more of the market for Ethernet switches."
"The product would be better if it were completely compatible with other switching products."
"The network connection should be improved."
"There needs to be better integration with the interface."
"The price is something negative for Cisco that I see."
"Regarding improvements for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches, I think the only issue that could prevent users from using these devices is the smart licensing, as the license model could be much simpler and more cost-effective."
"It is expensive. Compared to Aruba and Dell, it is a little bit costly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is reasonable compared to Aruba and HPE."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Pricing is cheap compared to other vendors. When we benchmark the tool against Meraki, Cisco, and others, it is usually more affordable."
"The licensing for OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches is a one-time purchase with no additional costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise3
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches?
In terms of pricing, Alcatel is cheaper than Cisco, however, MikroTik is the cheapest. I cannot comment on the pricing reasonability as I am a technical person, and decisions are made by those who ...
What needs improvement with Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches?
The commands for the switches could be easier as I find them more complex compared to those of Cisco.
What is your primary use case for Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches?
The primary use case is access control and normal LAN usage, including internet and email. For example, I have deployed the solution in airport scenarios where there are many users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches?
Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches is expensive. Compared with Aruba and Dell, it is a little bit costly.
What needs improvement with Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches?
As for any negative points, I think there is nothing significant. The only thing that Cisco may focus on commercially is the SmartNet. From my experience, I have worked with many MNCs where SmartNe...
What is your primary use case for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches?
The major use case that we have with Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches is that our current switches are old and getting into end of life from Cisco. This is the reason we started looking for the ri...
 

Also Known As

Alcatel-Lucent Ethernet Switches, OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bayonette, California State University (CSU), Centre Hospitalier Carcassonne, Centro Universitšrio de Brasilia (UniCEUB), China Tianchen Engineering Corporation Co. LTD, Citta Della Speranza, City of Frankfurt, City of Ogden, City of Vila Franca de Xira
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Find out what your peers are saying about Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch Ethernet Switches vs. Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.