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Aruba Instant On Switches vs Dell PowerSwitch N-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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

Aruba Instant On Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series
Ranking in LAN Switching
9th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
3.9
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Switches is 5.6%, down from 9.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is 5.6%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Aruba Instant On Switches5.6%
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series5.6%
Other88.8%
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2596875 - PeerSpot reviewer
Presale Network Security at a consumer goods company with 1-10 employees
Balances affordability with essential features though configuration flexibility can improve
The first valuable aspect of Aruba Instant On Switches is the price because it is affordable, and it is easy to deploy and not complicated regarding licensing because when you purchase it once, you can enjoy it for more than five years or lifetime. I usually utilize the VLAN support feature in Aruba Instant On Switches because typically customers have requirements for different VLANs, usually less than 10 VLANs, to create different zones for their users and to increase security. The VLAN support is mostly to have different segments for different users, which creates security and helps to avoid any unforeseen risks in the network.
Mahendra Basera - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Engineer at InterGlobe Technology Quotient
Reliable switching has supported secure audits and simplified long-term data center operations
Deploying Dell PowerSwitch N-Series on HA is very simple and easy. If we face any problem, we have our Dell support team to help us during the installation. They provide L2 engineers for supporting us on configuring the basic level configuration, stacking, and peering with others on HA. They have helped us with any faults or hardware issues, and we have taken high level care packs with three hour response time and same day hardware replacement. When we talk about the deployment of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series, when we extended our data center from starting from scratch, we had at that time nearly 170 physical servers. Then we virtualized it from mixed hardware, as we were using HCL, HP, or old heavy servers. Dell came to us and gave us a good solution with VMware, storage of Dell, and network devices. During the deployment, there were three team members from Dell and two from myself on the networking side, and one or two members from OS and server side. Almost five to six team members were there during the deployment from a hardware to a virtualized environment. The best advantages of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is that it is very much similar to Cisco. There is a little bit of difference at the command level, and it is easy to handle. It is easy to handle whether it is a CLI base or a GUI base, and it is very easy to configure. It is also reliable. We had a low fault issue, and when we talk of switching level, in a time frame of 17 years, we faced a switching issue only one time, which was a hardware failure. That is it. It is as reliable as Cisco.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Aruba Instant On Switches is a good product with nice solutions that are easy to configure, reliable and stable, and easy to integrate with other solutions."
"It is easy for deployment and configuration."
"Regarding the feature, my clients are currently favoring it because it enables them to switch back to phone functionality."
"The online monitoring tool and the configuration of the application with the tool are valuable features."
"The creation of multi-VLANs, access list between VLANs, control, management, and the easy monitoring of switches make it a reliable choice for my organization."
"The solution's pricing is slightly cheaper than that of Cisco."
"The solution is easy to install; it is easy to mount APs and access points and switches, and it is really easy to configure."
"The cost and simplicity of the product are its most valuable features."
"Currently, I am using the Dell S4048; it's a nice switch and it gives you good results in terms of a broadcast station connection, with HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol) and bandwidth allocation that are very nice, and for a customer it is easy to configure and to add ports through the LAN GUI."
"The best advantages of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is that it is very much similar to Cisco, it is easy to handle whether it is a CLI base or a GUI base, it is very easy to configure, and it is also reliable, as in a time frame of 17 years we faced a switching issue only one time, which was a hardware failure, and it is as reliable as Cisco."
"The automated configuration management tools of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series help improve network traffic management."
"For a customer, it is easy to configure and to add ports through the LAN the GUI."
"Port density and port speed performance are both suitable. It has some appealing intangibles."
 

Cons

"They don't have a lot of diagnostics tools, which could be an area for improvement."
"If Aruba can provide guidance on features through sessions or explanations, it would be helpful. We have to search and work online."
"The solution’s initial setup is very complex."
"The product's startup speed is very bad, as it is very slow."
"In general, mostly in Instant On series, if we could have much more control on the switches, at least. We'd like a CLI access so that, when we want to do some advanced configurations we could."
"Aruba Instant On Switches could be improved by utilizing more AI features."
"It could have an MSP portal version."
"Improvements are required in the product's price. I want it to be cheaper."
"Some features need improvements with stability."
"We have had problems in the past that needed a reboot of the switch."
"Customers do not prefer this to connect to multiple cities."
"The disadvantages of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is that only the booting time is a weak point."
"Instead of competing at the enterprise level with that product, they should probably scale it. With all of the ports, they should develop a good mid-level business to truly scale it and gain adoption before attempting to go after the enterprise."
"I would not recommend it to smaller businesses because they could not afford it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If one is very bad, and ten is a very good price, I rate the tool's price as a six."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Aruba Instant On Switches is cheaper than Cisco and expensive compared to some Chinese brand products."
"The product is not cheaply priced, especially when compared to the other vendors in the market."
"The pricing is cheap."
"I give the price seven out of ten."
"Pricing is competitive, and there are no supplementary fees."
"We pay an annual licensing fee."
"You are selling it to larger customers and in larger environments, where it's a less expensive model than Cisco, which is attempting to use the same approach Arista did, but with a completely different programming language."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
13%
Educational Organization
8%
Retailer
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise8
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Instant On Switches?
With Aruba Instant On Switches, you need to pay for a yearly license. If you have yearly support, you have to pay for that. For Aruba Instant On Switches, there are not really any extra costs in ad...
What needs improvement with Aruba Instant On Switches?
I would not like to improve something; the only thing is what occurred last week.
What is your primary use case for Aruba Instant On Switches?
Almost everyone in our company is using Aruba Instant On Switches today.
What needs improvement with Dell-Force10 Campus LAN Switches?
The disadvantages of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is that only the booting time is a weak point. When we reboot that switch, it takes time. As compared to Cisco, it takes almost three to five minutes,...
What is your primary use case for Dell-Force10 Campus LAN Switches?
We are using McAfee XDR solution rather than Cisco XDR. On Cisco products, we are using Cisco routers and Cisco switches. We work with Dell, specifically Dell switches, and we are using PowerEdge i...
What advice do you have for others considering Dell-Force10 Campus LAN Switches?
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is the one we have been working on. There was an advanced Layer 3 configuration on Dell PowerSwitch N-Series, and we have almost every security which can be configured on ...
 

Also Known As

Aruba Instant On 1930 Switches
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

KEMET, Vestavia Hills City Schools, Dropbox
Norwich University of the Arts, Shelby American, City and Islington College
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Dell PowerSwitch N-Series and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,099 professionals have used our research since 2012.