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Aruba Switches vs Cisco Ethernet Switches vs H3C Ethernet Switches comparison

 

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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Aruba Switches is 10.6%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 14.7%, down from 18.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of H3C Ethernet Switches is 2.6%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Eunice Thirikwa - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable hotel networking enhances return on investment with valuable modular features
There are issues with the distribution side of Aruba Switches. For instance, the distributor in our country cannot sell to neighboring countries, creating complications in project execution. Improving the distribution network across regions would be beneficial. Also, the SFP modules are significantly more expensive than industry peers, which affects cost-effectiveness.
Pradeep Adhav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network security enhancement with sturdy switches despite high costs
The Cisco Ethernet switches are primarily used as regular core switches for networking, distribution, and access levels. We also utilize Cisco Wi-Fi, VPN, and Wi-Fi controllers The Cisco Ethernet switches have improved our network's security, ensuring it is 100% secure by not allowing any…
KanwarArsalan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers all routing protocols, functionality, and capabilities
H3C switches have strong port aggregation features including dynamic, static, and device aggregation. They also offer broadcast, multicast, or unique system suppression for PPS and BPS. These features are versatile and adaptable to various organizational scenarios, complemented by VLAN support. H3C switches offer VPN support along with various VLAN options like port-based, MAC-based, and protocol-based VLANs, including VLAN mapping and voice VLAN features. They support VLAN interfaces for both IPv4 and IPv6, ensuring compatibility and configuration flexibility. H3C switches are up to date with current market trends, offering features, routing protocols, capabilities, and functionalities that correspond to new trends in networking solutions. I strongly recommend that future users consider H3C switches for their designs, given their performance, specific features, and strong capabilities compared to competitors like Cisco. Overall, I would rate H3C Ethernet Switches as a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support is fantastic!"
"Aruba access points have a good transfer rate."
"The solution is very stable."
"The advantage I found is that they can be used as both on-premises devices and cloud-managed devices, with the option for an additional license to become cloud devices. This flexibility is very valuable to us."
"Aruba Switches are definitely stable."
"The most valuable features are stability, ease of management, and the monitoring tool."
"The pricing of Aruba Switches is good compared to Cisco."
"I like the Aruba Central platform. It makes a lot of sense. The switches have a lot of great capabilities. Central can lockdown VLANs and control the apps and protocols. There are several built-in security features that I'm not utilizing. However, those capabilities are part of the reason I'm using enterprise switches in a small office. I like knowing that I can do these things when necessary."
"The initial setup was very easy."
"Its performance and reliability are valuable."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are great devices."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the ability to manage the switches and the ability to have a certain level of familiarity with setting up and configuring the switches."
"The most valuable features are network monitoring and management."
"The most valuable feature is the simplicity of the central management system(CMS)."
"The initial setup is really easy."
"The main features of this solution are performance and ease of use."
"To date, it has proven to be highly reliable. We have encountered no issues or challenges with it thus far."
"We can configure the switch stack on the internet. Other vendors do not offer this facility. It is fast and easy to manage."
"H3C Ethernet Switches have a fast delivery time."
"The best feature of H3C Ethernet Switches is their reliability."
"The IMC feature is valuable."
"Network performance is very good, suggesting that stability has not been an issue."
"Offering a five-year warranty, compared to competitors' one-year warranties, is a unique advantage of H3C switches."
"H3C Ethernet Switches is a cheap solution."
 

Cons

"I would like to see them integrate a monitoring solution."
"Aruba is still losing out to Cisco, which continues to dominate the space. Aruba needs to continue to improve its product range in order to compete with Cisco's dominance."
"In the next release, I would like to see network access control on the switches themselves. I would like to see security functionalities when it comes to monitoring the bit of the wireless section of the switches."
"We have needed to upgrade software to fix some challenges we experienced. After downloading the latest version of Aruba, these were fixed."
"The licensing model could be improved."
"My experience with Aruba's account manager hasn't been the greatest."
"We had an issue with the hardware where one or two interfaces went down after one and a half years. This issue impacted only one or two interfaces, not the whole hardware."
"We've had issues with availability."
"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."
"I would like for the solution to have more more security features and be more user-friendly."
"Up to a certain network size, it is easy to scale, but after that, it becomes difficult."
"The NX-API REST is not very good and should be improved."
"Currently, we have to wait up to eight months for a switch."
"The management of the solution could improve."
"AI technology must be involved in the future."
"The user interface could be improved."
"Lacks decent cloud management."
"GUI needs to merge with CLI."
"The solution’s stability could be improved."
"There should be more public tools for configuration and comparing products."
"There is room for improvement in Wi-Fi solutions, which are not optimized."
"To enhance H3C switches for the next release, improving the user interface is crucial."
"H3C Ethernet Switches could improve by widening their product range."
"There is room for improvement in Wi-Fi solutions, which are not optimized."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Comparing with Cisco, and some other solutions, it's a cheap product."
"Typically it is a $500 to $600 difference in price."
"Aruba Switches are cost-effective."
"The price is reasonable."
"Cost-wise, you get some good savings as compared to Cisco."
"The cost is very cheap when you compare it to CISCO."
"The cost depends on the requirement. An extensive network will expand the budget. The price will be lower if there is a small requirement of one to ten switches. In comparison, Aruba is less costly than Cisco by about 10-20%."
"This is an expensive product, costing about double what most competitors do."
"It's a little expensive."
"The product is very expensive"
"Quality comes at a price. I've been around the block a bit, and I know that good quality comes at a price. However, some of the organizations don't have big budgets, so you have to develop different solutions for them. They don't have the budget to get some of the high-end features. Cisco can consider providing entry-level hardware to suit SMBs."
"We get the SMARTnet and one of the switches has that Cisco ONE licensing. It's probably running about $12,000 a year right now."
"When you compare with other products, they are more or less the same price."
"Its price is a bit higher than other brands. Indian customers are price-conscious. They should improve its price."
"We are happy with the pricing from Cisco."
"The price is a bit on the high side."
"The pricing is very affordable, making it a not-so-expensive choice. On a scale from one to ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap, I would rate it a seven."
"H3C Ethernet Switches are priced at around $500 per unit, which is very cheap and one of the most competitive prices out there."
"H3C Ethernet Switches are reasonably priced."
"H3C Ethernet Switches is targeted for SMBs because it's cheaper compared to Huawei switches."
report
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Comparison Review

it_user82779 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 29, 2014
Benefits of Juniper vs Cisco
Both are decent products. I prefer Juniper for the following reasons: 1) Cleaner separation of data plane from control plane. Higher end Cisco devices are better at this but most of the lower end products still seem to be more integrated than I like. 2) The Hierarchical config design means I can…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Switches?
Aruba lives up to the expectations of the tech giant hewlett packard enterprise providing excellent networking capabi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Switches?
Pricing really depends on the model. For instance, a high-end model with Aruba is about five thousand, while another ...
What needs improvement with Aruba Switches?
The only problem with Aruba Switches is the pricing.
Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?
Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing func...
Which would you choose - Fortinet Fortiswitch secure access or Cisco Ethernet Switches?
We researched Cisco but ultimately chose Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access, mostly because of the price. Fortinet F...
In terms of ethernet switches, would you go with Cisco or Juniper?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Cisco or Juniper Ethernet switches were the better fit for...
What needs improvement with H3C Ethernet Switches?
There is room for improvement in Wi-Fi solutions, which are not optimized.
What is your primary use case for H3C Ethernet Switches?
The primary use case is about managing network infrastructure. The H3C Ethernet Switches are used internally as switc...
 

Also Known As

8400 Series, 8320 Series, 5400R Series, 3810 Series, 2930M Series, 2930F Series, 2920 Series, 2540 Series, 2530 Series
Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Purdue University
Linz AG
Ying Wa College, Centro Digital Pictures
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ubiquiti Networks and others in Ethernet Switches. Updated: May 2025.
851,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.