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Broadcom StrataConnect vs Cisco Ethernet Switches vs NVIDIA Mellanox 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 April 2026, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Broadcom StrataConnect is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 9.5%, down from 16.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NVIDIA Mellanox is 1.9%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Ethernet Switches9.5%
NVIDIA Mellanox1.9%
Broadcom StrataConnect0.4%
Other88.2%
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

WILLIAM SANITATE - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President Of Engineering at O & S Services LLC
Scales well, reliable, and has good support
I was their technical support for a year. The support is pretty good. Locally, it is available in the United States. They provide technical support to distributors such as Appnet and Arrow first. It's the first line of defense. Then you progress to a higher level of support. They have people, such as experts, all over the country who interface and provide fairly quick solutions, as well as hardware and software reviews. They can also return to the original developers in Taiwan. Broadcom is a Taiwan-based company. They can return to those guys. There are some guys in Israel that they collaborate with. It's pretty good in terms of support but it all comes down to money or the size of the opportunity. They will bend over backward to provide tons of direct support if the opportunity is large enough. If it's a small opportunity, you are not as fortunate.
Myint Aung - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of the Solutions Department at BIM Group of Companies
Exceptional network support and AI integration drive performance while suggesting enhancements for future use cases
I work with both HyperFlex and other Cisco products. I prefer to make online support available because I can utilize my CCIE architect, solution consultant, and engineer team along with our account manager and product sales team. We can clarify requirements and decide how to support you. We should arrange a conference call about Cisco Ethernet Switches where I can invite my architect and consultant to clarify more about the features that are most beneficial for improving network efficiency. Today is AI day, and all the new firmware includes AI to optimize the performance, traffic, and security of Cisco Ethernet Switches. It's performing very well. With many solutions and vendors available, you have to decide on one. I am extremely satisfied with the licensing cost for Cisco Ethernet Switches. For the price of Cisco Ethernet Switches, I would rate it a 7. My overall rating for Cisco Ethernet Switches is 10 out of 10.
Nurudeen Suleiman - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Tekpulse Ltd
Automation and integration improve operations efficiently
We wanted to utilize the advanced InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions offered by NVIDIA, but the users are not too familiar with the InfiniBand environment, which is why we are using the Linux Cumulus 5.6, which is usually the normal Ethernet. I am familiar with NVIDIA Mellanox, as I have products from NVIDIA on review here on our website. I use enhanced multi-tenancy features. Currently, within the data center, we have mixtures of both Cisco Nexus switches, NVIDIA switches, and Huawei switches, so eventually, we are changing all the switches to NVIDIA. On a scale of 1-10, I rate NVIDIA Mellanox an eight.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"They have some of the fastest speeds available."
"While Cisco is most likely the leader, Broadcom is probably number two, both in terms of interoperability and speed."
"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."
"Customer Service: Very GoodTechnical Support: Very Good"
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are appropriate for small and medium businesses and they also are large enough for our data centers which we had in Tel Aviv, Israel and in California."
"They just work, and their reliability has been great for our organization."
"It is the best product; I would advise others to go for it, because all the features are there and in other switches some features are missing, but Cisco provides all the required features."
"Remote access is a valuable feature."
"Cisco is the world leader in these systems, the expertise they have is very good compared to others, and we can trust Cisco from a technical perspective."
"The Cisco software does everything under one umbrella better than the competition."
"It is a very easy-to-use product."
"The most valuable features of Mellanox Switches are the powerful hardware and the software is open."
"The most valuable features of this solution are its functionality."
"The biggest advantage is that the vendor is the only one providing no-drop traffic."
"The tool is very configurable because it runs on a Linux operating system."
"The most valuable features of Mellanox Switches are the powerful hardware and the software is open. They're using Linux operating system. You can do and install many things, and it performs well."
"The most valuable features of Mellanox Switches are the size, power consumption, and the vast amount of features."
"Mellanox provides a feature called RDMA; this feature is very special and only Mellanox can provide it."
 

Cons

"Broadcom's biggest issue is that they don't like to share information."
"Broadcom's biggest issue is that they don't like to share information. They are only interested in providing the bare minimum of documentation."
"The dashboard needs some minor improvements."
"The price could be better."
"Recently, I worked with them on an encryption issue and didn't receive a solution for three weeks."
"Price is a pain point for us. We've lost a lot of bids, and the reason has been that we majorly quoted Cisco devices."
"An area for improvement in Cisco Ethernet Switches is its command-line interface. It works differently than expected if you want to do some implementation. However, it works if it's a simple integration."
"I think the price should be cheaper to be able to afford more."
"Selecting the licensing type can be the slightly tricky part, although you can usually upgrade it later."
"In my opinion, Cisco Ethernet Switches can be improved by needing some cloud access."
"Mellanox Switches were easier before Nvidia bought Mellanox and then their new version of the operating system changed."
"If you compare this solution with Cisco, utilization in Cisco is more popular and it is more friendly."
"If you compare this solution with Cisco, utilization in Cisco is more popular and it is more friendly."
"The configuration is a bit different from Cisco, and therefore, for me at least, there's a bit of a learning curve."
"The configuration is a bit different from Cisco, and therefore, for me at least, there's a bit of a learning curve."
"Mellanox Switches could improve by adding some features that can make it easier for integrating the switches in some managing and monitoring platforms, such as Elastic or similar software for monitoring data with the data center in a more holistic way."
"The scalability is working fine at the moment, but there's always room for improvement. As of right now, I don't know of any improvements to suggest."
"Mellanox Switches could improve by adding some features that can make it easier for integrating the switches in some managing and monitoring platforms, such as Elastic or similar software for monitoring data with the data center in a more holistic way."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's approximately $1,000,000.00 if you want to get a license for the software."
"The price is very high though it is priced right for the level of quality."
"Cisco now has more products that are priced for small businesses, so they do have some cheaper models."
"These switches are expensive, but they are an excellent buy and definitely have value for the investment."
"The product is expensive."
"The price is a bit on the high side."
"The price is on the higher side."
"It is an expensive product."
"It's a little expensive."
"It's an open-source solution."
"There is a license to use the switch ports of Mellanox Switches."
"The pricing is very competitive. The licensing costs are fine."
"The price of Mellanox Switches is reasonable compared to other solutions. The price and quality ratio was very good. There is a one-time license purchase that is needed."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business60
Midsize Enterprise35
Large Enterprise55
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

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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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mellanox Switches?
The pricing is competitive. For its performance, it's cheaper, so I would rate it a four if cheaper is lower.
What needs improvement with Mellanox Switches?
The feature we would want to see in future updates of NVIDIA Mellanox is improved accessibility for normal users, as ...
What is your primary use case for Mellanox Switches?
NVIDIA Mellanox is usually used for numerous purposes, but in our case, we are using it in a data center for high-end...
 

Also Known As

StrataConnect
Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
Mellanox Switches, Mellanox SN2700
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Coty, Banese, Intellinet
Linz AG
CNPC, Korea Consumer Agency, Nutanix, Roxo Systems, StorPool, Atlantic.Net, INFN, StarWind, NYSE Technologies, Creative Consultants, ENKI
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Ubiquiti and others in Ethernet Switches. Updated: March 2026.
885,728 professionals have used our research since 2012.