Cisco Catalyst Switches vs NETGEAR Switches comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Catalyst Switches and NETGEAR Switches based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two LAN Switching solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Catalyst switches are our dedicated solution for connecting everything into one big domain.""The performance of Cisco Catalyst Switches is good.""A very expandable solution.""Catalyst Switches perform very well, and the network is stable.""It uses many protocols to ease operations, such as CDP and the interoperability of other Cisco products.""Stability. We have many Catalyst switches now, and they work without any downtime.""I find their system throughput and Cisco support very useful.""The solution is extremely flexible."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches Pros →

"The cloud management has just been huge for us. We have 80 clients and they all have switches... With the cloud-managed Insight ones... we know more information without having to do complicated SNMP traps. We get nice emails, we get a web interface, and we're not having to wait for our RMM tools to get SNMP traffic to notify us. We don't have to do complicated configurations.""Their online portal is one of the most useful features. The portal is very user-friendly, so even someone with not a lot of tech experience can go in and see what's going on with the switch.""Remote management is the most important thing for us. And monitoring, of course, allows us to see when something is wrong with a client. We get notified that an access point is down, for instance, or that there are too many clients on one access point, so that we can log into the portal and manage the solution with the client instantly, from either a laptop or a cell phone, with the Insight app.""As far as remoting into it goes, it is very efficient because I can do it from anywhere, through the remote software. I can get right into it, I can change settings really quickly, if a customer needs to add another device into it or if I need to make changes on the VLANs that we created.""The solution helps transfer data.""The solution is simple to use. I am also impressed with the tool's GUI and CLI.""The stability is good. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.""We have a wide range of switches for various applications, including a collection specifically designed for ProAV, as well as Multi-gig Switches, which are also quite well-known or unique."

More NETGEAR Switches Pros →

Cons
"Cisco should work to lower its costs. It's quite expensive right now.""With most of the Cisco devices and models, we faced a slight decrease in speed during the initial setup and while restarting the system""I would like to see the integration of the 2960 SX switched.""The product is expensive.""In an upcoming release, adding SD-WAN capabilities would be a big advantage for our company.""I would like for Cisco to come up with an affordable dynamic VLAN solution.""They should be cheaper.""The licensing process could be a bit less complex."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches Cons →

"There's a lack of chips and, consequently, a lack of deliveries. They're out of stock at their European warehouse.""The M4250 switches needs more SFP models.""The product's scalability has certain shortcomings that can be improved.""NETGEAR Switches could be more secure. Scalability could also be better. This infrastructure is a bit old, and we need something that will be more secure. Something that will introduce WLAN, and we will need the knowledge to go with that. Some of the switches were used for more than seven years. I think it was just their lifespan that was exhausted. But other than that, there haven't been any issues that required us to complain or get concerned.""The security features must be improved.""Netgear switches could be cheaper.""The IGMP specifics of the web management console could use a bit of clarification.""There is a lot of delay in the data coming to the servers."

More NETGEAR Switches Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "​The price should go down instead of up. ​"
  • "It has a very high cost, but understandably, due to its very good quality."
  • "Cisco's prices are not cheap, but the stability is worth it."
  • "Pricing could be better."
  • "If you consider Cisco's price with the Dell, you will definitely lose with Cisco. But Cisco has a major area of equipment in general. Cisco has routers, firewalls, NAC, certain video conferencing, Apple phones, and different security solutions. But Dell doesn't have such areas, Dell only has switching architecture."
  • "Generally, Cisco Catalyst would be relatively expensive compared to the competition, it would be on the expensive side."
  • "Pricing is an issue I have been facing, in comparison with HPE or Juniper. The Nexus series is out of the question right now. Scalability is more an issue on the pricing side and less on the technology side."
  • "Catalyst is very expensive."
  • More Cisco Catalyst Switches Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The pricing for what you get with the Insight product line is very fair and the value is there, including the annual licensing fees for the Insight Pro for each device... the Insight Pro level, which is their highest level, where you get a lot of features with the Insight, is a bargain. You get a lot of good features for what you're paying there annually."
  • "We used HPE previously. The reason I switched to NETGEAR was because of pricing differences, which are huge, when you go into 10GB networking... The pricing is quite good... The total cost of the deployment was about 11,000 euros or so. If I had gone with HPE it would have been at least twice as much."
  • "It's a great price-to-performance solution. I think it's singularly the best price-per-performance we can find, if not just straight performance to begin with... The cost of hardware and additional services is lower, absolutely. I wouldn't say "low," but we found it to be lower than other options, and that helps us resell this back to customers who are looking at other things like a Cisco Meraki..."
  • "Insight pricing is okay. It's very competitive. The costs of the hardware and additional services weren't low because Unify is much cheaper, but the costs conformed to the market. When you look at the hardware specs, the price and the warranty, the complete package was much better than any other vendor. If you consider those three main aspects of Netgear Insight and Netgear Insight devices, and you put them next to Ubiquity or Cisco Meraki, or even TP-Link, in our opinion, it's better hardware, it has a better warranty, and for the price you have to pay, it's a pretty good product."
  • "NETGEAR pricing is the best on the market by far. I was shocked when I saw what their price came out as for their subscription. It's extremely reasonable."
  • "The great thing about the Insight product is that the renewable subscription is much cheaper than the competitors in the market. It is not over $50, per year, so customers buy the equipment and don't have to worry so much about the renewable fees that go along with having such access into their switch, with a cloud-managed solution. There are some other manufacturers where you'll essentially pay the same in hardware as you do in software, just for the cloud solution that supports it; just to keep getting the firmware updates and all of that information. With NETGEAR, you can do multi-year and that is something like 90 percent cheaper than if you're looking at Meraki, for example. It is extremely competitive. It's one of the main reasons we liked it so much."
  • "The price to performance of this solution is very good. When it comes to pricing, as far as I'm concerned, they're very comparable with Ubiquity. NETGEAR has pricing that is as good as it gets. That's why I use them."
  • "There are two parts to the pricing. There's the pricing of the device itself, which is good. Their licensing model needs work, though. The licensing model doesn't fit the way MSPs do business."
  • More NETGEAR Switches Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which LAN Switching solutions are best for your needs.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable features of the solution are BGP, VPN, and spine-leaf architecture.
    Top Answer:NetGear switches have a lot to offer. They have high availability, zero-downtime stacking, L2 and L3 functionality, and are AV-over-IP ready. NetGear switches also have a command line interface and… more »
    Top Answer:Ubiquiti Unifi offers a great set of features. For starters, it is easy to configure and implement, and also doesn’t require a learning curve because it is easy to use. It is also simple to… more »
    Ranking
    1st
    out of 16 in LAN Switching
    Views
    11,301
    Comparisons
    5,661
    Reviews
    20
    Average Words per Review
    449
    Rating
    8.8
    4th
    out of 16 in LAN Switching
    Views
    2,258
    Comparisons
    1,580
    Reviews
    18
    Average Words per Review
    409
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst
    NETGEAR Insight Managed Switches, NETGEAR GC Series, NETGEAR M Series
    Learn More
    Overview

    Cisco Catalyst Switches are a reliable and scalable network switching and routing solution, focusing on VLANs and VLAN switching. They are used as access switches, distribution switches, and core switches in various environments, deployed on-premises, and used for long connections. The switches are easy to configure, install, and upgrade and offer good pricing. 

    The most valuable features include warranty and firmware support, stability, security, good performance, flexibility, etc. The Cisco Catalyst Switches have provided a stable solution for the organizations and are widely used, trusted, and well-known in the networking industry.

    NETGEAR Ethernet Switches is an Ethernet solution that offers businesses of all sizes the ability to easily set up secure and highly scalable networks. Small to medium-sized companies have the option to choose from three different switching options. The three options that are most appropriate for businesses of this size are the NETGEAR Unmanaged, Plus, and Smart Switch solutions. If you're managing a large enterprise network or a campus network, then NETGEAR Fully Managed Infrastructures is the solution for you. All the NETGEAR Ethernet Switches and solutions are innovative, easy to install and use, reliable, and very cost-effective.

    NETGEAR Ethernet Switches have many features that make them a most effective product. Included in these is the ability to virtually stack IP addresses in such a way that users can scale their network up with ease. These IP addresses are grouped together. Once additional data ports are connected, you have only a single switch to manage and you gain both a much higher level availability of data and a greater level of network resilience.

    Benefits of NETGEAR Ethernet Switches

    Some of the benefits of using NETGEAR Ethernet Switches include:

    • The ability to control and track the performance of your network from a single centralized location. NETGEAR Ethernet Switches has a “single pane of glass” interface that enables administrators to track their network’s data in real time, allowing them to manage everything from one place. If a problem is detected, this management interface will alert the appropriate administrator.

    • A wide array of security features allows you to manage user access, filter incoming traffic for potential threats, and monitor your network for unauthorized traffic. The switches have security capabilities built in in an effort to maximize network protection, while at the same time allowing you to minimize the expenditure of resources required to keep you secure.

    Reviews from Real Users

    There are a number of characteristics that make NETGEAR Ethernet Switches extremely effective. Two major ones are its inherent flexibility and its user-friendly nature. 

    PeerSpot user Kevin W., a network delivery architect at a tech-services company, notes that NETGEAR Ethernet Switches gives users the ability to tailor the switches to fit their needs. He writes, "The big winner for NETGEAR is their modular switch: the 96X version. That is something that you don't see in the market anywhere else, except for Cisco who has it at a high level for a high expense. The ability to customize your own switch with their modules is a big plus for what we do in the market right now. Instead of having to piece together standardized switches, trying to make something work, or fitting the design into the mold, the modular switches are aware that you can make a mark in the industry because you purchased one switch and design with different modules added and removed later on for functionality."

    PeerSpot user Chris W., a system engineer at Diversified, notes just how easy they are to use when he writes, "The ease of use of these switches is very good because of the Cisco CLI. If you are familiar with CLI, then you can configure the switch that way. It also has a relatively straightforward web interface. Using the web interface is good for beginners or people who aren't familiar with Cisco CLI. However, having a common command line interface method is great for some of our more advanced guys who are familiar with it."

    Sample Customers
    Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena
    Blaze Networks
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company13%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    University10%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization52%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Government4%
    Manufacturing Company4%
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company20%
    Computer Software Company20%
    Construction Company13%
    Insurance Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company13%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business41%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise42%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business11%
    Midsize Enterprise57%
    Large Enterprise31%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business73%
    Midsize Enterprise8%
    Large Enterprise18%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise52%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Catalyst Switches is ranked 1st in LAN Switching with 166 reviews while NETGEAR Switches is ranked 4th in LAN Switching with 49 reviews. Cisco Catalyst Switches is rated 8.6, while NETGEAR Switches is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cisco Catalyst Switches writes "Reliable and stable catalyst switch; can be easily installed". On the other hand, the top reviewer of NETGEAR Switches writes "You can stack different models of switches which makes the scalability great". Cisco Catalyst Switches is most compared with Arista Networks Platform, Dell PowerConnect Switches, HPE ProCurve, Cisco Nexus and Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches, whereas NETGEAR Switches is most compared with D-Link Ethernet Switches, Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches, Cisco Ethernet Switches, Ubiquiti UniFi Switches and Meraki MS Switches. See our Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. NETGEAR Switches report.

    See our list of best LAN Switching vendors and best AV Over IP Switching vendors.

    We monitor all LAN Switching reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.