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Cisco Ethernet Switches vs HPE Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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

Cisco Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
136
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 12.4%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Ethernet Switches is 2.8%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Ethernet Switches12.4%
HPE Ethernet Switches2.8%
Other84.8%
Ethernet Switches
 

Q&A Highlights

AS
Jul 26, 2014
 

Featured Reviews

Myint Aung - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Dinesh Upadhyay - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience years of robust features and strong technical support
It is a nice and robust tool where we use HPE Ethernet Switches. It is a lower switch, and we have received good warranty support with HPE switches. The security features of the HPE Ethernet Switches are good. The UI mode is available, and we can easily configure the access list and SNMP. All these configurations can be done here. Users can enable the Layer 3 features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The command-line interface is easy to use."
"A stable product that is absolutely dependable."
"The quality of service is one of the main reasons we use Cisco in our organization. It's quite high and very reliable. The switches also end up working for a long time, so there's less need to replace them as often as others. We have some switches in our company that has been running since 2006, for example. They are quite old, but they still work."
"Its performance and reliability are valuable."
"I have found the solution to have good scalability. Cisco is the pioneers on switching technology, they are very good."
"The quality, like all Cisco solutions, is very high. The fact that it's Cisco is one of the reasons we chose to use it."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are stable."
"The initial setup is really easy."
"The solution is very, very stable."
"The technical support for this solution has improved from what it was."
"I'm a power user, so reliability is crucial. The HPE equipment hasn't failed on me, unlike some other brands like Huawei, which I find more sensitive."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the interface and configuration. It's very easy to use."
"HPE is very reliable because it has a lifetime warranty, so the switches didn't give us any problems."
"HPE Ethernet Switches are easy to configure."
"The solution can scale."
"he stability is very good on this solution. There have been no bugs, glitches or crashes."
 

Cons

"Cisco switches are good as they are, but it would be a major feature if they have built-in routers. Some of the Microchip switches have routers built in the same device. They have a router switch. For some of the sites, we deploy such switches because the client does not want a separate router and a separate switch. So, we go for a router switch with maybe 24 ports. Some of them are fiber, and some of them are ethernet. It would be a major improvement to what Cisco is already doing. Behind the scenes, a lot of scripting and stuff like this is happening. A lot of workload can be lifted if Cisco had a good GUI. If you look at Microchip switches, they have a good GUI in addition to the CLI."
"Cisco needs to include new features to attract new customers."
"To keep up with the market, the solution should have better evolution and innovation."
"The solution's pricing could be improved."
"Its management should be improved."
"Cisco should strive to improve the software for its switches."
"Cisco should consider adding a GUI as most vendors now offer the ability to manage switches via a graphical user interface, while Cisco switches are managed using pure CLI."
"The licensing needs to be improved."
"We have had some rare occasions with glitches, so the stability can be improved."
"The pricing could be lowered."
"The installation can be quite complex. However, that may not be the fault of HP and is rather more related to the way our infrastructure is arranged."
"When we have a lot of clients on the system, we lose signal and have to restart our antenna."
"Integrating AI features could make it better."
"There is some improvement needed for the power supply of the solution."
"A lower price would be an improvement because we always want to reduce our costs."
"This solution needs to support software-defined networking."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Users have to pay an annual licensing fee for Cisco Ethernet Switches, which is expensive."
"Not inexpensive. Price will vary widely depending on the chosen product and size of the deployment."
"The price is very high though it is priced right for the level of quality."
"Cisco products are not cheap, which is something that can be improved."
"The price is a bit on the high side."
"Cisco now has more products that are priced for small businesses, so they do have some cheaper models."
"Cisco offers annual and three-year license options."
"The solution is not too expensive."
"HPE Ethernet Switches is a fairly cheap solution."
"We have to pay for a yearly license for HPE Ethernet Switches."
"HP switches are priced well."
"There are free software updates and there is a lifetime warranty for a few of the switch series."
"The tool's pricing is very cheap."
"This is not an expensive solution."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"They are affordable and less expensive than Cisco. Their price was the decider at the time."
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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…
 

Answers from the Community

AS
Jul 26, 2014
Jul 26, 2014
We have used Zyxel and Netgear, Frankly the stability of Cisco, the scalability and ease of integration with other Vendors e.g VMware along with the training available make them far superior.
2 out of 9 answers
it_user110388 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 15, 2014
Hi When you buy something for Yourself using your Own money then you buy the product your utility plus approx 20% extra features and some extra money for brand. Now change the scenario when you are a I T manager in an organization then you buy as per your understanding Best whether exploring those best feature will take 10,years before the technology reaches to your device and moreover you are not paying from your pocket per se then what is the harm if some one says and appreciate that hey buddy you belong to High brand category. ROI & TCO is not their concern.
it_user98859 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 15, 2014
I have tried a few other vendors on the Ethernet switch market, especially HP, Huawei and SMC switches. Haven’t used Alcatel personally, but have had interesting feedback for them from colleagues. Regarding Cisco however, I believe there are three main reasons for it: 1) Integration on the “cisco environment”, with a structured offer from basic switches, up to multi-layer equipment, allowing a consistent platform all through the enterprise. 2) Management interface – ranging from graphic management (through local web interface, CiscoWorks modules, etc.), to CLI, with the Cisco IOS, provides great flexibility for remote management, configuration backup, and monitoring. 3) Expertise of in-house personnel – Both the training provided by Cisco itself, and the fact that Cisco has a strong base for the remaining network infrastructure (routers, and other network devices). There is also the issue that, sometimes, some mixed vendor environment can bring issues with 802.1q trunking (I’ve seen issues with HP Switches while having problems with a VLAN 1 on the HP mixing with a native VLAN on Cisco for instance…), and other proprietary protocols (CDP for instance) that can have implications with the way management or configuration is done… Also, in some cases, the use of other technologies that cisco has brought along over the years – Network access control, that interfaces with Cisco switches for instance, and the buildup of different interactions with other technologies, ends up creating a technical barrier on top of the barrier for change on things like: “our other 30 switches are Cisco, and now I’ll place another vendor one?”. And on that question, price is not likely to be the most important factor, but TCO, existing expertise, and applications running on the network (that need QoS for instance), and integration with existing monitoring, configuration management, and infrastructure, may be the most important factor on the decision…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
10%
Educational Organization
9%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business58
Midsize Enterprise36
Large Enterprise53
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise31
 

Questions from the Community

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 functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...
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 FortiSwitch is an ethernet switch solution that provides security and performance...
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 us. We decided to go with Juniper. Juniper ethernet switches are a lesser-known...
What do you like most about HPE Ethernet Switches?
The solution is very stable and easy to use.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE Ethernet Switches?
The price of HPE Ethernet Switches is reasonable and less than other OEM brands.
What needs improvement with HPE Ethernet Switches?
The price should be reduced in comparison to Cisco, as sometimes we cannot use the HPE one at the core level, where generally public users are using Cisco. The price of HPE core switches and Cisco ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
HP Ethernet Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Linz AG
Emirates Palace Hotel
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Ethernet Switches vs. HPE Ethernet Switches and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.