Huawei Ethernet Switches Reviews

We use the solution in-house. The network we have is not a very large one and we have in the vicinity of 300 terminals. So, it is used with IP telephony. 

We also use the solution for all the classic interactions between the terminals and memories, which is how these switches are classically used. This is different than the cases that we study and we tell our clients what to do since we are an engineering consultancy. So, we work with the government building for more than 3,000 access points. This would involve hospitals with 2,000 or more access points in respect of medical energy. We are currently working on towers building and are endeavoring to move into a passive optical local area network.

The switches will be replaced by splitters. This is a completely optical device by which the switch is at the office or the room end. I foresee this as the future, in which the entire layer of switches will disappear. I don't know if you are up to speed on the current trends, but these concern passive optical local area networks in which all the intelligent switching is in the main room with the big OLTs. In this case we are splitting an optical, meaning the fiber will go to the room or even to the device, not to the office. This will depend on whether the device has an optical interface.

So, we are making strides and advising our customers, which is not easy. 

The solution did improve our organization. For example, we had an application, which is a building beam for building information modeling. This involved tremendous number crunching and many files involving the building engineering structure. We were suffering from latency from the network speed and had to make servers especially for this application. These servers are virtualized. Of course, the speed of the switches allowed us to have a stable installation especially for this application. We are talking about a major application, involving a software collaborative work such as Autodesk Revit. 

We are now discovering these and are at ease with this new installation. We now feel at ease when it comes to working on this.

The price should be lowered as concerns flash backup. This would enable us to get rid of all of the mechanical, hard disks, as we currently have a mixture of flash and classic hard disks. I feel that technology is progressing fast enough and I believe that in the near future, within the next 12 months, we'll be able to add all flash backup systems to our solution. As for the switches, I think they will be all right for some time to come. If the network were to  improve sufficiently, we would be able to make more use of the cloud, even as concerns the telephone. However, this is not the case at present. 

It is difficult for me to point to other areas needing improvement as we have been using the technology for a relatively short period, only around five months, and I am trying to digest what we have. My network engineers would be in a better position to address this issue. Also while our installation is not that large, we are working on huge projects. These are new to Morocco, consisting of two or three years, which is not that much. 

This said, we would like to see additional backup solutions, since we have several degrees of backup. For the moment, the final one involves magnetic tapes, which is an IBM solution. We would like to take the thread of these magnetic tapes and have Huawei help us with strategic backup. One of the reasons we backup our system is for fear of ransomware, but we are required to backup everything by the end of each day or at the close of each week. It would be nice to see other solutions which would allow this, as I am not satisfied with the current one involving the use of magnetic tape. 

I am not certain that using the cloud is a solution for the time being in Morocco. We are looking with Huawei at the possibility of using hardware. This is a point of concern. 

Moreover, we would like to see more security applications. We have network security, such as Fortinet and Fortigate, but we would like to see Huawei come out with its own solution. Maybe this already exists but, if so, it is not yet very well known. 

We are satisfied with the switches and, in our approximately six months experience, have not encountered problems. We have not had stoppages or buffer memory. What I would like to see is a complete solution in which the network security is integrated with the switching as well. This way, we could have a single source for the network and not need to rely on Fortinet and Fortigate. 

As far as wifi access is concerned, we do have a system, I believe called HP Aruba, but it is old. It would be nice to see this integrated. We are not looking to change things in the short term, but to undertake a six to ten month overhaul involving the wifi and integration of 5G and IOT into our network. 

We have been using Huawei Ethernet Switches for around five or six months. It's a new experience for us. 

So far, so good when it comes to stability. In the six months which have transpired since using the solution we have yet to encounter any problems. With Alcatel we encountered several problems over the same period. These were solved with internal memory of switches. With Dell we had to restart it to clean the buffers. Since we started using Huawei Ethernet Switches we have not even had occasion to call support. This is in contrast to our experience with Alcatel, although I must point out that they solved our issues rapidly. 

The support is there and I did not have any problems with it. They intervene very quickly when the backup is there. They answer all questions and the online help line is efficient. It's very good. Huawei also has hundreds of engineers, including Chinese and Moroccan. So, it is well established, which is not the case with others. We have been working for many years with big telephone and communication companies and recently, about three years ago, they got involved in business applications. They have a policy, which is not in place from the beginning. They started to attack the business applications. They had the switches on the floor. I am talking about the Datacom, big structures. They then extended it with a great team. I believe they have involvement in 5G in Morocco, which will be operational by the end of the year, perhaps sooner. They are well established in this country.

There was a need for us to upgrade our network to one gigabit and to enable fiber channel capabilities. We contemplated all the options available in Morocco, meaning Alcatel, HP, Huawei and several others, all of the ones utilizing Oracle. In the past we made use of Avaya, as we are an engineering consultancy, meaning we deal with big offices and hospitals. So, we know about these things.

We considered all the capabilities of these switches, as well as the price and performance. We came to the realization that Huawei provides much better performance for the same price, even when taking into account very aggressive commercial policies. The prices were lower by 20 or 30 percent with more powerful features. Very importantly, we were able to to take out a five-year guarantee, with a four-year extension option. We are talking only about switches, not servers. In contrast, the other solutions only offered one to two years tops. 

The deployment took some time and I would have liked it to be faster. It took a couple of weeks or so. 

When it came to the initial setup I had my engineers do all the work. It took us a couple of months to decide on the configuration and to choose the switches.

This said, I would have to consult with our network engineers to properly address the initial installation. It is they who provided me with three detailed reports about the solution and its capacity. 

I do know that we conducted meetings with HP, Huawei and Alcatel. While I don't know what the future of switching holds for the latter I can say that Alcatel is alright. With this company we had some installation done of high end products for a hotel. 

The price is the best, 20 percent cheaper than apple to apple and with an extended warranty. 

You should know that we also contemplated the Cisco Suite, but found it to be excessively expensive. It is simply overpriced. Even as Cisco is very established in Morocco, big telecom companies are going the route of Huawei and Nokia. Cisco provides its own passive optical solution. We are contemplating the solutions offered by IBM, Nokia, Cisco and Huawei and our focus is on big installations campus-wise and on big hotels. We are trying to introduce the passive optical technologies, with all the advantages they offer. 

We are dealing with all these things in our office. We now have ease when it comes to back-up. We have a very fast spotted system with hard disk storage of 36 terabytes, meaning it is a mixed hybrid which combines flash disks and classic CDs. I am talking about the interface. The old 32 terabyte flash is extremely expensive. We are a mid-sized company, not very big. So our approach is to have this hybrid flash storage system, which allows us considerable speed but with a reasonable price.

As mentioned, our solution is a hybrid. We have certain applications in the cloud, such as office 365. We have other applications, such as engineering software. We also have it in private cloud. For the time being we have a mixed solution as we cannot, at present, put everything in the cloud. In Morocco, the internet connection speed is good but it can be better, since we have huge files with which we must work interactively. 

So, sometimes we work on-site and then the file will be stored in the cloud, but all the number crunching is used in working stations on the site, not PCs.

Internally there are around 70 users making use of the solution in our organization and externally around 40 engineers and technicians who are connected to our network country-wide. We even have our mailing system in-house. We use an English-based electronic document, such as PDF, which we have in the cloud. For the moment, our solution is a hybrid between the scientific and office application. 

We are using the solution daily and it comprises our entire network, all our work. If it stops we lose money. We use it all the time. Of course, we have the standby generator and all the redundancy of static uninterruptible power supplies, since a single hour of stoppage would equal thousands of euros lost. We are very careful about that. We have one or two configured switches so we can just plug it in and continue to work. We have yet to encounter this problem. 

My advice to others who are considering implementing the solution is to negotiate aggressively. Huawei is very good at negotiating, but it is important for the consumer to know the nuts and bolts of the proposal and to derive from it the maximum. Someone with technical knowledge can get many more concessions from Huawei than one without. 

I rate Huawei Ethernet Switches as an eight out of ten, as nothing is perfect. This is because the deployment took some time and I would have liked it to be faster. 

We provide Huawei Ethernet Switches as a solution our customers based on their project requirements; we prefer this solution over Aruba due to its affordability. But Huawei Ethernet Switches have almost equivalent features to their Aruba counterparts. Huawei can be considered as a tier-1 switches provider. 

Huawei Ethernet Switches has multiple security features but the campus switches feature is vital. For some projects of our company, Huawei Ethernet Switches are more affordable than Aruba solutions. But for layer 3 or high-level switches, in some cases the Aruba switches are cost-effective, thus the price depends upon the project, configuration and the design. 

Huawei Ethernet Switches also have effective network switching features. 

I have been working with Huawei Ethernet Switches. 

Our company works with Huawei Ethernet Switches, which are mostly for enterprise-level businesses or hospitals, to be specific. The product can be easily scaled by integrating additional hardware or extending the licenses. 

Huawei Ethernet Switches can be easily configured and deployed. The configuration of the solution takes around a few hours but the total deployment may take longer. 

Huawei Ethernet Switches are available at a competitive market price. Competitor solutions from Cisco, Aruba and Juniper almost have a similar price point to Huawei Ethernet Switches. 

Our organization's system integrators analyze the main features of Huawei Ethernet Switches and competitor solutions and implement the ideal one for the client. The vendors also interact with our company's customers to convince them about the product through a pros-and-cons analysis. 

Huawei Ethernet Switches were successful in improving network efficiency for the clients of our organization. The solution matched our clients' requirements across the new sites and projects. 

Presently, the solution doesn't offer any AI integrations with the product hardware. I would recommend Huawei Ethernet Switches to others. I would overall rate the product an eight out of ten. 

The stability can be improved. 

I have been using Huawei Ethernet Switches for a few years. 

It is a scalable solution. 

The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment process is based on the business coming in because there are so many variables and criteria.

The pricing can be more competitive. 

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

The most valuable feature of the solution is its network monitoring system. 

Huawei Ethernet Switches should improve its user interface. 

I have been working with the solution for six months. 

I would rate the tool's stability an eight out of ten. 

I would rate Huawei Ethernet Switches' scalability a seven out of ten. My company has 1200 users for the product and we use it 24/7. 

We have a contract for maintenance and support. 

The tool's price is affordable and I would rate it a five out of ten. The prices are fixed with no additional cost involved. 

We evaluated HPE products. We bought Huawei because the ETA of HPE was very difficult. 

I would rate the tool an eight out of ten. Try the solution and if it doesn't work out for you, you can switch to another product. 

We used the solution to connect the SCADA locations of an electrical company. 

We have not encountered any issues in the locations where the product has been deployed. I am impressed with its performance and pricing. 

The solution needs to provide GUI commands. 

I have been working with the product for ten years. 

The solution is robust hence there are no issues with stability. 

The product is scalable if you select the right model.

Official support has some issues in my country. We are able to get support only through backdoors. 

The tool is easy to setup but if UI is available it will be easier to setup. The product's deployment takes a few minutes to complete and configuration is easy. We need to first place a fiber and make it available to all locations. 

The solution's price is reasonable compared to other products like Cisco. 

I would rate the product a nine out of ten. The tool is more robust and has more price performance compared to other products. I would recommend this product if your budget permits it. 

With Huawei Ethernet Switches, we gather the information with it. The solution is used when we are planning on some open-based reports regarding the topic at hand. It should be noted that Huawei is primarily used with big customers in the banking, storage, and food processing industries.

We need the report on their network with the Internet included as well. We have the opportunity to provide customers with cheaper solutions instead of opting for high-priced options from older brands like Cisco, which are extremely expensive. Also, the Russian store's solution manager is good.

Connectivity is an area that needs improvement in the solution. Interconnectivity with third-party versions or Cisco Meraki should be made available to users in future releases of the solution.

I have been using Huawei Ethernet Switches for years.

It is a stable product. I rate it a nine out of ten.

It is a scalable solution. I rate it a nine out of ten. We have 25 customers using the solution at the moment. Even though I plan to increase the usage of the solution, I don't have it on my agenda right now.

The technical support team is really good. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup was simple.

I have observed a return on investment by using the solution.

The pricing is good. Still, I can choose a cheaper solution that offers a good value.

I recommend this solution to those planning to use it. It is easy to implement and redeploy solutions with Huawei to our customers, which includes migrating solutions from third-party functions like HPE, IBM, or Lenovo.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

It's to connect our devices like IT comms and our end users to the the company's data center.

It's working fine. It responds to our scope and we are satisfied with the product.

It is straightforward to set up. 

The solution is stable and the performance is good. 

We can scale the solution.

It's a solid product.

We have found the pricing to be reasonable.

We would always prefer if the solution were cheaper. 

The solution should make the text report more accessible.

I've used the solution for two to three years. 

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

It is scalable. You can always scale from the current configuration to a higher one.

We have about 200 people using it right now. 

We do have plans to increase usage.

While I have not used technical support, I have a colleague who has, and they were responsive and helpful. 

I use Cisco as well. We do use Catalyst switches. 

The solution offers an easy setup. It's not overly complex or difficult. It takes between 15 days to a month to deploy.

We have three to five engineers that are able to handle deployment and maintenance.

We used an integrator to assist with the solution's implementation. 

The price is quite low. It's not overly expensive. The solution offers perpetual licensing. I'd rate it 3.5 or four out of five in terms of pricing.

We do sell the solution to clients. 

I'd recommend the solution to others. It's a very solid product, and the pricing is quite low. 

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

We use the solution for user servers and websites within our company. 

This solution causes us problems. If you import a different software version, parameters are changed, and the configuration resets so you have to set it all up again. 

The solution is easy to set up. 

I didn't like the Huawei Switches because of the different versions resetting the configuration issue. Huawei doesn't support Layer 3 modes while TOE and ARP have some issues.

We have been implementing the solution for around a year. 

The solution is almost stable. 

I would say this solution is not as scalable as other options like Juniper. We have over 1000 users in our company. 

We have faced issues with the solution that sometimes required support, and we haven't had any problems with the support we received. 

Positive

The initial setup of the solution was easy, it took 20 to 25 minutes.  

I would rate this solution a five out of ten.

We use the product for Layer Three and Layer Two distribution and access.

We've used the solution for a long time. They last quite a while.

I already had a background with Cisco, so getting used to their system was a little bit complex. The way you configure a VLAN in an access port or in a VLAN to be allowed in the trunk was totally different. They have a concept there with hybrid VLAN, and it kind of made things complex for me.

We had a few issues with integration.

In the company, we're using Huawei wireless and the wireless controller, and those switches are the ones that made the transition between the clients and the WiFi server, and we had a few problems.

Some switches in our network are end-of-life. They shouldn't be there anymore. They're too old. They have already improved lots of things, however, the mistakes here will fall on our laps as we are using end-of-life devices, and they don't give support anymore for that.

We've used the solution for five years or more. 

It wasn't that stable at all. We had lots of issues due to the definitions, or due to the way they set up VLANs or the types of VLANs. We gave room for Layer Two Mac addresses. We had always the need to go there and reboot that switch or unplug a cord or LAN cable from there.

We didn't just scale it. We only had seven switches. They worked well, however, we had lots of issues with flooding.

We didn't use technical support. I wouldn't be able to rate their services. 

I've used Cisco in the past.

The initial setup was complex. I'd rate it two out of five in terms of ease of setup. It was a bit difficult.

We handled the initial setup in-house. We didn't have any outside technicians or consultants.

There aren't any licensing costs. It's a one-off payment at the beginning and then you can use them for as long as you like. If you want to expand or use another service, you do need to pay for that, however. 

I'm not sure if the company has a business relationship with Huawei. We might have in the past. I'm not sure if that is still the case. 

I'd advise potential new users to first get the concepts right before implementing them. 

I'd rate the solution a four out of ten. It wasn't good, but it wasn't terrible. 

We primarily use the solution for access and distribution switches.

The functionality is great. The functionality is basically the same as Cisco. However, with Cisco, some protocols are standard proprietary on the Cisco side. Also, with Huawei, some protocols are proprietary. 

The pricing is much lower than, for example, Cisco.

It works quite well in general.

We haven't had anything to complain about yet.

The documentation needs to be better. When you run into issues, it's hard to figure out what might be wrong by referencing it.

We deployed the solution five months ago.

For the time being, the stability is very good. Much like RUCKUS, which we deployed five months ago, we need time to really evaluate its stability. It's still quite new. 

We have about 120 Huawei switches. We also have 200 Cisco switches, so we have a lot. 

Our users might use one or the other as they are interspersed throughout the organization. I can't give an exact number of users at any given time as they are mixed with Cisco. These devices basically work as one.

We haven't dealt with technical support yet. I can't speak to how helpful they would be.

We also use Cisco switches and firewalls as well. We use Ruckus as well. They are mainly for wireless access.

The initial setup is not like Cisco. If I had a problem with Cisco devices, I can look at the documentation and come up with a solution. I will find anything on the global site. However, with Huawei, it is difficult to find or interpret any fixes in the documentation, in the manuals. Cisco is better in that sense. Huawei is less clear when it comes to documenting everything.

There is a bit of maintenance required with the product.

We did have a company come and help us implement the switches. They also helped us with our Cisco solutions.

The pricing is reasonable. In comparison to Cisco, it's good.

That said, I can't speak to exact pricing as that is handled by the finance team.

We are customers and end-users. 

The solution has been pretty solid so far. I'd rate it nine out of ten simple due to the fact that we have not run into any problems. 

I'd advise those considering using Huawei that Huawei and the Cisco switches are the same. They only really differ in some manual configurations. It is good to try them out. While everything, of course, has its pros and cons, Huawei is a decent product.