Broadcom Ethernet Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Broadcom Ethernet Switches
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
Broadcom offers Ethernet switches. Their offerings were bolstered by the acquisition of Brocade and many of its ethernet switches in 2017.N/A
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Cisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.N/A
Pricing
Broadcom Ethernet SwitchesCisco Catalyst Switches
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Broadcom Ethernet SwitchesCisco Catalyst Switches
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsBroadcom pricing varies based on the specific model and quantity purchased.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Broadcom Ethernet SwitchesCisco Catalyst Switches
Considered Both Products
Broadcom Ethernet Switches

No answer on this topic

Cisco Catalyst Switches
Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
These devices were purchased because they did not need as many functionalities as those offered by Cisco Catalyst.
Best Alternatives
Broadcom Ethernet SwitchesCisco Catalyst Switches
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Score 9.0 out of 10
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Ethernet Switches
Cisco Ethernet Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
HPE Aruba Networking Switches
HPE Aruba Networking Switches
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Broadcom Ethernet SwitchesCisco Catalyst Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(681 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(37 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(39 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(13 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(13 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(37 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(5 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.7
(12 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.9
(10 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(9 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(13 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.4
(34 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(35 ratings)
User Testimonials
Broadcom Ethernet SwitchesCisco Catalyst Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
I think the most suited ones will be of course, for example, a supermarket where you have more than 50 plus devices because there are like 48 ports in a switch. We can just use a lot of devices and connect them to it. A less use case will be, I think it depends at the end of the day how your topology looks like. If you have a very few devices, you shouldn't be going for these catalyst switches because they are of course much bigger, more processing power and all those things. If you have, again, it comes to topology. If you have the number of users who are using these switches is less than 15, it's less than 15, then you can just go for any other option and not use them.
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Pros
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
  • One of the things that it does well, it's not something major, but there's a light tracking feature that the 9300 comes with that you can turn on the light and that has become critical in a data center environment where you want to help someone to make sure that you're talking about the same switch, you can turn the light on and off something that is not available in other versions of Cisco switches before the 9300. So it's not as major, but it's quite critical when you're dealing with multiple systems and multiple switches.
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Cons
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
  • Functionality. Well, one of the functions that we are missing is a faster route based on OSPF. Other than that, it could provide an upgrade without a hitless upgrade. Well, now it is a very fast upgrade, which is also okay. We had a case when the platform crashed, but that was a specific case. We were happy with this product.
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Likelihood to Renew
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
They are consistently reliable and this switch in particular is a very affordable solution. We can place the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series Switches gear in areas that we normally would not place a switch because it is affordable enough to make it justifiable. And because it is a reliable solution, we are confident it will continue to provide service over the long haul.
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Usability
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Cisco by and far does a great job with the Catalyst line. From a layer 2 dumb switch all the way up to ISP carrier grade switching within the Catalyst portfolio. The best part about it is command parity among the various tiers of product. The only differences are going to lie in what features are available per switch.
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Reliability and Availability
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We have very few is any outages due to a Cisco hardware failure. Some of our gear is exposed to some pretty harsh environments, and they keep on ticking!
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Performance
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
No, the packets flow. Sometimes you will see collisions and broadcast storms can happen which will slow performance but that can be fixed and the packets will flow.
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Support Rating
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We rarely have issues with the product. I have only had to contact support one time since we put it in and that was to see if another vendor was giving me accurate information on an issue I was having.
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In-Person Training
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
Cisco Networking Academy partners with many local Colleges and High Schools to provide great hands-on training. You do need to drive to learn the topic. The in-class session only go so far. You really need to apply this to the real world. Cisco makes it easy for business to connect via CLC or Cisco Learning Credits.
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Online Training
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
My own personal research to get the information I want is very handy and helped me many times
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Implementation Rating
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
The implementation of the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series Switches is fairly seamless, especially if you are familiar with Cisco products. We have had Brocade switch gear in place too, and the differences between the manufacturers [are] not a major issue.
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Alternatives Considered
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We do have other vendors. For example, Juniper, Fortinet, and there are quite a few others. And Cisco is pretty good because we know the workflow, we know how the operating system works. We are much more familiar with Cisco products and we know the support system behind it. So in terms of comparing with others, I think it stands out. It's one of our top products to go to
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Scalability
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
We are exclusive Cisco at our organization. In truth part of the reason is, with one type of switch and one manufacturer, it is easier to support. It is also easier to give consistent training to our staff in our tech department
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Return on Investment
Broadcom
No answers on this topic
Cisco
  • energy costs dropped by around 11 per cent on the access layer
  • management has become easier with DNA Center
  • ISSU software upgrades and fabric deployments have significantly reduced "planned" down times
  • network speed has increased, latency is at an all-time best within our own LAN
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ScreenShots

Cisco Catalyst Switches Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Catalyst 9200 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9300 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 Series Additional ViewScreenshot of Catalyst 9500 Series