What users are saying about
Top Rated
78 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 9.3 out of 100
Based on 78 reviews and ratings
21 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 9.5 out of 100
Based on 21 reviews and ratings
Attribute Ratings
- Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches is rated higher in 1 area: Usability
- Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches is rated higher in 2 areas: Likelihood to Recommend, Support Rating
- Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches and Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches are tied in 1 area: Likelihood to Renew
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
92%
45 Ratings
9.4
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
94%
16 Ratings
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
91%
1 Rating
9.1
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
91%
3 Ratings
Usability
9.1
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
91%
1 Rating
8.6
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
86%
2 Ratings
Availability
9.1
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
91%
2 Ratings
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
N/A
0 Ratings
Performance
9.1
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
91%
2 Ratings
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
N/A
0 Ratings
Support Rating
7.7
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
77%
6 Ratings
9.1
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
91%
4 Ratings
Implementation Rating
8.2
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
82%
2 Ratings
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
N/A
0 Ratings
Product Scalability
9.1
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
91%
1 Rating
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
N/A
0 Ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst [2960-X/XR Series] switches are the gold standard for networking gear, they just work and if you do run into issues, Cisco TAC support is world-class and will work with you until it's resolved. During issues and outages knowing we have TAC is a great tool. They perform well while stacking and offer the base functionality every standard corporate network should need. If you have team members that are shy around a command line there will be a learning curve or heavy use of web interface tools that are not as built out as the CLI command-line interface.
IT Infrastructure Supervisor
Sight and Sound TheatresEntertainment, 201-500 employees
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst [6800 Series] Switches provide good selection of models with various port densities and capabilities. We use Catalyst switches in most location in various functional setups. Chassis switches in Data Centers, stacks of multiple switches at many locations within campus, 24-48 port models at larger branches for routing and switching.
IT Infrastructure Planner/Architect
FortisBC Energy Inc.Utilities, 1001-5000 employees
Pros
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
- I haven't worked on many other brands of routers/switches, but I can say with certainty that Cisco's IOS network operating system is very well written. Using the question mark helps you find a command or complete its options very easily.
- Cisco's Catalyst documentation is superb and if you can't find what you're looking for there, you can find a ton of great blogs by certified Cisco engineers.
- Cisco may be notorious for creating their own proprietary protocols, but for every proprietary protocol they also support the industry standard protocols.
- Cisco Catalyst switches are genuine workhorses; we still have some switches on our network that are older than 10 years and still performing great!
- I like the way Catalyst implements vlans; very easy and straightforward
- I like the stacking capability of Catalyst. it's very easy to configure and you are now managing a single switch, composed of multiple switches
Systems Administrator
Whitworth UniversityHigher Education, 501-1000 employees
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
- In general Cisco Catalyst Switches are a nice piece of kit both in hardware and software.
- You can keep these guys running for years without nary a reboot necessary.
- Even if you have to reboot you have multiple fail overs and redundancies.

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 501-1000 employeesCons
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
- Cost. Always the downside with Cisco. The competition is cheaper.
- Tech support used to be incredible. It is above average now but not like it was 10+ years ago.
- Better support for third-party cables and SFP/SFP+ would be nice. I hate being warned in the logs that I'm not using a Cisco OEM accessory.
- I wish they could upgrade the stack without taking the whole stack offline. This is a real issue.

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Retail Company, 1001-5000 employeesCisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
- There are some known bugs that cause interface errors and are listed as "cosmetic" and they do not plan to address them. This makes troubleshooting very difficult to determine what are real errors and what are cosmetic.
- We have had a few batches that get stuck in random reboots.
- Cisco foolishly has discontinued R&D for this line of Catalyst when they were finally showing some innovation that set them apart from other vendors.
Sr. System Engineer
Kent Intermediate School DistrictEducation Management, 501-1000 employees
Pricing Details
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Likelihood to Renew
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches 9.1
Based on 1 answer
Cisco has great products, easy to deploy, configure, and manage

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Automotive Company, 1001-5000 employeesCisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches 9.1
Based on 3 answers
Because they work well at what they do. They are highly innovative with their hub and spoke firmware deployment. Once again Cisco was extremely stupid to stop R and D on them.
Sr. System Engineer
Kent Intermediate School DistrictEducation Management, 501-1000 employees
Usability
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches 9.1
Based on 1 answer
very easy to navigate the CLI

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Automotive Company, 1001-5000 employeesCisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches 8.6
Based on 2 answers
Cisco Catalyst switches are the standard for usability. The Cisco command line is 1 of 2 formats for a command line interface in the computer networking industry. They literally define the standard for the industry, so naturally the usability is going to be high -- simply because that's what everyone uses. I rated them as 9 because they have some consistency issues within the IOS for different versions/platforms.

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 1001-5000 employeesReliability and Availability
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches 9.1
Based on 2 answers
Always in stock

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Automotive Company, 1001-5000 employeesCisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches 9.1
Based on 2 answers
uptime meets expectations

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Automotive Company, 1001-5000 employeesCisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches 7.7
Based on 6 answers
Product support is one area that Cisco leads the field in. Other vendors try providing technical support for their products. When I purchase catalyst switches I know that "IF" I where to have a problem with one of my Cisco Catalyst switches that I can either open a TAC case online or over the phone and a knowledgeable person will be able to help me with what ever the issue is.
Network Operations Supervisor
BKD LLPAccounting, 1001-5000 employees
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches 9.1
Based on 4 answers
They are easy to get a hold of and are very effective.

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Banking Company, 5001-10,000 employeesImplementation Rating
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches 8.2
Based on 2 answers
usually pretty seamless into existing deployments

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Automotive Company, 1001-5000 employeesCisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
We've selected Catalyst Switches because of its widespread documentation , great hardware, and the best manufacturer support.They can be stacked as a unique switch increasing the port number, manageability and reducing the uplink and broadcast traffic among many cascaded switches. Cisco always there to support us anytime when we in need of their support so no disappointments we feel anytime using these products.
Network Specialist
OrangeInformation Technology & Services, 10,001+ employees
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
The Juniper lineup offers better pricing versus the Cisco line up but you do definitely lose some hardware prowess, and stability that you can count on with Cisco devices. Also the support is not as robust from Juniper as it can take longer and be more frustrating getting a support ticket going with them.

Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology
Government Administration Company, 501-1000 employeesScalability
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches 9.1
Based on 1 answer
Switch stacking feature is flawless

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Automotive Company, 1001-5000 employeesCisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco Catalyst 2960-X/XR Series Switches
- The organization was able to create a standardization of a single access switch model in our regional office and helped with equipment management.
- We've increased network security.
- We were able to connect WiFi access points without the need for an external source because they are power over ethernet.
Analista de sistema
NaturaChemicals, 201-500 employees
Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
- It's all about making the right choice in the right time. Let's face it - CISCO Catalyst switches are not cheap. But if you take the time to research and design your network the ROI rate will be faster than you imagine. Having a stable and scalable network is the most important aspect of Catayst - upgrading the core and backbone infrastructure allows you to push the older devices to the outer edges of the network or to new, under/undeveloped regions.
CIO (Chief Information Officer)
UltraNET LtdInformation Technology and Services, 51-200 employees