Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches vs. NETGEAR ProSafe Managed Switches

Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches are well suited for data closets in today’s ever expanding network system requirements. Today’s businesses rely on stable, fast, and highly available data connectivity. Businesses perform at such a quick pace now and the need to consume data resources is an integral part of most every business function. There can no longer be outages. Slow data connectivity and sluggish system response is directly related to business success. The Cisco Catalyst platform has provided our company with a network foundation that is fast and reliable so that the business can concentrate on what they do best.

Incentivized

Well suited for a small business with minimal IT capital.

Incentivized

• The Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches provide reliable connectivity for multiple client device types whether computers, phones, wireless access points, etc.
• The Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches has deployment flexibility from traditional IOS-XE deployments to Cisco Catalyst SD-Access and now Meraki monitored solutions.
• Multiple switch models allow us to customize each data closet deployment to exactly fit the port density and power-over-Ethernet requirements.

Incentivized

• The switches met the data transfer needs of a small business with about 30 users and 4 servers.
• The web interface was adequate for a business that didn't have the need to dive into a device with a CLI.
• These were wall mounted. Not the best network design, but small businesses cut corners. The mounting holes helped with this "solution".

Incentivized

• Software needs improvement, where features are added (Stack wise) or removed (GLBP) without solicitation from a wider audience or depreciation, respectively
• Software bugs recently in basic features like AAA
• Ability to turn off all unused services or features to reduce the attack surface
• Cisco CoPP functionality is not like it was on the Cat 6k platform - users cannot create custom policies for use at the control-plane interface

Incentivized

• Both switches were the same model number, same firmware. One switch needed to be rebooted about every 5 weeks. This problem was never resolved.

Incentivized

The Catalyst switches definitely have a more robust feature set than the Meraki switches but the Meraki switches are intended for a different use case than the Catalyst switches. We used Catalyst switches in our wiring closets because they fit in better with the topology and feature sets that we wanted to deploy.

Incentivized

The NetGear switches are definitely entry-level switches. They don't have the functionality (or cost) of Dell, HP, nor Cisco. But for the money, a business that is just starting out can't complain.

Incentivized

• Don't need to buy services - lifetime warranty
• Stability - even 10 year old devices are still running and doing the job
• Sometimes lines of products are on the market for a very short time (eg. 6800 instant access) - it is hard to buy equipment to make the network bigger.

Incentivized

• The NetGear switches made a positive impact as entry level switches for a startup company.

Incentivized