Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches vs NETGEAR ProSafe Managed Switches

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches are enterprise-class network core switches. They are not meant for small to medium size companies or satellite offices. These switches are useful to provide a highly available network backbone where all of your firewalls, edge routers, top-of-rack switches, and fabric interconnects can terminate on a scalable and secure network.

Read full review

Mark McCully

Senior Network Administrator

University HealthSystem ConsortiumHospital & Health Care, 1001-5000 employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

Well suited for a small business with minimal IT capital.

Read full review

Steve P

Information Technology Manager

Human Resources FirmHuman Resources, 51-200 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Pros

Offer a large concentration of high speed ports, even supporting PoE.
Very robust switches that have a large MTBF.
Support all of the enterprise software requirements.

Read full review

Bart Verbaandert

Technology Manager Global Connectivity Platforms

J&JHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 10,001+ employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

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".

Read full review

Steve P

Information Technology Manager

Human Resources FirmHuman Resources, 51-200 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Cons

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

Read full review

Verified User

Supervisor in Information Technology

Utilities Company, 10,001+ employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

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

Read full review

Steve P

Information Technology Manager

Human Resources FirmHuman Resources, 51-200 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

We ran a proof of concept for HPE and Cisco switches. Cisco won out due to the following:

Cisco's positive track record of previous Catalyst switch platforms we've had experience with (2900, 4500, 6500).
Large TCAM space to support large ACLs used to lock down endpoint access.
Cisco's community is large so it's typically easy to find answers online to questions we have about design, installation, or troubleshooting.
Catalyst 9000 is a newer platform than Aruba's switches that were perceived as re-branded HP Procurve switches, which have been around longer. While we can't say for sure this will amount to better ROI, we certainly felt like we'd get more life out of the Cisco 9000s.
ROI for Aruba Mobility Access Switches was low due to an unexpected EoS/EoL announcement, affecting our campus access switch deployment. This forced us to replace Aruba MAS switches sooner than expected, leaving a bad taste in our mouth.

Read full review

Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Insurance Company, 1001-5000 employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

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.

Read full review

Steve P

Information Technology Manager

Human Resources FirmHuman Resources, 51-200 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Return on Investment

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.

Read full review

Verified User

Team Lead in Information Technology

Oil & Energy Company, 10,001+ employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

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

Read full review

Steve P

Information Technology Manager

Human Resources FirmHuman Resources, 51-200 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No