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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Catalyst Switches

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ACisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.N/A

    Skype (discontinued)

    Score7.1 out of 10
    N/ASkype (the personal edition or Skype free) was a web meeting, video conferencing, and VoIP software, now superseded by Microsoft Teams' free edition and unsupported from May 2025.

    $2.99

    per month

    Pricing
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesSkype (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    United States Subscription
    $2.99
    per month
    North America Subscription
    $6.99
    per month
    India Subscription
    $7.99
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesSkype (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesSkype (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    600 Answers
    86%
    Would buy again
    85 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    531 Answers
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    80 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    600 Answers
    85%
    Happy with the feature set
    84 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    490 Answers
    84%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    53 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    568 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    70 Answers
    Features
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesSkype (discontinued)
    Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software
    Comparison of Performance & Compatibility of Online Events Software features of Cisco Catalyst Switches and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.2
    138 Ratings
    24% below category average
    High quality audio00 Ratings6.5135 Ratings
    High quality video00 Ratings7.2133 Ratings
    Low bandwidth requirements00 Ratings5.5130 Ratings
    Mobile support00 Ratings5.5118 Ratings
    Screen Sharing
    Comparison of Screen Sharing features of Cisco Catalyst Switches and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.2
    119 Ratings
    25% below category average
    Desktop sharing00 Ratings5.5118 Ratings
    Whiteboards00 Ratings6.860 Ratings
    Online Meetings / Events
    Comparison of Online Meetings / Events features of Cisco Catalyst Switches and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.0
    118 Ratings
    31% below category average
    Calendar integration00 Ratings6.185 Ratings
    Meeting initiation00 Ratings6.3106 Ratings
    Integrates with social media00 Ratings4.465 Ratings
    Record meetings / events00 Ratings7.077 Ratings
    Slideshows00 Ratings6.268 Ratings
    Online Events Collaboration
    Comparison of Online Events Collaboration features of Cisco Catalyst Switches and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    5.3
    111 Ratings
    41% below category average
    Live chat00 Ratings5.5110 Ratings
    Audience polling00 Ratings5.364 Ratings
    Q&A00 Ratings5.362 Ratings
    Online Events Security
    Comparison of Online Events Security features of Cisco Catalyst Switches and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    7.4
    101 Ratings
    9% below category average
    User authentication00 Ratings8.988 Ratings
    Participant roles & permissions00 Ratings7.183 Ratings
    Confidential attendee list00 Ratings6.260 Ratings
    VoIP system collaboration
    Comparison of VoIP system collaboration features of Cisco Catalyst Switches and Skype (discontinued)
    Feature
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    -
    Ratings
    Skype (discontinued)
    6.5
    4 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Video conferencing00 Ratings5.74 Ratings
    Audio conferencing00 Ratings6.54 Ratings
    Video screen sharing00 Ratings6.14 Ratings
    Instant messaging00 Ratings7.94 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesSkype (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    ClickMeeting
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    RUCKUS Ethernet Switches
    Score1 out of 10
    JioMeet
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Ethernet Switches
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Webex Meetings
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesSkype (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (774 ratings)
    9.3
    (140 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (40 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    8.6
    (46 ratings)
    6.0
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    8.8
    (14 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.3
    (14 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.5
    (38 ratings)
    10.0
    (42 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (12 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.8
    (10 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.1
    (9 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.2
    (14 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    7.9
    (36 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (37 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesSkype (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Well-suited for big companies like mine, where we have a lot of users that we have to connect together. Getting all the switches into one big stack that you can just manage all at one time is fantastic for ease of use. Not suited for maybe smaller mom and pop shops or smaller companies that don’t have as many. They could probably go with something much easier to manage.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Having interacted with a new replacement tool, Microsoft Teams, it is challenging to recommend Skype, as it lacks some essential features, such as being less equipped with the latest updates, and it is not platform-independent, causing issues on PCs and phones, as well as during calls that might hinder work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • Easy-to-use management interfaces. The CLI commands go across the whole Cisco Catalyst Switches 9000 series, so it makes it easy, the code being the same on the 9000 series. Just being able to do port channels, trunks, and connecting up edge switches to it with the Cisco Catalyst Switches 9000 Series.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • The instant chat function is great. Very straightforward, easy to use, easy to learn, no technical issues.
    • Video calls are pretty easy also, user friendly and a mostly stable connection with no issues.
    • Voice calls are easy also, eliminates the need for an external landline or the need to use your cell phone. Clear connections, not really any dropped calls.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • One thing is that these, every time Cisco gets a new switch, they just make an amendment to the power supply, so they'll just put a knob on it. So let's say if you lose any power supply unit, you'll have to purchase another one, which costs a lot of extra money because we have a lot of another power supply units from the redundant, which we can use, but we can't now because they have just tweaked the modeling of that. Which makes no sense, particularly to me because it's an extra money making machine kind of a thing. But that's fine.
    • Another thing is these ports, I believe they are a bit less of, if I can say the quality of the oldest switches, they were quite sturdy. As I said earlier, the new switches, they're very light and when you lift them you feel it. So that's one thing, which I think the quality or the material which we are using has gone down.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Skype is a RESOURCE hog. People who have limited bandwidth will have poor call quality.
    • It is hard to figure out how to use emojis and upload images in the chat.
    • The background images do not fool anybody....it is clearly not your real background.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I have given this rating as this need to give more than that as it's very helpful for us and makes our work more efficient and fast.
    Read full review
    Usability
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Skype is not as good as Facetime in terms of ease to glance at it and figure out how it works. I think that's a result of Skype trying to be too many things at once. A lot of the menu and UI could be streamlined, and I would jettison some of the additional functions that have been tacked on over the years to simplify. That being said, while some options are slightly hard to find, they all work flawlessly once found.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    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!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I am not aware of the current support level for Skype for business, as I have never used even though I have the product. However, the support for Skype's personal paid users is not where it could be. Users who pay for Skype features do not have a clear path to reach out to support. So, rating 6, can be better as soon as I need to use Skype for business support and get a good experience. I will say that I will renew Skype for Business subscription, which is a significant inconsistency on my end. The explanation is that Skype for Business comes bundled with Office for Business, with no additional cost, so why not.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Cisco
    My own personal research to get the information I want is very handy and helped me many times
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    It can be used on the phone via mobile application as well as on the desktop by logging in to the website. Easily installed and ready to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    2960s, 9200s, 9400s, 3650s, 3800s. I think that this product is a lot better. I know I just complained about the noise, but it’s still much quieter than our other ones. So we do have a couple of public deployments, and once we swap these out, they complained less. Sometimes we have small offices that get the gear in with them, and these sound less like a jet engine. And yeah, these are a lot easier to manage as well. Everything in the same family. It’s a lot.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    We use Skype in combination with Grasshopper. While Grasshopper acts as a routing toll free number with extensions, if we are making calls directly, we do it through Skype. Skype's desktop and mobile apps are easier to use, and provide unlimited local calls at a flat, affordable rate. Allowing our team to use their existing mobile or desktop devices without additional hardware for business office phone calls is important, and Skype makes that possible
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Professional Services
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    The service provided is up to date, as discussed before buying.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Skype made keeping in touch with an advisor in Mexico very easy. The initiative there resulted in 5 new partnerships.
    • Skype has helped me with account management for at least 3 customers in LATAM--usually it's a fast way to answer a question about a support renewal.
    • For about 9 months Skype helped me stay in touch with a colleague in Prague. We would meet once a week to go over sales activities.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Catalyst Switches Screenshots

    Product screenshotScreenshot of Catalyst 9200 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9300 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 Series Additional ViewScreenshot of Catalyst 9500 Series