Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Catalyst 2960-L Series Switches | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 9.1 out of 10

Based on 337 reviews and ratings

Score 9 out of 10

Based on 41 reviews and ratings

Pros

Stability and Reliability - We have not had many failures over the past years using Cisco Catalyst switches.
Flexibility - Cisco Catalyst switches offers a wide portfolio of switching equipment which can address a variety of needs. This includes switches with stacking and non-stacking capability, fixed rackmount and chassis options which can be mounted in data centre racks and and also compact switching which may be more feasible for small SOHO offices.
Scalable Performance - Cisco Catalyst switches offers various port speeds from 1Gbps 10Gbps, 100Gbps etc. This is available in both copper (RJ45) and fibre (SFP). Many models also offer a variety of uplink speed options which future proofs the invest in Cisco technologies allowing us to upgrade depending on our changing business requirements and available budgets.

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Zakarieya Abderoef

Solutions Architect

Baraka Technology GroupInformation Technology and Services, 51-200 employees

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They are simple to setup and maintain.
Once you have them configured, you won't have to touch them again. They just work!
The Cisco Catalyst 2960-L Series Switches are fanless, so they work perfectly in some of our more rugged locations.

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Cody Plassmeyer

IT Network Specialist

Central Electric Power CooperativeUtilities, 51-200 employees

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Cons

Would like to see a second power supply so it can get power from two different sources.
Hard to find a USB flash drive that will work when loading images for upgrade.
IOS upgrades are a pain to perform. Upgrades should be an easy process. Would like to perform the upgrade through a web browser.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Transportation/Trucking/Railroad Company, 10,001+ employees

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The ability to easily do packet captures on the cli would be handy
I struggle with the log timestamps relative to the actual time on the machine
The ability to put control plane ACL's would be nice rather than having to upgrade for vulnerabilities

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Verified User

Supervisor in Engineering

Accounting Company, 5001-10,000 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Catalyst 2960-L Series Switches 9.1

Based on 2 answers

Catalyst offers a wide range of switch solutions that have supported the needs that we have. Couple that with their relatively easy to use IOS interface, our staff is able to adequately manage these devices without needing advanced training. Cisco has also provided great support whenever there was a situation that we could not resolve concerning these switches.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Telecommunications Company, 201-500 employees

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Usability

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Catalyst 2960-L Series Switches 9.9

Based on 3 answers

I have used CAtalyst switches for both access layer and core switch setups, and have always had a good experience with them. They have been super reliable switches, and I'll be using them in the future. The ease of use allows us to deploy these switches in a variety of setups without difficulty, and low turnaround time.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Telecommunications Company, 201-500 employees

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Reliability and Availability

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Catalyst 2960-L Series Switches 9.1

Based on 1 answer

I have had only 2 outrages in 18 years. Really a very reliable piece of technology Cisco has there

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Banking Company, 10,001+ employees

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Performance

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Catalyst 2960-L Series Switches 8.2

Based on 1 answer

I thing high level (executive) level reports should be automatically generated since budget comes from general and financial manager who usually don't care about technical details

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Banking Company, 10,001+ employees

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Support Rating

Cisco Catalyst Switches 9.0

Based on 1 answer

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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Ryhlen Schoeberl

Systems Administrator II

Vast BroadbandTelecommunications, 201-500 employees

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Cisco Catalyst 2960-L Series Switches 8.6

Based on 3 answers

Documentation is excellent. Haven't had to contact tech support yet. Updates are frequent and of good quality.

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Wouter Hindriks

Technical Team Lead Network & Security

Missing Piece BVInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

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Implementation Rating

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Catalyst 2960-L Series Switches 9.1

Based on 1 answer

It is very important to have a checklist of the different deployment options before beginning. Normally you have to spend a 4-hour session with your implementation partner to get things to work faster. Remember they have the technical knowledge but not the business knowledge.

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Banking Company, 10,001+ employees

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Alternatives Considered

* Arista Switches** Arista switches are great, don't get me wrong, but the lack of PoE support, the lack of stacking, has really hindered their entry way into the campus market, 99% of my use cases are campus switching for end users, not data center, in this market, cisco wins hands down every time.

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Network Engineer

Wilks Brothers LLCOil & Energy, 1001-5000 employees

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The Cisco Catalyst is THE series to use if you want to create stack within your network cabinet. It's really easy in terms of management and installation. As soon as you get familiar with Catalyst stack, you don't want to do something else. The only concern is about the upgrade, because if you have for example a stack of 8 48ports, you will bring down at the same time, potentially around 400 users, so you need to be careful and do it outside of business hours.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Telecommunications Company, 10,001+ employees

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Scalability

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco Catalyst 2960-L Series Switches 7.3

Based on 1 answer

Need more graphical user interface

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Verified User

Manager in Information Technology

Banking Company, 10,001+ employees

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Return on Investment

Cisco catalyst switches have allowed our networks to run smoothly with no interruptions.
These switches are scalable so we were able to add more switches as needed, without interrupting the network activity.
Automation techniques allowed us to deploy configuration with minimum effort.

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Andrew Yudin, MBA/CCNP

Principal Network and Security Engineer

Cheetah DigitalMarketing & Advertising, 1001-5000 employees

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Staffing qualified IT professionals to manage the networks is typically not an issue.
Great technical support through service contracts ensures that downtime can be kept to a minimum even when encountering complex issues that go beyond the knowledge of the average IT staff supporting the devices.
Cisco products have a great reputation, so it gives us peace of mind knowing we are using a solid industry leading product.

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Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 10,001+ employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

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