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December 18, 2020
- Catalyst 9300 Series
The Cisco 9300 series switches have become ubiquitous for in-office switching for us. While we rely on the larger Nexus switches for our datacenters, switching in the offices is handled entirely by the Cisco 9300's. These provide all office-switching for us, for phones, zero clients, videoconferencing units, servers, etc. They allow us to support multiple VLAN's per port, which works really well for us, as we have 1 port per desk at most desks. This allows us to daisy-chain our laptops or zero clients off of our Polycom phones, while still assigning the highly restrictive Voice VLAN per floor to the phone, and the workstation or zero client VLAN, to the laptop or zero clients, respectively.
- Multiple VLANs per port.
- Quick and easy assigning of different VLANs per port.
- Cisco ISE Integration.
- Trunking of VLANs between switch stacks on different floors.
- Cost. They're expensive, as is the maintenance.
- If someone is not familiar with Cisco's IOS, it can be intimidating.
- A better GUI interface would be awesome.
- Cisco is overly dependent on Java for their tools. While the universal nature of Java is appealing, it doesn't always make for great product reliability. It also makes Java client updates stressful, as you never know if a new release will break the tools.
Creating the various purpose-specific VLAN's on each floor on the switch stacks is fairly straight-forward, and easy to expand to new floors. It makes scaling a very straight-forward affair, with nothing unpredictable. It also makes integrating these various VLAN's into our Palo Alto firewall's security zones very simple. Everything just works. ISE allows us to enforce user-level access as well, something which we certainly could not do on our aging HP ProCurve switches.
December 15, 2020
- Catalyst 9300 Series
We use [Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches] as a Core network infrastructure. We connect them across the WAN to 2 locations. We use them as our routers as well, which allows us a better ROI whenever we are considering what we need to buy for our different data centers. This way we don't need an extra piece of routing equipment.
- vlan creation and management
- Routing
- ISCSI San
- Creating VLCs to keep things redundant
- I wish they had the Nexus OS instead of the IOS
- By default they have Jumboframes but it isn't listed with a show run. this makes it a challenge.
- Stacking them can be challenging.
We use these as the core of our virtual networks and it functions well as this. We are also able to use VLCs to be able to make everything redundant. It saves time because we can centrally manage them and copy paste the configs whenever we need to add more of these into the rack.
December 04, 2020
- Catalyst 9300 Series
Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches have been purchased as a replacement for our existing 3850 deployment. They address end of life as well as the ability to support new projects that include Wifi 6 and widespread POE of cameras and paging.
- Multi-Gig support over copper ethernet
- Higher power POE support for a variety of devices
- Very high performance compared to previous switches
- UPOE+ compatibility with existing devices. I had a very difficult time getting Avigilon cameras to work on this switch. Spent days with Avigilon and Cisco but we did finally get it working. UPOE+ is still fairly new, so make sure your devices are supported.
- LLDP Support
- Clear support for POE features
These switches combined with Cisco DNA, Prime, and ISE can lead to some serious automation that can really simplify deployment long term; however, the initial setup would be very complex, time consuming, and require a great deal of expertise. We will not be implementing these initially. We do have Prime and ISE, which are key components, so we will be looking into this in the near future.
November 10, 2020
- Catalyst 9300 Series
It improved network functionality and scalability, [providing] more security and faster remote access.
- Stable connections in both outside and inside locations of the refinery
- Able to handle extreme heat or cold temperatures.
- Superb access for VOIP phones, access points, multiple VLANs, QOS
- Would like to see SFP+ ports available.
- At times port channel uplinks give us issues and light indicators are not helpful
- Cost is a little high
September 08, 2020
- Catalyst 9300 Series
We have implemented Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches on a campus LAN to power wireless access points, and the performance has changed to be very fast and stable.
- Great for Internet of things
- Great for software-defined access
- Storage space and better security
- Weight is a bit high.
- A bigger size for very old cabinets
- Use of normal three-way power cables
Cisco software-defined access makes it easier to roll out the new campus Catalyst 9300 Series Switches through DNA center and that saves a lot of time in configuration.
December 13, 2020

- Catalyst 9300 Series
We use Layer 2 9300 switches for our Layer 2 needs, such as smaller switches for ilo(out of band management) or Internet aggregation and or for simple user connections or expanding on wireless infrastructure POE aggregated switches. this are low power, low maintance switches that are usually very handy and are work horses in a smaller less demanding infrastructure environment.
- Move Packets
- Smart switching
- Cisco standard TECH CDP etc.. all there
- Layer 2 traffic
- The licensing
- Unneeded DNA license requirements
- Needed call home feature to use all feature sets
- DNA servers needed for automation and a full set of analytics.
In order to use this features, a DNA server controllers are needed. To use Analytics you only need one, to perform automation and such tasks you need 3. While in demo and theory this is great! The setup time needed for the controllers is long, the return on layer 2 switch is low, as you mostly used for mgmt or very smaller scale traffic. if you plaining to do 200 switch deployment then DNA servers/services is the way to go, but for smaller deployments, unless analytics is a must, I would say invest time to setup 1 controller. If you dont need any of this then I say skip it.
February 22, 2021

- Catalyst 9300 Series
Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches are used throughout our environment and relied upon to keep things running. We use these at all levels of our network. By using Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches as a standard, we are able to easily manage our environments, regardless of which location around the world we are looking at. The switches themselves provide the reliability and performance that we expect from a Cisco product.
- Uptime reliability
- Performance
- Easy management
- Require technical expertise to manage
- Cost can be intimidating
At this point in time, our organization has not had the time to move into the realm of automation. It is something that we are interested in and we know that our current infrastructure running Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches can support. We hope to begin moving in this direction.
December 10, 2020

- Catalyst 9300 Series
We have used the Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches for a wide variety of applications, such as DMZ switches, server switches, access switches, and even distribution switches for smaller organizations. They come in many different flavors, which gives customers a variety of options for many different scenarios and price points for their use. Also leveraging DNA Center adds additional features such as automation, network security, and visibility amongst others.
- Great throughput and performance
- Stackable
- Ability to integrate third-party tools
- Easy to upgrade
- Price is the main complaint
- Forcing bundled DNA licenses
Integration with DNAC gives you great visibility and security and makes it easy to manage entire sites and unify policy across the board. It also makes the management and upgrades of the appliance simple and easier to manage across large organizations. There is a significant improvement across the board from its predecessor, the 3850.
August 05, 2020
- Catalyst 9300 Series
Los estamos utilizando como conmutadores de acceso para entornos de red de sucursales y campus. Nos brindan una mejor experiencia en el aprovisionamiento y la administración de nuestra red a un precio asequible. La familia Catalyst 9000 proporciona fuerza de clase empresarial para mantener nuestro negocio funcionando sin problemas. Esta familia de productos ofrece caracterÃsticas de seguridad avanzadas que protegen la integridad del hardware, asà como el software y todos los datos que fluyen a través del conmutador y la red. Puede elegir diferentes modelos y caracterÃsticas que se pueden adaptar a su negocio.
- Stability of the connection between the regions and campus.
- They support the industry’s highest density 802.11ac Wave 2 deployments with Cisco Multigigabit Technology.
- This allows us to auto-provision end-user computers, phones, and access points without an engineer having to touch each switch to ensure proper VLANs and QoS are set up.
- very good product
- Leadtimes are often quite long.
- Strong security, advanced QoS, comprehensive IPv6 support, Layer 3 static routing, and true stacking.
- The hardware is reasonably priced, however, the licenses can be a surprise on the initial investment budget.
Se han logrado muchos beneficios al incorporar los interruptores de las series 9300 o 9500. Hemos creado algunas API a través del mismo IOS, pero no lo hemos integrado con las soluciones más potentes (DNA Center, ISE y Stealthwatch). Los tenemos internamente y en el futuro cercano (enero de 2019) implementaremos una solución SDA completa. Una vez que esto se complete, me encantará ver cuánta automatización y otras caracterÃsticas incluidas en este paquete se revelan.
September 26, 2019
- Catalyst 9300 Series
The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches are used as access switches (stack and single switch) and core/access (in smaller branch office) switches.
- Stackable
- Power Stack works well.
- Possibility of using SDA.
- No idea.
Our organization doesn't use these features yet, but we will probably use them in the near future, therefore Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches were the best possible choice for a modern company.
June 14, 2019
- Catalyst 9300 Series
Catalyst Switches have been broadly deployed in the university campuses over 14 years. The switches serve the campus network for the office space, computer lab, classroom, library, voice IP system, the building control system, and security system. They are the fundamental infrastructure of the campus network. It delivers the essential networking communication of the university teaching and learning environment.
- Using Power of Ethernet to deliver the network connection for IP Phones and Wireless Access Points.
- Catalyst Switch stacking capability makes it easy to use in networking management.
- Hardware ready for Software Defined Access technology will protect the investment while the business decides to migrate to the campus fabric solution in the near future.
- Make the IOS XE code more robust and stable.
- It will be nice to have full SFP+ ports available on 9300 switch.
- UPoE available on all ports.
Automation is a pretty new technology. To be frank, most of the users including my company are still in the lab or proof of concept stage at this moment. It will take for a while for us to absorb and test how the product can do and then migrate into the production environment eventually. This will mean a whole infrastructure change and will also impact the business flow.
June 14, 2019
- Catalyst 9300 Series
We have started rolling out the new Cisco Catalyst 9300 switches in our environment to replace our aging network so we can work on improving our security. So far they have been incredibly easy to update, configure, and deploy even without using automated tools. The ones I have deployed so far have been rock solid and fit our needs.
- Switching - various modules to connect to devices depending on their cabling needs
- Ease of setup and operation - Can support zero touch setup - works with DNA center for automation
- Routing - Supports most major IGPs for IPv4 and IPv6 - i.e. EIGRP, OSPF
- Security
- None at this time - haven't ran into anything that I haven't been able do with them at my company
So far our organization has only used the basic features of the Catalyst 9300 but have plans to implement more of their capabilities in the feature when we get more of them installed and become more comfortable using them. We are soon to use AAA and 802.1x and am looking forward to using DNA center to help automate their configurations.
- Catalyst 9300 Series
The C9300-48P are used at our branch offices to connect all network devices in the branch office network.
- StackWise technology.
- Integrates with Cisco Prime Infrastructure.
- The Cisco Bug CSCvi49725 C9300: Group of 4 ports stops forwarding traffic, making extremely disruptive downtime to business as usual, and causing difficulty to troubleshooting, driving up deployment costs.
- The length of the switch is longer, even with standard power supplies, than the previous model, Cisco 3850. This makes them difficult to fit into tight IDF spaces.
The Cisco bug CSCvi49725 C9300: Group of 4 ports stopped forwarding traffic, did not have any time saving, and caused a bad perception of an otherwise good product.
May 07, 2019
- Catalyst 9300 Series
The Catalyst 9300 Series switches are the Access Layer Switches of our office LAN. The switches are used depending on demand in a stack or as standalone switches in the wiring closets.
With the power and data stacking options of the technology, we try to reach the highest possible availability for devices that have only one network card included.
With the power and data stacking options of the technology, we try to reach the highest possible availability for devices that have only one network card included.
- High reliability
- Good scalability through the stacking concept
- One software version across the whole product line
- Price
With the automation, we are just at the beginning, but the selection of the switches was done to have the option to increase the automation part on the office network for day 0 deployment, change and troubleshooting.
We don't use the possibilities that come with DNA at the moment as the cost for DNA is very high and the IT budget, unfortunately, is very limited. We see the potential and might migrate to a DNA solution later.
We don't use the possibilities that come with DNA at the moment as the cost for DNA is very high and the IT budget, unfortunately, is very limited. We see the potential and might migrate to a DNA solution later.
August 13, 2019

- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Catalyst 9300 Series
We use Cisco Catalyst 3850/9300. It provides a stable fabric for our internal network infrastructure. We always install these devices as switch stacks to ensure full redundancy on both power and the dataplane. The switch stacks can always be expanded with more interfaces as the installation grows. This can even be achieved without service windows and zero network outage.
- The device profile can be modified by installed a new license, e.g. introducing new routing protocols and advanced features.
- Features such as stackwise and power stacking makes the devices very modular and customizable.
- Hardware is very mature and provides years of stable operation.
- Software is constantly updated and supported.
- The hardware is reasonably priced, however the licenses can be a surprise on the initial investment budget.
- Leadtimes are often quite long.
- Global list prices seems inflated and unrealistic.
In our organization we're utilizing virtualization on Cisco's ENCS platform and the hypervisor platform is always accompanied by a Catalyst Switch stack, due to the limited number of physical interfaces on the ENCS hardware. We did however upgrade to the Catalyst 9300 due to its DNA center support, which we will implement next year.
- Online training
- Self-taught
- Catalyst 9300 Series
We use them as our access layer switches. Providing multi-gig connectivity to our Meraki access points. We also like the fact that they can run containers, this is a new feature we are being exposed to, so we are still testing this new feature.
- Routing and Switching
- Multi Gigabit
- Run Containers
- None at this time
- The switch itself is quite long. Was not able to fit it in some of our cabinets. We need the 9200 for those locations.
We are not yet using these capabilities yet. We manage them individually over SSH still. We are testing a few of them using Cisco DNA center.
- Catalyst 9300 Series
Ours is a hospital set up with about 400 beds. We do need to make sure our IT services provide uninterrupted, high-quality network availability to our patients, care providers, and other ancillary staff. We were using Cisco 3750 access switches before and have just migrated and/or are in the process of migrating them to 9300 series access switches. Since we planned to migrate our entire access layer switches to a new platform, we had to choose one with an ease of deployment, and 9300 fit the bill. They provide a great balance of performance and cost. Also, features like more bandwidth per port, and less latency on the network, help us to provide reliable 24x7 SLA based operations to our customers. Cisco also provides a multitude of SDN features, which helps the network team to build and automate network tasks, so that we can spend less time on deployment and configuration while spending more time on the healthcare business, the primary goal of our company. We are planning to use them for at least another 6-7 years, as we have the necessary port level bandwidth to support their end-user requirements. All in all, it's a great product from a great company, and we recommend it.
- Higher port level bandwidth availability.
- SDN ready platform.
- Encrypted traffic analytics.
- The price point is high compared to other vendor products.
- They provide bare-bones hardware so that the customer can write their own code to operate them.
We have not started to use them yet, but we certainly like that these features have been added to the Catalyst products, and we plan to use them in the near future to automate some of our daily configuration tasks, etc. They are of great benifit to the network administrators and DevOps engineers.
April 29, 2019

- Catalyst 9300 Series
The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches are primarily utilized for the user access level. We use stand-alone switches at small sites and stacks in some slightly larger where a chassis would not be best. We also utilize the mGig line for 3800 and 4800 series APs.
- Throughput.
- Stacking.
- Programmability.
- mGig.
- Buggy IOS sometimes (still new).
- Overpowered for small businesses.
- Licensing limitations ($$).
We are still setting up the DNA Center, so we haven't really started with programmability yet. But the added assurance and visibility has been eye-opening on what we've been missing.
June 14, 2019

- Catalyst 9300 Series
Used as access switches in the Enterprise network. Feature rich platform which helps with QoS deployments, supports ETA and is supported by Cisco DNA-C.
- QoS
- ETA
- Cisco DNA-C support
- Documentation of bugs
- ASIC documentation
- Upgrade cycles
Yes, benefited from the PnP feature for 0-touch provisioning.
Also benefited from the QoS policy feature in DNA-C for supported devices.
Also benefited from the QoS policy feature in DNA-C for supported devices.
February 05, 2019
- Catalyst 9300 Series
We are using them as access switches for branch and campus environments. They give us better experience provisioning and managing our network at an affordable price. The Catalyst 9000 family provides enterprise-level resiliency to keep our business up and running seamlessly. They give access to Cisco’s best in class security portfolio anchored by Talos, Encrypted Traffic Analytics, Trustworthy Solutions, MACsec encryption and segmentation. This product family provides advanced security features that protect the integrity of the hardware as well as the software and all data that flows through the switch and the network.
- One network, one OS, wired and wireless. The convergence is seamless with the Cisco Catalyst 9000 portfolio.
- Policies are applied consistently for security, automation, and assurance, while segmentation separates devices and users to help reduce the attack surface.
- They support the industry’s highest density 802.11ac Wave 2 deployments with Cisco Multigigabit Technology
- It lacks a controller with integrated visibility between Cisco DNA and Cisco ACI
- They can be expensive for certain customers
- The installed base is still not very high
Our products and services can be customized, ordered and delivered at the click of a button using web-based applications. Business data can be acquired, analyzed and exchanged in near-real time. Geographic boundaries between businesses and consumers are diminishing. And the network is at the center of communication to and between the applications driving the digital economy.
February 06, 2019
- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Catalyst 9300 Series
I can't imagine any LAN without Cisco Switches. They are as essential as anything else that you need to set up a LAN network. I never had any huge problems using this platform, and they can actually work forever without breaking. You can select from multiple models and features that can suit your business.
- Switching
- Routing
- Operation
- No complaints at this time.
Yes, we do use automation, but using standard scripts.
We use the 9000 series for ACI and SDN. That forms our core network.
- SDN for the 9000 series.
- Large administration base
- Industry standard
- Needs more constant innovation
- Cost
- In-person training
- Self-taught
June 26, 2018
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Catalyst 9300 Series
We use Cisco Catalyst switches in our access layer. They provide a great balance of performance and cost. They come in a variety of models with different features. They have modular power supplies and modules. This ensures they provide the roustabout redundancy we need. With IoT and other technologies, these switches ensure that we can keep up with the needs of the business. Whether it's from a user or security perspective the catalyst switches have us covered.
- Security features
- Ability to adapt to new needs (through Hardware ASICs and software)
- Catalyst support is best of breed
- Modular design to grow with the need
- TCO
- Boot times
- Licensing
We will start to use these features with the roll out of Cisco DNS Center that will work with the catalyst switches. The virtualization technology in the switch is a new concept for us. I think we will start to leverage that in the near future. We should start to see improvements in efficiencies with these new switches.
- Catalyst 3650 Series
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Catalyst 9300 Series
We use Cisco Catalyst Switches for multiple applications within multiple layers. They provide us dependable port connectivity as well as additional functionality such as 802.1x.
- LAN switching
- Voice segmentation
- Routing and MPLS tagging
- Port aggregation
- Per port costs are higher than other vendors, even though those vendors do not provide as much out of their switches, the number is a selling obstacle
Combined with ISE we have been able to implement secure connectivity throughout our network.
- Catalyst 9300 Series
Financial institutions are very interested in the Encrypted Traffic Analytics feature, specifically the ability to do a crypto audit with StealthWatch to meet their regulatory requirements.
- 1X integration with ISE
- API access, with Python bindings
- The guest shell allows customers to do almost anything they need with these switches.
- Cost
- Some of the default settings are ridiculous. I always update the log and debug settings to include the timestamp, and auto secure is a must. Why shouldn't these be defaults?
- The LAN Lite image is useless, I have no reason to sell such a limited switch.
The single most useful feature in the new automation abilities is being able to run packet captures directly on an access switch. This saves minutes if not hours each time a capture needs to be set up.
Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches Scorecard Summary
What is Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches?
The Catalyst 9300 Series is described by Cisco as the next generation of the industry's most widely deployed stackable switching platform, recognized as CRN's 2018 Overall Network Product of the Year. And for security, IoT, and the cloud, these switches form the foundation of Cisco Software-Defined Access, their enterprise architecture solution.
Categories: LAN Switches
Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches Competitors
HPE Networking Switches, Dell PowerConnect Switches, Ruckus ICX Switches (formerly Brocade ICX Switches)
Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches Technical Details
Operating Systems: | Unspecified |
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Mobile Application: | No |