Filter Ratings and Reviews
Filter 327 vetted Cisco Catalyst Switches reviews and ratings
Reviews (1-25 of 50)
- They are reliable, i have never seen a catalyst switch fail
- They do what they are suppose to do, they are reliable and easy to setup
- Lots of resources available: vendors, professional services, training
- Some of them does not offer power supply redundancy
- Web interface is not the best, you need to use cli
- They are not easy / cheap to stack
- Catalyst 9500 Series
- Great performance. Incredibly fast and reliable.
- Automation. Template based, programmable pipeline.
- Scalable and highly redundant.
- Better cloud integration
- More automation features
- Better compatibility with ACI
- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Catalyst 2960-L Series
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Catalyst 9200 Series
- Catalyst 9300 Series
- Catalyst 9500 Series
- Catalyst 2960-L Smart Managed
- CATALYST 3850
- Utilizing the layer3 routing functions to have both our router/switch converged into one platform
- VLANS
- BGP
- EIGRP
- LAYER3
- LAYER2
- MULTICAST
- MULTICAST WITH AV
- 2960
- Using them as strictly LAYER2 devices with layer3 ip mgmt and ip vlans only
- Simplicity / scalability (stacking) @ remote locations where simple switching is only thing that is needed, and some intervlan routing.
- 9500 series @ datacenter
- 40gbit throughput is huge for us.
- Layer3/Layer2 functionality really helps us in the datacenter space with these switches
- VLANS
- LAYER3
- EIGRP
- BGP
- DYNAMIC ROUTING
- MULTICAST
- STP
- STORM CONTROL
- ACL
- 3RD PARTY SFP TRANSCIEVERS
- SUPPORT
- TAC
- Catalyst 3650 Series
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Catalyst 9200 Series
- Catalyst 9300 Series
- Catalyst 9400 Series
- Catalyst 9500 Series
- Configuration - Its very well documented and easy to understand
- Reliable - The hardware rarely fails and support is good
- There is lots of diversity in the product range
- The CLI is great for seasoned pros, but daunting for new users
- Cost, they are not known for their affordability
- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Catalyst 2960-L Series
- Catalyst 3650 Series
- They are extremely stable and reliable
- Extremely easy to manage once you are familiar with Cisco IOS
- They are probably on the higher end as far as costs
- Some IOS firmware upgrades can get a bit hairy
- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
Being able to investigate the ARP table easily to determine port mapping is also a great feature.
- VLAN Security
- QoS
- Port Blocking
- Contract Cost
- Integration of more models with Cisco Network Assistant
- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Easy to use and well known interface
- Solid security features
- Better control over traffic than other brands
- Aesthetics! The housing looks the same since the 90s
- Cpu usage seems too high when used in distribution layer
- Free trainings to better train non Cisco Certified users.
- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Catalyst 2960-L Series
- Catalyst 3650 Series
- Catalyst 9200 Series
- Catalyst 9300 Series
- Layer 2 and 3 routing in particular with the CAT 9200 and 9300 series
- VLAN management
- Standardization of SNMP data for monitoring
- Security
- Generally last well beyond the expected life of the devices.
- Licensing can be difficult
- The basic archetectural design could use some impovement. Get rid of the concept of a new box and just purchase modules that can repopulate the case. Saves them money that can be passed on to the purchaser, not to meantion recycling.
- Having to dig for this last one. Boot time is a little excessive.
- Catalyst 3650 Series
- One thing that is fascinating about Cisco Catalyst Switches is that they really do last
- The CLI configurations is fun once you get used to it
- It's effective in securing access layer devices with ACLs
- The IOS is very stable and can be trusted
- Overall cost--Cisco licenses are expensive
- They could bring some uniformity to the design for ease of integration
- The command line is very complex if you're not familiar with it
- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Catalyst 9200 Series
- Solid performance, even with questionable wiring.
- Great reliability; I had a switch that had a AC unit dripping on it for weeks before it failed.
- Stacking allows greater backbone bandwidth between switches.
- More or expandable flash storage.
- Faster software bug fixes.
- Ordering process is cumbersome.
- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Catalyst 3560-CX Series
- Catalyst 3650 Series
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Catalyst 9300 Series
- Very granular configuration available; IOS of all flavors; is still the tried and true switch/router OS
- Cisco Catalyst Switches are resilient; while probably not best practice, we have switches that have been running for years.
- A lot of options available in switches (copper to fiber ratio)
- As with most to all Cisco products, there is little room for just anyone to rack and stack the device and start setting it up; it is going to take someone with some training and experience, of course. This might make any IOS product (Catalyst or otherwise) not as accessible to smaller businesses without the IT resources or without getting consultants/outside help involved
- Sometimes Cisco documentation/support/tehcnical docs are a bit heavy and become difficult to navigate, much like Microsoft and probably any technical giant. There is just a ton of information that can be hard to go through without ending up in the weeds.
- Contacting support can be slow at times and sometimes language barriers make troubleshooting slow.
- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Catalyst 2960-L Series
- Catalyst 3560-CX Series
- Catalyst 3650 Series
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Catalyst 6800 Series
- Network segmentation
- Port security
- VLAN segmentation
- Network access
- GUI administration
- SSH interface
- Web security administration
- Catalyst 9300 Series
- Switching
- L3 Gateway
- EtherChannels
- Cost
- Too new, potential issues
- Potential bugs due to how new they are
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Able to have a failover setup
- Easy to set up and install
- Great support
- Can be pricey
- Catalyst 3650 Series
- They are dependable
- Sends traffic efficiently
- Monitored easily
- Vendor support can be difficult
- Pricing can be high without buying in volume
- Resellers can be difficult to negotiate with

- Catalyst 3560-CX Series
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Switching/Routing
- Stability
- High tolerance to environmental conditions
- Cost!
- Physical size
- Flexibility with port types

- Catalyst 6800 Series
- Compact (as far as core switches go) but with lots of expansion options.
- Typical good Cisco hardware quality.
- A strong Support team (Cisco TAC) to stand behind the device.
- The disparate expansions and plugins can be hard to mange license-wise.
- The costs for a fully loaded Catalyst core switch is massive.
- Doing upgrades and patches can be a major project.
- Catalyst 2960-L Series
- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Catalyst 9300 Series
- VXLAN gives us the ability to present the same environment over a L3 connection
- L2 traffic
- L3 traffic in the retail locations to cut back on the amount of equipment needed
- Cost is always an issue
- DNA licensing required when not needed
- Command line interface

- Catalyst 3560-CX Series
- Catalyst 3650 Series
- Absolutely solid switches that run for years
- Cisco TAC (Support) is fantastic and knowledgeable
- Compatible with the majority of connected devices
- Cisco is always going to be toward the top price wise
- Could use more intuitive GUI for newer users not used to command line
- More accessories could be included

- Catalyst 9400 Series
- Dual supervisor, dual power for resiliency.
- Ease of changing out switch blades.
- Network segregation abilities.
- High network bandwidth.
- Software updates and patching.
- GUI can be improved.

- Catalyst 3850 Series
- Reliability.
- Excellent feature set.
- Cutting edge of networking.
- Higher pricing.
- Higher skillset required to effectively manage.
- No other cons that I can think of and the 2 above aren't necessarily cons.

- Switching
- Routing
- Feature rich
- Some severe IOS bugs
- EOL/EOS components
- TAC support can be spotty at times

- Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
- Great for IDFs
- They have amazing reliability and run uninterrupted for years
- Cisco products are great, but they generally are more expensive than other brands
- Perhaps reduced noise is something that can be improved upon

- Catalyst 9200 Series
- Catalyst 9500 Series
- Fairly simple to configure.
- Works seamlessly as one unit when multiple switches are stacked.
- Very robust.
- While being fairly simple to configure, some of the commands can be tricky.
- Definitely the all of the ports should be labeled.
- Stacking modules should be in the front of the switch instead of the back of 9200.
- Console port should be in the front instead of the back of the 9200.
- Catalyst 9500 Series
- Reliability is key for 24/7 core network.
- Consistency of code structure and command base for configuration.
- Moving towards cloud based management with out complex software stack.
- Designated web UI where you can build config scripts with a GUI like on a ASDM.
Cisco Catalyst Switches Scorecard Summary
What is Cisco Catalyst Switches?
The Cisco Catalyst family of switches includes enterprise LAN access, distribution, and core switches. The vendor says the switches are designed for an entirely new era of intent-based networking, deliver stellar performance and functionality, and prepares a network for the future with breakthrough innovations for security, mobility, IoT, and the cloud.
Cisco Catalyst switches offer advanced security capabilities, scale for IoT, and cloud readiness.
Cisco aims to transform how people connect, communicate, and collaborate. Cisco and its valued partners sell Cisco hardware, software, and services to businesses of all sizes, governments, service providers, and consumers.
Cisco now offers a two-question, two-minute interactive tool to
identify the Cisco products and services available to help users solve up to 5
network challenges.
Cisco Catalyst Switches Screenshots
Cisco Catalyst Switches Downloadables
Cisco Catalyst Switches Competitors
Cisco Catalyst Switches Technical Details
Operating Systems: | Unspecified |
---|---|
Mobile Application: | No |