1. Home
  2. LAN Switches
  3. Cisco Catalyst Switches Reviews
  4. User Review of Cisco Catalyst Switches
Cisco is a good investment
December 11, 2020

Cisco is a good investment

Robert Rogers | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Catalyst Switches

  • Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
  • Catalyst 9200 Series
We have a large campus and these Cisco Catalyst Switches are extremely reliable and are used in various environments from server rooms to maintenance garages. Their failure rate is extremely low and that helps with our tight budgets. They are an industry standard so it is quick to get new support staff up tp speed.
  • 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.
  • Even at end of support and end of life, the prior models are still going strong and function as needed. Makes budgets stretch!
  • The switches have a rich feature set and you can use as little or as much as is needed.
  • Initial cost is a bit high but longevity is good.
We have benefitted greatly from the customization and manageability. We have segmented our network for function and security. The customization allows our network to change and grow as needed. The manageability allows our a small staff to deal with a large campus from a central location without having to travel a lot.
I have worked with Intel and 3com switches, and price comparable models just don't have the features and customizability of Cisco Catalyst Switches. The community of Cisco users is much larger and is a great resource in finding examples and ideas. Part of our decision was also that we have in-house experience with Cisco as well, and with their big marketshare, more potential talent will have Cisco experience and skills.

Do you think Cisco Catalyst Switches delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Catalyst Switches's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Catalyst Switches live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Catalyst Switches go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Catalyst Switches again?

Yes

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (npm), VMware ESXi, ZENworks Configuration Management (f.k.a. Novell ZENworks Configuration Mgmt.)
They are great where you need to segment your network or apply quality of service or stack for a large number of devices. Using them in a small network would constitute overkill. They are a bit noisy, so I would not put them in an office space the requires low noise.