We performed a comparison between Cisco Catalyst Switches and Dell PowerConnect Switches based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Users feel Cisco Catalyst Switches provide great stability, intuitive reliable analytics, seamless scalability, excellent PoE capabilities, and solid robust security. However, users are happier with the pricing of Dell PowerConnect Switches.
"Catalyst Switches are easy to install."
"If we are providing a switching solution, it's not just switching, it's a whole solution with DNA. That is where the whole concept of Network Management and Network Assurance comes in. So Catalyst plays a big role in putting everything together and providing a whole solution to the customer."
"They don't ever fail and they have a long service life."
"The solution is highly reliable."
"I never had downtime with Cisco Catalyst Switches in the last eight years, and I'm pretty impressed with its reliability."
"We use a lot of security features available with Cisco Catalyst Switches."
"It is easy to use."
"It enables fast data transfer rates, while offering stable and consistent network performance."
"The most valuable feature is stability."
"The product is reliable."
"The functionality is very good."
"The features I've found most valuable are that the product is very easy to configure and inexpensive."
"This is a very reliable solution."
"When the price is competitive the customers tend to choose the cheaper brand and then look at the features. So having a competitive price is a plus."
"The solution’s technical support is good."
"The setup is straightforward. It takes minimum time for deployment."
"The licensing process should be back to how it was before. Now, you have to register online, and it makes staging a bit trickier."
"The product could offer more integrations with other solutions."
"The solution could improve by adding a user-friendly GUI. We use third-party applications for log monitoring that are expensive and if Cisco could provide log monitoring as part of this solution it would be beneficial."
"The switches could be improved."
"The customer service and support need a bit more improvement and a faster response. So, there is an area of improvement."
"Price could be lower."
"There's a ban on my country and therefore I can't get Cisco support if I need it. It's not allowed."
"Cisco applies restrictions in relation to renewals on a yearly basis. Many other brands don't have restrictions. If Cisco lifted them, they wouldn't lose so many clients to competitors."
"The configuration should be improved."
"The solution's ROI for generic networking is not extraordinary."
"When it comes to the configuration, there should be documentation and interactive help available to assist people who have experience with products from other vendors."
"The one issue you face in the industry there is always some planned obsolescence in these switches."
"I can't think of what we would want in the next release."
"The CLI for Dell PowerConnect Switches is sometimes confusing, especially with the LAN, but for the GUI it is simple."
"I would like to see better scalability and more features on these switches in the future."
"A big issue with this product is that when our customer migrated the data center, one cluster blocked the whole network and because we had a new approach, some commands were not compatible with the new version."
Cisco Catalyst Switches is ranked 1st in LAN Switching with 171 reviews while Dell PowerConnect Switches is ranked 3rd in LAN Switching with 30 reviews. Cisco Catalyst Switches is rated 8.6, while Dell PowerConnect Switches is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Cisco Catalyst Switches writes "Reliable and stable catalyst switch; can be easily installed". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Dell PowerConnect Switches writes "Excellent support, good pricing, and easy setup". Cisco Catalyst Switches is most compared with Arista Networks Platform, Cisco Nexus, HPE ProCurve, ExtremeSwitching and Aruba Instant On Switches, whereas Dell PowerConnect Switches is most compared with Cisco Nexus, HPE ProCurve, NETGEAR Switches, Arista Networks Platform and Dell PowerSwitch N-Series. See our Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Dell PowerConnect Switches report.
See our list of best LAN Switching vendors and best Data Center Networking vendors.
We monitor all LAN Switching reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
