We performed a comparison between Cisco Ethernet Switches vs D-link Ethernet Switches based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Cisco Ethernet Switches has better ratings because it has better stability and technical support than D-Link Ethernet Switches. D-Link does come out on top in the pricing category, however.
"The security of the switches is pretty impressive. There are many security features available on the product."
"Technical support is excellent. They are very helpful."
"It's all-encompassing and can help you in all these different areas. If people realize that they want something that's going to work, that's pretty foolproof, then Cisco's always worth the investment."
"We like the stability and scalability of Cisco Ethernet Switches."
"I think the VMA architecture is valuable."
"The features that I have found most valuable are that it is easy to use and it has good technical support."
"The quality of service is one of the main reasons we use Cisco in our organization. It's quite high and very reliable. The switches also end up working for a long time, so there's less need to replace them as often as others. We have some switches in our company that has been running since 2006, for example. They are quite old, but they still work."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are great devices."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"These switches are very easy to install because there is no configuration."
"It is a stable solution."
"We use the solution for the network and ethernet connection."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"Its integration is the most valuable."
"These switches are simple and easy to configure."
"The tool's fault frequency is very less."
"In terms of what could be improved, there is the bulk issue that is sometimes experienced with Cisco products we've used."
"The pricing should be reduced so that they are more competitive."
"I would like for the solution to have more more security features and be more user-friendly."
"Cisco switches are good as they are, but it would be a major feature if they have built-in routers. Some of the Microchip switches have routers built in the same device. They have a router switch. For some of the sites, we deploy such switches because the client does not want a separate router and a separate switch. So, we go for a router switch with maybe 24 ports. Some of them are fiber, and some of them are ethernet. It would be a major improvement to what Cisco is already doing. Behind the scenes, a lot of scripting and stuff like this is happening. A lot of workload can be lifted if Cisco had a good GUI. If you look at Microchip switches, they have a good GUI in addition to the CLI."
"The interface and dashboard could look better."
"The user interface, the UI, could be better."
"The product could improve in the area of simulated switches."
"In the future, some of the features could be updated to support the latest functions."
"They could be more stable. They were not as resistant as Cisco. After some time, some of them failed. This could be because we import quite a lot of products from different horizons, so there is no guarantee of quality. In Africa, these products don't always directly come from the manufacturer. We get these products from the Middle East or Asia. Therefore, you cannot be sure that the quality is exactly similar to what you have in Europe or America."
"The availability could be improved."
"They need to enhance stability."
"The solution needs to improve layer 2 switches."
"In a future release, the solution could improve by being more secure and allowing the configuration of each port."
"It could be easier to scale on managed devices."
"The technical support needs a lot of improvement."
"The D-Link Ethernet Switches have to be replaced because they are difficult to manage and security is poor. They should add centralized manageability to make the solution better, it will allow administrators to better know what is happening on the network."
Cisco Ethernet Switches is ranked 1st in Ethernet Switches with 29 reviews while D-Link Ethernet Switches is ranked 12th in Ethernet Switches with 14 reviews. Cisco Ethernet Switches is rated 8.6, while D-Link Ethernet Switches is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Cisco Ethernet Switches writes "Has impressive reliability, I have not experienced a failure ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of D-Link Ethernet Switches writes "Easy to set up, stable, and offers reasonable pricing". Cisco Ethernet Switches is most compared with Aruba Switches, Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access, Ubiquiti UniFi Switches, NETGEAR Switches and Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches, whereas D-Link Ethernet Switches is most compared with NETGEAR Switches, Aruba Switches, MikroTik Routers and Switches, Ubiquiti UniFi Switches and Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches. See our Cisco Ethernet Switches vs. D-Link Ethernet Switches report.
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I wholeheartedly agreee with everything Luis Apodaca has said. My additional comments are as follows:
What is the size of your network, and are you using any features of the Cisco switches?
How many switches are you trying to use and what is the total price difference between the two brands?
Most of the time, people are using cheap switches as plug-n-play equipment without any configuration and without any management. If that is also your case, you may use the cheapest alternative. After all, switch is a switch. And every brand will work with same performance values. Any switch will have most of the configurable/managerial features expected by a small to mid size network project.
However, Cisco support and Cisco durability is outstanding. Cisco didn't earn its reputation without these. Ofcourse, it comes with a slight price tag.
Hard to make a recommendation with zero details about your use case. But assuming your use case originally justified Cisco Catalyst switches (implying enterprise to medium-size business) I don’t recommend changing. The Cisco solution provides a greater feature set that can be very useful in larger environments. However, if the use case is a smaller/simple network there are more cost-effective options.
D-Link would not be at the top of my list though (Aruba, Netgear, Ubiquiti to name a few). I haven’t used a D-Link device in a long time though so I really can’t speak about their current product line which is why I wasn’t going to answer you until Evgeny Belenky called me out.
Hello Mesfin,
Luis has given good directions already.
Without much details, I could say that generally, I wouldn't recommend replacing a Cisco Switch with D-Link.
Thanks.