Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. D-Link Ethernet Switches

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Cisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.N/A
D-Link Ethernet Switches
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
D-Link offers Ethernet switches.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesD-Link Ethernet Switches
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesD-Link Ethernet Switches
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPrices vary between $19.99 and $129.99 depending on switch category, series type, and other factors.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesD-Link Ethernet Switches
Considered Both Products
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
D-Link Ethernet Switches were being mostly used in our organization with some other lesser-known brands as well. These switches were made for small businesses and home users and they were not able to handle large amounts of traffic from hundreds of users simultaneously. Cisco …
Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
We had about 15 different brands of network switches before adopting Cisco, and were not satisfied with any of them. Percentage of breakage on these units was very high.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
D-Link switches are nice switches with many features. They are also less expensive as compared with other options in the market. However, they are not built to handle large amounts of traffic in large enterprise networks or ISPs networks. Cisco Catalyst switches on the other …
D-Link Ethernet Switches
Chose D-Link Ethernet Switches
Cisco Catalyst Switches are top of the line when it comes to enterprise-grade network switches. They can handle large amounts of traffic with no impact on forwarding and they have all the features needed to manage and monitor in an enterprise environment. On the other hand, …
Best Alternatives
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesD-Link Ethernet Switches
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Score 9.0 out of 10
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
Cisco Ethernet Switches
Cisco Ethernet Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesD-Link Ethernet Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(625 ratings)
8.3
(6 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(31 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.5
(32 ratings)
8.6
(4 ratings)
Availability
9.2
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.7
(30 ratings)
7.6
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.4
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.7
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.2
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.5
(30 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.7
(31 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesD-Link Ethernet Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
I think the most suited ones will be of course, for example, a supermarket where you have more than 50 plus devices because there are like 48 ports in a switch. We can just use a lot of devices and connect them to it. A less use case will be, I think it depends at the end of the day how your topology looks like. If you have a very few devices, you shouldn't be going for these catalyst switches because they are of course much bigger, more processing power and all those things. If you have, again, it comes to topology. If you have the number of users who are using these switches is less than 15, it's less than 15, then you can just go for any other option and not use them.
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D-Link
The focus of the equipment is SoHo, that is, small businesses or companies and even domestic use. It meets these scenarios very well. Using for large scale, they can present difficulties to maintain throughput, that is, its use in large networks can be difficult to maintain.
Another issue to be taken into account is technical assistance, they are not as agile as the competition.
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Pros
Cisco
  • One of the things that it does well, it's not something major, but there's a light tracking feature that the 9300 comes with that you can turn on the light and that has become critical in a data center environment where you want to help someone to make sure that you're talking about the same switch, you can turn the light on and off something that is not available in other versions of Cisco switches before the 9300. So it's not as major, but it's quite critical when you're dealing with multiple systems and multiple switches.
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D-Link
  • Easy to use GUI
  • Inexpensive
  • Available in a different number of ports.
  • Support for copper as well as fiber ports.
  • Available in gigabit ethernet and above speeds as well.
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Cons
Cisco
  • Functionality. Well, one of the functions that we are missing is a faster route based on OSPF. Other than that, it could provide an upgrade without a hitless upgrade. Well, now it is a very fast upgrade, which is also okay. We had a case when the platform crashed, but that was a specific case. We were happy with this product.
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D-Link
  • Updates frequently
  • End of life cycle and end of support cycle.
  • As D-Link frequently changes its products and customer have to switch very often.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
They are consistently reliable and this switch in particular is a very affordable solution. We can place the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series Switches gear in areas that we normally would not place a switch because it is affordable enough to make it justifiable. And because it is a reliable solution, we are confident it will continue to provide service over the long haul.
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D-Link
No answers on this topic
Usability
Cisco
Cisco by and far does a great job with the Catalyst line. From a layer 2 dumb switch all the way up to ISP carrier grade switching within the Catalyst portfolio. The best part about it is command parity among the various tiers of product. The only differences are going to lie in what features are available per switch.
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D-Link
D-Link Ethernet Switches are working fine and fulfill all of our organization's needs cost-wise and efficiency-wise. The rating that I gave would vary based on performance and durability. We used an open environment without an IP-rated network rack, but its working fine and we handle all weather issues carefully and manage the network smoothly. Takeaways: cost effective, handles complex networks, and very good performance.
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Reliability and Availability
Cisco
We have very few is any outages due to a Cisco hardware failure. Some of our gear is exposed to some pretty harsh environments, and they keep on ticking!
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D-Link
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco
No, the packets flow. Sometimes you will see collisions and broadcast storms can happen which will slow performance but that can be fixed and the packets will flow.
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D-Link
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
We rarely have issues with the product. I have only had to contact support one time since we put it in and that was to see if another vendor was giving me accurate information on an issue I was having.
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D-Link
I have given it 9 out of 10 just because of its low cost and additional features that have been an integral part of any product, otherwise, the load management part was far more inferior as compared to the Cisco switches, as those switches have a spanning tree protocol built-in.
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In-Person Training
Cisco
Cisco Networking Academy partners with many local Colleges and High Schools to provide great hands-on training. You do need to drive to learn the topic. The in-class session only go so far. You really need to apply this to the real world. Cisco makes it easy for business to connect via CLC or Cisco Learning Credits.
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D-Link
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Cisco
My own personal research to get the information I want is very handy and helped me many times
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D-Link
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Cisco
The implementation of the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series Switches is fairly seamless, especially if you are familiar with Cisco products. We have had Brocade switch gear in place too, and the differences between the manufacturers [are] not a major issue.
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D-Link
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
We do have other vendors. For example, Juniper, Fortinet, and there are quite a few others. And Cisco is pretty good because we know the workflow, we know how the operating system works. We are much more familiar with Cisco products and we know the support system behind it. So in terms of comparing with others, I think it stands out. It's one of our top products to go to
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D-Link
They stack up great. In performance, Price, Physical style. I have been around many networks with a business that has spent three times as much on a network solution and Dlink matches up toe to toe. Has of now they are moving over to Cisco language. So this will improve the availability of engineers and support.
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Scalability
Cisco
We are exclusive Cisco at our organization. In truth part of the reason is, with one type of switch and one manufacturer, it is easier to support. It is also easier to give consistent training to our staff in our tech department
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D-Link
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • energy costs dropped by around 11 per cent on the access layer
  • management has become easier with DNA Center
  • ISSU software upgrades and fabric deployments have significantly reduced "planned" down times
  • network speed has increased, latency is at an all-time best within our own LAN
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D-Link
  • Reduction of oscillations in the network caused by repeater equipment (which was replaced by D-links).
  • Low cost of implementation and acquisition, making it possible to acquire a sufficient quantity to meet the entire park and demand.
  • Due to its low price, we have no losses with maintenance, and can simply purchase other equipment for replacement.
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ScreenShots

Cisco Catalyst Switches Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Catalyst 9200 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9300 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 Series Additional ViewScreenshot of Catalyst 9500 Series