TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Dell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Catalyst Switches

    Score9.3 out of 10
    N/ACisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.N/A

    Dell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ADell PowerConnect were a series of managed and unmanaged ethernet switches for data centers, discontinued by Dell. They have been superseded by the PowerSwitch line of switches, from Dell.N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
    We previously used Dell PowerConnect Switches when we had a single office with a smaller user base. However, as we expanded to multiple locations with more users, we needed a better core switch at each site for ideal bandwidth and performance. We switched to Cisco and have been …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Cisco Catalyst provides the speed and necessary uplink options for production use
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Easy to find support and user experience.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Dell switches are also good in terms of reliability but still we selected Cisco because these are different from Dell.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
    We currently use Nexus, Meraki, and Catalyst gear in our operations. All [these products] are very successful for every need they fill. In the case of Catalyst switches, we use them for more unique situations where diverse products need to connect together as this brand has …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Best of breed, reliable and widely adopted. Lots of resources available.
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Cisco have the most popular interface in the market. Any networking technician have experience working with them in some way, that makes them the easiest to troubleshoot, mantain and administer. The Catalyst series particularily allows a depth of configuration that exceeds our …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Both Dell and Netgear switches we've tried generally all work great. The difficulty has always been trying to find people with experience to support them. Neither have as many capabilities as the Cisco catalyst switches. Our engineers prefer the stability of cisco switches and …
    Incentivized
    Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
    For me, essentially it came down to integration and a good understanding of our switching environment. To use other brands would have meant managing two different sets of codes or scripts for the same functions. It would work if you could get the configuration correct, but …
    Incentivized
    Discontinued Products
    Chose Dell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)
    Dell PowerConnect Switches were for departments with smaller budgets. We used to be mostly a CISCO shop. When CISCO changed its license model, it became very expensive so we had to look for more economical server options. At one time we were a mostly Dell shop. Cisco is …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    493 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    439 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    494 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    407 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    470 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    RUCKUS Ethernet Switches
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Cisco Ethernet Switches
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (625 ratings)
    8.0
    (14 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (31 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.5
    (32 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.2
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (8 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.8
    (30 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 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
    8.6
    (30 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.9
    (31 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    We work in the electric industry. These should not be used in a high-heat environment. We like to keep the temperature of the room in the low 60's so they are not suited for our Substation locations due to extreme heat and cold. However, they perform great in a server room.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Reliable.
    • Excellent hardware support from Dell including 4 hour parts/replacement.
    • Excellent technical support from Dell on software, troubleshooting, and configuration.
    • More affordable than its main enterprise competitors.
    • Easy to use CLI.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Precarious graphical (GUI) mode, needing to be updated for more efficient technologies such as HTML5
    • Short support time, given how much these devices support in terms of use. I have owned the devices for years, but no longer have a warranty
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    The Dell PowerConnect switch is a great switch in certain use cases. It really works well when training users to set up their own vlans in a technology class. We have a lot of different scenarios happening at this company, with 8 different buildings and multiple different affiliate entities. For some of the departments, the budget is the most crucial element. That is where the Dell PowerConnect switches are a really great option.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Dell ProSupport is outstanding. Dell ProDeploy is likewise outstanding. I prefer them even over traditional Cisco support. I've had repeated cases where Dell immediately addressed or fixed an issue with US-based support, including firmware hotfixes. Not even Cisco can boast that.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I selected Dell mainly due to previous experience using them in a business environment. I've never had a unit fail on me and when my budget for equipment like network switches has been less than a training class on how to use those switches, it's incredible to be able to find quality equipment at the price point Dell offers and even more so when their enterprise support has been as excellent as I have been accustomed to dealing with. In all honesty, even if I had a larger budget, I would have bought these same switches since they were exactly what I needed to suit my needs. We looked into HPE/Aruba network switches, and while they would have performed everything we needed and more, they were almost four times the cost of these Dell network switches. That's a hard sell when it comes to planning a tight budget.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Reports are easily created and very useful.
    • Quick creation of different network connections.
    • Excellent and secure channels for multiple data management.
    • Great data visualization options offered by Dell PowerConnect Switches.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Catalyst Switches Screenshots

    Product screenshotScreenshot of Catalyst 9200 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9300 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 Series Additional ViewScreenshot of Catalyst 9500 Series