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Aruba Instant On Switches vs Dell PowerSwitch N-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Instant On Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series
Ranking in LAN Switching
9th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
3.9
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Switches is 8.1%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is 5.1%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Aruba Instant On Switches8.1%
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series5.1%
Other86.8%
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

MI
System Engineer at University of Kelaniya
Solution offers straightforward management and compatibility, though user support needs direct access improvement
Sometimes some features are not available. For example, the network discovery protocol, LLDP, is not available on some of the switches. When we look at the CLI management, we are considering Cisco, and we are familiar with the Cisco commands. In that case, at the command level, Cisco is much better than Aruba Instant On Switches. Considering the configuration and the CLI level and some of the features, Cisco has better offerings than Aruba Instant On Switches. There are Netgear and some other low-cost switches, but the quality of those is not aligned with our organization's requirements. Overall, I rate Aruba Instant On Switches a seven out of ten.
Mahendra Basera - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
Reliable switching has supported secure audits and simplified long-term data center operations
Deploying Dell PowerSwitch N-Series on HA is very simple and easy. If we face any problem, we have our Dell support team to help us during the installation. They provide L2 engineers for supporting us on configuring the basic level configuration, stacking, and peering with others on HA. They have helped us with any faults or hardware issues, and we have taken high level care packs with three hour response time and same day hardware replacement. When we talk about the deployment of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series, when we extended our data center from starting from scratch, we had at that time nearly 170 physical servers. Then we virtualized it from mixed hardware, as we were using HCL, HP, or old heavy servers. Dell came to us and gave us a good solution with VMware, storage of Dell, and network devices. During the deployment, there were three team members from Dell and two from myself on the networking side, and one or two members from OS and server side. Almost five to six team members were there during the deployment from a hardware to a virtualized environment. The best advantages of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is that it is very much similar to Cisco. There is a little bit of difference at the command level, and it is easy to handle. It is easy to handle whether it is a CLI base or a GUI base, and it is very easy to configure. It is also reliable. We had a low fault issue, and when we talk of switching level, in a time frame of 17 years, we faced a switching issue only one time, which was a hardware failure. That is it. It is as reliable as Cisco.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It is straightforward to set up."
"The solution is suitable for small businesses and small offices."
"Setup is easy."
"These switches are very easy to handle and there are no issues, both the CLI and the web management are available, making it easy to handle."
"The solution provides GUI control, making it particularly suitable for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and small office/home office (SOHO) networks."
"The best thing about Aruba Instant On Switches is their cost."
"The simplicity of the tool's GUI is good."
"The solution's most beneficial feature is that you obtain A-class equipment for the lowest price."
"Port density and port speed performance are both suitable. It has some appealing intangibles."
"For a customer, it is easy to configure and to add ports through the LAN the GUI."
"The best advantages of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is that it is very much similar to Cisco, it is easy to handle whether it is a CLI base or a GUI base, it is very easy to configure, and it is also reliable, as in a time frame of 17 years we faced a switching issue only one time, which was a hardware failure, and it is as reliable as Cisco."
"The automated configuration management tools of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series help improve network traffic management."
 

Cons

"If they can apply more security features to Aruba Instant On Switches, such as network access control including ClearPass, then that would be great."
"Room for improvement would be if they consolidated administration from multiple locations."
"Tracking with instant switches needs improvement."
"The pricing is competitive but could be improved."
"The solution does not have any console access. For example, if you do not have internet access on your side and you need to configure anything, you should at least have CLI access to do something or manage the solution to put to some IP. It will only work if we have a TSCT on the network."
"If Aruba can provide guidance on features through sessions or explanations, it would be helpful. We have to search and work online."
"We are interested in acquiring a firewall that provides a comprehensive solution. In other words, we're seeking a firewall that encompasses multiple aspects, such as exceptional switches and active phone functionalities."
"We would like to see more documentation."
"The disadvantages of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is that only the booting time is a weak point."
"Customers do not prefer this to connect to multiple cities."
"Instead of competing at the enterprise level with that product, they should probably scale it. With all of the ports, they should develop a good mid-level business to truly scale it and gain adoption before attempting to go after the enterprise."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license for Instant On Switches is free."
"Aruba Instant On Switches is not expensive."
"The solution is the cheapest A-class switch."
"The pricing is cheap."
"I give the price seven out of ten."
"We pay an annual licensing fee."
"Aruba Instant On Switches is slightly cheaper than Cisco."
"The product is not cheaply priced, especially when compared to the other vendors in the market."
"You are selling it to larger customers and in larger environments, where it's a less expensive model than Cisco, which is attempting to use the same approach Arista did, but with a completely different programming language."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
University
7%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
University
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise7
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Instant On Switches?
The solution has a simple deployment and zero border.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Instant On Switches?
The pricing was good because they do not nickel and dime on costs.
What needs improvement with Aruba Instant On Switches?
Aruba Instant On Switches could be improved by utilizing more AI features. They are starting to use some AI capabilities, though I haven't kept up with developments since I left.
What needs improvement with Dell-Force10 Campus LAN Switches?
We don't leverage the open networking standards of this Dell PowerSwitch N-Series capability. In the high availability direction, better clustering or stack functionality to connect all Dell switch...
What is your primary use case for Dell-Force10 Campus LAN Switches?
The main use case for this product is network switch for all network, including management network, network for the user, and network for the SAN.
What advice do you have for others considering Dell-Force10 Campus LAN Switches?
We don't work with solutions such as Aruba or Cisco. There are routers in our infrastructure, but they are not our responsibility or accountability. We work with servers and storage, specifically s...
 

Also Known As

Aruba Instant On 1930 Switches
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

KEMET, Vestavia Hills City Schools, Dropbox
Norwich University of the Arts, Shelby American, City and Islington College
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Dell PowerSwitch N-Series and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.