Broadcom StrataDNX vs Cisco Ethernet Switches comparison

Broadcom and Cisco are both solutions in the Ethernet Switches category. Broadcom is ranked #25 with an average rating of 8.0, while Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6. Broadcom holds a 1.1% mindshare in ES, compared to Cisco’s 10.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Broadcom users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Broadcom StrataDNX

Read 3 Broadcom StrataDNX reviews

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808 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Ethernet Switches

Read 137 Cisco Ethernet Switches reviews

10,592 Views
10,592 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Broadcom StrataDNX

Cisco Ethernet Switches

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Cisco Ethernet Switches and Broadcom StrataDNX are products competing in the networking solutions category. Broadcom StrataDNX has an advantage due to its advanced features.

Features: Cisco Ethernet Switches are known for comprehensive security, scalability, and ease of integration. Broadcom StrataDNX offers high-throughput capabilities, flexibility, and innovative packet processing.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Deploying Cisco Ethernet Switches is straightforward with extensive support. Broadcom StrataDNX requires a more complex deployment model but offers customizability.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Ethernet Switches offer competitive setup costs and strong ROI, appealing to budget-conscious operations. Broadcom StrataDNX involves a higher initial investment but promises significant ROI in high-demand environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Broadcom StrataDNX vs. Cisco Ethernet Switches Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Broadcom StrataDNX vs. Cisco Ethernet Switches

December 2025

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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

Broadcom StrataDNX

Ranking in Ethernet Switches

25th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

3.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco Ethernet Switches

Ranking in Ethernet Switches

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

137

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Broadcom StrataDNX is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 10.3%, down from 17.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Ethernet Switches Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Ethernet Switches	10.3%
Broadcom StrataDNX	1.1%
Other	88.6%

Ethernet Switches

Featured Reviews

Wisely Ng

Senior rPLM and Consulting Engineering, IP and Optical Networks, APAC at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Cost-effective chipset saves resources and offers rich features

The Broadcom StrataDNX chipset, such as the DNX, is quite a generic chipset and from the cost perspective, it is quite cost-effective hardware. When we decide to use such an Ethernet switch, our R&D and headquarters consider using the Broadcom chipset as one of the merchandised chipsets in our system, providing a cost-effective solution to our customers. The cost-saving with Broadcom StrataDNX is one of the critical criteria for using the DNX as one of our hardware chipsets. From the features perspective, it is quite feature-rich, so we can leverage those existing functions on the SDK to develop our own features in our equipment.

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Pedro Moreira

IT Manager at Decorgel

Reliable equipment offers seamless integration and management simplicity

I really appreciate Cisco Ethernet Switches and currently don't have any improvements to recommend. The switches have technology that has worked fine over the years. An improvement for all players in the market would be to have a website or service to manage all equipment from all brands, not just Cisco. There should be a platform to manage all the equipment.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The good thing about the StrataDNX is that the Broadcom family is very interchangeable, so they work well with different optical transceivers."

"The cost-saving with Broadcom StrataDNX is one of the critical criteria for using the DNX as one of our hardware chipsets, and from the features perspective, it is quite feature-rich, so we can leverage those existing functions on the SDK to develop our own features in our equipment."

"Easy to integrate with any of the other hardware platforms."

"The Broadcom StrataDNX chipset, such as the DNX, is quite a generic chipset and from the cost perspective, it is quite cost-effective hardware."

"The features that I have found most valuable are that it is easy to use and it has good technical support."

"Multicast is a great feature of this product."

"Its performance and reliability are valuable."

"The most valuable features are network monitoring and management."

"The solution is easy to use."

"It is very scalable."

"Cisco as a whole is flexible."

"Cisco Ethernet Switches are very reliable and work like a clock once configured."

More Cisco Ethernet Switches pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."

"The standard features do not provide a full feature set, so we need to create our own features to compensate for those limitations."

"The number of surfaces that can be handled by the chipset could be increased."

"The standard features do not provide a full feature set, so we need to create our own features to compensate for those limitations."

"Location of customers to connect clients to the servers and transport the data and VoIP in parallel with QoS and NBAR with 802.1X."

"I would like to see this solution automatically store multiple versions of the configuration file."

"One area for improvement could be integrating a single dashboard for both wired and wireless networks."

"Their firmware could be better secured against vulnerabilities or other exploits. Also, only selected catalyst switches are allowed to onboard to Cisco SD Access technology."

"Putting in a more complete management infrastructure would help when it comes to handling lower-end switches."

"We are less in the Cloud because the Cloud technologies didn't work so well. That happened in all of the companies where I've been engaged."

"The most challenging part is connecting them through fiber for higher speed in the network."

"In terms of features, they tick all the boxes as of now. That could be because we tailor the solution around the product. I have not seen anything that pulls me back or is not working well for me. However, there could be better integration with the network monitoring systems. It doesn't mean it is currently not there, but there could be better discoverability with some of the network monitoring systems to be able to have more visibility. When you're setting up a control room, you can have more visibility into what is going on in the network. It has been doing that, but it can do that more."

More Cisco Ethernet Switches cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The solution does not require a license. However, it is expensive and the price could improve."

"Customers have to pay for some of the L3 switches licenses, which are expensive."

"The price is a bit on the high side."

"Its price is a bit higher than other brands. Indian customers are price-conscious. They should improve its price."

"The cost of this solution is expensive."

"The last time I bought a 24-port switch, which was a while ago, I paid about five or six thousand Euros. In this part of the world, that's quite expensive for us."

"The price of Cisco Ethernet Switches here in India is too high. There are other cheaper solutions available."

"It is an expensive product since it is used in a large network where you cannot rely on some cheaply priced solution."

More Cisco Ethernet Switches pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user82779

Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

Jan 29, 2014

Benefits of Juniper vs Cisco

Both are decent products. I prefer Juniper for the following reasons: 1) Cleaner separation of data plane from control plane. Higher end Cisco devices are better at this but most of the lower end products still seem to be more integrated than I like. 2) The Hierarchical config design means I can…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

22%

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	59
Midsize Enterprise	35
Large Enterprise	55

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Broadcom StrataDNX?

From my impression regarding Broadcom StrataDNX, I can explain that while Broadcom is quite good, it is not perfect in some cases. The standard features do not provide a full feature set, so we nee...

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What is your primary use case for Broadcom StrataDNX?

We use the SDK from Broadcom StrataDNX from the software features point of view. We have our own network operating system to perform adaptive configurations around different chipsets, creating an a...

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What advice do you have for others considering Broadcom StrataDNX?

The Broadcom StrataDNX chipset from the product portfolio is quite generic and not difficult to deploy. For network monitoring, we do not rely on the Broadcom StrataDNX chipset capability. Instead,...

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Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?

Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...

See all answers

Which would you choose - Fortinet Fortiswitch secure access or Cisco Ethernet Switches?

We researched Cisco but ultimately chose Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access, mostly because of the price. Fortinet FortiSwitch is an ethernet switch solution that provides security and performance...

See all answers

In terms of ethernet switches, would you go with Cisco or Juniper?

Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Cisco or Juniper Ethernet switches were the better fit for us. We decided to go with Juniper. Juniper ethernet switches are a lesser-known...

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Comparisons

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Compared 49% of the time

NVIDIA Mellanox vs Broadcom StrataDNX

Compared 10% of the time

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs Broadcom StrataDNX

Compared 8% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Broadcom StrataDNX

Compared 7% of the time

MikroTik Routers and Switches vs Broadcom StrataDNX

Compared 6% of the time

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Aruba Switches vs Cisco Ethernet Switches

Compared 20% of the time

Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access vs Cisco Ethernet Switches

Compared 17% of the time

D-Link Ethernet Switches vs Cisco Ethernet Switches

Compared 6% of the time

H3C Ethernet Switches vs Cisco Ethernet Switches

Compared 6% of the time

NETGEAR Switches vs Cisco Ethernet Switches

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco Ethernet Switches Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Ethernet Switches

January 2026

Download Broadcom StrataDNX product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Ethernet Switches

January 2026

Download Cisco Ethernet Switches product report

Also Known As

StrataDNX

Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches

Overview

The StrataDNX product line offers the greatest extensibility and scalability of any merchant silicon switch in the industry, with the ability to scale both tables and buffering with external lookup engines or memory. The StrataDNX chips can also be connected together via DNX fabric elements to build industry-leading switches and routers with hundreds of terabits of bandwidth. The StrataDNX line features a service-rich, carrier-grade programmable architecture to meet the needs of service provider core, metro transport, mobile backhaul, microwave, POTN, access, and data center networks.

Broadcom

Cisco Ethernet Switches scale to meet the needs of networks of all sizes. They are Secure, Reliable and Seamless.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Hill International, Coty, Banese, Algar Tech

Linz AG

Buyer's Guide

Broadcom StrataDNX vs. Cisco Ethernet Switches

December 2025

Free Report: Broadcom StrataDNX vs. Cisco Ethernet Switches

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