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Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Dell PowerSwitch N-Series comparison

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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

Cisco Catalyst Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
196
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (2nd), Data Center Networking (1st), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series
Ranking in LAN Switching
8th
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 November 2026, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 17.5%, down from 26.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is 6.0%, up from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches17.5%
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series6.0%
Other76.5%
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

Md Rafique - PeerSpot reviewer
Desktop support Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Reliable switching has improved segmentation and reduces downtime with faster troubleshooting
One area I would like to see improvement is making configuration and troubleshooting more straightforward, especially for engineers managing a large number of switches. Some tasks can require multiple CLI commands and checking different outputs to identify an issue. Better centralized visibility, more intuitive automation tools, and clearer troubleshooting information would make day-to-day operations more efficient. That said, the CLI gives experienced network engineers a lot of control, so I would see these improvements as making the existing capabilities easier and faster to use rather than replacing them. For on-premises deployment, I would like to see easier centralized management and more automation for larger switch environments. Firmware upgrades, configuration changes, and troubleshooting can take significant time when they have to be handled across many physical devices. Better zero-touch provisioning, simplifying firmware management solutions, stronger integration with monitoring and IT management platforms, and more proactive hardware health alerts would make operations easier. I would also like better visibility into hardware capabilities and lifecycle status from a single dashboard so we can identify potential issues before they affect users.
Mahendra Basera - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Engineer at InterGlobe Technology Quotient
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 helps keep our network connections in a healthy state."
"I like everything about Cisco Catalyst Switches. It's both stable and scalable."
"These switches are flexible and user-friendly."
"Overall, it's a very robust switch and it's very nice."
"The Cisco software ties all the hardware together better than the competition."
"It uses many protocols to ease operations, such as CDP and the interoperability of other Cisco products."
"The most valuable feature is load balancing."
"I have not opened up a ticket for Cisco Catalyst Switches. However, I have used the support from Cisco and they are very good and responsive."
"Port density and port speed performance are both suitable. It has some appealing intangibles."
"Currently, I am using the Dell S4048; it's a nice switch and it gives you good results in terms of a broadcast station connection, with HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol) and bandwidth allocation that are very nice, and for a customer it is easy to configure and to add ports through the LAN GUI."
"The automated configuration management tools of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series help improve network traffic management."
"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."
"For a customer, it is easy to configure and to add ports through the LAN the GUI."
 

Cons

"The solution could improve by adding a user-friendly GUI. We use third-party applications for log monitoring that are expensive and if Cisco could provide log monitoring as part of this solution it would be beneficial."
"I would like developers to improve the GUI to contain all the features I need, as it currently has a GUI but misses some essential elements."
"In an upcoming release, adding SD-WAN capabilities would be a big advantage for our company."
"An area for improvement would be the documentation and training on configuring this product."
"Cisco Catalyst Switches could improve by having more integration with third-party products."
"I use the Cisco Catalyst Switches command-line interface(CLI) a lot out in the field, but there are some web interfaces features that are available that I haven't used very much. I'm more comfortable with the CLI, but the web interfaces are very lacking."
"Scaling can be quite costly."
"The pricing could be better. Cisco is quite expensive."
"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."
"The disadvantages of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is that only the booting time is a weak point."
"Some features need improvements with stability."
"We have had problems in the past that needed a reboot of the switch."
"I would not recommend it to smaller businesses because they could not afford it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is expensive compared to other products from America or Europe. They should have more competitive pricing."
"The price can definitely be lower."
"The price of Cisco equipment is very expensive and you have to pay extra for support."
"The solutions are costly, considering that Cisco provides top-notch support and devices."
"There is a one-time license, but we pay for the smart net license every three years for support."
"It is very pricey. You have to pay for support."
"You don't have to pay any additional costs while using the product."
"This is an expensive product."
"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
Outsourcing Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
8%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business85
Midsize Enterprise30
Large Enterprise91
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?
My experience is that Cisco Catalyst Switches can involve a relatively significant upfront investment, especially when you consider the hardware, support, and licensing requirements. The total cost...
What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Switches?
One area I would like to see improvement is making configuration and troubleshooting more straightforward, especially for engineers managing a large number of switches. Some tasks can require multi...
What needs improvement with Dell-Force10 Campus LAN Switches?
The disadvantages of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is that only the booting time is a weak point. When we reboot that switch, it takes time. As compared to Cisco, it takes almost three to five minutes,...
What is your primary use case for Dell-Force10 Campus LAN Switches?
We are using McAfee XDR solution rather than Cisco XDR. On Cisco products, we are using Cisco routers and Cisco switches. We work with Dell, specifically Dell switches, and we are using PowerEdge i...
What advice do you have for others considering Dell-Force10 Campus LAN Switches?
Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is the one we have been working on. There was an advanced Layer 3 configuration on Dell PowerSwitch N-Series, and we have almost every security which can be configured on ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena
Norwich University of the Arts, Shelby American, City and Islington College
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Dell PowerSwitch N-Series and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.