Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches Reviews

Most of our solutions rely on a multi-talent approach to address our needs. We implement straightforward switching technology that automates the provision of connectivity, IP configurations, and switching based on customer requests and requirements. In our environment, we typically have a significant number of network stacks in operation, often with ten-gigabit interconnections. 

The smallest environment we manage involves about twenty-five stacks, and the largest one comprises over two thousand nine hundred switches.

Cisco's product is excellent and highly stable with decades of experience in switching and technology. It's a top-notch solution when your entire network operates within the Cisco ecosystem, allowing for a wide range of capabilities. However, the challenge with Cisco lies in its prioritization. When integrating with third-party solutions, like Juniper, it can be somewhat challenging, but it still performs reasonably well. Setting up Cisco switches is not a straightforward process; it's complex and requires more than simply powering them on and figuring things out as you go. You need a solid understanding of switch and stack configuration because Cisco has its unique software features. Cisco excels in vendor lock-in, meaning that if you want to combine Cisco switches with non-Cisco functionality, it can be both time-consuming and costly. While Cisco offers the most extensive capabilities, it can also be less flexible and more challenging when you want to deviate from the Cisco ecosystem.                 

Cisco offers a wide range of features, and in the enterprise and mid-segment market in Europe, we make use of most of them. Some features are essential for our operations, while others may go unused. The feature set provided by Cisco is comprehensive, and there's little more we could ask for. It would be a nice addition if, in the future, Cisco switches could incorporate artificial intelligence to provide proactive feedback and guidance instead of having to search for solutions ourselves. This development is likely to come with time, and we'll patiently await such enhanced functionality.

I have been using Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches for the past 12 years.

The stability is 10 out of 10. Once deployed, the meantime between failures for Cisco switching systems is approximately four years. This means that they are highly stable, with infrequent occurrences of downtime.

There are no limits to the scalability, just budget-driven limits applies to the extent of scalability.

Cisco provides excellent support. However, when considering the resources required for these tasks, it depends on the scale of your project. If you have around five hundred switches to configure, it's manageable with a team of two people working for two weeks. This is because you need to handle tasks like firmware updates and various steps, making the setup of Cisco switches a bit more time-consuming compared to standard switches.

Cisco boasts a vast global network of support professionals, with tens of thousands of support personnel available. Cisco sets certain conditions for partners who want to provide Cisco technology as a service, such as requiring CCNA certification and deployment certification. These requirements are well-documented, and Cisco's partners are trained professionals, even though Cisco's training can be expensive. Not adhering to Cisco's training requirements means you're not eligible to deploy Cisco solutions. Overall, the support from Cisco is highly reliable.

We had deployments that extended for more than four to five months, primarily due to their complexity. However, if you aim for a straightforward setup, with a good plan, you can have your Cisco configuration up and running within a week. This applies not just to one switch but to a group of switches. The key lies in thorough preparation, which can be time-consuming.Certainly, creating a well-thought-out deployment plan is crucial. It involves designing your entire network infrastructure, including switching configurations and learning requirements. The setup itself doesn't consume much time, but the preparation and planning are critical. This level of planning is typically necessary for any networking setup, not just specific to Cisco.

Cisco can be quite costly, especially if you're looking to implement more advanced or unique configurations. When keeping things relatively straightforward, they are positioned at the higher end of the pricing spectrum. However, it's worth noting that Cisco offers excellent support, a strong global presence, a robust operating system, and highly skilled professionals in the field of networking infrastructure. These advantages come at a premium, and there's a price associated with all these benefits.

When considering using Cisco products, the first and foremost aspect to evaluate is your budget. It's essential to weigh your financial capabilities. Secondly, you should take into account your end users' expectations and future needs. It's crucial to plan for what you require now and what you might need in the future. Looking ahead is essential. If your budget allows, choosing Cisco is a wise decision. However, if your financial resources are limited, it's not advisable to opt for a low-end Cisco solution and expect enterprise-level service. In the world of IT, price and functionality often go hand in hand. Investing more typically results in obtaining greater functionality, but the key question is whether you'll utilize all those features.

I rate the overall solution a seven out of ten. 

We use the solution to establish a network infrastructure for the customers.

The solution has the best uplink features in terms of speed.

The solution's price could be better. It is a significant concern for most of the end users.

I have been using the solution for more than 20 years. I have worked with different series, including the 2900, 3900, and 9000 series.

I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten.

I rate the solution's scalability a ten out of ten.

Customers with an SLA license contact us for technical support. The queries are related to collaboration or security.

The solution's initial setup is straightforward. The time taken for deployment depends on the requirement. For an access switch, it takes a day. For a core switch, it may take a couple of hours.

The process includes submitting design documentation and a network implementation plan to the customers. After approval, we provide templates and configuration guidelines to them. Later, we conduct a network readiness test to ensure its successful implementation. It requires two technicians to execute the process for extensive networks.

We implement the solution with the help of Cisco partners.

The solution's price is high. Although, they offer around 50% or above discount on some of their products. So, it is manageable.

I have experience working with the solution's core switches, distribution series, and regular access switches. I recommend it and advise others to have a CCNA level of knowledge to administer and support their end users. I rate it a nine out of ten.

Linksys switches are usually at the edge. People usually go with other switches for the core, but this is the switch that all the desktops connect to. It's primarily used in small offices. Once you're in a position where you really need a ton of bandwidth, companies tend to move away from Linksys to Cisco, Brocade, or another enterprise switch.  Most of the companies that use Linksys have fewer than 200 or 300 users. 

Linksys switches are easy to use. You can pull the switch out of the box, plug it in, and it's going to work. 

I would like to see more manageability. That's primarily the reason why Linksys switches don't work in the enterprise space. They don't have the management and capabilities of other switches.

I have been using Linksys Ethernet switches for 10-15 years.

I haven't seen issues with them. On occasion, they'll have a bad port come up, but that's just about any switch.

I don't consider them to be scalable. As far as I know, they don't talk to each other at all. You can't put three of them together as a stack and then work off that. 

It's straightforward to set up and maintain Linksys switches. One network engineer is enough to handle it. 

Linksys switches are at the low end of the price range, but that's partly because of where they fit in the whole scheme of things. They're definitely a lower-price option.

I rate Cisco Linksys ethernet switches five out of 10. They're not very feature-rich, but they have sufficient features for the market segment they occupy. Don't expect a ton out of them. They're good for what they're designed for, but if you try to stretch them, they're just not going to perform the way you want.

I can program Linksys and have onioned Linksys. I have put the onion into a Linksys, and made it onto our network. I have worked with them quite a bit.

The documentation should be improved from Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches. Although it hints or refers to being able to do certain operations, they try to get you to load the software instead. They need to be more open with their documentation on using the web interface and give the client the option to use the software or not. This improvement is not on the switch itself, it is in the packaging.

I have used Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches within the past 12 months.

Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches is stable.

I have not used Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches too much in commercial environments other than the residential apartment systems that I have here. This is where residents have plugged in the Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches in their system. They seem to have no problem with device communication to Netgear and the Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches environment. 

They don't have any problem working in Roku's environment. I've even seen them used on Aruba's. From what I've seen for their functionality, and then putting them into where there's no back-end, you're connected to a cable modem, they seem to be the most robust. They don't seem to give you a lot of problems. I very rarely have an issue. When you're dealing with an apartment complex that has a thousand plus residents, each with their own router and other hardware, working in this close proximity of each other, 50 feet or less of each other, they don't seem to have a problem working in that environment.

Some of the Netscapes I have used where you have them too close together, you can start having issues that are caused by congestion of the airway of the channels that are being used. I find that the Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches are able to somehow deal with that better. Even if you have heavy congestion, they seem to be able to handle it better with their communication.

I have used many solutions, such as Belkin, Netscape, and Netgear.

The one problem I have found with the Belkin routers, and wireless points that people typically purchase is they want to phone home. If it can't phone home, the firewall blocks all communications.

If you are in a secured environment where everything is secured, the phoning home makes the switch not functional. Someone has to sit there and argue with it for a while to finally configure it to where it can phone home. Then every time you turn around, it wants to shut down because it can't phone home every so many day. That put Belkin off the list. I hook up the Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches straightforward, right out of the box. Most of the time, people don't have to do anything to it for it to work correctly. It works right out of the box in their environment.

The installation of Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches is very easy. They are simpler to implement than other solutions.

With Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches I am able to direct the install software to be set up at a certain IP address to be done there. It has a good web interface when it comes to setting things up, you don't have to load needless software into your computer. Anything that requires you to load the software into your computer is one thing I turn away from because that's more resources taken from my computing platform. If I have to waste resources to control something that's supposed to be doing its own job, then what do I have it for. 

Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches doesn't force me to do that. Some of the Netscape's are similar to that. Netscape's interface is not as easy to navigate because they keep changing the interface. From one appliance to the other, your interface is not uniform. I could go with the Linksys, and if I've done one, I can find my way through most any of the others.

For the home user or end-user, that doesn't have a high-end back-end running. I usually recommend the Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches. I recommend Linksys more than I do Netgear because of the simple installation. 

For home and small office use where you don't have a major back-end, I would recommend Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches.

Using Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches in a commercial residential environment where you have a lot of people using them, with individual configuration. I would give them an eight or a nine out of ten because I have had problems, but most of it is user-related. If they understood the documentation it would be better implemented, they would understand, and I probably wouldn't run across problems. Most of the time the problem is where they're plugging them in backward. They don't understand that just because the plug fits on the back does not mean it is correct. There's a reason why you have a WAN and a LAN side. The documents do not explain it well enough to people. The installer gives them a little bit more information so they know not to plug in the other way. That can cause some havoc.

Using Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches in a commercial office environment, non-heavy back-end or light back-end, they seem to work well. Under another router, they seem to do well and are stable. I don't have a lot of issues with them. I typically install them and forget about them. Most of the issues I have is their equipment is the hardware might fail and had to switch the equipment, and then gave them their ID and password. However, getting them back up's and running is pretty simple. I reset everything, turn everything back, change the passwords, and everything is back working.

When it comes to the heavy back-end commercial implementation, Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches do work when you have a heavy back-end. I don't see them used as much there and therefore cannot give a rating. I have not seen them in that environment as much to judge them on.

I rate Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches a nine out of ten.

We connect our Ethernet switches directly via LAN or with printers at every endpoint for user connectivity.

We are satisfied with the Cisco devices' scalability, and the integration and replacement are very easy. Their support is available online.

Some experts say that the price may be lower or that the ethernet switches are complex to set up and manage, maybe because of limited port density, supports, and quality of service, like capabilities. So that could be improved.

In the next release, Cisco switches can have built-in two or four fiber ports available for fiber connectivity.

I have been using it for 20 years.

It is very stable. Performance is very good.

It is a scalable solution. I would rate it an eight out of ten.

The customer support team is good.

Positive

The initial setup was straightforward. I would rate the setup an eight out of ten.

When we deploy anything, we rely on support from the product vendor or partner who sold them the product. The support available from the vendor or partner made it easy to deploy anything. They provided assistance with configuration and deployment.

Cisco's pricing is very high compared to other products on the market, such as Ruckus and Aruba.

I would give the pricing a rating of nine out of ten. Cisco's pricing is relatively high but still somewhat reasonable.

If someone wants long-term performance or relief in terms of connectivity or stability, they must use Cisco.

I would rate it an eight out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for the WiFi and the wireless. We use it as a switch. It can help with encryption and networking.

Since I am a certified user, I find the solution to be very smooth. It works very well. The solution offers good training so that users can remain up-to-date with the product.

The product offers a very professional experience. 

It helps us ensure we have wireless access points. 

I'm able to easily manage the solution. I can configure and monitor everything very easily.

It's a well-recognized brand and is widely used.

The solution is stable.

It is scalable.

Cisco offers very good SLAs.

We've had some issues as we've increased usage. It might be the logic or maybe we just need more hardware. We're working on a fix to the problem.

The pricing is a bit high.

They need to develop better UI. Other products have a nice GUI.

I've used the solution over the last ten years.

This is a stable solution. It's reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. We find the solution is also very secure. 

The solution scales well. It's not a problem if you need to expand. 

We have an SLA with Cisco, and they offer support and maintenance services. If you have a good SLA in place with Cisco, you get the help you need. Having the SLA helps cover the warranty or if something happens like a misconfiguration or a change. Overall, the support is good. 

I'm also familiar with Aruba.

The initial setup is very easy. We just follow the steps and handle the configuration. We also do any troubleshooting if there is any issue.

If the user wants another configuration, you adjust as needed. 

It is not difficult to maintain the product at all. If there are any urgent issues, we're on top of it. We make sure we can fix network issues quickly, should they happen, in order to maintain the business. 

I happen to have good SLAs for other problems and they cover things from the Cisco side.

The solution can be expensive. 

We have plans to upgrade our switches and are moving everything over to Cisco.

We're using the latest version of the product.

I have a deep knowledge of Cisco and have worked with it for a while. It doesn't really give us any issues. It's easy to integrate with devices. Many companies tend to use Cisco.

I'd recommend the solution to others. 

I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

We primarily use it for running our manufacturing operation.

Regarding improving our organization's functioning, the security provided by the solution can be considered an example.

I found the feature of having no downtime to be the most valuable aspect of the tool.

Right now, there aren't any improvements needed in the solution.

Feature-wise, there are no features that I would like to see included in the tool.

I would say it's been more than ten years that I've been dealing with Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches. It was version 9300, which I was using.

Speaking in terms of how it has improved the way our organization functions, we have experienced improved stability.

I have faced no issues with the stability of the solution.

Scalability-wise, the solution is good. On a scale of one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I rate the tool's scalability as seven since there are some limitations. Also, around a thousand users use Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches in our organization.

I haven't had any need to escalate any questions to the technical support team recently.

The initial setup of the tool was easy.

On a scale of one to ten, where one is the worst and ten is the easiest, I rate my experience with the initial setup as a nine.

When deploying the switches, the basic steps involved getting the architecture done and then deploying it. It was a lengthy process and took around three to six months.

We did not require a lot of staff members or resources for the deployment process. Also, the tool does not require any specific maintenance.

We have Accenture as our global partner, who handles the deployment process for us. They are the ones who do it for us.

For ROI, we generally recover it in seven years.

I cannot give any advice or recommendation for those who want to start working with Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches. I also won't be able to recommend it to others. However, while I personally recommend this solution, I cannot publicly recommend it to anyone.

I rate Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches a nine out of ten.

We use this switch in our network layer 3. One of our use cases is managing the VLAN, and connecting with other VLANs.

Administration can be done using the web-based interface.

This product does not scale to environments where there is a lot of network traffic.

The security features for the web services can be improved.

I have been working with Cisco Linksys Ethernet Switches for quite some time.

I am a Cisco-certified network engineer. I have experience with routing and configuring this product.

For a smaller company, Linksys is very stable. In an environment where there is a large number of devices and a lot of traffic, this is not the best solution.

With respect to scalability, this switch works well in an administration environment where the traffic is low. However, in other industries that require a lot of traffic, this type of switch is too small. In other parts of our company, we use other Cisco devices that handle a larger amount of traffic.

In our environment, scalability is good and we don't have a problem. We have 300 users. We do plan to increase our usage.

I also have experience with D-Link switches, as well as similar products from HPE including the HPE ProCurve.

For a larger architecture, such as one that is used for virtualization services, I would recommend using larger Cisco switches. On the other hand, if you have a smaller company that doesn't need a complex network with MPLS, then Linksys is a good choice because of the cost difference. Cisco switches have a very high cost.

We have an in-house technical support team that maintains our network. There are three people on the team.

The cost of Linksys switches is very reasonable and for a small enterprise like my company, it's perfect.

This is a product that I recommend, although if you have an environment that uses a lot of bandwidth then it is not the best choice. That said, there is a cost difference between Linksys and the larger Cisco products.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.