Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs Cisco Catalyst Switches comparison

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and Cisco are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is ranked #11, while Cisco is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise holds a 4.2% mindshare in LS, compared to Cisco’s 22.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch L...

Read 6 Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches reviews

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100% willing to recommend

Cisco Catalyst Switches

Read 178 Cisco Catalyst Switches reviews

5,802 Views
2,959 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch L...

Cisco Catalyst Switches

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Cisco Catalyst Switches and Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches are competing products in the networking sector, both offering robust solutions for enterprise environments. Cisco Catalyst has the upper hand with cost-effectiveness and strong support, appealing to budget-conscious buyers.

Features: Cisco Catalyst Switches are known for advanced security features, energy efficiency, and a comprehensive set of routing protocols, making them reliable and effective for secure networking. Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches are remarkable for their flexibility and support for both Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols, providing extensive customization and high availability.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Catalyst could expand its feature set to compete more closely with more customizable solutions. Adding more advanced protocol support and enhancing flexibility may benefit broader use cases. Alcatel-Lucent could lower their initial costs to increase accessibility. Streamlining deployment processes and enhancing integration with diverse systems could also enhance user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Catalyst Switches promote straightforward deployment and provide consistent customer support, leading to effortless integration with existing infrastructures. Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch requires a more intricate deployment, but delivers strong technical support and detailed guidance, ensuring users can fully leverage their solutions.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Catalyst typically offers lower upfront costs and rapid ROI, which aligns well with budget limitations. Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch, while demanding a larger initial investment, justifies the expense with enduring, feature-rich performance promising longer-term benefits. Both companies offer distinct value propositions that cater to different organizational needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst 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

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch L...

Ranking in LAN Switching

11th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco Catalyst Switches

Ranking in LAN Switching

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

178

Ranking in other categories

Ethernet Switches (5th), Data Center Networking (2nd), AV Over IP Switching (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches is 4.2%, up from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 22.8%, down from 30.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

LAN Switching Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches	22.8%
Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches	4.2%
Other	73.0%

LAN Switching

Featured Reviews

reviewer2175855

SNOC Service Delivery Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

With a good technical support in place, there needs to be an improvement in the way the tool is put together

I am not sure from the client's perspective what can be improved in the tool. From my perspective, service provisioning in the solution needs to improve. One of the things I noticed is the physical components that need to be improved. In general, the way the product is put together is not well done. For instance, in Cisco, things come together very nicely. Also, from a price point perspective, the product is very different from the other solutions. One of the things that Cisco does a lot better than Alcatel is the way that products are put together, especially in terms of how the brackets fit or the way switches are mounted. Also, components that need to be removable components so that they can provide a better view in general to its users, like Cisco.

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Arun Giri

Unit Nos at Orange

Reliable support boosts confidence while initial setup complexities highlight improvement areas

Challenges I've encountered mostly involve the RMA part for hardware replacement, which doesn't happen regularly, but sometimes I face challenges due to limited parts in India; they offer different model devices as a stopgap arrangement. It's quite difficult to specify features I would want to see in future updates because that varies from model to model. I would definitely recommend Cisco Catalyst Switches to other users. We do maintenance for Cisco Catalyst Switches. For maintenance, we usually need three people from different regions working as a single team; our engineers handle both projects and maintenance, so there isn't a specific engineer just for maintenance. I work with firewalls and next-generation firewalls. Overall, I would rate the solution as an eight out of ten.

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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

"With Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches everything comes from one vendor. It operates very smoothly."

"OmniSwitch LAN Switches' performance is very good."

"One of the main advantages of the solution is that the configuration is straightforward, offering various configuration options through CLI or web interfaces. I'm satisfied with the customer service and support. The solution is good and people should know about it."

"I rate the technical support an eight or a nine out of ten. So far, they've been very professional and helpful, especially when we need to raise a case for any issue."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."

"These OmniSwitches are very manageable and easy to configure."

"Cisco Catalyst Switches are the best overall."

"When it comes to Cisco Catalyst Switches, one can say that the legacy switches are stable."

"This is a feature-rich product and the newer models have improved features that allow for many new possibilities."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is communication."

"There is a lot of improvement in the network segment after replacing the older switches. I have not seen any kind of issue with these switches since deployment. They are pretty much stable."

"A good feature of Cisco Catalyst is that it records crash log files which can be used to literally identify the cause of a crash because there is a lot of information. And Cisco Catalyst supports the use of external flash disks for storing of images and file systems."

"I've had no problems with the stability of this solution."

"The most beneficial features for our network management are their stability and good customer support."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches pros

Cons

"n general, the way the product is put together is not well done."

"There is no OEM support in India so RMAs need to be sent to France, which takes a long time if the hardware is faulty."

"I would like to see better third-party integration with third-party systems."

"There are some issues with the network firmware being deleted from the switches."

"A customer expressed dissatisfaction with the color of the switches, preferring black over the current color, which is close to white. While the color is not a personal concern, my earlier preference was for all products to be extendable in one large stack since some equipment limits stacking to four elements instead of eight."

"I would like to see better compatibility between Cisco and other vendors."

"For the time being, Cisco Catalyst Switches are working well, but they are not PoE switches, which is why we would consider replacing them."

"The solution could improve by having a video IP feature."

"The newer models are not so stable. Other products like 6800, 3750, were stable but starting from 3850 it got worse. We have a lot of issues and a lot of bugs. It's a new product so it's understandable but it should be improved."

"I would like to see support for one-touch provisioning."

"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."

"The GUI should be addressed."

"The price is high and it should be improved."

More Cisco Catalyst Switches cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"OmniSwitch LAN Switches are cheaper than Cisco's switches."

"The license is purchased one time only, it is a perpetual license with no renewal."

"The solution’s price is at a moderate level."

"The price is okay. It's comparable to similar switches."

"Pricing could be better."

"The price of these switches is on the upper end. It is around $3,500 plus for a 24-Port switch. These switches are more expensive than Linksys and TP-Links, but you get what you pay for. If you look at the pros and cons per switch, you can justify the cost compared to a lesser and cheaper brand."

"Cisco switches are expensive. Their price range is based not only on what the product does but also the name in the industry. They are good at what they do. If you need a better product, there are other lineups available."

"Catalyst is very expensive."

"The price can definitely be lower."

"Cisco Catalyst Switches are very expensive."

"It's expensive."

"The price should go down instead of up. "

More Cisco Catalyst Switches pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	2

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	79
Midsize Enterprise	29
Large Enterprise	79

Questions from the Community

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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 ...

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What do you like most about Cisco Catalyst Switches?

We are a vendor for the healthcare sector, especially hospitals, and normally, we use a full Cisco solution for stability, especially for the stability of the Access Points and the security of swit...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?

For pricing satisfaction, I'd say it will be six to seven because Cisco usually is costly compared to other vendors. Regarding pricing, there is indeed room for improvement.

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

January 2026

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches report

Download Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Catalyst Switches

January 2026

Download Cisco Catalyst Switches product report

Also Known As

Alcatel Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches, OmniSwitch, OmniSwitch LAN Switches

Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst

Overview

Information not available

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Cisco Catalyst Switches are a reliable and scalable network switching and routing solution, focusing on VLANs and VLAN switching. They are used as access switches, distribution switches, and core switches in various environments, deployed on-premises, and used for long connections. The switches are easy to configure, install, and upgrade and offer good pricing.

The most valuable features include warranty and firmware support, stability, security, good performance, flexibility, etc. The Cisco Catalyst Switches have provided a stable solution for the organizations and are widely used, trusted, and well-known in the networking industry.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Advocate Health Care, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Azienda Ospedaliera della Provincia di Lodi, Centre Hospitalier Carcassonne, Certis Cisco Security, China Tianchen Engineering Corporation Co. LTD, City of Frankfurt, Dongseo University

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

Buyer's Guide

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches

December 2025

Free Report: Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs. Cisco Catalyst Switches

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