Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Aruba Switches vs Cisco Ethernet Switches vs Huawei Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Aruba Switches is 11.3%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 15.6%, down from 18.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Huawei Ethernet Switches is 3.1%, up from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Eunice Thirikwa - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable hotel networking enhances return on investment with valuable modular features
There are issues with the distribution side of Aruba Switches. For instance, the distributor in our country cannot sell to neighboring countries, creating complications in project execution. Improving the distribution network across regions would be beneficial. Also, the SFP modules are significantly more expensive than industry peers, which affects cost-effectiveness.
Pradeep Adhav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network security enhancement with sturdy switches despite high costs
The Cisco Ethernet switches are primarily used as regular core switches for networking, distribution, and access levels. We also utilize Cisco Wi-Fi, VPN, and Wi-Fi controllers The Cisco Ethernet switches have improved our network's security, ensuring it is 100% secure by not allowing any…
Mr. Qalat Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution is power efficient, stable, and provides free-of-cost batch upgrades
The solution can improve by adding virtualized switch functionality. Huawei mentioned virtual switches in one of the product sheets, but when we got to the deployment phase, it turned out that they didn't actually include virtual switching functionality. Other than that, the switch and network are performing well and meeting our requirements.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The features I find most valuable in Aruba Switches are their flexibility, reliability, and affordability."
"a value-for-money product and comparatively a very reasonable price compared to competitors like SAP or IBM."
"Scalable and reliable solution for your network connectivity needs, with a straightforward setup."
"Aruba access points have a good transfer rate."
"The solution is widely applicable to businesses like mine, thanks to its flexibility and compatibility with our warranty structure in South Africa."
"We have found that the command line interface is very useful and very similar to Cisco devices."
"They are easy to configure and integrate well with the Aruba ecosystem."
"Aruba has a good switching solution. It has some basic security features and full switching features for the company. It’s not used as a security device, but it has some basic features like configuring ACL. However, it cannot be used as a complete security solution. The primary thing our clients look for in Aruba, or HPE now since HP acquired Aruba, is cost-effectiveness. Aruba is a good choice if the customer has budget limitations. We recommend Aruba switches because they are less expensive than Cisco but provide the same features."
"The IP routing is the most important feature."
"What I like the most is the performance and the latency that Cisco provides."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are great devices."
"The quality of service is one of the main reasons we use Cisco in our organization. It's quite high and very reliable. The switches also end up working for a long time, so there's less need to replace them as often as others. We have some switches in our company that has been running since 2006, for example. They are quite old, but they still work."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches is stable and robust."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are very reliable and work like a clock once configured."
"They are easy to use and have low maintenance requirements."
"We use Cisco Ethernet Switches to configure VLANs in the VPN network."
"Huawei switches come in small, medium, and large capacities and can be used for monitoring and switching."
"The velocity of the process is the most valuable feature."
"We use Huawei Ethernet Switches for business networks and connectivity."
"It is also easy to implement in the first place."
"They have the ability, since they have a very big R&D team, to create an upgrade for any feature or patch very easily."
"It is easy to understand all the features of Huawei Switches."
"The CLI syntax."
"It is a very stable solution."
 

Cons

"Aruba Switches cover lots of areas and support automated and IOPS and with the central products, but I think when we look at the solutions overall, IOPS devices are not covered so much in Aruba Central. We are in Croatia and it is a small country, I don't know how its situation is in Europe, America, or Asia."
"I would like to see something like a Cisco Prime, an application controlling the entire system, switches, and access points."
"I am forced to consider changing products because other solutions have a better dashboard and a user-friendly interface."
"The dashboard could be improved, especially for the CX Switches. It would help to push scripts and configurations via an easy to use dashboard, one which would give us complete visibility of all of our switches in one place. Right now, we have more than one dashboard for Aruba. It would be nice if it was centralized."
"We have needed to upgrade software to fix some challenges we experienced. After downloading the latest version of Aruba, these were fixed."
"The delivery time for this product is slow and is something that needs to be improved."
"There are issues with the distribution side of Aruba Switches."
"The solution must improve the switch models."
"It would be good for Cisco to provide certification to our engineers for our IT infrastructure. Basically to train and certify our engineers."
"The initial setup for on-prem versions is complex and requires a trained, certified engineer."
"I think the price should be cheaper to be able to afford more."
"The solution's pricing could be improved."
"Firewall features should be pre-enabled in Cisco Ethernet switches. FortiGate switches are considered more valuable because they have firewall capabilities."
"Technical support in India needs to be improved."
"There is a need for improvement on the ordering and delivery side for Cisco Ethernet switches."
"Could use additional programmability for the switches."
"It is not easy to use if you need to monitor, patch or update. It needs to be configured by a network specialist because it doesn't have an overall central monitoring tool or anything like that. I'd say no ease of use."
"We had a few issues with integration."
"The configuration could be improved and deployment should be easier."
"Huawei Ethernet Switches should improve its user interface."
"Huawei should focus more on security."
"The solution needs to provide GUI commands."
"Huawei should focus more on security. They need more products on the security side to improve the security portion."
"We would like to have a greater level of automation using this solution. The customer support could also be faster."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license required if you want to use wireless controls for micro-segmentation. However, for Aruba Switches there is no license required."
"The license is annual. If you purchase a switch, you get a one-year free subscription."
"It is expensive compared to the competition."
"Cisco has a higher cost than Aruba Switches."
"There are no licensing costs for the Aruba Switches."
"The price is reasonable."
"The cost is very cheap when you compare it to CISCO."
"Typically it is a $500 to $600 difference in price."
"The price of Cisco Ethernet Switches here in India is too high. There are other cheaper solutions available."
"The price of this solution is good."
"Cisco offers annual and three-year license options."
"While Cisco's pricing can be a concern, particularly with support fees, its overall features and support community make it a solid choice."
"The equipment might be more expensive, but when you take total ownership of the configuration, maintenance, and analysis, then it's a large benefit. Sometimes customers see only the first cost of the switches and don't look any further. This is a weak point of Cisco."
"The product is expensive."
"Price-wise, Cisco Ethernet Switches is a product that falls a little bit on the expensive side."
"There are different licensing based on the model of the solution."
"Compared to other brands, I think that the price is quite fair."
"Huawei has the same licensing model as Cisco, so both are working on the subscription model."
"The exact pricing varies based on how many units you purchase."
"The price is one of the only issues I have regarding this solution."
"The pricing is good so is rated an eight out of ten."
"It's a reasonable price, cheaper than some other vendors."
"Huawei provides much better performance for the same price, even when taking into account very aggressive commercial policies."
"A cost-effective product"
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Ethernet Switches solutions are best for your needs.
849,600 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user82779 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Educational Organization
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Switches?
Aruba lives up to the expectations of the tech giant hewlett packard enterprise providing excellent networking capabi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Switches?
I find it to be middle to high. It's not always affordable, but they're losing the pricing market against Huawei, let...
What needs improvement with Aruba Switches?
There isn't much room for improvement. A more granular breakdown in debugging would be beneficial. Apart from that, n...
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 func...
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 F...
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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Huawei Ethernet Switches?
Huawei Ethernet Switches offer very competitive and aggressive product pricing compared to other brands.
What needs improvement with Huawei Ethernet Switches?
Huawei should focus more on security. They need more products on the security side to improve the security portion.
 

Also Known As

8400 Series, 8320 Series, 5400R Series, 3810 Series, 2930M Series, 2930F Series, 2920 Series, 2540 Series, 2530 Series
Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Purdue University
Linz AG
Newcastle University, Jingyang District of Deyang City in Sichuan Province, Southwest China, Glasgow Rangers Soccer Team, RMIT, Insurance Industry Association of Zhejiang Province, China, APT Satellite Holdings Limited (APT)
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Netgear and others in Ethernet Switches. Updated: March 2025.
849,600 professionals have used our research since 2012.