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

Cisco Ethernet Switches vs H3C Ethernet Switches comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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 Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
134
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
H3C Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
17th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Cisco Ethernet Switches is 16.3%, down from 18.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of H3C Ethernet Switches is 2.4%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

Ronald Van Rees - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a power stacking feature and enhances port speed with impressive stability
The vendor is presently working with large digital network architectures and additional software, as it is now willing to become a software-focused company instead of a hardware one. Cisco Ethernet Switches presently provide two options, either the user can utilize the basic features or the advanced software. Previously, advanced features were included in the basic package, but now they are provided as add-ons that need to be purchased separately for an extensive period of three or five years. As part of the advanced features in the solution, there is Digital Network Architecture (DNA) that provides insights, multiple dashboards and monitoring capabilities over Nexus and Catalyst switches from Cisco. Sometimes, customers need to buy features for Cisco Ethernet Switches that they do not require or use. The basic switches like the C1000 from the vendor don't have the DNA feature, but advanced version switches like Cisco Ethernet Switches have made the add-on purchases mandatory to avail certain features, which makes it difficult for several users.
KanwarArsalan - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers all routing protocols, functionality, and capabilities
H3C switches have strong port aggregation features including dynamic, static, and device aggregation. They also offer broadcast, multicast, or unique system suppression for PPS and BPS. These features are versatile and adaptable to various organizational scenarios, complemented by VLAN support. H3C switches offer VPN support along with various VLAN options like port-based, MAC-based, and protocol-based VLANs, including VLAN mapping and voice VLAN features. They support VLAN interfaces for both IPv4 and IPv6, ensuring compatibility and configuration flexibility. H3C switches are up to date with current market trends, offering features, routing protocols, capabilities, and functionalities that correspond to new trends in networking solutions. I strongly recommend that future users consider H3C switches for their designs, given their performance, specific features, and strong capabilities compared to competitors like Cisco. Overall, I would rate H3C Ethernet Switches as a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco Ethernet Switches are more stable than other products."
"I have found the solution to have good scalability. Cisco is the pioneers on switching technology, they are very good."
"Being able to deal with multiple VLANs to segment the network logically is the biggest feature for us. The management of these switches is okay for us. These switches work very well, and they meet our needs."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches is a very stable product."
"Cisco switches have several valuable features like VLAN mapping. We seldom use that, but we find the security configurations helpful, like high availability with trading port channels and MAC filtering."
"The stability is 100%."
"You can tap into all of the features for your virtual workload environment."
"We use Cisco Ethernet Switches to configure VLANs in the VPN network."
"Offering a five-year warranty, compared to competitors' one-year warranties, is a unique advantage of H3C switches."
"Network performance is very good, suggesting that stability has not been an issue."
"The IMC feature is valuable."
"H3C Ethernet Switches is a cheap solution."
"To date, it has proven to be highly reliable. We have encountered no issues or challenges with it thus far."
"H3C Ethernet Switches have a fast delivery time."
"A good high-performance solution."
"The best feature of H3C Ethernet Switches is their reliability."
 

Cons

"The price of the solution could be reduced."
"Better manageability and ease of use would be an improvement."
"Location of customers to connect clients to the servers and transport the data and VoIP in parallel with QoS and NBAR with 802.1X."
"Cisco should consider adding a GUI as most vendors now offer the ability to manage switches via a graphical user interface, while Cisco switches are managed using pure CLI."
"The solution should offer a method for user-based load balancing."
"The product could improve in the area of simulated switches."
"The platform's management features need improvement."
"Cisco should strive to improve the software for its switches."
"The only improvement needed is the significantly better lead time for delivery compared to other American products. In terms of technology, there isn't much difference, especially since X3 is a subsidiary of XP, and they use the same technology. However, the delivery time is notably better."
"The solution’s stability could be improved."
"There is room for improvement in Wi-Fi solutions, which are not optimized."
"There should be more public tools for configuration and comparing products."
"To enhance H3C switches for the next release, improving the user interface is crucial."
"GUI needs to merge with CLI."
"H3C Ethernet Switches could improve by widening their product range."
"There is room for improvement in Wi-Fi solutions, which are not optimized."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price-wise, Cisco Ethernet Switches is a product that falls a little bit on the expensive side."
"Cisco is quite expensive. In our market, a lot of customers are forced to go with something else because they cannot afford a brand-new Cisco even though they know a Cisco switch will be more reliable."
"There is a license required for this solution and the price could be better."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are more expensive than Huawei Ethernet Switches."
"Customers have to pay for some of the L3 switches licenses, which are expensive."
"While Cisco's pricing can be a concern, particularly with support fees, its overall features and support community make it a solid choice."
"The product is very expensive"
"Pricing for this product is high but the cost is worth it if you can afford it."
"H3C Ethernet Switches are reasonably priced."
"H3C Ethernet Switches are priced at around $500 per unit, which is very cheap and one of the most competitive prices out there."
"H3C Ethernet Switches is targeted for SMBs because it's cheaper compared to Huawei switches."
"The pricing is very affordable, making it a not-so-expensive choice. On a scale from one to ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap, I would rate it a seven."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Ethernet Switches solutions are best for your needs.
839,319 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
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 ...
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...
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...
What needs improvement with H3C Ethernet Switches?
There is room for improvement in Wi-Fi solutions, which are not optimized.
What is your primary use case for H3C Ethernet Switches?
The primary use case is about managing network infrastructure. The H3C Ethernet Switches are used internally as switches in the system.
 

Also Known As

Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Linz AG
Ying Wa College, Centro Digital Pictures
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Ethernet Switches vs. H3C Ethernet Switches and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
839,319 professionals have used our research since 2012.