PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series
Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series
★ 3.2 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Switching Capacity: 128 Gbps - 176 Gbps
  • Forwarding Rate: 190.4 Mpps - 261.9 Mpps
  • Ports: 24 or 48 ports 10/100/1000 (Data or PoE+); Fixed or Modular Uplinks (1G, 10G, 25G, 40G)
  • PoE Budget: Up to 1440W (PoE+ support)
  • Layer: Layer 2 and Layer 3 (Static, RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, ISIS)
  • Stacking support: StackWise-160 (Modular) / StackWise-80 (Fixed); up to 8 units

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: Enterprise-grade security with MACsec-128 encryption; high resiliency with redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and fans; supports Perpetual PoE for uninterrupted power during reboots; integrated Cisco DNA center and Meraki dashboard management.
  • ✘ Cons: Significant price premium over predecessor models (2960-X); mandatory Cisco DNA subscription required for advanced software features; L-series (C9200L) models have fixed fans and limited stacking bandwidth.
  • Est. Price: $2,500 - $10,200

Compare Against

Fortinet FortiSwitch 124G (FS-124G)
Fortinet FortiSwitch 124G (FS-124G)
★ 3.7 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Switching Capacity: 240 Gbps
  • Forwarding Rate: 355 Mpps
  • Ports: 24 x 100/1000/2500 Mbps RJ45, 6 x 10 Gbps SFP+
  • PoE Budget: 0W (Non-PoE)
  • Layer: Layer 2 with Static Routing
  • Stacking support: FortiLink (Management Stacking)
  • Form Factor: 1 RU, Fanless

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: High-speed 2.5G multi-gigabit ports ideal for Wi-Fi 6/7 access points; generous 6x 10G SFP+ uplinks for high backhaul capacity; fanless design ensures completely silent operation; seamless integration with FortiGate firewalls via FortiLink for centralized security management.
  • ✘ Cons: Lacks Power over Ethernet (PoE) support, requiring injectors or a separate power source for connected devices; fanless design leads to high operating temperatures (often exceeding 50°C); limited Layer 3 features compared to enterprise core switches.
  • Est. Price: $1,130 - $1,504

Popular Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series vs Ubiquiti Pro Max Aggregation (USW-Pro-Max-Aggregation) Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series vs Fortinet FortiSwitch 124G Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series vs Fortinet FortiSwitch 124G (FS-124G) Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series vs Ubiquiti USW-Enterprise-24-PoE Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series vs Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Pro Max 16 PoE