Connect. Secure. Manage.
Catalyst Switching
Design and configure Cisco Catalyst networks with practical attention to uplinks, VLANs, resilience, access-port controls and long-term operational support.
Devices supported
across the UK
Client locations
supported
Traffic handled
at peak time
Average
response time
Average response is not a resolution time or a contractual guarantee. Support scope and response commitments are agreed for each engagement.
Cisco Catalyst switching connects the devices your staff use each day. The design must also deal with power, uplinks, access rules and faults. We help you plan, install and support these switches as part of a working network. That includes how your team will make changes and restore service after a failure.
Cisco-focused engineering
Design around the platform, traffic and failure behaviour you actually operate.
Change with evidence
Use pre-checks, acceptance criteria and a documented route back.
Operational handover
Keep the configuration, diagrams and responsibilities understandable after delivery.
Start with the network you actually need
A switch replacement should not begin with a catalogue comparison. We first establish the physical sites, endpoint types, apps, current cabling and what a network interruption would mean for the business. An office with a few hundred users may need resilient aggregation and carefully planned voice and wireless access. A small trading setup can have more demanding latency and multicast needs than a much larger general-purpose office.
The assessment should identify current switch models, software releases, licensing and support status. It should also distinguish features currently configured from features merely supported by the hardware. An inherited setup often contains old VLANs, unused trunks, obsolete access lists and emergency workarounds. Carrying those into a new platform without scrutiny makes the migration look easier on paper but preserves risk to the live service.
Standards & partnerships
Confidence in the team behind your network.
Cisco Partner
Cisco Meraki
Cyber Essentials
Cyber Essentials PlusMCI Network Services is operated by Proxar Ltd. Certifications apply to the certified legal entity and the scope of its certificates. View accreditation information
Access, distribution and core responsibilities
Catalyst access switching provides the edge connections for users and devices. Typical design decisions include port authentication, PoE capacity, multigigabit network access, access VLANs and uplink resilience. The distribution layer may provide Layer 3 boundaries, route summarisation and aggregation. A dedicated core is appropriate where site scale and availability needs justify it. It should not be added solely to imitate a reference diagram.
For each layer we document the failure domain. A dual uplink is useful only when its upstream path, power supply and control-plane behaviour provide meaningful diversity. We examine whether stacking, StackWise Virtual or independent routed devices suit the particular platform and support model. The answer depends on hardware support, convergence aims, maintenance needs and how much of the network can be affected by one software fault.
A useful starting point
Not sure where to start?
Bring the requirement. We will help you define the engineering work.
Design switching and routing together
A network can have correctly configured VLANs yet fail when traffic crosses a routing or firewall boundary. We set out the intended Layer 2 extent, gateway placement, addressing plan and allowed inter-VLAN paths before building switch templates. Trunk allowed lists and native VLAN conventions should be clear. So should loop protection, storm controls and how edge ports behave when an unexpected switch or bridge is connected.
Where access authentication is required, Cisco Identity Services Engine or another approved identity system may determine authorisation, downloadable policies or segmentation. These dependencies must be tested, including what happens when identity services are unreachable. Network access policy should be designed around real device groups and recovery procedures, not just a successful demonstration with one laptop.
Different environments. The same care.
Built around the work
your network supports.
Finance, banking and the wider private sector. We start with the systems and people that depend on your connections.
Finance & banking
Market-data paths, routing and provider coordination on clients’ behalf.
Financial-market services ↗Offices & multi-site teams
Reliable access between people, workplaces and business applications.
Office network design ↗Data centres & cloud
Network boundaries, workload connections and operational ownership.
Data centre networks ↗Prepare for installation without surprises
We use an agreed low-level design and pre-change checks to identify software prerequisites, optics compatibility, interface naming, cabling, management reachability and available rack power. A rollout plan should include backups of the settings, out-of-band access where available, acceptance tests and rollback criteria. If a site relies on an older app, the test plan must include that app’s network path rather than stopping at a successful ping.
During a staged migration we can move one access block or uplink group at a time, subject to the current topology. We check port states, spanning-tree topology, EtherChannel membership, routing adjacencies, authentication events and relevant app traffic. For larger estates, consistent setup standards and automated comparison reduce the risk of small but consequential differences between sites.
Operating a Catalyst estate
After handover, a healthy switching service needs more than a green dashboard. We establish which alerts warrant immediate investigation, which changes require approval and how software and hardware lifecycle reviews will be conducted. Logs, interface error counters, power events and configuration drift are valuable only when somebody owns the response. Support scope can include incident investigation, approved changes to the settings, planned upgrades and coordination with circuits or hardware vendors.
Some supported Catalyst models offer cloud-management options through the Meraki dashboard, but those modes have different capabilities and prerequisites. Legacy cloud monitoring for Catalyst is not a current service to deploy; migration decisions should be based on the supported model, release and intended management mode. We will not assume that a cloud-managed feature is available across every Catalyst family.
Choosing the right engagement
We can review a current design, deliver a new rollout or take responsibility for agreed ongoing operations. The right starting point may be a targeted assessment rather than a full replacement. A business with an unstable network might need evidence about loops, oversubscribed uplinks or failing optics before it spends money on new switches. Conversely, unsupported hardware and insufficient power budgets can make a refresh the safer option.
MCI provides Cisco and Meraki network services across the UK, with particular attention to London, Kent, Sussex, Essex and Berkshire. Share your switch inventory, site count and the business outcome you need. We can help define a practical switching scope, the evidence required for acceptance and the duties that remain after go-live.
Talk to a specialist
What does your network need next?
Tell us what you are planning, changing or trying to improve. We will help define a practical next step and the engineering scope.
+44 203 196 6566Choose option 1
sales@proxar.co.ukUK-wide service.
Most of our engineers are based in Kent, with a focus on London, Sussex, Essex and Berkshire.
Existing customers should use their agreed support and escalation channels. This form is for service enquiries, not a monitored emergency ticket.
Tell us what you need.
A short outline is enough. Please do not include passwords or sensitive network details.
Thank you. Your enquiry has been submitted.
Please check your name, email and message, then try again.
Your form session expired. Please try again.
Please wait a minute before sending another enquiry.
We could not submit your enquiry. Please call or email us instead.