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AWS Direct Connect vs Lumen MPLS IP VPN 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Direct Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
12th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Lumen MPLS IP VPN
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
36th
Average Rating
10.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.8%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lumen MPLS IP VPN is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
AWS Direct Connect1.8%
Lumen MPLS IP VPN0.4%
Other97.8%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2231871 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Offers secure high-bandwidth connectivity without internet-related risks
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The customer, from the customer side to AWS, receives an ethernet point-to-point connection, and that is it. The interface and everything along with the communication with AWS, the customer has to do by themselves to build the routes and everything. The connection speed that our clients are using ranges from 100 megabits up to 10 gigabits. The main concern is the port costs. Clients do not report technical problems, so it is mainly always an issue of money. The solution is nice, but sometimes they avoid it because the port costs are high. This is not a problem AWS has exclusively; Azure has the same costs, and these port costs are quite expensive. I would rate this review as an 8 out of 10.
reviewer1474251 - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
A robust, scalable, stable, and evolved product
It depends on multiple factors. If your building is already connected, then it is very easy to install. When the building is connected, we can set it up within three to four days. When the order gets triggered, we can do the implementation. We don't have to do much, but if the building is not connected, then there is a challenge. We need to pull out fiber or connect to RF, and we have to try some devices to provide internet. Depending on the distance out and the length of the fiber that needs to be deployed, it could take weeks and months because there are multiple factors. We also have to take permission from the local authorities, dig the roads, and do all that stuff. After we have the approvals in place, we can start the deployment. It can take a week or three months.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."
"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"Direct Connect provides an improved connection quality and a diversified link, which contributes to high availability and failover capabilities."
"It is a stable solution."
"It is a highly scalable solution."
"AWS VPN is cost-effective and affordable; it has the security regulation with 3DES protocol, and they have the security protocol required to encrypt the information in the link."
"AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet."
"AWS VPN is cost-effective and affordable; it has the security regulation with 3DES protocol, and they have the security protocol required to encrypt the information in the link."
"It is a robust solution. You can scale it up as per your requirement."
"We offer the best of times, so we commit 99.8% of the time on fiber and 98.5% on RF."
 

Cons

"One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high."
"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."
"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."
"AWS Direct Connect is straightforward and performs well for me."
"Its terminologies are challenging to interpret."
"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."
"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."
"It should have better integration with other platforms."
"It should have better integration with other platforms. With the internet, very few innovations can be there, but there are some solutions that can be integrated into the solutions that we provide"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."
"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"As a provider, we need to have licenses from the regulatory authorities. Once we have those licenses in place, we can provide connections to our customers. So, getting licenses is a challenge. It is a time-consuming process. Other than that, there is no massive challenge."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Healthcare Company
10%
University
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?
One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high. It is primarily a budget issue because while the solution is effective, the port costs ...
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
Our customers primarily use AWS Direct Connect for hybrid cloud solutions. They have parts of their equipment in their on-premise data center, while also using AWS infrastructure for backups, datab...
What advice do you have for others considering AWS Direct Connect?
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The c...
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Also Known As

No data available
CenturyLink MPLS/IP VPN, CenturyLink MPLS IP VPN
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Mammoet, En Masse
Find out what your peers are saying about OpenVPN, Fortinet, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN. Updated: February 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.