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AWS Direct Connect vs SonicWall Netextender comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 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

AWS Direct Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
13th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall Netextender
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
10th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 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 SonicWall Netextender is 3.1%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SonicWall Netextender3.1%
AWS Direct Connect1.8%
Other95.1%
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.
Rich Darress - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Operating Officer at Darress Tech
Has provided secure remote access to multiple client networks with consistent performance
When buying the appliance itself, there is one downside that isn't exclusive to SonicWall. When you apply all the security settings, many people have one gig connections for internet ISP. If you're bringing in a one gig connection, you have to have a more robust SonicWall to handle that throughput with all your security settings turned on. It gets pretty pricey upfront if you're bringing in a one gig connection. If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious. However, this issue exists with pretty much any appliance.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"AWS Direct Connect offers higher security options by avoiding internet-related problems such as DDoS attacks and provides stable bandwidth."
"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet."
"It is a stable solution."
"It is a highly scalable solution."
"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."
"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."
"I found nothing of value in this solution."
"It can support multifactor authentication. Also, it is a very basic application."
"The SSL-VPN encryption has been fantastic for my organization's data confidentiality and integrity; we've done extensive testing with third-party cybersecurity testing while connected and it has passed with flying colors."
"One of the most valuable features of SonicWall Netextender is the integration of VPN accounts with Microsoft Identity Management, which enables us to enforce secure access through Microsoft Intune and conditional access policies. This helps ensure that only authorized individuals are able to access the VPN, rather than anyone with knowledge of a password."
"The product has two-factor authentication."
"It allows us to work remotely."
"NetExtender works very well. I never had an issue with it, and it has been working well for me. In terms of management, you have good control over the destination. You can use NetExtender to set the policy and the static route for a client. You can modify it based on what your client needs or can access. You have good control over routing."
"My company opted for this solution because it can individually perform. Basically, we don't require load balancers and all those additional feature sets or additional devices that might be required. The solution can handle the certificate, DNS queries, and all that stuff individually."
 

Cons

"Its terminologies are challenging to interpret."
"AWS Direct Connect should support cross-cloud connections, such as migrations between Azure and AWS, for disaster recovery purposes on different cloud platforms."
"It is complicated to do additional BGP configuration for the product."
"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."
"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."
"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."
"One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high."
"They need to rewrite the software to make it a usable product."
"SonicWall can be difficult for some people, but I don't find it difficult. Some companies provide a VPN client for free, but you have to pay for NetExtender."
"If the customer starts with a two, three, four, or 500 meg connection and has a small unit, they have to replace the whole box when upgrading to a gig, so scalability there is atrocious."
"Sometimes you can get bounced around through the departments until you find the right one. Sometimes if you don't have the most current support contract or your license is out of date, they won't even talk to you."
"The UI could be a little better."
"In future releases, introductions of AI features would be really helpful."
"The Netextender application itself doesn't really look pretty, however, we can still use it. We don't care what it looks like. That said, if they did a cosmetic update, that would be fine."
"The only concern I do have is with the zero trust, and the solution is not coping with the newer technologies as much as it needs to do on that particular factor."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"It is an expensive solution."
"You have to pay for its license. There are some other companies that provide a VPN client for free. When you buy NetExtender, its license is available for one, three, or five years."
"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."
"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."
"The price of SonicWall Netextender is reasonable. Whether it's a small shop with only five users or a larger operation with 130 users, we have received no complaints or objections regarding cost from any of the clients we are looking to deploy it with."
"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."
"Cost wise, it would be a few hundred dollars for the base appliance with the first five clients. Then from there, your cost per seat depends on how many you're getting. It's a one-time cost, and then you have a few hundred dollars a year for the maintenance contract once you get the one-time seat costs out of the way."
"The solution has a pretty good price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
12%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS Direct Connect?
AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet.
What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?
We encountered issues with the connection. The VPN was not connecting on multiple occasions.
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
I'm not an end user of any of those SAP products. I wanted to have a comparison between different solutions for process mining and process modeling, but I'm not an end user of any. I have Microsoft...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Netextender?
The pricing for my experience with the setup cost and licensing of SonicWall Netextender is fair. The Netextender itself has no cost. It's the SSL licensing that is attached to the SonicWall. It us...
What needs improvement with SonicWall Netextender?
SonicWall Netextender has not helped with compliance, as it is not applicable for what I'm doing. I've put several feature requests in over the years and they've implemented them all, so it current...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall Netextender?
Getting to local resources on a customer's network is my main use case with SonicWall Netextender or SonicWall SSL-VPN. As a managed service provider, all my customers have SonicWalls and I get int...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Information Not Available
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