Cisco AnyConnect vs. ExpressVPN vs. OpenVPN Access Server

Providing secure remote access with a robust VPN, creating an encrypted tunnel so employees can safely access internal company resources like file servers and private apps from anywhere. It also allows enforcing device compliance: depending on policies, checks whether a device has an active antivirus and the latest OS updates before allowing it to connect. When there is not much need for remote access, the cost is too high.

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a colleague using it in china wrote up a detailed report of how he was unable to get out of china with it. he included screenshots and write-ups on his many trials and tribulations of dealing with tech support, trying to get thru the gfw, and he ultimately ended up using another solution altogether which DID work.

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If you looking for a reliable, light weight and secure VPN server, than OpenVPN Access Server is the one. Easy to install and manage, OpenVPN will provide secure remote connections, with a very good integration with almost all LDAP directories, for user management. With my experience, I don't see any scenario that OpenVPN won't be able to handle.

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• All Cisco AnyConnect data transfer processes are secure to enhance security.
• It can connect multiple terminals across various sites directly.
• Centralized management of the workstations connected to the network became easier than ever for managers with multiple locations in the organization's workforce.

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• ExpressVPN was easy to install, and simple to connect to a VPN network.
• ExpressVPN is available for multiple platforms and multiple browsers.
• The price is reasonable for the added level of security it provides.

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• Speed of logging in.
• Lengthy session times.
• Ease of troubleshooting.

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• Cisco AnyConnect can use the system resources as long as the program is being run.
• Account activation may be very difficult when connecting from areas requiring captive portal login, if certain settings are not allowed.
• By default, it is possible to request the user to authenticate again at specific intervals.

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• A better price point - it's not prohibitively expensive, but I'm not buying it again at that price point without a pressing need.

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• some times error logs are not clear
• Configuring 3rd party apps can sometimes be problematic
• Limited functionality for iPhone users, but I believe that is due to an apple issue.

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It is perhaps the second most functional tool we have, it will definitely be renewed every year. Our network is stable, which ensures that there is less for our technicians to troubleshoot, which frees them up to ensure other parts of the company are maintained. This keeps our costs low and our downtime at a minimum.

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It's efficient and useful at what it does.

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It is very useful tool for companies having hybrid work culture. It will allow their employees to work seamlessly from home, office, other branches. This tool will increase your productivity as it will facilitates your employees to access corporate applications 24x7. Overall it is easy to use, deploy and integrate.

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Engineering team members can work from remote locations which helps companies to reduce their operational costs. It is easy to use so team members don't have to spend any extra time to use this. It helps team members access web pages which are otherwise not available due to location restrictions.

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Whatever console or firewall you are running OpenVPN Access Server, it's configuration is very easy to do. You can create multiple tunnels, with different pourposes and authetication methods. It also has a quick and easy view of the connections opened, with possible actions, such as a very efficient kill switch and reconnect options.

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I have been using Cisco AnyConnect for past two years and thus I can say very firmly that I have never seen the outage from the Cisco AnyConnect services either It is VPN, System Scans or the Network Connectivity. Talking about the errors likewise major errors I have faced throughout my period of use.

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Absolutely no speed issues, and I see no evidence of slowdowns across any of the multiple platforms I use daily. It's operation is completely invisible most of the time, except where there is a loss of connection due to server issues or a loss of power. Everything loads quickly and accurately.

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More or less above average

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I don't know but nobody provides proper support for us as end user. They should have people to check whether end user is facing issues or not. Cisco AnyConnect having very high charges and still there is no proper support! Many requests and many tickets have opened, but the working speed is very low for the support team! They should have it to optimize.

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Never used the support

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Our Managed Services vendor helped us with the implementation. When we initially setup our AnyConnect using MFA for remote connectivity, the setup was easy and straight forward and worked just fine. After a year, we decided to change to an "always on" feature and use machine and user based security certificates instead of MFA. We had to open a ticket with Cisco support and have their assistance getting this feature to work. Turned out they had a small bug in the code for that version of AnyConnect and it has since been corrected. We have had no issues with the upgrades since that time. The deployment of the software to the user machines was done with SCCM and was straight forward. The user machine upgrades are easy - when the user machine connects and sees a new version available, it upgrades itself! What could be easier?

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Cisco is one of our core partners besides Microsoft and SAP. And so yes, we are utilizing very many projects from Cisco. I would mention the whole networking equipment, the routing equipment, the wireless LAN, and also when it comes to infrastructure to compute infrastructure, we are utilizing Cisco servers within our converged infrastructure Flex spot. So we have been running a flex bot from Cisco, NetApp, and VMware for 12 years, and we are still very satisfied with the product. We are looking forward to upgrading to the newest blades and fabric interconnect to continue this journey.

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nord was a player, too, but we buy both nord and expressvpn now. we have tried sort of a hodge-podge of all the typical commercial vendors out there. If I Was to compare them all, they'd all be approximately a rating of "meh", 50-50. I'm not a fan of any. We also tried self-hosting vpn's but that requires local tech staff we don't want to have to focus on having.

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OpenVPN had a better UI and usability for our team. It was more straightforward, had better SAML integration, and allowed our team to be on the VPN and on our network in seconds. We had some issues getting Nord to work for our use cases, and have run into pretty much zero issues with OpenVPN.

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Cisco AnyConnect has been a speedy, reliable, and efficient tool for the creation of your own VPN whatever location that you've brought your laptop. Customer support is consistently top-notch, coming up with quick fixes to whatever difficulties are thrown your way. I would not hesitate to reccommend Cisco AnyConnect to any business that needs connected employees throught the world.

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Excellently well engineered.

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• We are able to seamlessly work on multiple clients daily, and it allows us to quickly handle more projects at the same time.
• Cisco AnyConnect has allowed our own company's coworkers to remotely connect back to the corporate network, easily assisting work schedules and processes, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being forced to work remotely, meant our processes still happened quickly and efficiently, by being able to leverage and use Cisco AnyConnect VPN.
• Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have worked 100% remotely for a few years now. This was always due to the reliable connectivity and ease of use with Cisco AnyConnect VPN. I live 2+ hours from our nearest corporate office, and even further from some of my client locations, and I have always been able to connect to any of my multiple Cisco AnyConnect VPN connections, within seconds.

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• My customers are happy that I am using every security measure available. Increased sales.
• Productivity has not decreased, while security level has increased.
• The initial cost was reasonable.

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• Only 2 free users, it would be nice if they would expand to 5.
• Easy way to establish a VPN backbone between two locations
• Great for work at home or BCP events.

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