Item: Cradlepoint NetCloud Engine
Rating: 10
Author: Joe Foran

Overall Satisfaction with Cradlepoint NetCloud (formerly Pertino)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Cradlepoint NetCloud because of the high mobility of our workforce between our 56 different offices and the many offsite visits our staff do as part of their jobs. We install the agent on every laptop and even on desktop in remote offices in the organization to create a virtual WAN, emulating a hub and spoke WAN with SmartZones, so that each user has access to corporate resources from wherever they are. We use any Internet connection to get seamless access.

Pros and Cons

Pros

SD-WAN connectivity
Granular Manageability
Internal DNS resolution
Virtual IP Address Management
Site-based access rules

Cons

Their support could be quicker

Most Important Features

Always-on connectivity
SmartZones
Agent-based management

Return on Investment

TCO vs traditional WAN was over 1,000% less
Increased connectivity improved security AND connectivity

Alternatives Considered

CenturyLink MPLS / IP VPN Service

The cost of equipment, lines, and services was over 1,000 times the five year cost of Cradlepoint (formerly Pertino) when looking for a complete WAN replacement. Using small Linux devices (Intel NUCs) instead of expensive networking hardware provided equal service levels when we needed passthrough site-based access, rather than buying specific hardware from a vendor (including even Cradlepoint, though the integration is great and I do recommend their devices - especially for their cellular data redundancy features)

Key Insights

Do you think Cradlepoint NetCloud Engine delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cradlepoint NetCloud Engine's feature set?

Yes

Did Cradlepoint NetCloud Engine live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cradlepoint NetCloud Engine go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cradlepoint NetCloud Engine again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Cisco Meraki MX, Sage Intacct, Buildium

Likelihood to Recommend

When you need a WAN or a widespread VPN-as-a-Service with high degrees
of security and manageability, agent-based VPN is a versatile way to get
needed connectivity between endpoints. Using the SmartZones feature and
API Key authentication it is easy to deploy, lock down, and is seamless
to the end-user (always-on VPN). Because its agent-based on endpoints,
in addition to other security features, IT is also able to limit access
to resources simply by not installing the application on devices that
remote agent devices shouldn't need to access.

Comments

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Cradlepoint NetCloud SD-WAN: More than always-on VPN services