SoftEther VPN Came to My Rescue 8-years Ago and it Still Delivers
April 09, 2024
SoftEther VPN Came to My Rescue 8-years Ago and it Still Delivers
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with SoftEther VPN
I have used SoftEther VPN since February 2016, to connect back to my home office from my client's offices while traveling. It provides me with a solid, reliable, and secure connection based on only allowing approved IPs to be connected—IPs that I have previously configured into SoftEther VPN's IP Access Control List for each of my clients. Before switching to SoftEther VPN, I used Pertino but when it was acquired by Cradlepoint, it began having problems, and the increased cost became untenable for my small company and my clients.
I also use SoftEther VPN to connect to all of my clients from my home office when working remotely, and they use it to allow all of their remote workers to connect to the main office.
I also use SoftEther VPN to connect to all of my clients from my home office when working remotely, and they use it to allow all of their remote workers to connect to the main office.
- It just works—I have never had a single call from a client or end-user complaining that their VPN wasn't working.
- It can be configured to be super easy for end-users to use—Nearly transparent to them, in fact.
- It is very lightweight on devices and works extremely fast. So fast, in fact, that about the only issue I ever have with SoftEther VPN are related to users sometimes forgetting they are working remotely.
- We have has some issues where their default port won't connect through an AT&T wireless AP, but creating an exception for it on the AP or changing the port always gets it working.
- I went from a Pertino/Cradlepoint VPN-as-a-Service requiring no hardware to a SoftEther VPN Client/Server configuration and that required the purchase of a tiny server to run SEVPN. It could have been a Linux box or Windows and I chose Windows, so there was a minimal cost for the Windows 10 device but it eliminated the monthly service cost and has historically been far more reliable.
- We went from about $12/user/month on Cradlepoint perimeter81 to $0/user/month after about a $500 investment in hardware, so just one of my clients has been saving $300/month after the initial $500 for the "Server" device.
I had experienced several reliability issues soon after Pertino VPN-as-a-Service was acquired by Cradlepoint where the service would go down for a supposed update but would be down for long periods. And that was just one of several issues that caused me grief. I started looking around for a suitable replacement and came across SoftEther VPN, a project by the University of Tsukuba, Japan, quite by accident. I fell in love with its ease of implementation, low device cost, ease of Admin control, and ease of use for end-users, in addition to its near-zero downtime reliability, and the fact that I have total control over its operation and maintenance.
Do you think SoftEther VPN delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with SoftEther VPN's feature set?
Yes
Did SoftEther VPN live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of SoftEther VPN go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy SoftEther VPN again?
Yes