Planning Analyst at Ovato
User
Top 5
A powerful VPN that is secure and reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "The safety of online interactions when working with this product has enabled members to convene productive meetings without fear of being attacked."
  • "The cost of maintenance is high compared to most products in the market."

What is our primary use case?

The Remote Access VPN provides security to all computing devices across the organization. I can securely log in from a remote area and access the organization's data without physical appearance. 

It is easy to collaborate with colleagues in the same networking area from different locations. 

When interacting with our customers, I can easily change my IP address to correspond with a client's. 

This platform has saved the company a lot of resources that are being used to set up remote offices. 

How has it helped my organization?

This application provides total data security across the enterprise networking infrastructure. Remote interactions with my colleagues are encrypted to enhance safety and prevent threats. 

The organization of virtual events is always secure due to efficient security measures deployed in the organization. 

A powerful VPN has lowered the cost of team engagements and interactions in the field. 

The safety of online interactions when working with this product has enabled members to convene productive meetings without fear of being attacked.

What is most valuable?

The set of security features that prevent data leakages has saved resources. 

The customer support team responds faster when contacted to provide solutions for technical failures. 

The application does not affect the storage and functionalities of the operating system. 

The UI enables new users to understand the working criteria of the features easily. 

The performance of this tool does not affect the performance of other applications when deployed on mobile or desktop devices. 

All the set features have a great impact on protection from data leakages and have saved our organization from threats.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes it may mislead the user based on the requested location due to poor networking. 

Most features have capable performance that responds quickly to user requests. 

The cost of maintenance is high compared to most products in the market. 

Integrations with some applications are difficult due to poor compatibility tools. The development team should focus more on updates and integration features. 

I am impressed by the current performance despite the few challenges. The overall performance has been excellent, and I recommend it to others 

Buyer's Guide
Check Point Remote Access VPN
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Check Point Remote Access VPN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
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For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product performance is efficient.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The performance is excellent.

How are customer service and support?

The customer support staff is reliable.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have no experience with any similar solution.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

Implementation was handled in-house.

What was our ROI?

We have gained positive ROI since we deployed it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The setup process is not complex.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I evaluated other VPNs, however, in those cases, the performance was not stable.

What other advice do I have?

This is the best VPN I have worked with so far.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Google
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Hugo Alexis Espinoza Naranjo - PeerSpot reviewer
Perimeter Security Administrator at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Great encryption and MFA with helps improve a company's security posture
Pros and Cons
  • "It can improve an organization by providing secure access to resources for traveling employees, which can help to reduce the risk of data breaches or other security incidents."
  • "Improved scalability would allow the solution to handle larger numbers of users and devices without a significant impact on performance."

What is our primary use case?

Check Point Remote Access VPN is a VPN solution that allows users to securely connect to corporate networks from remote locations. It enables users to access corporate resources such as files, applications, and network devices as if they were on the corporate network.

The primary use case of Check Point Remote Access VPN is to provide secure remote access for employees, contractors, and partners who need to access corporate resources while working remotely. This can include employees working from home, traveling, or working in a remote office location. 

How has it helped my organization?

It can improve an organization by providing secure access to resources for traveling employees, which can help to reduce the risk of data breaches or other security incidents. 

It also can improve the organization's security posture by providing secure remote access with multi-factor authentication, encryption, and other security features.

It is important to note that the results of the solution will depend on the organization's specific environment and configuration as well as how well it is implemented and managed.

What is most valuable?

Some of the features that are considered most valuable in Check Point Remote Access VPN include: 

Multi-factor authentication. This feature allows organizations to use a combination of authentication methods such as certificates, tokens, biometric authentication, and user credentials to secure remote access connections.

Encryption. This feature provides end-to-end encryption for remote access connections, which helps to protect against eavesdropping and other forms of man-in-the-middle attacks. 

What needs improvement?

The solution needs:

Advanced monitoring and reporting capabilities in order to have a more detailed visibility into security incidents and events. It's important to note that the areas of improvement and additional features will vary depending on the specific use case and the organization's security needs, so it is recommended to contact the vendor to know more details about their roadmap and the next releases of the product. 

Improved scalability to allow the solution to handle larger numbers of users and devices without a significant impact on performance. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for one year.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Check Point Remote Access VPN
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Check Point Remote Access VPN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
768,415 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Technical Manager at M.Tech
Real User
Top 5
Flexible authentification, good integration, and helpful compliance capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "Setting policies allow, block, and limit users' access."
  • "Compliance Check on Check Point should be improved by having more configurable conditions to support multi-platforms and adding more granularity."

What is our primary use case?

Check Point Remote Access VPN allows organization users to work remotely. Especially in the pandemic period, work-from-home demand has been higher than ever. 

I have a remarkable case about the solution. That is for a bank. They want to have remote access VPNs that can provide connections for internal users who work remotely, partners who have restricted connections to the bank environment and ATM machines that connect to core banking applications. All VPNs acted in the same internet connections but still ensure these three VPNs were separated from each other. For the requirements, deploying the VPN in VSX appliances helped to solve issues. I created three virtual instances: one for corporate users, one for partners and one for ATM machines. 

Applying security policies for three instances is different. Corporate users must pass two-factor authentication layers and then have access to common corporate services (like email, and chat) and the right business applications depending on their working role, and their department. Partners after authenticating successfully only have limited access to the right place that they are allowed while being unable to connect to other places. 

ATM machines that act 24/7 need to have continuous connections, thus, they must authenticate using a certificate and their VPN clients must be configured to re-authenticate automatically after a timeout.

How has it helped my organization?

Check Point Remote Access VPN supports almost all common devices, from Windows to macOS, and from Android to iOS. Connection methods are flexible, including browsers and VPN clients. 

With such an approach, the solution can solve every remote working problem from anywhere, on any device while maintaining security features. The solution allows us to integrate with external systems like directory servers, email servers, and RADIUS servers for using directory users (a unified user instead must remember many usernames and passwords), adding multi-factor authentication via an OTP certificate. VPN users will have controlled access based on who they are and where they are by security policies. 

What is most valuable?

The solution offers flexible authentication methods to control access by policies and compliance. 

Check Point can integrate with external systems and third-party solutions to provide multi-layer authentications. This helps secure the user accounts from leakage of passwords and also protects corporate from unauthorized access damage risks. 

Security policies help to convert access regulations to policy rule configurations after authenticating. Setting policies allow, block, and limit users' access. 

With the compliance feature, Check Point can define what conditions user machines should have to authenticate the VPN. This feature helps to add more security to the network.

What needs improvement?

Endpoint Security on Demand, or Compliance Check is a good feature. It allows the creation of compliance policies and adds more security to the network. Machines will be scanned once they connect to VPN to make sure all of them are compliant. Conditions to configure compliance checks are Windows security (hotfixes, patches), Anti-Spyware, Anti-Virus software, personal firewall, or Custom (application, files, registry). These are not enough in a complicated environment. Almost of them are supported for Windows machines, however, are just limited conditions for non-Windows. In fact, using mobile devices on Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux is very popular. Compliance Check on Check Point should be improved by having more configurable conditions to support multi-platforms and adding more granularity. 

Besides compliance scanning sometimes causes consumes machine resources. 

I also suggest scanning operations will consume fewer resources and increase speed time.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

As mentioned in my use case, the solution is running for thousands of corporate users, partner users, and ATM machines. The performance is very impressive. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

With Check Point VSX, the virtual instance extension is just an additional license, thus, it's very easy to add VS for other purposes. Besides Check Point also developed Maestro technology to allow hyperscale, increase throughput, and maximize capacity.

How are customer service and support?

The Check Point Support Team is very professional and has technical expertise. The team is online 24/7 to make sure their customers always be supported. Response time to the customer is quick enough when they provide a solution to fix the issues or when they need some time to investigate or when they need some time to investigate they stay up to date.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I had used Fortinet Remote Access VPN before. At that time, other security features like Firewall, IPS, Application Control, and URL Filtering had been added to the same box running Remote Access VPN. The Fortinet appliance was overloaded all the time - although specifications in the datasheet could be OK. After changing to Check Point (using Remote Access VPN with other security features), the performance was amazing. CPU and memory usages were always at an average level.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Voice and data infrastructure specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
User
Creates a dynamic network with great mobility and excellent stability
Pros and Cons
  • "The IPSec VPN, Mobile Access, and Identity Awareness are three of the blades with which we have been working with since the pandemic. This has given us great mobility, making our network more dynamic."
  • "The authentication that we handle is through a .p12 certificate, however, we have integrated it with a 2MFA service through another provider. Something that could improve Check Point is if it had its own 2MFA service through a blade or some sort of application."

What is our primary use case?

We have always worked within the office. However, the COVID pandemic changed the course of our work in terms of where we had to implement new solutions so that we could all work from home. That was when I encountered Check Point; we had years with this solution in the facilities, yet, only during the pandemic did we have to innovate for a home environment. Today we have more than 6000 users working from home thanks to Check Point. This is possible due to the fact that, with a certificate and the client for this connection, every person can connect to our environment as if they were at the office.

How has it helped my organization?

We still have many areas of opportunity in which we must work, however, this has required us to improve our infrastructure in order to accommodate remote work. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have had this solution and we have had many challenges since there are more than 6000 people who work from home. For security, we have an expiration time of the .p12 certificates and that requires updating passwords. Today, we are integrating this solution with a 2MFA system to give much more security to corporate.

What is most valuable?

The IPSec VPN, Mobile Access, and Identity Awareness are three of the blades with which we have been working with since the pandemic. This has given us great mobility, making our network more dynamic for connection to corporate due to the integration we have of Check Point via our AC or LDAP. 

We are creating rules by user and not by IP (which could be done both ways). We stick more to mobility inside and outside the corporate environment. Since then, corporate has been increasing security and keeping our workers happier.

What needs improvement?

The authentication that we handle is through a .p12 certificate, however, we have integrated it with a 2MFA service through another provider. Something that could improve Check Point is if it had its own 2MFA service through a blade or some sort of application. We'd be able to give a better experience to companies that already have a contract or Check Point services that deal with a work-from-home environment, giving greater scope and coverage from a single centralized dashboard.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for more than two years

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is the best.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is great.

How are customer service and support?

 We have witnessed a fast response from the support team.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not use a different solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was not overly complex.

What about the implementation team?

We handled the installation in-house.

What was our ROI?

We've witnessed a 40% ROI.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is a little high, however, the solution is something that we recommend often.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did evaluate other options.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Network Engineer at LTTS
Real User
Multi-factor authentication helps to securely provide access to company resources while working offsite
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the seamless access."
  • "We would like to see support for a layer seven VPN over UDP."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is to allow our employees to connect to the firewall on-premises, then they can access our office resources. This includes their respective computer, the intranet, shared files, and local applications, even if they are outside of the organization's network.

Our production will be locked down if my VPN stops working, leaving the company unable to work. As such, this is a crucial service for us and resources need to be available for each of our users when working remotely.

How has it helped my organization?

Prior to using Check Point Endpoint Remote Access VPN, our previous solution required installing certificates on every user's machine, which was a very difficult task.

Our old solution did not offer two-factor authentication, which we now have implemented. This helps secure against ongoing cyber theft and threats.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the seamless access. Using this, we control access to our on-premises resources, and our users who are working from outside are easily able to access their office area computers, file servers, and intranet applications.

This product allows us to provide WAN access for our users, whereas prior to this, we could not make the whole intranet available.

Multifactor authentication is very helpful for us.

What needs improvement?

We would like to see support for a layer seven VPN over UDP.-- currently some VPN solution are working on Layer 7 Platform.

The updates under Windows 10 are not always up to date, and we have trouble upgrading remote clients. We have also had trouble deploying new clients.-- The Check Point Remote VPN new client is giving trouble us during upgradation with older version of Windows 10

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the Check Point Endpoint Remote Access VPN for the past four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have had no problems with stability and it is working smoothly.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is good. We have more than 500 users who are working on it.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Earlier, we had a traditional VPN, which did not help in running our business seamlessly. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

A vendor team assisted us with implementation and deployment.

What was our ROI?

Its complete ROI, as expected. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This is a very good solution for our employees who work outside of our organization.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Irshad Kazi - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Technical Consultant at ITC Infotech
MSP
Top 5Leaderboard
Provides ease of maintenance, but its installation process needs improvement
Pros and Cons
    • "We encounter challenges for the product’s installation and troubleshooting processes compared to other VPN products."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Check Point Remote Access VPN for security features.

    What needs improvement?

    We encounter challenges for the product’s installation and troubleshooting processes compared to other VPN products. It is difficult to restore settings in cases of connection failure. This particular area needs improvement.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using Check Point Remote Access VPN for five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The product is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have 3000 Check Point Remote Access VPNs in our organization. It is a scalable product. We can increase and downgrade the access as much as possible. The usage depends on the licensing model.

    How are customer service and support?

    The technical support team only responds to the problems where the device stops working. Apart from that, they don’t reply to normal issues.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Neutral

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We used ForcePoint before. In comparison, Check Point Remote Access VPN is stable and easy to connect.

    How was the initial setup?

    The product is easy to maintain. It takes a few days to install and troubleshoot.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The product has average pricing. We purchase its yearly pricing.

    What other advice do I have?

    I advise others to use the product instead of multiple SD solutions and hardware products. I rate Check Point Remote Access VPN a seven out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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    PeerSpot user
    Diana Alvarado - PeerSpot reviewer
    Security Admin at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Top 5Leaderboard
    CheckPoint RA VPN 2023
    Pros and Cons
    • "Thanks to all these security processes, our users can access our infrastructure with the certainty that we will not be compromised."
    • "The VPN remote Access blade could be improved."

    What is our primary use case?

    After implementing our GW and management security appliance in our public cloud infrastructure, we needed to establish P2S VPNs so that some users could connect to our offices safely to be able to access information and internal applications from anywhere.

    This need begins when the sales department requires access to internal resources to be able to show solutions that we sell to clients. However, these connections were mostly from public places without security, which was clearly a huge vulnerability of the company.

    Thanks to this tool, we managed to solve this need.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Check Point Remote Access VPN has given us the ability to provide access from a client to our network. It offers a simple and integrated installation with security measures such as MFA in addition to being able to enter our infrastructure in a controlled and secure manner. The solution not only provides access. It also generates monitoring and event logs and maintains connections correctly,

    Thanks to all these security processes, our users can access our infrastructure with the certainty that we will not be compromised.

    It is also essential to know that the users who can use the solution are under granular policies from the security application. Policies that can be applied to different user profiles guarantee correct and effective access for the different departments of the company.

    What is most valuable?

    Its implementation is very simple through the VPN blade in our Check Point gateway which is located and implemented within our public cloud architecture.

    Its different monitoring and records generate the required tools to be able to provide good control of everything that happens during the connection time of the users.

    Also, the policies can be generated as granularly as desired, and the portal is extremely intuitive. All this is a great help for administrators to manage VPNs.

    What needs improvement?

    The VPN remote Access blade could be improved. Licensing is extremely expensive per user and more so for large companies where the number of users directly impacts the cost.

    The documentation for good practices and specific configurations is somewhat old, generally for versions before R80, which is why it is sometimes more challenging to understand them or be able to implement them,

    Also, at the support level, response times can be improved, as the technical level for this type of tool is very good.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    This is a very good tool and we have used it for a long time from our Check Point gateway. It's security management is providing the perfect and secure solution to connect from any location.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This solution is scalable in cluster and VSS architectures.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Previously we have used FortiClient to solve VPN problems. At some point, we also used the Azure P2S VPN. However, it does not provide security.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    It is very necessary for a company to have the support of a partner so that they can provide you with cost estimates, documentation, and access to tests that are not publicly available.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We always seek to validate the documentation of each security tool seeking the most significant benefit for our interests and each of the company's needs.

    What other advice do I have?

    It's a very good tool for VPN security. It is somewhat expensive, but they should evaluate it so they can have a more personal concept.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Hybrid Cloud
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Pre-sales Manager at Alpha1 IT Solutions & Consulting Pvt Ltd
    Real User
    Top 10
    Has great security features, including zero-day protection, malware protection, and anti-phishing
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution offers great security features, including zero-day protection, malware protection, anti-phishing, et cetera."
    • "There was complexity in the initial setup."

    What is our primary use case?

    The solution is primarily used for secure access for remote users. It's deployed as a SaaS over the cloud. 

    What is most valuable?

    The solution offers great security features, including zero-day protection, malware protection, anti-phishing, et cetera.

    What needs improvement?

    If you are new to deploying the solution, the initial setup might be difficult the first time around. I had trouble setting the policies and then resetting the device. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I joined my company eight or nine months ago and have been dealing with the solution since then.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I don't have much information on the stability aspect of the product. I haven't spoken to customers about their experience. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I haven't discussed scalability with customers to get their take on how easy it is. 

    How are customer service and support?

    We haven't referred to the technical support of Check Point just yet. We did have a replacement engineer assist us in deployment, and they handled it quite well. 

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    How was the initial setup?

    There was complexity in the initial setup. With one client, once we installed it and then tried to set the policies, the firewall was not responding very well. I was doing it for the first time, so we were unable to do it. The customer was not pleased with that, so we had to send another engineer to deploy that device. That's not to say it's overly hard - it was just my first attempt at an installation.

    We had three engineers handling the initial setup. We deployed it over two days. 

    I'm hoping that the next time I'm deploying it, it should be done perfectly, without any support from any other engineer.

    What about the implementation team?

    We do the implementation for our clients. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I'm not aware of the exact licensing costs associated with the product. 

    What other advice do I have?

    We are in the business of selling firewalls. We're resellers and Check Point partners. 

    I personally have sold just the Check Point solution to only one customer. We are also selling data storage solutions, data backup, and cyber security solutions.

    We are dealing with the latest version of the solution.

    The solution is available both on-premises and in the cloud. 

    I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. I'd recommend it to other users and companies. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Check Point Remote Access VPN Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: April 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Check Point Remote Access VPN Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.