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Auconet Network Access Control vs Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Auconet Network Access Control
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Identity Services Eng...
Ranking in Network Access Control (NAC)
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
144
Ranking in other categories
Cisco Security Portfolio (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Network Access Control (NAC) category, the mindshare of Auconet Network Access Control is 1.0%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is 18.4%, down from 24.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Access Control (NAC) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)18.4%
Auconet Network Access Control1.0%
Other80.6%
Network Access Control (NAC)
 

Featured Reviews

it_user1194 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Infrastructure at a tech company with 51-200 employees
A very good Network Access Control application with emphasis on MAC layer authentication
1) Auconet provides comprehensive control mechanisms for securing networks of any size. 2) Can support network devices of any make. 3) Provides MAC layer (layer 2) authentication of all network hardware, which has higher security, compared to other NAC tools. 4) It works on the basic assumption that VPN, Firewalls, etc. are only capable of blocking external sources of danger and the actual problem lies within the company itself. 5) PortSecurityManager, which is part of Auconet Network Access Control, can be implemented very quickly. 6) Gives a visual depiction of your network structure in real time. 7) Can be seamlessly integrated with the existing infrastructure.
NF
IT Network Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Has improved authentication management and simplified visitor network access
The log capacity in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced because today natively on the ISE can only have a look at the logs from the day before. You cannot search into the oldest logs; you have to use another tool for that. This can be blocking if you don't have any log consolidation solution. To do a search for an issue or something that happened two days ago, you cannot search directly in there. The capacity of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could be enhanced. Something between one week and one month for the log capacity would be nice.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, it's a good Network Access Control application and it does a good job by checking both in house, as well as external traffic."
"Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is the best solution for Cisco network customers."
"Since migrating towards doing wired ports over ISE with 802.1X and MAB authentication, our organization's security risk has been better, and we have been able to establish better layouts so devices can move and we don't have to worry about where they need to go."
"Having access and being able to add people or change authentication yourself is nice. In the past, we've used other group authentication services, and we always had to go to them and get permissions. Having that control is key."
"They provide you multiple ways to achieve security, not only on-prem, but also when you have remote and guest workers. Especially post-pandemic, a lot of our customers have remote workers. So, it has been really helpful."
"For device administration, all devices have multifactor authentication in collaboration with IT, so it secures access to all of our devices. For guest and wireless access, it's a matter of a lowly manager who we give access to the portal and he can assign access to the guests, so it's a very simple process now. It keeps the IT focusing on their work, and gives the business people the right access."
"The profiling model included is the most valuable feature."
"The access policies, and all of the policies in Cisco ISE, are important to us."
"It's great across a distributed network for securing access to all our apps and the network."
 

Cons

"Though officially advertised that it supports network hardware of any vendor, in reality, the lesser known vendors are not well supported and often you have to struggle to fix them."
"Migration could be better. Right now, we back up with the new version, and it requires a lot of licensing and other things."
"Their technical support isn't good."
"One of the main issues in Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) is that it lags excessively."
"It does a good job of establishing trust for every access request. We have had a little bit of a challenge with profiling, but we are probably about 80% there."
"I would say Cisco's support has been getting worse."
"I would rate this solution a 7.5 out of ten. To make it a ten they should have more people on tech support. They need to invest more in the product. It's a good product. They should just work on tech support. More support for the customer. It's not that easy to get somebody to understand this product. I have had some issues with tech before for the solution. One of them brought the solution down due to some of his activity. They need to hugely invest in their tech support."
"Cisco ISE could be simplified somewhat. I would also prefer certificate-based authentication over confirmation-based authentication for all the processes. It's possible for us to do a workaround, but the process needs to be simplified."
"The opinion of my coworkers, and it's mine as well, is that the user interface could use some tender loving care. It seems counterintuitive sometimes. If you go to the logs, it's hard to figure out which one you need to look at."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing is fair for what it does."
"Cisco ISE is not inexpensive, but the solution is well-built and worth the expense."
"Previously, Cisco ISE had a perpetual licensing model, but now they have shifted to a subscription-based licensing system."
"I think licensing costs roughly $2,000 a year. ISE is more expensive than Network Access Control."
"The recent changes in the licensing model have caused some issues with the team."
"Standard licensing gives backup access and very few features, and then there's VM licensing - each VM we use needs to be licensed."
"If you go directly with Cisco for the implementation it's very, very expensive."
"Pricing and licensing are not my expertise. As far as budgeting is concerned, we run an ELA with Cisco. It's a part of our ELA."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise91
 

Questions from the Community

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Also Known As

No data available
Cisco ISE
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Krone, DHL, Toll Collect, Reise Bank, BASF, T Systems, ING, Saint Martin's University, Euronet Worldwide, Muller, Uniqa
Aegean Motorway, BC Hydro, Beachbody, Bucks County Intermediate Unit , Cisco IT, Derby City Council, Global Banking Customer, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, Houston Methodist, Linz AG, London Hydro, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Molina Healthcare, MST Systems, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Reykjavik University, Wildau University
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, ThreatLocker and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: September 2026.
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