No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

AWS Direct Connect vs SonicWall SMA comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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

AWS Direct Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
10th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall SMA
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of AWS Direct Connect is 1.8%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall SMA is 2.6%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
AWS Direct Connect1.8%
SonicWall SMA2.6%
Other95.6%
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2231871 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Offers secure high-bandwidth connectivity without internet-related risks
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The customer, from the customer side to AWS, receives an ethernet point-to-point connection, and that is it. The interface and everything along with the communication with AWS, the customer has to do by themselves to build the routes and everything. The connection speed that our clients are using ranges from 100 megabits up to 10 gigabits. The main concern is the port costs. Clients do not report technical problems, so it is mainly always an issue of money. The solution is nice, but sometimes they avoid it because the port costs are high. This is not a problem AWS has exclusively; Azure has the same costs, and these port costs are quite expensive. I would rate this review as an 8 out of 10.
BA
Owner at ThinkEzIT
Security enhances through autonomous protection and strong support while multi-factor authentication secures access
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, as I haven't been looking at what they're releasing. We're a small shop, so we drop stuff in and manage it and do what we need to do to maintain it. If we run into an issue, we contact support. There's a learning curve, but it comes down to getting support to train you on the product, and then once you have the training you need, you're able to make the changes and updates that you need to.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Direct Connect is its low latency to the users."
"AWS Direct Connect allows me to connect our on-premise infrastructure directly with AWS infrastructure."
"AWS VPN is cost-effective and affordable; it has the security regulation with 3DES protocol, and they have the security protocol required to encrypt the information in the link."
"The platform's most valuable feature for us is its robust network performance."
"It is a stable solution."
"AWS Direct Connect provides a secure and encrypted connection over the internet."
"AWS Direct Connect is highly secure and much faster compared to normal network infrastructure."
"Direct Connect provides an improved connection quality and a diversified link, which contributes to high availability and failover capabilities."
"Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security."
"Secure Mobile Access (SMA) is easy to configure and the deployment is straightforward. However, this is mostly because of the AWS setup."
"The product is extremely flexible, the program is easy to use, the performance is good, and the solution is very stable."
"We are in Thailand and I'm very happy with the technical support."
"I think they ask for a fair price."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is they have IT consultants that know SonicWall."
"I am very satisfied with the technical support."
"What I like best about SonicWall SMA is the relationship between its features and its price, because the solution is both affordable and functional."
 

Cons

"It is complicated to do additional BGP configuration for the product."
"AWS Direct Connect is straightforward and performs well for me."
"There is no room for improvement in Direct Connect right now."
"We encountered issues with the connection. The VPN was not connecting on multiple occasions."
"Having more locations could improve the convenience of using the service."
"I would like to see better traffic visibility and higher throughput security, especially for organizations that require more than what the current limit allows."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"It can be difficult to configure compared to cloud-based GUIs."
"The timed synchronization between the network appliance needs improvement."
"The solution has 2FA, it will generate a token and send it to an email, but multifactor authentication is not available. I would suggest that there should be MFA integration and provided with the appliance."
"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan. The login mechanism should be improved. It would be helpful if the client could use an agent to log in. An agent-server model would improve the performance of the RDB, which consumes a lot of bandwidth."
"This solution is very slow, and the competitors have much higher speeds."
"The product itself is very good, but Dell needs to work on product visibility in their advertising."
"The overall menu is not very user-friendly and it could be easier."
"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."
"The pricing for the solution could be a lot less."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."
"It has reasonable pricing in terms of the features offered."
"All the costs are included in a bundled license."
"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."
"The platform has medium pricing."
"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."
"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."
"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Infrastructure VPN solutions are best for your needs.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
17%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Construction Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with AWS Direct Connect?
One area that needs improvement is the cost of the ports, which is a concern as these charges are quite high. It is primarily a budget issue because while the solution is effective, the port costs ...
What is your primary use case for AWS Direct Connect?
Our customers primarily use AWS Direct Connect for hybrid cloud solutions. They have parts of their equipment in their on-premise data center, while also using AWS infrastructure for backups, datab...
What advice do you have for others considering AWS Direct Connect?
Regarding the benefits from the multiple virtual interfaces in the product, there is no interface for the product; it is just a connection that we have. It is an ethernet connection we offer. The c...
What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?
I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, a...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall SMA?
I have experience with the SonicWall SMA; we have rolled it back into our stack. We use SonicWall SMA for all of our clients that need VPNs, including doctor's offices and lawyer offices. Our clien...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Direct Connect vs. SonicWall SMA and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.