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Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs Norton Small Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.7
Cisco IOS SSL VPN is highly rated for its security, ease of use, and minimal impact on performance.
Sentiment score
8.6
Norton Small Business reduces security threat downtime, enhancing productivity, efficiency, and ROI by allowing focus on critical tasks.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco IOS SSL VPN users praise the effective customer support, highlighting timely service, comprehensive documentation, and strong local assistance.
Sentiment score
8.1
Norton Small Business's technical support is rated excellent for its efficiency, helpfulness, and responsiveness, though some see room for improvement.
When Cisco first took over, it was a bit more difficult to get support, but they now integrate it without differentiating the support for Linksys versus full-blown Cisco switches.
student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
We contact support regularly, especially for deployments, and they are very responsive.
Technical Services Lead at Telenet Solutions
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Cisco IOS SSL VPN is scalable and efficient, supporting diverse user bases with flexible licensing and expandability.
Sentiment score
8.1
Norton Small Business is highly scalable, allowing easy license expansion and adaptability for diverse business sizes and device platforms.
It integrates well with Cisco's ecosystem, providing flexibility and options to connect to diverse environments.
Technical Services Lead at Telenet Solutions
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cisco IOS SSL VPN is highly stable and reliable, with users experiencing minimal issues and continuous service even during power failures.
Sentiment score
8.2
Norton Small Business is highly rated for its stability, with minor password manager issues on mobile devices.
Linksys can be fairly stable for easy environments, but in more complex network environments, Cisco is definitely a lot more stable.
student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Cisco IOS SSL VPN is extremely stable.
student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco IOS SSL VPN requires improvements in language support, pricing, GUI, compatibility, deployment processes, and enhanced remote access options.
Norton Small Business requires better pricing, enhanced features, and fewer notifications to improve user experience and market availability.
There have been issues with operating systems where newer updates cause problems with backward compatibility.
Technical Services Lead at Telenet Solutions
I believe Cisco could support easier configuration and having tools that allow for easier management and configuration.
student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cisco IOS SSL VPN is costly compared to FortiGate and Aruba, though discounts exist and pricing reflects its stability.
Norton Small Business offers affordable yearly licenses but frequent upsells for additional features can be a drawback for some.
For more than one hundred users, it costs about $60 per seat.
Technical Services Lead at Telenet Solutions
 

Valuable Features

Cisco IOS SSL VPN provides secure, user-friendly remote access with strong encryption, seamless integration, and efficient management, ensuring high user satisfaction.
Norton Small Business offers comprehensive virus protection, secure features, multi-platform compatibility, and 24/7 support via a user-friendly dashboard.
The solution is also very scalable, offering up to one hundred licenses for free, and can integrate well with Cisco's ecosystem, such as Cisco ISE and NAC.
Technical Services Lead at Telenet Solutions
The best feature of Linksys in my opinion is cost, as they tend to be more cost-effective compared to larger switches or Cisco switches.
student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The valuable features of Cisco IOS SSL VPN are the ease of use and the speed.
student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco IOS SSL VPN
Ranking in SSL VPN
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (8th)
Norton Small Business
Ranking in SSL VPN
12th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (43rd), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (32nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the SSL VPN category, the mindshare of Cisco IOS SSL VPN is 9.6%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Norton Small Business is 2.5%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SSL VPN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco IOS SSL VPN9.6%
Norton Small Business2.5%
Other87.9%
SSL VPN
 

Featured Reviews

VM
student at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Cost efficiency and ease of setup define network management while potential improvements in complexity handling are noted
Optimizing and configuring for network segmentation is the biggest thing for helping with segmenting traffic management. Configuring QoS on Linksys is pretty easy, especially compared to Cisco QoS, which I am certified in, as it helps ensure that the bandwidth for voice or other applications doesn't bleed over into the data links. In the past, Linksys has been pretty good at network protection, segmenting off that protection for unauthorized access or cyber threats. Cost savings and ease of use are the benefits I've seen from Linksys. It's a little bit less complex to set up and configure compared to Cisco switching. I utilized the VLAN support feature in the Linksys switches. A lot of the networks I have were broken up by VLAN, and I definitely configured them for different VLANs. The best feature of Linksys in my opinion is cost, as they tend to be more cost-effective compared to larger switches or Cisco switches.
William_Bowers - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Evise.ai
Provides a secure and hassle-free environment
One area where Norton 360 could improve is the constant push for upselling. The notifications urging me to buy additional services, like dark web monitoring or a secure browser, can be overwhelming. It feels like they are trying to sell me more than I actually need. I would prefer a more straightforward approach where essential features are included in the base license without constant prompts to purchase extras. While notifications about actions taken for my security are good, they could be more informative, letting me know exactly what they did to protect me without the upsell pitches. Simplifying the user experience and providing clearer information about the actions taken would make Norton 360 more user-friendly for me.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Healthcare Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco IOS SSL VPN?
I have not found any areas that could be improved so far. I am not sure how Cisco IOS SSL VPN can continue their improvements for the future, but I think it is a great product. To stay on top, they...
What do you like most about Norton 360?
The product offers all the essential licenses compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and mobile platforms.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Norton 360?
I have a yearly licensing plan. The cost is not that high. The solution is cost-effective.
 

Also Known As

Cisco SSL VPN
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MST Systems
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs. Norton Small Business and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,481 professionals have used our research since 2012.