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SonicWall Mobile Connect vs SonicWall Netextender comparison

 

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

SonicWall Mobile Connect
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
30th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SonicWall Netextender
Ranking in Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
16th
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Enterprise Infrastructure VPN category, the mindshare of SonicWall Mobile Connect is 1.0%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Netextender is 3.9%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Infrastructure VPN
 

Featured Reviews

RD
A straightforward tool with high adoption rate due to its user-friendliness
SonicWall Mobile Connect’s marketing efforts are commendable; they may not be perceived as the most secure player compared to Fortinet or Meraki. SonicWall Mobile Connect should focus on positioning itself as a strong contender in the mid-market segment to improve its standing. Many high-end engineers dismiss it in favor of Fortinet or Meraki, often due to a lack of firsthand experience.
JayPrajapati - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows using a custom port for the VPN connection and provides very satisfactory customer support
In the past, customers wanted an application that could run directly upon starting the PC, automatically connecting to the firewall. We were not able to do it in NetExtender. This was something customers wanted, but we couldn't provide due to NetExtender's limitations. I feel NetExtender might have rolled out this feature. In future releases, introductions of AI features would be really helpful. For example, we faced a situation where a customer wanted to allow Office 365 access without any kind of internet, just through the local internet. Office 365 has multiple dynamic IPs and URLs that can be updated daily, making it difficult to allow. If there were an AI-based solution that could bring those URLs and new IP addresses to the firewall and add them to the rule, that would be very helpful. That is just one scenario; there are multiple things AI could help with.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution benefits IT managers in backend programming. The ease of configuring and securing it while ensuring security measures is crucial. The tool is easy in terms of user experience. It is straightforward."
"I can say that it's stable and the performance is acceptable."
"The solution offers multiple OS support."
"The ease of use is great. It's pretty easy for users to get on the tablet or whatever and select the bookmark they need and just take it over."
"The product has two-factor authentication."
"I found nothing of value in this solution."
"The best features of the SonicWall Netextender were its ease of use."
"The most valuable feature for the Netextender is the ease with which we can integrate it with SAML."
"The solution provides high availability."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"It can support multifactor authentication. Also, it is a very basic application."
"Employees can have access to the network from home."
 

Cons

"SonicWall Mobile Connect’s marketing efforts are commendable; they may not be perceived as the most secure player compared to Fortinet or Meraki. SonicWall Mobile Connect should focus on positioning itself as a strong contender in the mid-market segment to improve its standing. Many high-end engineers dismiss it in favor of Fortinet or Meraki, often due to a lack of firsthand experience."
"Lacks multiple cloud integration."
"Licensing includes things that my customers don't need."
"Technical support can always get better. Any time you have to call in for any certain thing, it can be difficult."
"There must be a multi-factor authentication enabled or integrated by default with it in order to be integrated with NetExtender."
"The solution takes up a lot of bandwidth."
"The product does not work well."
"In future releases, introductions of AI features would be really helpful."
"The only concern I do have is with the zero trust, and the solution is not coping with the newer technologies as much as it needs to do on that particular factor."
"SonicWall can be difficult for some people, but I don't find it difficult. Some companies provide a VPN client for free, but you have to pay for NetExtender."
"The UI could be a little better."
"The initial setup of SonicWall Netextender is straightforward. The only issue we encountered was with relocating the VPN appliance. If we needed to move it from an on-premise to an on-cloud architecture, we had to start over and redeploy it from scratch. Unfortunately, it is not portable and any changes to its physical location often result in the need for a fresh deployment to ensure everything functions properly."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The solution is cheap itself, not too costly."
"After a certain number of users, you require extra licensing."
"The solution has a pretty good price."
"The price of SonicWall Netextender is reasonable. Whether it's a small shop with only five users or a larger operation with 130 users, we have received no complaints or objections regarding cost from any of the clients we are looking to deploy it with."
"Cost wise, it would be a few hundred dollars for the base appliance with the first five clients. Then from there, your cost per seat depends on how many you're getting. It's a one-time cost, and then you have a few hundred dollars a year for the maintenance contract once you get the one-time seat costs out of the way."
"Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet, it is a little cheaper."
"You have to pay for its license. There are some other companies that provide a VPN client for free. When you buy NetExtender, its license is available for one, three, or five years."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SonicWall Mobile Connect?
The solution benefits IT managers in backend programming. The ease of configuring and securing it while ensuring security measures is crucial. The tool is easy in terms of user experience. It is st...
What needs improvement with SonicWall Mobile Connect?
SonicWall Mobile Connect’s marketing efforts are commendable; they may not be perceived as the most secure player compared to Fortinet or Meraki. SonicWall Mobile Connect should focus on positionin...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall Mobile Connect?
The tool helps with secure connectivity for remote workers. Introducing the new NetExtender with SSL connectivity has been particularly beneficial. It simplifies administrative tasks by allowing pr...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Netextender?
Pricing is a simple thing. We have the key, and we need to enter it in the SonicWall official portal. That's all. Compared to others, it is cheaper. When we compare it with Palo Alto, Check Point, ...
What needs improvement with SonicWall Netextender?
In the past, customers wanted an application that could run directly upon starting the PC, automatically connecting to the firewall. We were not able to do it in NetExtender. This was something cus...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about SonicWall Mobile Connect vs. SonicWall Netextender and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.