Integration capabilities are crucial, allowing NAC solutions to work seamlessly with existing security systems, enhancing overall network defenses. Scalability is essential to adapt to growing network demands without sacrificing performance. Effective guest access management ensures secure and isolated access for visitors, decreasing potential security threats. Real-time monitoring gives continuous oversight, allowing immediate responses to suspicious activities, which is critical for safeguarding network integrity.
Device profiling provides insights into every device attempting network access, ensuring unauthorized devices are promptly handled. Policy enforcement is the backbone of NAC, dictating access levels and ensuring compliance with security standards. These features collectively help maintain a secure and efficient IT environment, supporting business continuity and security needs. Ensuring these components are present in a NAC solution can streamline network management and fortify a company’s security posture.
Search for a product comparison in Network Access Control (NAC)
Network and Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
Nov 25, 2015
The most important aspect to look for when evaluating Network Access Control (NAC) is the rogue detection/blocking capabilities, a prospective buyer of NAC should be 100% convinced that the NAC solution being evaluated will lock down unauthorized devices accessing their network 100% of the time.
IT Solutions Consultant | Entrepreneur at Simple IT Today
Consultant
Nov 3, 2021
With the advent of IOTs, NAC should be able to identify any device that connects to the network. It may not necessarily be able to identify it, for as long as it holds an IP/MAC address, it should be able to alert admins for proper network classification and identification.
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Fortinet and others in Network Access Control (NAC). Updated: December 2025.
Flexibility. Flexibility of integration options within existing network, flexibility of enforcement options, flexibility of policy implementation. That and visibility to all of the devices on the network. You can't enforce what you can't see.
Director of Systems Engineering Enablement at a tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Vendor
Feb 24, 2017
I agree with Anirudh, the product should be easily deployable and scalable. The next thing I would look for is the visibility the product brings to the table. When working on a NAC project you want to make sure you are securing all your assets and not just the ones that are playing nicely.
Network Access Control (NAC) enhances security by managing device access to a network, ensuring compliance with policies. It identifies, authenticates, and authorizes devices, providing a secure network environment for organizations.Network Access Control (NAC) plays a crucial role in protecting networks by restricting unauthorized access and maintaining security compliance. It offers visibility into all connected devices, enabling administrators to enforce policies consistently. By detecting...
Key features in NAC solutions include:
Integration capabilities are crucial, allowing NAC solutions to work seamlessly with existing security systems, enhancing overall network defenses. Scalability is essential to adapt to growing network demands without sacrificing performance. Effective guest access management ensures secure and isolated access for visitors, decreasing potential security threats. Real-time monitoring gives continuous oversight, allowing immediate responses to suspicious activities, which is critical for safeguarding network integrity.
Device profiling provides insights into every device attempting network access, ensuring unauthorized devices are promptly handled. Policy enforcement is the backbone of NAC, dictating access levels and ensuring compliance with security standards. These features collectively help maintain a secure and efficient IT environment, supporting business continuity and security needs. Ensuring these components are present in a NAC solution can streamline network management and fortify a company’s security posture.
The most important aspect to look for when evaluating Network Access Control (NAC) is the rogue detection/blocking capabilities, a prospective buyer of NAC should be 100% convinced that the NAC solution being evaluated will lock down unauthorized devices accessing their network 100% of the time.
With the advent of IOTs, NAC should be able to identify any device that connects to the network. It may not necessarily be able to identify it, for as long as it holds an IP/MAC address, it should be able to alert admins for proper network classification and identification.
Identification of all devices (wired, wireless, IoT, VM), agentless and the ability to protect the network by blocking untrusted devices
capable of providing threat, vulnerability, or application visibility into the endpoints.
ease of use, vendor neutral, scalability, integration with other Security devices like MDM, Firewall, SIEM, TAC support, Guest, BYOD, Posture Capability, etc
Scales well, ease of deployment, and posture checking capability.
Flexibility. Flexibility of integration options within existing network, flexibility of enforcement options, flexibility of policy implementation. That and visibility to all of the devices on the network. You can't enforce what you can't see.
I agree with Anirudh, the product should be easily deployable and scalable. The next thing I would look for is the visibility the product brings to the table. When working on a NAC project you want to make sure you are securing all your assets and not just the ones that are playing nicely.
The most important aspect to look while evaluating Network Access Control (NAC) is ease of deployment in the network and maximum devices support.