GoodAccess Cloud VPN review

GoodAccess Cloud VPN is a business-oriented static IP provider. It’s based in the Czech Republic and grants small business owners the opportunity to access crucial resources securely from anywhere. Meanwhile, administrators can customize everything through a web-based dashboard and monitor for unwelcome visitors and other potential threats.

In this GoodAccess VPN review, we’ll have a look at what this service offers and if it’s worth checking out.

Speed testing

Most will agree that using a VPN shouldn’t impede your web performance too much, especially if you have important business to conduct. That is why it’s crucial to do some VPN speed tests before purchasing a long-term plan. Thankfully, GoodAccess Cloud VPN provides a generous 14-day free trial to do that.

Customers can choose one static IP address from 35+ locations. As such, it’s challenging to do a universal test that would be applicable for most use-cases. It’s fair to assume that the majority will opt with a country near their actual region for optimal performance. We did the same and picked Sweden.

Users can facilitate connections with either OpenVPN or IKEv2. We tried out both to see if there was a noticeable difference. And as always, keep in mind that you should take these tests with a grain of salt as they’re not a definitive performance marker.

Overall performance is pretty good. Download speed reduced by roughly 30% when using OpenVPN, while upload speed dropped off by only 10%. On the other hand, IKEv2 performed slightly better and slowed down by about 15% on average.

Security

GoodAccess Cloud VPN is primarily focused on keeping web activities secure for a large number of users. Plus, organizations can have administrators that are responsible for customizing the experience to their needs.

• Encryption. The first layer of web security is encryption. It guarantees that potential interlopers cannot decipher what you’re up to online.
• 2FA. Two-factor authentication is crucial for keeping accounts secure in case of a data leak.
• DNS filtering. Admins can choose what DNS addresses need to be filtered to prevent virus infections or even procrastination.
• Port forwarding. Customers can enable this feature to redirect all incoming traffic from the organization’s Gateway to a specific device.

One crucial VPN feature that’s lacking is a kill switch. It prevents IP and DNS leaks if the VPN connection gets interrupted unexpectedly. However, this is more relevant for keeping users private, which isn’t a key feature of GoodAccess VPN.

Plans and pricing

GoodAccess Cloud VPN offers three pricing plans – essential, advanced, and premium. Each subscription provides a different selection of features and costs accordingly.

• Essential. As the name suggests, this plan provides the bare-bones GoodAccess Cloud VPN experience. The monthly subscription costs $5/user per month, while the annual plan grants a 1$ discount on each user. Includes one gateway and requires a minimum of 10 users.
• Advanced. The second tier adds cloud and branch connectors, custom DNS records, plus additional security and compliance features, such as SSO (single sign-on). The monthly subscription costs $9/user, while the annual subscription grants a $1 discount. Provides one gateway and needs at least 10 users.
• Premium. The ultimate plan grants all possible features and provides priority treatment when contacting customer support. The monthly plan costs $12/user per month, while the annual subscription costs $12/user per month. Plus, it grants two gateways and requires at least 20 users.

Besides that, you can also expand your plan with additional add-ons. For starters, you can include more gateways for $29/month for greater global coverage. Furthermore, bonus branch and cloud connectors cost $19/month.

Once you’re ready to commit, payment methods include credit cards and PayPal.

Interface and ease of use

Customers can interact with this VPN in two ways – as regular users through the VPN app or administrators with the team dashboard. Let’s kick things off with the VPN app.

The GoodAccess VPN application is as straightforward as possible. Users can see which gateway is currently selected and its IP address on the top. Below is a large button for enabling the VPN connection. Further down are the systems that the team admin has set up. The top left corner has the options menu where users can change the settings, read the terms of service, or contact customer support.

Then there’s the administrator dashboard. Unsurprisingly, it’s more complicated since it’s needed to customize the entire experience of the organization. It contains an overview of all the members, gateways, systems, and other available options. Each menu item is dedicated to a specific feature and has a distinct look.

I’ll go into more detail about the available customization options below.

Features

Here are a few things that administrators can tinker with from the dashboard.

• Systems. These are the main organizational tools added and then available as shortcuts on the VPN app. They can come in various formats, such as HTTPS websites or FTP servers.
• Members. Administrators can view, edit, and add new members to the organization.
  Access control. Members can be assigned specific roles which grant permissions to particular systems.
• Clouds & Branches. This is where administrators can configure and interconnect the various networks that belong to the team.
• Access Logs. Here administrators can see various data about ongoing and previous connections to the network. For example, they can see which members connect and from what IP, to which gateway, how long the session lasts, and how much data was used. Thankfully, there’s no information about what the user was doing exactly.
• Settings. Further options include DNS Management, login credentials, and subscription details.

Lastly, GoodAccess Cloud VPN is available on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android.

Support

Customer support is available in various forms, such as:

• User manuals and FAQs
• Chat and email communication during office hours
• Phone support during office hours
• Dedicated customer support manager

Of course, these options will depend on your pricing plan. For example, only premium subscribers get a dedicated customer support manager. Plus, a better subscription grants priority during office hours. But overall, it’s nice to have a good selection of options when looking for assistance.

Conclusion

GoodAccess Cloud VPN makes it easy for businesses to secure their web connections and make work possible anywhere. Regular users simply need to download the VPN app and connect. Meanwhile, administrators can customize the finer details and ensure that the employees have easy access to the necessary tools and resources. Plus, the flexible pricing options make this VPN a good choice for practically any organization.

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