Absolute Secure Access: Enterprise VPN and ZTNA

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Absolute Secure Access (formerly NetMotion Mobility) is an enterprise remote access platform that combines a purpose-built VPN, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and network performance monitoring in a single client. Absolute acquired NetMotion in 2021 and renamed the product with version 12.70 in 2023. I’ve deployed NetMotion Mobility and Absolute Secure Access for organizations that need seamless, always-on connectivity across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, especially for mobile workers on cellular and other unreliable networks.

Last updated: November 9, 2026

What’s Included

Absolute Secure Access is made up of the following components.

  • Absolute VPN provides encrypted, always-on connectivity with resilient tunnel and network sessions.
  • Absolute ZTNA provides a software-defined perimeter that grants access to individual applications based on user, device, and context, wherever those applications are hosted.
  • Insights for Network (formerly NetMotion Mobile IQ) provides diagnostics and experience monitoring for connections, devices, and networks.
  • Secure Web Gateway is an optional cloud service, added in v13, that filters and inspects web traffic outside the tunnel.

Why Organizations Choose Absolute Secure Access

Most VPN protocols in use today were designed for wired networks and later adapted for remote access. IPsec began as a LAN-to-LAN protocol, and TLS VPNs carry traffic over HTTPS. Both assume reasonably reliable connectivity and can struggle on wireless and cellular networks with high latency, low bandwidth, or packet loss. Absolute Secure Access uses a proprietary transport protocol built specifically for mobility, so connections stay usable when network conditions are poor and survive roaming between networks. Combined with broad platform support, granular policy, and integrated network access control, it’s a strong fit for organizations whose users work in the field rather than at a desk.

Advanced Features

Absolute Secure Access includes the following capabilities, many of which aren’t found in competing remote access solutions.

Packet Loss Recovery

Packet loss is common on poor-quality network connections, and retransmitting packets is expensive in both time and resources. Absolute Secure Access uses forward error correction in its transport protocol, adding recovery information to transmitted data so lost packets can be reconstructed without a retransmission.

Link Optimization

Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and cellular connections differ in latency, throughput, and supported Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU), and these characteristics often change in the middle of a session. Absolute Secure Access continuously monitors the underlying connection and tunes its settings on the fly. For example, it adjusts packet size when the path MTU changes after moving from Wi-Fi to cellular, and it can enable compression when latency rises or packet loss occurs.

Session Persistence

When a device roams between networks or loses coverage, Absolute Secure Access keeps application sessions alive by buffering traffic and resuming transmission once connectivity is restored. Applications don’t see the interruption, so users don’t have to log in again or restart their work.

Quality of Service

Administrators can use Quality of Service (QoS) to prioritize critical applications and throttle lower-priority traffic when the network is busy. When high-priority applications finish transmitting, the remaining applications regain full use of the tunnel.

Granular Policy

Policies can restrict or shape access based on IP address, protocol, port, application, time of day, location, network type, available bandwidth, and battery level. For example, an administrator can allow only critical applications to use the tunnel when bandwidth drops below a threshold, or block non-essential applications during business hours.

Network Access Control

Integrated Network Access Control (NAC) checks device posture before and during a connection, without third-party software or cloud services. NAC isn’t a simple pass or fail decision. A fully compliant device can receive full access, a device missing noncritical settings can receive reduced access, and a device missing critical settings can be blocked entirely.

Captive Portal Detection

Absolute Secure Access detects networks that require signing in to a web portal, such as hotel or airport Wi-Fi, presents the portal to the user, and resumes the tunnel automatically once the user has signed in.

Resilient Windows Client

The Resilient Secure Access client for Windows uses Absolute’s firmware-embedded persistence to repair or reinstall itself if it’s tampered with, accidentally removed, or stops working, so remote access stays available without a help desk call.

Visibility and Diagnostics

Insights for Network records connection performance and diagnostic data in real time, giving administrators the information they need to identify and resolve connectivity issues quickly, including issues with the underlying Wi-Fi or cellular network.

What’s New in Version 14

Absolute Secure Access v14 includes the following improvements.

  • Faster throughput on multi-gigabit networks, with CPU overhead reduced by up to 40 percent on high-speed links
  • SHA-1 certificates are no longer supported
  • Client auto-reconnect now survives Windows standby for more than 12 hours, up from about 4 hours
  • Automatic host group updates for Microsoft 365 and AWS IP address ranges
  • Fixes for multiple server-side and third-party security vulnerabilities

Version 14.5x is the current release, and Absolute doesn’t plan security updates for v11.x and v12.x, so organizations on older versions should upgrade. I cover the details in What’s New in Absolute Secure Access v14.

Supported Platforms and Deployment

The Secure Access client is available for the following platforms.

  • Windows 10 and Windows 11 (x64 and ARM64)
  • macOS
  • iOS and iPadOS
  • Android

The Secure Access server is software that runs on Windows Server, on physical or virtual hardware, on premises or in Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud. There are no proprietary appliances, so you can scale and add redundancy with your existing virtual infrastructure. See Deploying NetMotion Mobility in Azure and Absolute Secure Access and IPv6 for deployment guidance.

Absolute Secure Access and Microsoft Solutions

Many organizations evaluate Absolute Secure Access alongside Always On VPN, which is built into Windows, and Entra Private Access, which integrates with Microsoft Entra Conditional Access. Absolute Secure Access is often the better fit in the following situations.

  • Always-on access is needed for macOS, iOS, and Android, not only Windows
  • Users work over cellular or other poor-quality networks
  • Application-level policy and QoS are required
  • One client must deliver both VPN and ZTNA for on-premises and cloud applications
  • Administrators need detailed connection and network diagnostics

For a broader comparison, see Enterprise VPN and Secure Remote Access Consulting and Always On VPN vs. Entra Private Access. If you’re still running DirectAccess, which Microsoft deprecated in June 2024, Absolute Secure Access is one of several migration paths.

Related Articles

I’ve written about Absolute Secure Access and NetMotion Mobility in the following articles.

How I Can Help

I help organizations plan, deploy, and support Absolute Secure Access. My services include the following.

Learn more about all of my consulting services.

Additional Information

The following resources provide more information about Absolute Secure Access.

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