Arbiter vs Belden NAC

Arbiter is a cloud-hosted network access control product that determines which devices can connect and what they can access. It identifies and catalogs devices by type and vendor without endpoint agents. Access controls include certificate-based EAP-TLS and 802.1X, plus MAC authentication bypass for headless devices. Its on-premises Edge appliance connects over RadSec and can continue authenticating locally during a WAN outage using cached decisions. A live Microsoft Intune integration reads device compliance and can quarantine non-compliant devices to a remediation VLAN. SIEM event forwarding supports Microsoft Sentinel, Elastic, TLS syslog, Splunk HEC, and generic HTTPS webhooks. The service supports wired and wireless access control in a hybrid deployment. The Asset Discovery tier profiles and inventories devices but does not enforce access; the access-control plans include the full feature set and vary by endpoint count. Asset Discovery costs €29 a month after a 60-day free trial. Essential costs €149 a month for 100 endpoints, Professional costs €399 a month for 500 endpoints, and Enterprise costs €999 a month for 1,500 endpoints. Arbiter is designed for SMEs and the MSPs or MSSPs that support them.

Belden NAC is network access control software for critical IT and OT networks, providing network visibility, device authentication, and granular access control. Its overview shows graphical reports and topology, identifies endpoints, and detects deviations from expected status. Authentication uses 802.1X through an integrated RADIUS server with MAC addresses, credentials, or certificates, and can connect to existing identity stores. VLAN Manager supports static and dynamic segmentation. Guest Service grants external devices temporary, time-limited access to defined LAN and Wi-Fi resources. Advanced Security gathers endpoint details and network measurements to detect devices and incidents such as ARP or MAC spoofing. The software is available as a physical or virtual appliance for VMware, Nutanix AHV, Proxmox, and Hyper-V; Belden says no customer-provided operating system is required. Switches and routers must be manageable through SNMP V1, V2c, or V3 with read and write access, or through SSH or Telnet. Pricing is on request. Packages combine core NAC features, with individually added add-ons and special tiers for smaller companies. A managed service option is also available.