Napera, the company that bases its NAC products on Microsoft software, is expanding the capabilities of its box.

New software for the appliance enables a gateway firewall, support for a remote-access VPN and a DHCP server. The firewall is a basic, packet-filtering product along the lines of what is offered in a small office-home office appliance.

The VPN relies on the point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP) support in Windows XP and Vista client software as well as Apple’s OSX. With PPTP, remote users will connect over the Internet to the Napera appliance, establish a VPN tunnel and submit to a NAC test. If they pass, the tunnel remains in place and users are granted access.

The DHCP server establishes a means for enforcing NAC policies but also is a way for small businesses that need DHCP to set it up economically.

Earlier this year, Napera added wireless support to its devices, so now customers can run NAC tests on devices connected to LANs, attaching via wireless and tapping in over the Internet via VPN.

The company is also upgrading its management platform to allow multiple administrators with separate rights. The device also takes a snapshot of the device configuration periodically and stores it within Napera’s network. The company provides in-the-cloud services to customers including this storage. If mistakes are made in configuring the devices, customers can tap those kept by Napera to restore them to an earlier one.

The upgrades are free to Napera customers and don’t change the price of the two Napera models which cost $3,495 and $995.

Tim Greene is senior editor at Network World.