We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiOS and WatchGuard Firebox based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."You can create multiple Virtual Domains (VDOMs), which are treated as separate firewall instances."
"I like several features that this product has, such as antivirus and internet navigation inspection. It is also simple to use."
"Fortinet FortiGate's ease of management is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system."
"The management console is pretty simple, so anyone who understands networking can initially deploy the solution."
"From the firewall perspective, the rules and policies are very sufficient and easy to use."
"The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good."
"The web filtering feature and the intrusion protection system are the most valuable. It is a resilient appliance. I never had an issue with it in terms of any security breaches."
"The solution provides good firewall and antivirus protection."
"The customer service and support team are excellent."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are its constant updates and definitions."
"The user experience is great. The graphical user interface is also good."
"The information security features are the most valuable."
"Has a very simple OS and a good price point."
"For ten to 12 years it has been quite secure."
"The most valuable features are the intrusion prevention system and the anti-virus."
"The solution has a useful traffic monitor."
"Two of the functionalities we use most are the traffic monitoring and the full panel dashboard. Those are two things that are very useful for us... In addition, it provides us with layered security. It allows us to determine what types of access, to which networks, we want to allow or deny."
"Their support is excellent, and the stability is very good."
"The client is easy to use and stable"
"WatchGuard Firebox's two-factor authentication feature is particularly useful and provides an added layer of protection."
"It saves us time in the respect that we now have the template built for it so we can get in and get it done. We've had much less problem supporting Voice over IP technologies from different companies. Because our client base has grown over the years, we're probably saving 20 to 30 man-hours a month now that we've got this on a good stable level."
"This product offers great protection using the default settings."
"The most valuable features are the VPN and web blocker security."
"Some configuration elements cannot be easily altered once created."
"The support from Fortinet FortiGate could improve. They are not easily accessible when we need them. They could improve their response time."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having more storage in the hardware for log data."
"The way everything is set up could be easier. Currently, people need a lot of experience and knowledge to administer it and to link it to devices."
"Backup can be improved."
"When we cluster the two Fortinet FortiGate boxes together we have some issues."
"I feel that the reporting needs to be improved."
"We had some issues in the beginning while setting it up, but after doing the firmware update, it is working fine."
"Right now, it's very trendy to integrate everything into the cloud. This solution would be more effective if they did more integration in that regard."
"For monitoring purposes, we don't have any option to monitor the ISP link."
"I would like to see the features of FortiAnalyzer included in Fortinet FortiOS. Right now, you're required to have an additional license and a different device for features such as processing the log, reporting, and analyzing traffic."
"In terms of what needs improvement, the pricing could be lower. The price is very steep."
"The support could be improved, Fortinet's response time is very slow. Setting up the VPN could be made much easier, especially when deployed with Azure."
"I would like to see more statistics in the monitoring part."
"There is no flexibility."
"For me, it is important to be able to block VPN applications, like Facebook, so I would like to see that included in the next release. With this version, if you want to block or allow a site, you now have to drag all the domains related to this site."
"Cloud-based central administration of all devices from one point would be nice"
"The usability could be better, but it is definitely manageable. If we have to go to a backup internet connection, that could be a little bit easier."
"If they could make the traffic monitoring easier that would be great. I don't use it that frequently, but I would like to see some improvements in the ease of use of that component, so it makes more sense. I know it's a technical component so there's going to be some difficulty trying to make that easier."
"It would be wonderful if the WatchGuard team develops nice products for threat intelligence."
"Make WatchGuard Firebox capable of integrating with third-party vendors like FireMon, Splunk, Tenable, etc."
"There is a slight learning curve."
"Its documentation could be improved. Sometimes, you need to search a bit longer to find what you are looking for."
"The only downside is that it is missing an API, that you can use to easily collect information from it."
Fortinet FortiOS is ranked 15th in Firewalls with 73 reviews while WatchGuard Firebox is ranked 13th in Firewalls with 78 reviews. Fortinet FortiOS is rated 8.4, while WatchGuard Firebox is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiOS writes "Provides effective filtering features, good stability but initial setup is moderately challenging". On the other hand, the top reviewer of WatchGuard Firebox writes "Offers a streamlined deployment, intuitive interface and robust security features". Fortinet FortiOS is most compared with Fortinet FortiManager, Fortinet FortiWeb, Fortinet FortiGate-VM and Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection, whereas WatchGuard Firebox is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, OPNsense, SonicWall TZ and Meraki MX. See our Fortinet FortiOS vs. WatchGuard Firebox report.
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