We performed a comparison between Netgate pfSense and Palo Alto Networks WildFire based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls."The features that prevent internet connections, the filtering are the most valuable because we did not have any internet protection before."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ability to work in proxy mode, which other solutions, such as Palo Alto cannot. There are some features that are better that come at no extra license or subscriptions cost, such as basic SD-WAN. The DLT is useful, other solutions have the same feature too, such as Palo Alto."
"The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."
"Their interface is very easy to use, it is without bugs."
"Fortinet has a very good solution for Secure SD-WAN. One very good feature is that they have robust and simple FortiOS through which they provide all solutions. That's their strength. There's not much complexity involved with the Secure SD-WAN solution of Fortinet as compared to Cisco's solution, which has a lot of flexibility but complexity also comes with that flexibility."
"I really like the captive portal feature for our guest network. It has nice VLAN features in terms of separating our network. The anti-virus is also good."
"The most valuable feature is the VDOM, which allows the customer to have multiple firewalls in a single campus."
"The performance is good."
"Technical support is perfect, excellent."
"The tools' most valuable feature is load balancing."
"The most valuable features of pfSense are security, user-friendliness, and helpful online management."
"I can manage it easily by myself."
"I like the connectivity to the open VPN. It's very smooth."
"A free firewall that is a good network security appliance."
"The ability to perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI is useful for diagnosing problems."
"Some of the terminologies were more familiar to me than it was when I first encountered Cisco."
"I give the initial setup an eight out of ten."
"The most valuable features are all of the security features in terms of protection and SSL and VPN."
"You have better control because you define apps. You just don't define ports. You define apps, and the apps are monitored in the traffic. It is more specific than the Cisco firewall when it comes to our needs."
"They have many different options with Palo Alto WildFire and the set-up is quick. If you have all the details in hand, it does not take more than 15 minutes to deploy a firewall."
"I love the idea of Palo Alto Networks WildFire. It's more geared toward preventing malware. If someone's laptop or phone is malware-infected, the tool prevents it from uploading valuable corporate data outside the corporate network. That's what I love about Palo Alto Networks WildFire. It stops malware in its tracks."
"We get support in the free version."
"It catches modified signatures of known viruses."
"Their technical support is outstanding and top-notch."
"The support structure needs to be improved because every time we contact them, there is a delay in the response."
"For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial."
"If they had better integration with security products, such as Cisco ISE or Rapid Threat Containment, then it would be an improvement."
"Fortinet doesn't provide multiple virtual firewalls which would facilitate end users and customers."
"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."
"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."
"The security of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA."
"Perhaps the documentation is not clear and because it is supported in the community there is no basic documentation."
"I believe improving integration with various antivirus vendors could be beneficial."
"My only observation is about the quality of the IPSec logs, which are difficult to interpret and are poor in filters."
"pfSense could improve by having a sandboxing feature that I have seen in SonicWall. However, maybe it is available I am not aware of it."
"There are some bias issues and some intrusions in our network that have to be addressed. So, we're thinking of changing this firewall to something like a professional hardware-enabled firewall."
"The solution’s interface must be improved."
"Needs services on additional features, such as managing inventory and generating reports."
"Lacks instructional videos."
"The initial setup was a little bit complex, mainly due to the GUI console and management challenges."
"The only complaint that we receive from our customers is in regards to the price."
"They can keep on doing more updates. As new malware and viruses are coming out, they can make sure that WildFire is up to date."
"The system performance degrades after the solution has been deployed for some time. The data that it gives us becomes a little bit slow. When you try to get some data for troubleshooting, it seems like it's working hard to extract that data."
"The cyber security visibility and forensics features to receive more information about incidents could improve in Palo Alto Networks WildFire."
"The free version does not have real-time updates. It is slow."
"When comparing this solution to others it is not as good overall."
"Management and web filtering can be improved. There should also be better reporting, particularly around web filtering."
Netgate pfSense is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 128 reviews while Palo Alto Networks WildFire is ranked 3rd in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) with 58 reviews. Netgate pfSense is rated 8.6, while Palo Alto Networks WildFire is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Netgate pfSense writes "User-friendly, easy to manage the firewall, rule-wise and interface-wise". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Palo Alto Networks WildFire writes "Good technical support and provides automatic analysis that saves us time in filtering email". Netgate pfSense is most compared with OPNsense, Sophos XG, KerioControl, Sophos UTM and Cisco Secure Firewall, whereas Palo Alto Networks WildFire is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Juniper SRX Series Firewall, Proofpoint Email Protection, Fortinet FortiSandbox and Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
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