We performed a comparison between Check Point NGFW and SonicWall TZ based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Features: Check Point NGFW is highly regarded for its extensive security features, centralized management, and virtualization capabilities. SonicWall TZ distinguishes itself with its unified threat management, VPN capabilities, web security, and intuitive interface.
Check Point NGFW needs improvements in integration with other infrastructures, hardware upgrades, cost and pricing perspective, stability and security, setup process, load balancing capabilities, technical support, and reporting capabilities. SonicWall TZ requires improvements in rated throughput, secondary DNS hosting, cloud management, user interface, integration and flexibility, marketing and branding, reporting and licensing, additional ports, GSM and Sonic Analyzer features, advanced features and pricing, load balancing and data filtering, DLP integration, reporting analytics and user support, affordability and competition, and support and automation.
Service and Support: The feedback on Check Point NGFW's customer service varies, with some customers appreciating its helpful and responsive nature, while others believe there is room for improvement. SonicWall TZ's support is deemed satisfactory, although there have been instances of language difficulties and delays in assistance.
Ease of Deployment: The setup process for Check Point NGFW can be complex and may require specialized knowledge and experience for certain configurations and migrations. The initial setup for SonicWall TZ is described as simple, direct, and user-friendly, with a seamless out-of-the-box experience.
Pricing: Based on the feedback, Check Point NGFW is known for its high setup cost, however, it provides flexible licensing options. SonicWall TZ has mixed reviews regarding its pricing and setup cost. That said, it is considered fairly priced for medium-sized companies. There are extra fees associated with its cloud management capabilities.
Comparison Results: Check Point NGFW is the preferred product over SonicWall TZ. Users appreciate Check Point NGFW's comprehensive security features, centralized management, virtualization capabilities, stability, ease of use, and scalability. They also value its ability to protect against next-generation attacks and its strong security features. Users consider the customer service and support for Check Point NGFW to be superior.
"The email protection and VPN features are the most valuable."
"The virtual firewall feature is the most valuable. We have around 1,500 firewalls. We did not buy individual hardware, and the virtual firewalls made sense because we don't have to keep on buying the hardware. FortiGate is easier to use as compared to Checkpoint devices. It is user friendly and has a good UI. You don't need much expertise to work on this firewall. You don't need to worry much about DCLA, commands, and things like that."
"It's inexpensive compared to some of the other technology out there."
"We are using the FortiGate 100D series. VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features."
"It is easy to use. We chose this product for the possibility to have virtual domains (VDOMs). We are building another company in the group, and we would like to split the firewalling rules and policies between these two companies. Each company would be able to manage its own policies and security rules, which is an advantage of Fortinet FortiGate. We can define VDOMs, and every company can manage its own VDOM as if it has its own physical firewall, but in fact, we would be using the same physical appliance because we are also using the same internet lines. So, it allows us to reuse the existing resources without the disadvantage of having to compromise on policies and security. Each company can choose its own way of working."
"It's very easy to configure."
"It has improved our security capabilities."
"Customers want to load balance more than eight lines or six internet lines. FortiGate is the only solution that can accomplish this."
"The documentation is simple to understand and is easily available."
"The firewall rule writing and object creation are the best and simplest I've seen on a firewall."
"It filters unwanted traffic."
"Objects search and tracker logs are useful."
"Check Point firewalls have significantly improved our ability to detect and prevent threats."
"The most valuable feature is the centralized management, which gives us control over all of the Check Point gateways."
"The event logs are relatively informative and can provide information on why traffic was accepted or rejected."
"The solution is scalable."
"The solution's VPN is very good for stability and detecting threats."
"The network security is great."
"Access restriction and IP whitelisting are the most valuable features."
"SonicWall TZ think it's a good, solid, and stable product."
"Offers the right amount of control without being incredibly convoluted and frustrating."
"It's a stable solution."
"The feature we found most valuable in SonicWall TZ is that it is user-friendly for an administrator."
"We use the content filter quite a lot because it's an office setting. During working hours, we like to censor the sites users can visit so it increases productivity. Therefore, the content filter has been good for us."
"The sniffing packets or packet captures, can be simplified and improved because it's a little confusing."
"The license renewal process, annual renewal price, and the web application firewall features should be improved."
"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."
"Fortinet doesn't provide multiple virtual firewalls which would facilitate end users and customers."
"The logging details need to be improved."
"The web-cache feature which was previously on the FortiGate device, but was deleted with the recent upgrade should be returned. It was a very valuable feature for us."
"It needs to improve its ISP load balancing."
"Some of the web policy reports could be improved."
"I would rate the technical support as a seven out of 10. Sometimes, it's difficult to get them to understand what the issue is. Sometimes, the issue is not resolved, then we solve it by ourselves with Check Point's documentation, which can be useful. When you open a case with Check Point, they can be a little slow. Sometimes, they don't solve things."
"The firewall should be easily deployable and scalable in any major cloud environment and enable an organization’s security team to manage all of its security settings from a single console."
"There is room for improvement in application-based filtering, as with other firewalls available in the market today."
"Improvement regarding the expansion of the SMS's compatibility to include various virtualization environments would be beneficial."
"Although the GUI is simple to use and fairly comprehensive, more support via CLI would be beneficial for bulk operations."
"The end-user VPN could be improved. It could benefit from some modification."
"When you want to open the gateway by double-clicking on the interface, sometimes it can cause silly problems such as freezing."
"The anti-spam needs improvement."
"The areas we would like to see improvement include more features available similar to the equivalent FortiGate appliance, e.g. SSL encryption and inspection. Two-factor authentication capability would be another additional feature that could be included in the next release."
"The interface and technical support are probably the two most important things that I would like SonicWall to improve."
"In terms of what needs to be improved, I would say better load balancing and data filtering."
"Its pricing can be better. It is very expensive."
"In an upcoming release, SonicWall could improve by adding cloud management for all devices for free or at a nominal cost. Currently, they have a cloud management platform but is not free. We have the MySonicWall portal for purchasing from them for software updates and renewals."
"The lack of support is having me look into other solutions to replace SonicWALL."
"I'd like to have cloud management at no additional cost. Unfortunately, leveraging SonicWall's cloud management capabilities is cost-prohibitive, so we don't use it. They should have a reasonable subscription or offer it to us at no cost as an MSP."
"GUI interface could be improved."
Check Point NGFW is ranked 5th in Firewalls with 276 reviews while SonicWall TZ is ranked 12th in Firewalls with 78 reviews. Check Point NGFW is rated 8.8, while SonicWall TZ is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Check Point NGFW writes "Good antivirus protection and URL filtering with very good user identification capabilities". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall TZ writes "Has efficient user access control feature and good technical support services ". Check Point NGFW is most compared with Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall, Netgate pfSense and Azure Firewall, whereas SonicWall TZ is most compared with Sophos XG, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, SonicWall NSa and WatchGuard Firebox. See our Check Point NGFW vs. SonicWall TZ report.
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