We performed a comparison between Cisco IOS Security and OPNsense 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."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 of Fortinet FortiGate is the simple configuration."
"Whenever I need something, Fortinet improves and updates the software for me."
"The technical support is great."
"It's user-friendly and easy to operate."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is URL filtering."
"Advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless and simple integration into a large network."
"With FortiClient, you can easily connect when you are home, check out what you want to do, and connect to your network when you are not at work. You can switch on servers and you can check what is wrong."
"The most valuable features of Cisco IOS Security are the plenty of functionality it provides, many people are IT certified the usage, and the user interface is good."
"The solution is easy to use."
"The VPN is the most valuable feature."
"The product has valuable features for business intelligence."
"Technical support for this solution is very good."
"It covers everything we need it to without looking to secondary solutions."
"Cisco IOS Security increases the overall security of our network, performs authentication, and provides level 15 access and privileges."
"The capabilities for scalability with this product are huge"
"The interface and the dashboard are the most valuable features of this solution."
"The DNS-level filtering is impressive for thwarting time scanners."
"What I like the most about OPNsense is that it offers an easy-to-use dashboard for device management and control."
"It is a very good solution. I like the dashboard. I can see what is going on and manage it as I like it."
"The technical support is very good."
"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."
"The most valuable features of OPNsense are the GUI and frequent updates."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure."
"The security of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"Fortinet should focus on enhancing the capabilities of FortiGate by consolidating its various products, such as FortiGate Cloud, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer."
"Price, of course, can always be more competitive or better."
"Performance and technical support are the main issues with this solution."
"They are doing good, but they can improve the distributor assignment. The availability of the product and the timeline of delivery are the main things. The distribution should be swift, and the distributor should not reach out to end customers directly. They should work as a distributor. There should also be one more local distributor. Currently, there is only one distributor in Pakistan, and the rest of them are in UAE. It is difficult to work with only one distributor. Sometimes, you don't get along with the same distributor, and that's why they should have one more distributor. Their licensing should also be improved. The activation or renewal of the product should be done from the date of renewal, not from the date on which the license expired."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
"NGN, reporting and controls."
"You do need some IT knowledge in order to effectively work with the solution."
"Sometimes I find it difficult to manage. Some configurations are difficult for new engineers, for example."
"Cisco IOS Security could improve its security features. There are competitors that have some additional security features, such as Fortinet FortiGate. Additionally, there should be better synchronization with Cisco IOS Security and other vendors, and improved AI features would be beneficial."
"Cisco very slowly introduces and implements the products, unlike other brands."
"Cisco is an expensive firewall, so the pricing can be improved."
"The company needs to make its solution more affordable to make it more accessible to larger markets. Otherwise, it's seen as an enterprise-level solution that small or medium-sized organizations can't afford and therefore they won't even look at it."
"In the security portfolio from Cisco, the issue is marketing. Cisco is still seen primarily as an enterprise network player rather than being acknowledged as a security vendor."
"I would like upgrading iOS to be a bit easier."
"If they could increase the performance a little better because the device sometimes gets slow."
"I would like to see better SD-WAN performance."
"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."
"The user interface could be improved, and the DNS section should be more intuitive."
"The interface isn't so friendly user. But we have some technicians here who are quite confident with this tool. OPNSense could maybe add sets of rules so it's simpler to manage different groups with particular needs."
"Given that OPNsense plays a pivotal role as a firewall, safeguarding against various threats, having a reliable backup ensures uninterrupted protection even if unforeseen events impact the primary virtual machine."
"There are a few weaknesses. For example, there is a lack of some features that I have in certain commercial products."
"While they do have paid options that actually gives better features, for most of the clients, if they tend to take a paid option will instead opt for Fortinet."
"I think the most important thing is that it should be easily accessible, but currently, that doesn't seem to be the case. We need a hardware platform that's based on common standards and open computing principles, which would be like a commodity and benefit us greatly."
Cisco IOS Security is ranked 22nd in Firewalls with 47 reviews while OPNsense is ranked 3rd in Firewalls with 36 reviews. Cisco IOS Security is rated 8.0, while OPNsense is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco IOS Security writes "User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues". On the other hand, the top reviewer of OPNsense writes "Robust network security and management offering a user-friendly interface, open-source flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, with challenges regarding initial setup and the absence of official support". Cisco IOS Security is most compared with Cisco Secure Firewall, Fortinet FortiOS, Meraki MX, Netgate pfSense and Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, whereas OPNsense is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, Untangle NG Firewall, Sophos UTM and IPFire. See our Cisco IOS Security vs. OPNsense report.
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