We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall TZ based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Based on the parameters we compared, SonicWall TZ outperforms Fortinet FortiGate in several key areas, including more satisfaction with features, service, and support and fewer complaints on pricing.
"A strong point of FortiGate is the graphical interface is complete and easy to use."
"We can detect any attack of viruses or malware at the first point of contact."
"The solution is very easy to understand. It's not overly complex."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and the UI. It has always provided me with what I needed. I have no need for additional costs that other solutions have, such as Sophos."
"The stability of the solution is excellent, as it is with other Fortinet products."
"The flexibility and ease of configuration are the most valuable features."
"Its administrative panel is very intuitive and simple. It is simpler than the other solutions that we had. As an administrator, we are always looking for the easiest solution to manage network policies. We are able to filter everything on our network and also use the VPN feature, which is important these days when people are working remotely during COVID."
"The most valuable features are that it is very simple to configure and to manage."
"The product is easy to deploy."
"Its user interface and simplicity are the most favorite parts for our clients. They find it stable and easy to use. Its performance is also good."
"It is a scalable solution."
"It is very stable with no issues. The firewall's been up for the past 35 days non-stop. It's performed great. It has performed as it should perform."
"The scalability of SonicWall TZ is good and easy to add users."
"It's been very easy to implement and deploy."
"The solution is priced fairly and competitively."
"We like the central interface and we like the security features. Additionally, we use SonicWall with VPN connectivity and we have had no problems with SonicWall all these years."
"Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it."
"Performance and technical support are the main issues with this solution."
"As far as wanting more scalability or things in the network diagram, it's going to cost you."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by adding FortiAnalyzer to its solution, we should not have to use another solution. FortiAnalyzer can provide more detailed information."
"The initial setup is complex."
"We would like to see better pricing."
"If I had any criticism that I would give FortiGate, it would be that they need to stop changing their logging format. Every time we do a firmware upgrade, it is a massive issue on the SIM. Parsers have to be rebuilt. Even the FortiGate guys came in and said that they don't play well in the sandbox."
"There are some cloud-based features that could be much more flexible than they currently are."
"Sonic Analyzer could be improved. It's difficult to manage and not very intuitive."
"Its reporting can be improved. Currently, we cannot directly get the user names. It only shows the IP, which makes it a bit confusing because we need to use the IP to find the user. If we could directly get the name of the user, it would be better."
"I would like them to make the interface a little bit easier to use so you can find out where in the heck you're going instead of having to go to 15 different places to get something installed."
"Support for SonicWall TZ needs improvement, particularly the time it takes before you're able to speak to a support person, e.g. you have to wait for at least 30 minutes on the phone."
"You need to be a certificate holder to set it up and configure it. It's really important because it looks easy, but it is complex. You need to have the knowledge and experience. But this is normal for technical products. It's not a product for regular user. It's for technical people. You need to have skills."
"The stability could be a lot better."
"Sometimes there is a glitch between the network connection. Last time, something happened on our IP phone, the SonicWall team did some updates to fix the issue. However, glitches happen very rarely. I did not experience any other types of problems."
"Full monitoring obviously needs to be improved. We need full monitoring covered under the security licensing."
Fortinet FortiGate is ranked 2nd in Firewalls with 306 reviews while SonicWall TZ is ranked 12th in Firewalls with 78 reviews. Fortinet FortiGate is rated 8.4, while SonicWall TZ is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate writes "It's a reliable solution that's easy to install and cheaper than competitors ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall TZ writes "Has efficient user access control feature and good technical support services ". Fortinet FortiGate is most compared with Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX and Fortinet FortiOS, whereas SonicWall TZ is most compared with Sophos XG, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, SonicWall NSa and WatchGuard Firebox. See our Fortinet FortiGate vs. SonicWall TZ report.
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