We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiGate-VM and SonicWall NSa 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."The most valuable feature of this solution is Quota."
"The product is easy to use and is stable. The SV1 functionality is a benefit."
"It has improved our security capabilities."
"Their interface is very easy to use, it is without bugs."
"We can detect any attack of viruses or malware at the first point of contact."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."
"This solution has helped our organization by having strong functions and a reliable firewall."
"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."
"The tool improved the security in our company's virtualized environment, as it was helpful in creating an additional layer of security for the organization and for the use of the internet."
"In terms of specific features, I like FortiGate's load balancing, interface, and priority on the network."
"Primarily, the VPN solution is most valuable. It allows you to have more flexibility in terms of what is there on the end-user device, and what is not there. You can check and make sure that they're current. It has more flexibility than just a straight VPN solution. It works really well. It has the features that 99% of people need."
"The most valuable features are the IPS and Antivirus."
"The most valuable features are the SD-WAN and the web filtering applications control."
"A top feature is the really good web interface and the classic Fortinet features, such as IPS, IDS, AV scanner, and spam filter."
"The functionality provided is very good."
"It's a relatively simple product that is easy to use. It's not overly complex."
"Our old firewall was running as HA (High Availability) on two different but identical rack mounted servers. Moving to SonicWall allowed the company to move to one unit, yet accommodate more connections because it had sixteen ports and handled fail-over better than the old firewall solution."
"SonicWall NSa has a user-friendly firmware"
"I really like the performance; there are no delays and no latency, which is a unique quality in firewalls nowadays."
"SD-WAN is a good feature."
"User friendly and intuitive."
"What I like best about SonicWall NSa is the security it offers compared to other solutions in the market. Its reduction rate is also better than others."
"Setup is easy. Anyone with basic firewall experience can do it."
"The most valuable feature is the sandbox."
"We were not able to build a full-mesh VPN; however, I am not sure if this was the fault of Fortinet FortiGate."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having better visibility. Palo Alto has better visibility."
"The firewall engine is not so strong as of now, in my opinion... My second concern is that, while they have Zero-day vulnerability and anti-malware features, the threat engine needs to be strengthened, its efficiency can be increased."
"The updates Fortinet provides are sometimes unstable."
"The captive portal could be improved."
"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."
"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."
"Security is a continuous process. In every product, there is a requirement for improvement. Its pricing should also be improved according to Indian market requirements. They must also improve on the reporting part. Its reporting can be more precise. If we can get a real-time report in a specific format, it will be helpful for customers to know about the current status of their security."
"With FortiGate, we sometimes encounter bugs in various operating systems."
"It needs an Application Inspection."
"The tech support calls were not the best and could be improved. There have been times when we felt as if we knew more about the device than the support person on the phone."
"Web filtering is a feature that needs some improvement. There should be some additional features to allow active users to change their own passwords."
"The user interface (UI) and the performance of interface both need improvement."
"The one thing that could be improved is the integration with the exchange. The gateway level controls can be enhanced a bit more. For example, it's still little here and there. You do get malicious attacks and suspicious emails like spam. It's not like Sophos where we got a lot of spam email, and yet, it's still relatively vulnerable. It can be upgraded, maybe with a fifth-generation firmware that it is ready for unknown threats."
"It would be useful to have integration with different reporting tools. This is something we are sorely missing. It would be a plus to have reporting integrations. It would be good to have more integration with the identity suites, such as Office 365 and Azure Active Directory, of different providers that we use. Integrations are already available, but it would be nice to have some more advanced options."
"The graphical user interface should be enhanced."
"Vendor support needs improvement. The frequency of time and support should be increased."
"It is not scalable. If your enterprise is growing hard then you have to buy another, bigger product. Maybe if you use it virtually it is more scalable."
"There are a few areas that need improvement including the VPN, user management, and reporting."
"A room for improvement in SonicWall NSa is the log server because it could be more user-friendly compared to Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks. My company has many rule sets up for review, so sometimes, my team needs to use Excel for filtering, but the UI cannot support the Excel function."
"They should consider upgrading the capabilities within the GUI."
"It is very modular and with native resources which are much lower than its competitors."
"We have security as a service, and they make recommendations about adding to the denylist and other things. That part could be more accessible and more user-friendly. I'd like to see SonicWall add a user-friendly interface where our internal team can drag and drop everything."
"The pricing for this product in India is high and the fees should be reduced."
Fortinet FortiGate-VM is ranked 9th in Firewalls with 113 reviews while SonicWall NSa is ranked 19th in Firewalls with 80 reviews. Fortinet FortiGate-VM is rated 8.4, while SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate-VM writes "An easy-to-manage and configure tool that provides ample documentation to help with the setup phase". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". Fortinet FortiGate-VM is most compared with Azure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, Fortinet FortiOS, OPNsense and Cisco Secure Firewall, whereas SonicWall NSa is most compared with SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall and Netgate pfSense. See our Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. SonicWall NSa report.
See our list of best Firewalls vendors.
We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
