We performed a comparison between SonicWall NSa and SonicWall TZ based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: SonicWall TZ has an edge in this comparison. Unlike SonicWall NSa, its reviewers mention seeing an ROI.
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the different types of profiling. It has been the most effective for me. The WAF and the antivirus profile are the most effective in network protection."
"The simplicity of the configuration and the stability of the product are most valuable. The VPN concentrator is very useful."
"I appreciate FortiGate's flexibility, which allows for centralized management through FortiManager."
"The solution is highly scalable because they have devices that can handle a large amount of traffic."
"The product is very stable, easy to troubleshoot, and configure, so it has reduced the time it takes for support."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is security. They are known for efficiency and are on the top of Gartner Quadrant reviews. Fortinet FortiGate has an easy-to-use platform with a good graphical interface. The configuration is simple and the solution provides an overall good layer of security."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is Quota."
"Good anti-malware and web filtering features."
"The most valuable features of this solution are intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, and the advanced capture client, which provides live traffic analysis."
"The product is working okay. The product is working feature-wise."
"The product blocks access when I visit unrecognized websites."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the GUI pre-filtering and the ATP (advanced threat protection)."
"The technical support is very good."
"The DPI-SSL is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's handy."
"The most valuable features are flexibility, ease of setup, and it's a good product cost-wise."
"With the deployment of the SonicWall NSA solution, we never suffered a problem due to invasion or contamination of any kind."
"The VPN is quite useful for us, as well as the ATP."
"The performance has been very good. Overall, the solution is quite stable."
"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."
"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."
"It protects against intrusion while allowing needed access."
"Access restriction and IP whitelisting are the most valuable features."
"The product’s filtering and URL-blocking features are valuable."
"It does exactly what it says on the tin. It is good for protecting the business from being compromised. Its port protection is very good."
"It would be good if they had fewer updates."
"The process of configuring firewall rules appears excessively complex."
"Price, of course, can always be more competitive or better."
"The customization could be improved. Cisco, for example, is much better at this. They need to work to be at least as good as they are."
"NGN, reporting and controls."
"Fortinet FortiGate is not very easy to use. The navigation could be improved to make it easier to use."
"The central management for the FortiGate Fortinet Firewall needs improvement. They have the manager to do the essential management for both SD-WAN and for the security policy. They should also improve the SD-WAN function."
"Currently, without the additional reporting module, we only have access to basic reporting."
"I would like to have a built-in vulnerability scanner in the firewall. It would be great to have such functionality. Its price could also be better. It would also be good to have a local warehouse. It doesn't get damaged a lot, but if a customer needs a replacement, currently, it has to come from Miami or Mexico, which can take a few days. It would be better if they have a local warehouse from where we can just pick replacements and quickly solve a client's needs in terms of replacing equipment. It would be great to have it locally instead of waiting for it from Mexico or the USA."
"The implementation for VLANs is a little bit cumbersome. It would be good to make that a little bit easier."
"The product must enable integration with endpoint protection tools."
"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."
"We still get phishing emails that manage to come through from time to time."
"The cost could be lower. There could also be more flexibility for smaller companies."
"The features I would like to see improve are the dashboard and the UI."
"SonicWall NSa needs to make their product more user-friendly."
"The products' reporting can be improved."
"From a support perspective, if we're talking tech support I think Silver Partners, Gold Partners, Platinum, whatever level, should have a different number to call. End users can call tech support over at SonicWall if they've paid for support as part of their AGSS or whatever services they bought. The end-user can call, or we can call, however, I don't want to be calling the same line that an end user's calling. I don't want the same response time. I need a different level of expertise."
"FortiGate has a client DNS in the firewall, but SonicWall doesn't have that. To create or configure a site-to-site VPN tunnel, we have to give a DNS name. Currently, we have to get the DNS name from a third party and then include it in SonicWall, whereas FortiGate has its own client DNS, so it provides a DNS name, and it does not require a third party. There should be a graphical option to view the network utilization and bandwidth usage."
"We have been facing issues with reporting."
"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."
"I would like the solution to build in more redundancy. I"
"Getting support can be slow."
"Although the pricing is good, it could always be lower. If we get to pay less, we're happier."
SonicWall NSa is ranked 19th in Firewalls with 78 reviews while SonicWall TZ is ranked 12th in Firewalls with 78 reviews. SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8, while SonicWall TZ is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall TZ writes "Has efficient user access control feature and good technical support services ". SonicWall NSa is most compared with Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall, Netgate pfSense and WatchGuard Firebox, whereas SonicWall TZ is most compared with Sophos XG, Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, WatchGuard Firebox and Cisco Secure Firewall. See our SonicWall NSa vs. SonicWall TZ 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.
Basically, the main difference is that the TZ series is intended for a Branch office since it has fewer ports and the speed is around 1 GB.
The NSA series has more processor power and more port where you can create subnets and zones (like DMZ). Also, it has ports with 10 Gb and a processor to support the demand.
I have read that an approximate number of users in the highest TZ series (TZ 670) is around 150 to 200 but that is just an estimate.
Hope this helps. You can get more details in SonicWall datasheets where you will find the speed, throughput and more technical specifications to select the one that fits your requirements.
In simple words,
TZ is for small businesses (less than 100, maximum 150 users).
TZ has fewer ports.
NSA is for medium and large enterprises: > 150 Users,
NSA has many ports to support large networks