We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiOS and WatchGuard Firebox 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 is the web filter."
"The VPN is the most valuable feature."
"The stability and scalability of this solution are satisfactory. Its SD-WAN, VPN, and URL filtering features are very useful."
"The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is Quota."
"The flexibility and ease of configuration are the most valuable features."
"FortiGate firewalls are user-friendly, and I like the security profiling features."
"It is a good source for firewall protection."
"The user experience is great. The graphical user interface is also good."
"It is more robust than SonicWall, particularly on the VPN from site to site."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiOS are the granular control and their interoperability is good."
"It's simple to use in terms of inbound and outbound traffic management."
"It's very easy to use."
"The technical support is very good and the assistance they gave was very good."
"The solution is very easy to configure and has a good interface, plus it offers more configuration options than other vendors."
"I like its configuration and the various functions it offers."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The solution has increased productivity with our outside salespeople being able to connect into their computers and use those remotely."
"Their centralized console simplifies management for organizations with multiple Fireboxes."
"The most valuables feature of WatchGuard Firebox are the VPNs, and web filtering where we can stop users from going to malicious sites."
"HostWatch makes it so I can see, in real-time, activity in the event that there is something weird happening on the network. This simplifies my job."
"Simple to move settings between WatchGuard boxes."
"The security that is used for defending from the attacks is very good."
"Regarding the reporting, I was in the Dimension server earlier today. It's very powerful. I like it. And the management features are easy to use. I like the fact that I can open up the System Manager client or I can just do it through the web if I'm making a quick change."
"The user interface could be improved to make it less confusing and easier to set up."
"Tunnel flapping was one of the major things I had seen wherein your internet link remains but your VPN tunnel is down. However, since I got a fix from the TAC team, I have not noticed it, but the customer complained a few times that they couldn't access the internet because of this problem."
"Due to its higher cost, Fortinet FortiGate can lead to increased operational expenses."
"Performance and technical support are the main issues with this solution."
"Fortinet doesn't provide multiple virtual firewalls which would facilitate end users and customers."
"Currently, without the additional reporting module, we only have access to basic reporting."
"Difficult to add or define, and not that easy to configure and manage."
"I think there could be more QoS features"
"The central management can improve in Fortinet FortiOS. It is sometimes difficult to manage all the devices."
"The solution needs improvement with DDoS protection."
"The implementation could be simplified."
"I would like to see the features of FortiAnalyzer included in Fortinet FortiOS. Right now, you're required to have an additional license and a different device for features such as processing the log, reporting, and analyzing traffic."
"A switch should be introduced."
"For me, it is important to be able to block VPN applications, like Facebook, so I would like to see that included in the next release. With this version, if you want to block or allow a site, you now have to drag all the domains related to this site."
"FortiOS doesn't work well with all browsers. I think they need to do a better job of making it compatible with the various browsers that are out there."
"There is room for improvement in the reporting part. The reporting is only for logging data, and it's just a tabulation of the log in the report. I would like to be able to take down more information in the event of an incident."
"Setup of this solution is complex, it's not plug and play."
"It would be wonderful if the WatchGuard team develops nice products for threat intelligence."
"They are working on cloud-based options. However, they do not have the options fully functional in their solution at this time."
"I believe there is a need for additional measures to connect mobile devices securely to the Firebox router."
"Cloud-based central administration of all devices from one point would be nice"
"In terms of the reporting and management features — and this isn't necessarily a WatchGuard issue, this seems to be more of an industry-wide issue — you get reports, but a lot of times you don't know what you're looking at. You're so overwhelmed with the data. You're getting a lot of stuff that doesn't matter, so it takes time to parse through it, to actually get what you want to know."
"I haven’t dug deeply into the reporting features yet or if they are working well. However, I have generated several reports and there was too much unnecessary information, in comparison with the reporting features in the Sophos firewall. Sophos' reporting is more readable and easier to configure."
"If they could make the traffic monitoring easier that would be great. I don't use it that frequently, but I would like to see some improvements in the ease of use of that component, so it makes more sense. I know it's a technical component so there's going to be some difficulty trying to make that easier."
Fortinet FortiOS is ranked 15th in Firewalls with 73 reviews while WatchGuard Firebox is ranked 13th in Firewalls with 78 reviews. Fortinet FortiOS is rated 8.4, while WatchGuard Firebox is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiOS writes "Provides effective filtering features, good stability but initial setup is moderately challenging". On the other hand, the top reviewer of WatchGuard Firebox writes "Offers a streamlined deployment, intuitive interface and robust security features". Fortinet FortiOS is most compared with Fortinet FortiManager, Fortinet FortiWeb, Fortinet FortiGate-VM and Infoblox Advanced DNS Protection, whereas WatchGuard Firebox is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, OPNsense, SonicWall TZ and Meraki MX. See our Fortinet FortiOS vs. WatchGuard Firebox report.
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