We performed a comparison between Meraki MX 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."The features that prevent internet connections, the filtering are the most valuable because we did not have any internet protection before."
"The application control features, such as Facebook blocking and Spotify blocking, are the most valuable."
"Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features are ease of use, flexibility, and most of the configuration we can be done using the GUI. When we compare Fortinet FortiGate with other solutions the firewall policy are very easy to understand."
"Web filtering and two-factor authentication are great features."
"Advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless and simple integration into a large network."
"The tool is a nice product and easy to handle. The software's user interface is also good. You can easily implement remote access in the solution."
"FortiGate has a strong security topic which allows all of the Fortinet devices to communicate and share information which makes their security more powerful."
"The web filtering feature and the intrusion protection system are the most valuable. It is a resilient appliance. I never had an issue with it in terms of any security breaches."
"We've had no issues with the scalability or the stability of this solution"
"I love the simplicity of Meraki MX — specifically, the simplicity of the dashboard."
"The technical support people from Meraki are brilliant."
"Easy to deploy with a simple configuration."
"The solution is easy to set up."
"It is very easy to use and manage. It is also very easy to scale."
"Deployment takes no more than one working day."
"The most valuable feature is that we didn't have any problems with Meraki MX."
"The solution is good for a basic firewall for a small business or for home use."
"The DNS-level filtering is impressive for thwarting time scanners."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to configure."
"The most valuable features are reporting, the Sensei plugin, and firewall capabilities."
"OPNsense is easy to use and open source."
"URL blocking, Wireguard, Tail Scale, Engine Blocker, and VPN are the most valuable features for me."
"OPNsense is easy to scale when running on the hardware."
"The initial setup is easy. It only takes 15-30 minutes to deploy."
"Their software support needs improvement. I would prefer to have better support for bug fixes. Sometimes, we open a ticket, and it is very difficult to get a solution. Specifically, we are not at all happy with their support for load balancing."
"Vulnerability scanning could be improved."
"We sometimes have issues with FortiGate's routing table in the latest firmware update. We had to downgrade the device because our customers complained about bugs."
"The biggest "gotcha" is that if the client purchases what they call the UTM shared bundle, which has unified threat management on both, it's not as easy to manage if you have more than one firewall."
"The platform's interface could improve."
"My only complaint about FortiGate is a lack of QinQ VLAN tunneling. I haven't found this feature in any Fortinet product. You can do this on all Cisco routers, including the smaller models. However, QinQ isn't available on the biggest, most expensive Fortinet units. They still don't have that. I think now we're on software version 6.0, and they still haven't found a solution for QinQ. It isn't a dealbreaker, but that's my main complaint."
"We have an issue with hotel guest vouchers."
"There were quite a few problems with the stability of the system."
"In general, the SD-WAN feature needs to be improved. The load sharing and load balancing of the traffic should be improved. I have had some problems with these features in the past."
"The only stability issue is in Content Filtering. Sometimes we need to report these types of issues to Cisco support."
"More detail needed for configuration of the VPN."
"Right now, you can postpone the update but eventually, if you don't do the update, it will install the updates automatically for you and that's something that is not working for me."
"Could possibly use deeper configurations."
"I need more UTM protection security features."
"The problem is that the two licenses do not currently integrate. We have to create separate companies and do an interconnection."
"Meraki has some hidden features and information that is only privy to their engineers. If that information became available to us, then it would improve our ease of management, and we would be able to make certain adjustments instead of having to go to them."
"OPNsense showed me some problems when using it in different environments. The problem is integration with a virtual server."
"When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve."
"The logging could improve in OPNsense."
"The only thing that I would like to see improved is the Insight or the NetFlow analysis part. It would be good to have the possibility to dig down on the Insight platform. Right now, we can easily do only a few analyses. If this page becomes more powerful, it surely will be a well-adopted platform."
"There are issues with stability and reliability."
"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."
"The reporting part could be better."
"I would like better documentation concerning the provided packages and their integration."
Meraki MX is ranked 2nd in Unified Threat Management (UTM) with 57 reviews while OPNsense is ranked 3rd in Firewalls with 35 reviews. Meraki MX is rated 8.2, while OPNsense is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Meraki MX writes "Cost-effective, simplified, easy to manage, and reliable with advanced security features and granular visibility". On the other hand, the top reviewer of OPNsense writes "Good interface and firewall capabilities and overall easy to use". Meraki MX is most compared with Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Cisco Secure Firewall, Sophos XG, Netgate pfSense and Sophos UTM, whereas OPNsense is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, Untangle NG Firewall, Sophos UTM and WatchGuard Firebox. See our Meraki MX vs. OPNsense report.
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