We performed a comparison between Netgate pfSense 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."Fortinet FortiGate is user-friendly and affordable."
"The next-generation firewall is great."
"The VPN is the most valuable feature."
"The solution is extremely reliable."
"The GUI is good."
"The network security and cloud security are most valuable."
"The signature database and zero-day detection are Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features."
"The Intrusion Prevention System and the web filtering are both working well."
"The gain in performance and security from configuring the VPN connections was significant."
"The ability to perform packet captures on the command line and via the GUI is useful for diagnosing problems."
"At our peak time, we have reached more than 5,000 concurrent connections."
"It is much simpler than other solutions such as Fortinet."
"Is good at blocking IP addresses."
"I like the connectivity to the open VPN. It's very smooth."
"The intrusion detection feature is the most valuable. It is an open-source firewall, so there is a lot of material on it. I also find the open VPN capability very nice. It is pretty customizable. The clustering and the high availability are the two biggest things to be able to get out of a firewall."
"I have found the firewall portion for the blocking most valuable."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the firewalling, which is very good and the GUI which is very intuitive. It is easy to use, and provides great security."
"I like that SonicWall NSa is a stable product. It's also a scalable product."
"Support is usually good when it comes to helping with issues."
"The product is working okay. The product is working feature-wise."
"SonicWall has all the usual functions, like LAN configurations, security features, word filters, etc., but it also has the CFS agent, which isn't available in any other firewall. Reporting port support is also there."
"We use SonicWall NSa for authenticating MAC (media access control) ID from the PC."
"The most valuable features to us are the security services which is a critical factor in our deployment. Today we need to have all the security services enabled because firewalls are not enough."
"User friendly and intuitive."
"The graphical user interface of Fortinet's FortiGate product does not function well with text-based interfaces."
"In the balance between links feature normally you can just choose one option to balance. It would be better for the solution to have more than one option, preferably three."
"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."
"They've become quite expensive."
"This product could be improved with Active directory integration and better handling in IPsec and GRE Tunnels."
"The Web-filter in this solution is not very good."
"Fortinet FortiGate can improve the integration with Active Directory. Additionally, I would like to have a Cloud Controller, such as they do in the Cisco Meraki solution."
"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."
"The user interface can be improved to make it easier to add more features. And pfSense could be better integrated with other solutions, like antivirus."
"Lacks instructional videos."
"They could improve their commercial stance and be more agile when it comes to the commercial pricing of enterprise deals."
"The access control aspect of the product could be improved."
"The main problem with pfSense is that we have to use proxy solutions."
"If you want to take advantage of all of the solution's options, you need to have a bit of a technical background. It's not for a layperson."
"For the third-party packages, I'd rather have it built-in, like a core feature of pfSense, part of the core model."
"It's just not listed as FIPS compliant for where we're at now in government, which is an issue."
"The cloud services may be in need of some improvement."
"Initially, it may be difficult for some people to learn and become acquainted with it."
"I would like to see better integration."
"The content ID needs to be improved."
"The product must enable integration with endpoint protection tools."
"The solution can be a bit expensive."
"After-sales support and hands-on training facilities are not available in my country."
"The product likely isn't a good fit for a large organization."
Netgate pfSense is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 128 reviews while SonicWall NSa is ranked 20th in Firewalls with 77 reviews. Netgate pfSense is rated 8.6, while SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Netgate pfSense writes "User-friendly, easy to manage the firewall, rule-wise and interface-wise". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". Netgate pfSense is most compared with OPNsense, Sophos XG, Sophos UTM, KerioControl and Cisco Secure Firewall, whereas SonicWall NSa is most compared with SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall and WatchGuard Firebox. See our Netgate pfSense vs. SonicWall NSa report.
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