We performed a comparison between Sophos XG and WatchGuard Firebox based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: WatchGuard Firebox comes out on top in this comparison. It is easy to use, performs well, and has robust security protocols. In addition, its support is better than that of Sophos XG.
"We are using the FortiGate 100D series. VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features."
"The web tutor and automatic rules by schedule are good features."
"The solution can scale well."
"I really like the captive portal feature for our guest network. It has nice VLAN features in terms of separating our network. The anti-virus is also good."
"The next-generation firewall is great."
"Offers good security and filtering."
"I like that you are able to manage FortiGate from the FortiManager to create a more centralized environment."
"Secure, user-friendly, stable, and scalable network security solution. Installation is straightforward."
"This kind of strategic technology makes it much easier to remove malware and address vulnerabilities quickly."
"So far, I'm happy that they have recently added a firewall role, so I feel a little more comfortable with the security. The threat management is good."
"The solution is easy to set up and configure."
"There are many valuable features."
"Sophos XG's price is right, and it's easy to manage. It's a good fit for our current needs at the moment."
"The product’s most valuable feature is the user management system."
"Sophos is a comrehensive solution which allows me to configure all the attendant products, such as Sophos' firewall, Endpoint and Encryption features."
"A valuable feature involves the solution's manageability."
"One of my favorite features is the Geolocation service, where you can actually block specific activity or IP addresses registered to certain countries. For example, I don't want any web traffic from Russia or North Korea. I may even lock down certain policies down to 'I only want U.S. IP addresses.' I find that very useful."
"The most valuable feature of WatchGuard Firebox is its ease of use."
"Their support is excellent, and the stability is very good."
"The throughput is great. It's perfect. We have no issues whatsoever. The management features are very powerful..."
"The ease of use is most valuable. You can quickly train someone who hasn't seen a firewall in life. You can get people up to speed, and in a few months, they are able to manage this product very easily. It is a very user-friendly, scalable, and stable product. Its price is also spot-on."
"The security that is used for defending from the attacks is very good."
"The solution has increased productivity with our outside salespeople being able to connect into their computers and use those remotely."
"The most valuable are the VPN and proxy features."
"The stability could be a bit better."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having a frequent ask questions(FAQ) area for people to receive quick answers to popular questions. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an SMS notification feature. For example, if you cannot access your email you could receive an SMS message."
"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."
"There are some complex administration tasks in their administration portal. That needs to be improved."
"As far as wanting more scalability or things in the network diagram, it's going to cost you."
"The UI could be improved."
"We were not able to build a full-mesh VPN; however, I am not sure if this was the fault of Fortinet FortiGate."
"It would be good if they had fewer updates."
"In the next release, I would like to see improvements made to the policy and simplify the policy-making, as the complexity of it makes it really tough."
"The SD-WAN could be improved."
"LAN inbound and outbound traffic requires more control."
"They should expand their DDoS feature. It's basic. They need to enhance it."
"The solution should have the ability to be up to date with the most recent threats."
"The solution could be more secure."
"I would like to see the performance improved."
"The interface can bit a bit more user-friendly."
"Firebox would be improved with integration for endpoint protection solutions."
"Its documentation could be improved. Sometimes, you need to search a bit longer to find what you are looking for."
"This solution needs the option to add an external hard drive."
"The way Secure Sign-On authentication is happening needs to be improved. When the Secure Sign-On portal is turned on, anybody who comes into the campus, whether he or she is a staff member or a guest, has to go past the initial portal. One of the shortcomings is the username. It shouldn't allow permutations or combinations with upper or lower cases. For example, when there is a username abc, it shouldn't allow ABC or Abc. It should not allow the same username, but currently, two separate people can go in. Therefore, its authentication or validation should be improved, and the case sensitiveness should be picked up. If I have restricted someone to two devices, they shouldn't be able to use different combinations of the same username and get into the third or fourth device. It shouldn't allow different combinations of alphabets to be used to log in."
"The performance of the solution's processor needs to be faster."
"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."
"Sometimes I would like to copy a rule set from one box to another box in a direct way. This is a feature that is not present at the moment in WatchGuard."
"The user interface for WatchGuard Firebox has room for improvement. Right now, it's a bit complex to work with and could be easier."
Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 192 reviews while WatchGuard Firebox is ranked 13th in Firewalls with 78 reviews. Sophos XG is rated 8.2, while WatchGuard Firebox is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Easy to use and deploy with an improved pricing structure in place". On the other hand, the top reviewer of WatchGuard Firebox writes "Offers a streamlined deployment, intuitive interface and robust security features". Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Sophos XGS, SonicWall TZ and Check Point NGFW, whereas WatchGuard Firebox is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX and Cisco Secure Firewall. See our Sophos XG vs. WatchGuard Firebox report.
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