Network Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Very stable, easily customizable, and simple to install
Pros and Cons
  • "The stability of the solution is excellent, as it is with other Fortinet products."
  • "There are just some services that aren't available. For example, the Ethernet or point-to-point protocols. They could add these services to their product offering - especially services for ISPs."

What is our primary use case?

I primarily use the solution for network security - especially for the VPN connection, the remote site connection. 

What is most valuable?

The solution is very easy to install.

The services from Fortinet products are very, very good. The WIFI that Fortinet provides for us, for example, is fantastic. 

The VPN tunnel is very stable and there is more than one option for the tunnel, which is helpful. 

We can customize the product well.

There's a very intelligent solution that they gave us in order to make the VPN connection easy. It is a very, very, very useful tool. 

The stability of the solution is excellent, as it is with other Fortinet products.

What needs improvement?

Fortinet is a very big product. It has FortiGate, FortiWiFi, FortiSwitch, email security, etc. Due to this, they have some weaknesses in the ISPs, the services. They could improve these aspects. Hotspot services especially could be a lot better. 

There are just some services that aren't available. For example, the Ethernet or point-to-point protocols. They could add these services to their product offering - especially services for ISPs.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for about three years at this point.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
768,886 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. That's not a problem at all. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's quite reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale well. If a company needs to expand it, they can.

I have various clients that use the solution and they have a user base that can range anywhere from five users to over 10,000.

I do plan to continue to use the solution in the future, however, I can't speak as to if my clients will expand their services or not.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support, by and large, is very good. Fortinet has a very fast response time for their support tickets. It doesn't matter if the help is coming from the local distributor, or from web support. I don't face any problems with their level of attentiveness. I'm quite satisfied.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I use a wide variety of products in my shop. For example, I also work with Sophos UTM, Cisco, HPE, and Aruba products. 

There's a lot of problems in, maybe, let's say, Sophos products. Especially in their support. They have very weak support. Cisco has good support, on the other hand, and a very good product, however, it is too expensive. HPE is a very nice product and has good support, however, it's not a UTM. Therefore, often we end up recommending Fortinet options.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was not complex. It was pretty straightforward.

How long it takes to deploy the solution depends on the company and the configurations required. Sometimes I am able to do it in one day, whereas other times it takes more than one month to complete.

What other advice do I have?

I'm just a customer. I'm using the latest version of the solution. I'm using the F-series. Previously, I used the E-series.

We use the on-premises version of the solution as Fortinet does not yet support the cloud.

I am not an organization, I am in IT support. I have my own agency for installing such devices. I use it for some universities which is more than 10,000 students in some cases. I also use it in some factories which have four to five users. It works just as well for small and medium-sized companies as it does for enterprise-level organizations.  

I would recommend the solution to others for sure.

Overall, I would rate Fortinet's solution at a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
PTL Network Administrator at a non-profit with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A cost-efficient product that is very user friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a firewall that secures our internal network. I have been using it since 2013, and I find that most of the features are advanced, and very user friendly."
  • "The web-cache feature which was previously on the FortiGate device, but was deleted with the recent upgrade should be returned. It was a very valuable feature for us."

What is our primary use case?

It's a firewall that secures our internal network. I have been using it since 2013, and I find that most of the features are advanced, and very user-friendly.

What is most valuable?

It gives priority to certain applications compared to others as well because internally all our applications are web based.  We use FortiGate to prioritize certain applications to be accessed much faster than the others. For end users, it enables access to the applications and web filtering, as well. That's where we block off most of the sites and we can do scheduling, as well as access to certain sites within certain periods of time.

What needs improvement?

The web-cache feature which was previously on the FortiGate device, but was deleted with the recent upgrade, should be returned. It was a very valuable feature for us.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the product is consistent with our needs.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of usage, I have a main branch and then we have smaller branches throughout the country. Connecting to each site through FortiGate is much easier.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is cost-effective, and provides a good value for your money. The pricing, and license renewal, is very reasonable for us. The bottom-line is that it all comes down to the pricing of the solution.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I looked at Cisco, and I think that FortiGate is more reliable, consistent and stable.

What other advice do I have?

When choosing a new solution, I suggest seriously researching the pricing and the features. It must be a solution that fits your particular requirements and specifications. 

I think FortiGate is more reliable, consistent, and easy to learn. It is robust and more secure than other solutions on the market.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
768,886 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Technical Project Manager at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 20
Challenging licensing model and process
Pros and Cons
  • "Fortinet FortiGate is easy to use. Anyone can easily maintain it."
  • "There are mainly two areas of improvement in Fortinet FortiGate— the licensing cost and the timing of upgrading licenses for boxes."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case is for security purposes, mainly at the gateway level and for internal security, such as virtual training. We also use it for cybersecurity and internal communication, like having a portal. The main goal of implementing the product is to resolve security problems.

How has it helped my organization?

We have seen benefits. Recently, Sophos Firewalls and Palantir have also entered the market. However, FortiGate provides a higher throughput at a lower cost than these features and licensing. Our company acts as an integrator, and we work based on the customer's needs and requirements.

What is most valuable?

Fortinet FortiGate is easy to use. Anyone can easily maintain the box in small to large organizations. Even if we configure and hand it over to them, they can easily consider and register policies. And it's easy to monitor the end-to-end network through the firewall.

What needs improvement?

There are mainly two areas of improvement in Fortinet FortiGate— the licensing cost and the timing of upgrading licenses for boxes. FortiGate's renewal cost is quite high, and our customer care team also receives complaints about it. The renewal part of the firewall is expensive. If a customer pays for the license in advance, they may lose their privileges.

For example, if the license of a box expires in one or two months, and the customer wants to upgrade, there are three to four months between the operation and the end of the current license. If I purchase a new license, it will only take effect from that date. So, it fails in the backward fetch, and I am currently busy setting it up. But if the customer is not processing the card for six months, they will not benefit from the system.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for two to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate stability a nine out of ten. It's a stable product. For the most part, it's very reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is also a scalable solution. However, as integrators, the scalability depends on us. There are many options available, and we can choose the size of the box based on our requirements.

How are customer service and support?

The customer service and support are very good. Once we create a ticket, we can contact them using the ticket number, and they will provide the support we need. As for the contact names, there is no rate, but there are more challenges.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have used Sophos Firewall, Check Point Power EOL, and others. But none of them were like FortiGate. When we upgrade the license, it shows another one, two or three years from that date.

How was the initial setup?

There are no challenges in the initial setup. The people required to deploy the situation are based on the customer's expertise. We handle various types of configurations, and sometimes there are additional requirements with load balancers on top of the firewalls. We need to integrate these firewalls with that ALG.

Generally, we consider security as a separate thing. These firewalls and the LOBs will take care of some further issues based on the customer's requirements. For smaller organizations, one person can provide or ensure a sort of service. We will need three more administrators or developers if there is more traffic or high-cost tech.

What about the implementation team?

Generally, most of the customers maintain their solution on-premises, not on the cloud. I am a technical guy. I am involved in deploying the solution to our customers. I take care of the HCLM upgrade, inflation rate consideration, automation, and other technical aspects of the solution.

We evaluate the area first and then proceed with the implementation by creating a DMZ zone and policies such as CRM and CAP.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

FortiGate is a bit pricey, but its unique features and specifications make it an excellent option for certain customers.

As an integrator, we have observed that the licensing cost and the upgrade process are important considerations. When we purchase a new license for one or three years and upgrade it to the existing box, the expiry date does not change from the original. It can create a gap of three, eight, or even twelve months for the customer. Consequently, they buy another box instead of going through the ticket process to get it fixed.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We definitely explore the options. We always understand the customer's requirements first and then offer solutions accordingly. We ask what the customer needs and what their budget is. If their budget is INR 10,00,000, and we find a product that matches their requirements, we will offer it. If FortiGate provides the same features and throughput but costs INR 11,00,000, we might still offer it to the customer. However, if FortiGate doesn't match the customer's requirements, we won't suggest it.

So the main differences between products are the features and specifications. If a product has the same throughput and features as another product but costs more, we may not suggest it to the customer.

What other advice do I have?

The challenge is licensing. Hardware-wise, it's supportive, and the support is good. But the licensing and renewal costs should be lowered, and renewing the license and data for the new license is tough. So, only for licensing, we face challenges. I would rate it a seven.

We have many boxes, and we have changed all the boxes to other products because of this licensing factor only. Even for FortiGate, such a thing happens. If I have a hundred boxes and I want to renew the license, they suggest taking new boxes with three or four at least. So that is why customers are not liking FortiGate. They could provide the same license card along with the box, which is why customers are unhappy.

Overall, the product is a four out of ten because scalability, box performance, and support are all great. However, once it's commercially used, you can only use this box; no other options are available.

We can recommend it, but FortiGate's ability to capture the market, fix the order, and meet the requirements or opportunities is also important. As an integrator, we don't have any issues with it.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Sales Director at Visualize Technology (M) Sdn. Bhd.
Real User
Top 20
Provides great firewall security and has good VPN features
Pros and Cons
  • "Provides good firewall security and has great VPN features."
  • "The solution lacks sufficient filtering."

What is our primary use case?

The case of FortiGate is for firewall and VPN connection. We are partners and resellers of Fortinet and I'm a director. Our company is based in Malaysia.

How has it helped my organization?

FortiGate has improved our operational efficiency. 

What is most valuable?

The solution provides good firewall security and has great VPN features. The product is generally very simple to deploy and is quite flexible. 

What needs improvement?

They need to improve features related to mobiles with more and more customers adopting that as their way to manage things. They need to look to the future with their features and meet filtering requirements which the solution cannot currently do. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for 10 years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is not scalable. 

How are customer service and support?

We are self-sufficient in terms of support. 

How was the initial setup?

Initial deployments can be complex depending on the customer's requirements. Implementation can take up to a couple of days. There aren't usually too many issues. The solution requires some maintenance, mainly monitoring. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing costs are reasonable. You get value for your money. 

What other advice do I have?

It's important to understand your customer's requirements. Once we work that out we then do a round of checks on the security vulnerabilities.

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
ZaidoonAbuhanak - PeerSpot reviewer
SALES PRODUCT MANAGER at NOURNET
Reseller
Excellent enterprise modeling and simple interface
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are the enterprise modeling and the simple interface."
  • "The cloud features and integration could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use of FortiGate is for general enterprise modeling.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the enterprise modeling and the simple interface.

What needs improvement?

The cloud features and integration could be improved. There are also sometimes problems connecting the endpoint protection to the firewall.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

FortiGate is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

FortiGate is scalable.

How was the initial setup?

FortiGate is very easy to set up

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

If the customer is looking for SD-WAN, it comes free with FortiGate.

What other advice do I have?

I would give this solution a rating of nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Mohamed El-Sherbini - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Mada Insurance
Real User
Top 5
Easy to use UI, excellent support, and simple implementation
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and the UI. It has always provided me with what I needed. I have no need for additional costs that other solutions have, such as Sophos."
  • "Fortinet FortiGate should improve the VPN tokens."

What is our primary use case?

I am using Fortinet FortiGate for security on all devices, VPN, and IPsec.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and the UI. It has always provided me with what I needed. I have no need for additional costs that other solutions have, such as Sophos.

What needs improvement?

Fortinet FortiGate should improve the VPN tokens. 

The upgrades should be reviewed more frequently, such as daily, to avoid any corruption or issues that can happen, without losing my VPN client. We should not need to downgrade the solution to fix the problems until the Fortinet FortiGate support solves it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately nine years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be scalable.

Fortinet FortiGate is good for medium to large-sized enterprises.

How are customer service and support?

The support from Fortinet FortiGate is amazing.

How was the initial setup?

The setup of Fortinet FortiGate is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

I am able to do the implementation myself. There is no need for assistance.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The license of Fortinet FortiGate should be reduced.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Charbel Hajj - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Supervisor at MEPEQ
Real User
Robust, easy to use, and has excellent technical support that is quite responsive
Pros and Cons
  • "The performance is good."
  • "I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation."

What is our primary use case?

Fortinet FortiGate is a firewall that protects all network data. We use it as our primary firewall in the office.

What is most valuable?

The performance is good.

It is easy to use.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable product.

In our company, it is the main gateway for the internet, and we have less than 100 users.

Deployment is faster per user. Each one has a laptop or a PC, as well as a mobile phone, so we have less than 100 devices per user, but with mobile phones and Internet access, that number can rise to more than 100.

How are customer service and support?

I have contacted technical support many times, they are very important and they are very good. They follow up on all of the cases that we have opened.

The response time is great.

They also always have an updated version of the firmware.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I now have UniFi Switches for our WiFi access point. We began using UniFi to replace Cisco Linksys Ethernet switches.

I am also working with QNAPS for network connections.

For virtual meetings, we use Google Meet. Some of our customers use Webex but we mainly work with Google Meet.

In our company, we have Kaspersky, as well as Fortinet.

How was the initial setup?

It's not straightforward. You must have at least the knowledge and the settings. It's not that simple.

The length of time it takes to install is determined by the configuration you have inside. It could take anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours.

In our company, I am responsible for the solution's maintenance and deployment.

What about the implementation team?

We had the assistance of a consultant at first.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis.

It would be better if it could be made a little less expensive. 

It will be more expensive for the first year, then it will gradually decrease by a certain amount per year or something along those lines.

We have the full license that included all of the features and support.

Aside from the licensing fees, there are no other costs.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Qaiser Abbas - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Security solution with good stability, scalability, and a quick setup
Pros and Cons
  • "Security solution with a straightforward and quick setup. It's a stable and scalable product."
  • "The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."

What is our primary use case?

Fortinet FortiGate is used for its firewall solutions, VPN firewall, IDS, IPS, and antivirus.

What needs improvement?

An area for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is that their support needs to be more customer friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been dealing with Fortinet FortiGate for five years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate has been stable since the beginning.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Sometimes we face issues with Fortinet support. The support team needs to be more customer friendly.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup and installation for this product is good. It's very straightforward. It's nice because you can quickly set it up.

How long the installation takes will depend on the customer, e.g. It'll be based on their requirement, because not all customers have the same requirements. Every customer has a different requirement.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented this product ourselves, because we are a partner of Fortinet.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Our customers can choose between a one-year or a three-year contract with Fortinet FortiGate.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated WatchGuard, Cisco, and Palo Alto firewalls.

What other advice do I have?

We are dealing with a lot of firewalls, e.g. Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Cisco, and Palo Alto.

We deployed Fortinet FortiGate via a mixture of on-premises and cloud deployment.

We have customers using different versions of this solution, e.g. some using older versions, and some using the newest version. We have hundreds of customers using it.

We are satisfied with this solution.

We have a team of five to six guys who are managing the deployment and maintenance of Fortinet FortiGate, and they are all network engineers.

We recommend Fortinet FortiGate to others who want to start using it.

My rating for Fortinet FortiGate is eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.