Netgate pfSense Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

it_user1136043

IT Manager at alfascan

Jul 3, 2019

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Provides more control and a deeper insight into network traffic

Pros and Cons

"This solution has increased the level of security, given us more control, provided a deep insight into network traffic, and is a great VPN solution."

"We would like to see ready-made profiles to cover most users' needs."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution as our firewall, proxy, IDS, IPS, and VPN.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution has increased the level of security, given us more control, provided a deep insight into network traffic, and is a great VPN solution.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the Proxy IPS and VPN.

What needs improvement?

We would like to see ready-made profiles to cover most users' needs.

Buyer's Guide

Netgate pfSense

April 2024

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For how long have I used the solution?

Three years.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user231987

IT Chief at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Apr 30, 2015

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The pfSense OS is stable, but if the service packages are not updated to their new version when the OS is updated, we can't use those features.

What is most valuable?

Load balancer
Multi-WAN

How has it helped my organization?

Network security and speed have both improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it since 2010. I have used both the free version (5/10) and as a gold member (9/10).

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

When they make an update available, the problem is that pfSense service packages are not updated, it's just the OS. The pfSense OS is stable, but if the service packages are not updated to their new version when the OS is updated, we can't use those features.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

5/10.

Technical Support:

5/10.

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

We used -

Debian IPtables
Squid
I7 Patch

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user267969Sr. Sys Admin at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

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Jul 7, 2015

Hi,

SG-4860 pfSense® Security Gateway Appliance which we bought.

Also could u please tell me how will contact pfsense support?

Is there any on call facility to pfsense?

How many times they will support if we device buy?

Regards,
Giridharreddy Daida.

Free Report: Netgate pfSense Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about Netgate pfSense. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.

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769,065 professionals have used our research since 2012.

it_user223023

IT Administrator at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Apr 16, 2015

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The product is stable although there were some small problems with setting up the modules.

What is most valuable?

Firewall rules
Modules, e.g. Squid

How has it helped my organization?

It was very useful for our DHCP network (guests) and web browsing filtering.

What needs improvement?

I think the product has improved greatly, so I actually don't know.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for one year.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No, it's very easy to deploy.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Absolutely not, as the product is stable like a rock.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No need to scale in.

How are customer service and technical support?

We've used the community version.

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

We have WatchGuard Firewall and pfSense firewall. They are used together and not as a substitution.

How was the initial setup?

We just had some small problems with setting up the modules. However, there was lots of documentation available online so there were no problems at all.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it in-house.

What was our ROI?

Well it was great as I didn't need to buy a new firewal..

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

Close to zero, because we've used an internal server for it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

No other options were evaluated.

What other advice do I have?

It's a good product, and it really could be a valid firewall solution.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer868524

IT consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

Nov 15, 2021

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Reliable, scalable, simple installation

Pros and Cons

"I have found pfSense to be stable."

"The solution could improve by having centralized management and API support online."

What is most valuable?

pfSense is very good because it allows us to do what we want.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by having centralized management and API support online.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using pfSense for a long time.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have found pfSense to be stable.

How are customer service and support?

We are providing support for our customers here in Sweden.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of pfSense is simple.

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

The price of pfSense is reasonable. However, there is a free version available.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to those wanting to implement pfSense is to start out with the free version before going with the appliance.

I rate pfSense a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner

reviewer1356246

Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Jun 17, 2020

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Easy to install, good support, and good value for the price

Pros and Cons

"The scalability is very good, where you can do an HA configuration and then bring in another box, if necessary."

"I would like to see different graphs available in the reporting."

What is our primary use case?

We use pfSense for our firewall protection.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are ease of installation and support.

What needs improvement?

The domain blocking lists need to be improved. The supported list for domain blocking is community-maintained, and I would like to see something from the manufacturers of pfSense that is a little more global.

I would like to see different graphs available in the reporting.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using pfSense for two months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

pfSense is quite stable. It is one of the pros.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is very good, where you can do an HA configuration and then bring in another box, if necessary. We have ten users in the organization.

We get very little usage and have no plans to increase it.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is A+, pretty good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

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

This solution provides enterprise-level features at a fraction of the cost of an enterprise firewall.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 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.

it_user499617

Managing Director at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

Sep 27, 2016

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Setup was straightforward; the interface is self-explanatory. We did not like its QoS interface.

What needs improvement?

We just did not like its QoS interface.

For how long have I used the solution?

We tested the solution for a very short period (one week), to compare it to Zeroshell. The idea was to decide which one to use. Our main focus was QoS.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues to deploy PFSense; it was straight forward.

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

PFSense sounded like the de-facto standard for simple SOHO solutions. We just did not like its QoS interface. For us, it seemed very "rigid" compared to Zeroshell. So we went back to Zeroshell because we considered that its QoS interface had much more flexibility and its latest version now even included nDPI too.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup was very straightforward; the interface is very self-explanatory.

What about the implementation team?

Implementation was done in-house.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also evaluated Zeroshell.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user800241

CEO with 11-50 employees

Jan 17, 2018

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Improved service performance and availability through redundancy

Pros and Cons

"Improved service performance and availability through redundancy."

"Improve analysis of logs and dashboards (control panel) with improved alert functionality."

What is our primary use case?

Firewall and VPN, Internet link balancing, as the proxy was installed on another machine. Used redundant firewall as a cluster.

How has it helped my organization?

Improved service performance and availability through redundancy. The company already had specialists in Linux, which facilitated the project.

What is most valuable?

Ease of monitoring and placement of other packages and functionalities next to the equipment.

What needs improvement?

Improve analysis of logs and dashboards (control panel) with improved alert functionality.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user339831

System Administrator at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

Nov 28, 2015

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The load-balancer function support multiple servers, load balancing two gateways on the same tier. However, the firewall could be improved.

Valuable Features:

The features I've found most valuable are--

Proxy server (to filter traffic, act as intermediary between our server and our client, and analyze and load-balance traffic)
Load balancer (support multiple servers, load balances two gateways on the same tier)
Hot spot (with captive portal, forces authentication or click-through for network access)

Improvements to My Organization:

It's provided us with a fair internet speed for all users. We're also able to control web contents of our users.

Room for Improvement:

The firewall feature could be improved.

Deployment Issues:

We had no issues with deployment.

Stability Issues:

We had no issues with instability.

Scalability Issues:

We were able to scale just fine.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.