WatchGuard Firebox Initial Setup

PA
Administrator at Sulbana Oy

In the beginning, around ten years ago, it was a little bit challenging. However, the support was excellent in Finland, where I am located. The team who worked there provided good courses, and now, everything else is much more straightforward to install than before.

They are so easy to configure, from the littlest firewall to the biggest one. That's very good cohesion in the whole lineup of devices. It's easy to change the model if you need more performance, and you can easily change the hardware. From the very small five boxes to the bigger ones, it's easy to change the model if you need more performance. When you purchase the WatchGuard Firebox, you usually get the software with the option that the new hardware comes with.

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Abhiram Sreekumaran Nair Anitha - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Gatestone

I would rate my experience with the initial setup around six on a scale of one to ten, one being hard and ten being easy.

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Luca Toni - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Security and Privacy at AD2000 Srl

The initial setup is straightforward. Our deployment strategy is simple. We require a couple of people. First, we set up the structure and connect the Firebox, whether it's a new installation or a replacement for other devices. Next, we prepare the configuration, LAN, and rules. Then, we make a brief stop to switch the core device to the customer's structure. After that, we move to each endpoint and use VPN or other tools to complete the setup. The direct operation on the endpoint site takes less than an hour, and the preparing phase another two to four hours.

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Buyer's Guide
WatchGuard Firebox
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about WatchGuard Firebox. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
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GT
Director of Information Technology at a recreational facilities/services company with 201-500 employees

For me, the setup is straightforward. Part of that is that I've just done it so frequently. On average, deployment of these devices takes me about 15 or 20 minutes. I know what I've done on other machines, so I just do the same thing again on new ones.

For deploying them to distributed locations, we order from our vendor. When it arrives I get it authorized on our account, go in and set up some basics, and set it up so I can get to it remotely. Then I ship it off. I've got some hands-on people, operations people, at the winery who will take it and start to plug it when they get it.

For maintenance of the solution there are three of us on the IT team.

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SR
President and Owner at Peak Communication Systems, Inc.

Firebox stabilizes it so we know we get better support for the platform and user when it comes to Voice over IP. We find a lot of them don't give us the ease of setting it up. Now that we know we have it down to what we're doing so the platform stays stable, we can imply good quality of service for the customer and keep going on so they continually get good performance on their network.

In the beginning to set this solution up, it takes four to six hours. That is to get a brand new one out of the box and make sure it's got all the latest and greatest revisions on it, then setting it up. That also depends on the size of the client that you are supporting with it.

We have a template built for it. Once we upload the template, we go in and adjust it accordingly.

We have a few Fireboxes deployed to distributed locations, not a lot. However, it does work well in a distributed environment. We have one customer who has five offices in five different states. He has Firebox for all of them and it seems to work pretty well.

Deploying to distributed locations is easy enough. We have a template. We just get the IP addresses for the network and update the template, so it has the appropriate addresses. We can either have one of their folks do it because this happens to be a tech company, not necessarily IT. However, a tech company is knowledgeable enough. We can send it out there and tell them what to plug in where and turn it on. Then, if we're really lucky, it comes up without any problems at all because we've already set it all up before we take it out to them. So, the deployment becomes easy depending on how you want to address it. There have been times where we've gone out to deploy them in different locations. Most of the time, depending on the company, we can set it up to deploy, then just plug and play.

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IP
Country Head at LS Systems Philippines

The initial setup is straightforward.

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it_user976371 - PeerSpot reviewer
Operations Manager at DLL Technologies

The initial setup was straightforward, but there is always a learning curve on all devices.

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Eduardo Monteiro. - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Prologica

On a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the solution's initial setup a six or seven out of ten.

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JG
IT Manager at WTS Media (Wholesale Tape & Supply)

The initial setup is straightforward. Network setup is complex because setting up networks is complex. I will give them props for making a very complex task a little easier. I don't know a way you could make it any easier than they do. I have done network setups in other firewalls that I thought were way more complicated and more convoluted. We've set up a branch office with some SonicWall devices and my setup screen was a whole lot easier than theirs.

The deployment itself takes an hour, if that. I've done upgrades, but I haven't done a straight, flat-out deployment in a long time. But usually, when I deploy a branch office or upgrade the main unit, it's usually up and running within ten to 15 minutes in most cases. If I get something wrong, then it might go to an hour or so, but usually they're very straightforward. If it's a branch-office deployment, it's just a matter of plugging it in. It takes five to ten minutes. The configuration might take another ten to 15 minutes. The one thing that's difficult when you're setting one up is that you have to isolate a computer that you can connect directly to. They have things that make that easier, but I've never tried it.

Our implementation strategy, back then, was to bring branch offices online.

The process of deploying the product to distributed locations usually means that I bring the device in-house and preconfigure and test it before I send it out to a remote location. I'm usually onsite at remote locations to install it. So my process is to order the product, configure it locally, get it correct, and then install it onsite.

In terms of using it, there are maybe ten users and they use a VPN client. They directly interface with it. It's primarily me who manages it. I'm the only user who actually sets the configurations up in it.

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Ronald Lewis - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Invest Barbados

The deployment took us a couple of hours and it was simple.

The deployment process for the WatchGuard Firebox in our department was a rather straightforward one given the size of our team. Being the head of the department and the sole person responsible for handling firewalls, I was in charge of conducting the entire process from start to finish. This involved a considerable amount of research to determine the most suitable option, followed by cost analysis to ensure that we were making the most cost-effective decision. Ultimately, I was responsible for making the selection, conducting the implementation, and overseeing the entire process, which required me to take on a multitude of tasks and responsibilities.

I rate the setup of WatchGuard Firebox an eight out of ten.

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RA
Network Administrator at PT Lautan Luas Tbk

The solution's initial setup process was simple, as I already have experience using it. It takes a month to complete. The process involves setting up the solution in a lab. Later, deploying it in a production environment once it meets all the configuration requirements.

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JB
IT Manager at a engineering company with 11-50 employees

The initial setup was a little bit of both straightforward and complex. I'm a technical person. I read an instruction manual before I do something, whether it's putting a piece of gym equipment together or implementing something like a WatchGuard firewall. I had gone through all of their admin guides and getting-started guides and recommendations. So it was pretty straightforward, but there were a lot of steps and a lot of things to work through.

Something as simple as email wasn't just set up by specifying the IP address of your email server. I had to enable a bunch of things on the web interface and then install the software on my computer and set it up as an email relay. That was the only way to get email alerts, which I found a little shocking because email alerts should be critical on these things. I guess bigger companies may have alert servers or Syslog servers or other things they're using. But we're smaller and we don't. So that was one thing that I found was a little more complicated than it should have been for the importance of the feature. And now I have a computer and a firewall and if one or the other isn't working, those email alerts don't work.

Our deployment did not take long. It was no more than a week or two. I did it pretty quickly. I convinced the owner why we needed it and why this was the right move. I wanted to make sure I implemented it quickly and that we got some benefits out of it right away. I didn't want to let it sit around. It took less than two weeks.

My implementation strategy was mostly what I mentioned above: Review all of the guides, all of the walk-throughs, a couple of tutorial videos, get a baseline of what I wanted to enable and how. Then I did it offline, as you would expect. I brought the device into my office, got it updated, got everything baselined and set up the way I needed it to start with. From there it was just switch out early in the morning before users were in the office. It was nothing too out of the ordinary.

For deployment and maintenance of the product, it's just me.

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JW
IT Manager at Horizon Forest Products LP

The initial setup was a little complex. But once we understood how it works and after we got the first one configured, the rest of the firewalls were pretty easy. It is pretty straightforward. It is just a matter of learning it initially: understanding the nuances of the application and the user interface, understanding how to set it up and understanding what does what and the naming of features. That initial learning curve was a little steep, but once we got into it, it made a lot of sense.

Company-wide, our deployment took about 30 days.

Our initial implementation strategy was to do a backup to the internet and ultimately remove our MPLS and use the branch office VPN to manage it ourselves.

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PG
Owner at a construction company with 51-200 employees

I had to learn it. I had to find where they put stuff.

It took minutes to get the thing up and operating. I started to configure DHCP and puzzle through what they meant by that, and find ways to identify what leases were there and if it was able to register with this other DNS server I have on it.

I've fussed with it any number of times, setting up the port-forwarding for the RDP clients. I knew where to go and what to do, and I got that working pretty quickly. But that was one of the situations where I needed to see a log to see what was happening—it wasn't answering—and to find out what the function was, I had to find the log. It took me an age to find the log. Once I found out what was being rejected, then I figured it out. I've had a couple of bouts of that.

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FC
IT Director at Wise Ally Holdings Limited

The initial setup was quite straightforward. It's a typical UTM.

Our implementation took about two months.

In terms of our deployment strategy, we implemented one of the firewalls. We replaced our old firewall, enabling only the internet access and left the major email traffic access. Then we defined the control by defining more specific application policies. Once it was successful, we used the same method to deploy the other firewall to our China side.

We have one person who maintains the Fireboxes, but it's really less than one because he does other administration and is not only dedicated to firewall administration. We have about 100 people in the Hong Kong office and on the factory side there are 400.

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Mauro Ferreira - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Information Technology at MFAL LDA

WatchGuard Firebox’s initial setup is very easy. The configuration is easy since the solution is user-friendly and has an intuitive platform and dashboard.

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MA
Technical & Pre-Sales Manager at GateLock

The initial setup is very easy and straightforward. They have a great wizard and it has a great default protection setting. Anyone that is setting it up for the first time, or has not even used a network security product, doesn't need an expert to configure it. The default protection for threats is great.

This is always deployed in a virtual environment, either on-premises or on the cloud. The deployment can be completed in six to ten minutes.

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HA
IT Manager at Yamazen Inc

The initial setup was very straightforward. The graphic interface gives you bandwidth control, traffic control, and a graphics screen, unlike the Cisco products where you have to go into the command line. There, you are typing commands but it's really hard to tell if it's working or not. With WatchGuard, it gives you the response right back and you see results right away. So, it's much easier to configure.

Our deployment took about three days. To get it up and running it took about one hour. The rest of the time was to tweak our firewalls, open up this port, open up that site.

Regarding our implementation strategy, we have ten remote locations. We started with one branch as a test bed, set up a template there, and applied it to the corporate site here. When we applied it to the corporate site it took a little while, about three days. But once the corporate template was done, the other sites were quick. We set up the device, and it shipped it out and, in ten to 15 minutes, it was up and running.

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ZR
Lead IT Systems Engineer/Solutions Architect at Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council

The initial setup for WatchGuard Firebox was very straightforward, though my company has a relatively complex network utilizing SD-WAN, MPLS, and BOVPN technologies. On a scale of one to five, where one is the worst and five is the best, I'm rating my setup experience a four. There's always room for improvement, but it was a fairly good process.

The deployment of the WatchGuard Firebox took eight hours to complete.

WatchGuard Firebox has been implemented as the core firewall for the organization. The reason my organization upgraded to the device and switched from a previous software was due to a hardware failure of the previous firewall.

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SM
Global Head ICT (CITP & MIE) at The Aga Khan Academies

Its initial setup is very straightforward. It took 30 minutes.

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HC
Enterprise Architect at a wellness & fitness company with 10,001+ employees

The initial setup was straightforward. They walked me through it. I have enough knowledge to be able to walk through the setup and then tweak it the way I need it. I was able to find anything that was unusual, pretty easily, on the web.

The initial deployment took under an hour. I've spent dozens of hours tweaking it over the years, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The implementation strategy was to set up something that allowed for VPN access, to grow VPN access, and that would protect my workstations against viruses and attacks, as well as my servers. The goal was to simplify everything with one box.

For deployment and maintenance, it's just one person who handles the network, and that is me.

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GH
I.T. Manager at a construction company with 201-500 employees

When it comes to installing a new box, it's pretty simple. We have a config we copy over to it and then we just customize that config with the IP addressing that we need at that location. It doesn't get much easier than that. It takes less than an hour and takes one person to deploy it.

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Arkadiusz Charuba - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist/Admin at a legal firm with 11-50 employees

When we need to make something really good, we need to take the time to ensure that's the case. However, the configurations are simple.

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GH
Network Administrator at a retailer

I set it up all the time and it's very straightforward. It's very easy to set up and very easy to migrate over to a newer version. It's really simple. I've only done a new deployment once. 

For upgrades, you save the configuration and you upload it to a new file, or you just open a new file and browse to the configuration file that you saved. It usually takes 10 minutes at the most.

But the first deployment, because it was obviously more involved, took a few hours. Setup included the site-to-site VPN, the client VPN, the actual interfaces, the static NATs, a lot of the firewall policy, the internet certificates, and the policy routing; the basic components of any router.

Deploying WatchGuard to distributed locations is mainly the same. Obviously, there are differences in the IP addressing and the network addresses. And you have to take care of the VPN connection between the two, to be able to communicate using the site-to-site VPN. There is also web blocking. We have certain policies for denying access to certain sites or certain applications. We don't allow, for example, weapons or sex or any of those kinds of solicitation sites. We then set the external and internal interfaces and then do the routing. In the some of those locations we use the WatchGuard as a DHCP server, so we set that up as well. The rest is all pre-configured.

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JG
Network Administrator at Peace Bridge

The initial setup was straightforward. We had been previously using WatchGuard and moved from an XTM to an M400. So, this is our second-generation of firewall with them, and I didn't have any problems.

The deployment took about a day. I upgraded the hardware, making sure that everything migrated over correctly. That was the goal. I had one rule that I dropped, but that's about it.

We have multiple networks with Internet points of presence where we have multiple firewalls. These are not at the distribution layer. The core layer is more where our firewall is.

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JR
Woodworker at Creative Woodworking NW

It was complicated, but it's hard to say that it's the fault of the device itself, and not the complexity of what I was doing. It's managing my internet connection. I eliminated my internet provider's modem from my network. It's doing all of the routing and the work of the modem for my fibre internet connection. So it was complicated to set that up with my internet provider, but I don't know if that's due to the appliance itself.

The deployment took less than a day. It's hard to say exactly how long it took because I do woodworking as well as maintaining our network. It's hard for me to give it my full attention but I would say it took about four hours.

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RM
Sr. Systems Administrator at a individual & family service with 201-500 employees

The initial set up was very straightforward. You take it out of the box, you plug it in, you download the software, and it starts working. That's what I consider to be the initial set up, and that was very easy and very fast.

The deployment took me a total of about 40 hours for two sites, two firewalls, and with an incredibly complicated configuration. The complexity was a product of the environment, not the firewall.

I utilized the template feature to make everything that could be the same, the same across both sites, which are connected locations.

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KC
Manager IT at a hospitality company with 501-1,000 employees

The initial setup is straightforward. The wizards walk you through it, and I have found an answer to anything that I've ever had a question about in the Knowledge Base online. I don't think I've ever had to call for support personally. The documentation is awesome.

As for setup time, I usually have traffic passing through it within an hour or two. 

I know what traffic I want to allow out and I always start with just the stuff that I need to. I always start with the most restrictive, as far as policies go. The first thing I do is get rid of all the Any-Any rules and then I start locking it down. I love the way that it integrates with Active Directory. I base my internet usage and my web blocker policies on Active Directory security groups, and I can have all of that stuff set up ahead of time before I ever get ready to roll out the appliance itself.

Back in the day, we used to have a warehouse. We used to have a uniform shop that was offsite and I was responsible for setting up the tunnels of those sites. We recently relocated some administrative offices for the tribe that owns the casino that I work for, and we decided when they were moving that we would upgrade the firewall that they had. We purchased a WatchGuard so that it would be manageable, because we were already familiar with it from using it at our site. We dropped it right into place and I had traffic passing through it within minutes. I was done with it, doing all the other rules, within a couple of hours. I was onsite for all of those. I've never preconfigured one and then sent it out into the wild.

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AH
IT Manager at a performing arts with 51-200 employees

The setup is pretty straightforward. It takes 15 to 20 minutes per box. We have to set up current tunnels and get a static IP address at the sites where we're putting the boxes. It requires one person for deployment and there is very little maintenance needed.

Deploying it to distributed locations is a matter of setting the Firebox up. If it's a replacement Firebox, we set it up with the same policies and ship it to the location. They can take it, unplug the old wires from the old box, put the new wires in, turn it on, and it's up and going.

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JJ
IT Specialist at Art Students League

I remember it being somewhat complicated. There were some complications we ran into; it didn't seem to be quite as easy as what we'd hoped. We did have really good support though, from WatchGuard, on the other end, assisting with the setup. That made all the difference in the world. That made it pretty painless. That was the key. 

When you're configuring a new piece of hardware, there's always some little switch that you miss or that just doesn't make sense. When you've got that support on the other end they know exactly where to go... WatchGuard had that.

At first, we were running into some issues configuring it to meet our needs. It was throwing us for a loop for a while. The issue was setting up the correct rules. But from the time we got that done, it just sits there and runs. We've had it 15 months and I haven't seen it in nine months. We got it configured and set up, and it just operates. 

We had it running on the first day, literally within hours. We had a lot of configuration to be done over the next six months, twists here and there. But as far as actually being able to set it up and have a firewall in place, that was done within two or three hours.

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Carlos Coris - PeerSpot reviewer
Network and System Technician at MFAL LDA

WatchGuard Firebox is easy to use and set up. I work with the solution every day, so I'm quite familiar with it. In my experience, setting up WatchGuard has been straightforward. It didn't require much effort. 

Although I have spoken to others who mentioned that implementing it for the first time can be challenging, I personally found it easy. I had no issues with the setup.

Whether it was deployed in the cloud or locally, it took a month. I maintain the solution and provide technical support. 

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MUSTAPHAABAHLOUS - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Engineer at Cyber Value

The initial setup is straightforward. 

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MS
Ingénieur - Traitement des eaux /Mécanique de procédé at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees

I wasn't involved in the deployment of WatchGuard Firebox because I wasn't there when the company chose the product. I just learned to love it.

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Matthew Cooper - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Network Administrator at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees

The initial setup can be somewhat complex. I would rate it a six out of 10, with one being not complicated at all and 10 being very complex.

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PR
Partner & Head of IT Strategy at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Its setup is of medium complexity. It's not super easy. Everything is in its right place, but it's not as complicated as other vendors. It's in the middle.

The deployment duration varies. Depending on your needs, it could take a few hours.

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Andrew Keywood - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Specifix Limited

The set up was quite straightforward and we handled it in-house. It took a few hours to deploy the product. One a scale of one to five, one being very hard and five being very easy, I would rate the set up as a five.

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DE
Network Administrator at Niedersächsischer Turner-Bund e.V.

It is relatively easy to set up a new box. In my experience, you have a basic rule set. When you start with a new box, you can quickly make it work, but you always need to specify the services that you need on the boxes. You need some time to create the right policies and services on the box. This is the process for all Fireboxes that you buy.

When you have a small branch office with a small number of policies, you can make them active in production in one or two hours. With complex requirements at your headquarters where you have several networks with servers, web servers, and mail servers which can be accessed from the outside, the configuration will need more time because the number of policies is much higher.

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JM
IT Director at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees

With this newest device, the initial setup was pretty straightforward. We were able to copy the configuration from the old device. That's a good thing about it: the configuration file is able to transfer from an old device to a newer device and just continue going. It takes a long time to build up different traffic policies, and to make exceptions for different websites. If you had to do that every time you got a new device, that would be a problem. Luckily, with this, you're able to save your configuration file and transfer it to the new device.

The deployment of this new device took 30 minutes, at most. There are only three people in our IT department, but the deployment only required me to be involved. The other two guys are network technicians. All three of us can go in and modify policies or do whatever we need to do, but it generally doesn't take much maintenance.

I got on the phone with WatchGuard to make sure that everything would transfer over and they assured me that it would. And as far as the switching over to the new device goes, most of the planning required was just letting users know that the internet was going to go down for just a little while. We planned it for a period of slow usage here at the hospital where we could bring it all down, copy the config file, move it to the new device, put it in place, and swap the connections over. It came right up. We had to import the new key and got it activated. But other than that, everything worked.

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ümit Yasin Karakurt - PeerSpot reviewer
Company Owner at SCI Bilişim

I rate the initial setup phase of the tool a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

The solution's deployment process takes just a few hours to be completed.

For the deployment process, you first connect to a serial cable. WatchGuard has management software that you need to install on a computer to manage the firewall software. You need to connect the firewall serial cables to your computers. In my company, we manage just one software for upgrades and deployments.

One person is enough to take care of the product's deployment process.

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RP
IT Manager at INSULATION DISTRIBUTORS, INC

The initial setup is very straightforward. I've done it so many times that I could do it in my sleep. It's pretty simple to run through the GUI and get a quick setup. It's like if you asked me, is it hard to drive a car? I've been driving a car so long I don't know any other options. It takes me maybe an hour to set one up and get it ready to send out. At that point, it's fully configured. It's just plug-and-play when it gets to the location.

I, or one of my IT guys, will often have to be onsite. We'll send one out to a branch, then we'll have to walk the warehouse manager through how to plug things in. Deploying it to distributed locations consists of plugging it into the modem and plugging it into the network, assuming I programmed it correctly.

Deploying it requires just one person. We have three people in the IT group maintaining the entire network, but it's mostly me. It takes me about five hours a week.

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WN
IT Officer at a manufacturing company with 1-10 employees

The initial setup is quite complex and difficult, especially for first-time users. You need to go on the website and study it before you start using the policy manager. Once you start using the policy manager it becomes easier.

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Nadeem Abdulla - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Manager - IT Infrastructure at Taghleef Industries SpA

The initial setup was straightforward.

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EK
ICT Manager at a maritime company with 11-50 employees

The initial setup was quite straightforward because we are a small company. We have 50 people working at this company, so it's a rather small installation with no fancy or complex configuration. The deployment took an hour or so, but from that point on, there have been numerous hours of work to get up to the point we're at now with our firewall solution. 

It's quite easy to deploy because the initial installation doesn't involve many fancy things. Out of the box, it's quite clear that it has features that need to be blocked, and these features have already been blocked by default, to help anybody deploying this solution. It's like having 35%-40% of your configuration ready, so you only need to add another 25%-30% to reach approximately 70% of your full configuration, which takes no more than a couple of hours. The additional 30% are the small, exact things and the prediction correction, the things that are usually done on a firewall solution in the following hours, days, months, years by the users of the device. However, you can reach the level that you personally believe in, 100%, within a matter of days if you know exactly what you need to do. 

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RM
Owner / CEO at Midwest Technology Specialists LLC.

The initial setup is very straightforward. I'm able to deploy a standard template after activating the device. The activation is very simple and takes just a few minutes. Then a base configuration can be applied once the firmware has been updated and a box can be prepared for initial deployment within 7 to 10 minutes after it boots. 

It took 45 minutes to set up.

In terms of the implementation strategy, I have an implementation baseline of minimum acceptable settings and then it is adjusted based on client needs.

We deploy it to distributed locations in one of two ways. The device can be drop-shipped to the user or the endpoint and a cloud configuration deployment can be pushed to the box. My preferred method is to receive the box, perform a firmware update and a base configuration, and then ship the box.

I would recommend working with a partner for an expert-level deployment. It greatly reduces the time to deploy it. An experienced engineer can then deploy the product very rapidly and can often provide instruction on how best to maintain the product. But otherwise, the deployment is very straightforward.

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JR
Network Administrator at Advanced Software Designs

The initial setup wasn't too bad. We didn't have any problems with it. It took a couple of hours.

We planned ahead of time, put the policies in place on paper and then tested them out. We then went live with it and fine-tuned it as necessary.

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GT
Prepress/Systems Manager at a printing company with 51-200 employees

I didn't do the setup.

The deployment took about a couple of days, because when we were initially setting it up, we didn't understand everything to do with IPs. Now that we've played with it over time, we understand what it's doing and how it's working. It is definitely easier and faster now, but the first time building it was at least a couple of days.

When we deploy the product to other locations, we usually just get a box. On it, we make a copy of another box, importing the information into the new box, then change the settings that need to connect to the IP address on the incoming box. After that, we just run out and change the ports over, then go. It's not hard at all.

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JL
Information Technology Specialist at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees

At first, I did the guided set up where I chose the rules of what to block and what not to block. That was fairly simple. There are a few things that I had to go in and change. That took me a little bit of time to figure out. Overall, it was pretty simple. 

When logging in and registering it, I did run into an issue where I had to spend about an hour reading to try and figure out why I couldn't activate it. I contacted my reseller and they helped me with it.

The deployment took about two and a half hours.

Implementation strategy was more about my bosses wanting to get in, then set it up afterward. It was more about let's get it in place, get it working, and then we'll lock things down as we need to.

We have hubs in multiple locations. Our strategy for implementing these was once the first one was installed in our main location, then we had the role set up the way we wanted it for the entire organization. We used that to order additional Fireboxes and took them to our other locations. Those were preloaded with the same role sets and put online.

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MS
I.T. Co-ordinator at National Lotteries Control Board

The initial setup of Firebox was straightforward. It was not complex.

For our deployment we configured all three access points at one location, our head office, and tested them in that one environment. Then, at the various offices, it was just a matter of changing the IP address. We had one technician go to one office and another technician go to the other office to install the Fireboxes and connect them to the network. As they were plugged in, they connected and it provided the service that we wanted from day one. We didn't have to do too many reconfigurations. The policies that come with it out-of-the-box provide adequate network protection, and we just had to put in special policies to allow various types of traffic, either both ways or one way, to various ports on the firewall. We didn't have many problems in getting them up and running at each office.

Deployment took one day at each location. Overall, we were able to prepare the Fireboxes and test them in less than a week. We prepared everything at one location, did the testing on the second day, and on the third and fourth days we went to the other two office locations to install them.

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AS
Network Administrator at Abona Deutschland GmbH

The initial setup was medium in terms of the difficulty of some aspects, such as initially understanding the logic of their security policies. It took several hours to acquaint myself and to fully understand things. The whole deployment took about three days.

We initially had an implementation strategy, but it was adapted according to the recommendations and specifications of WatchGuard.

In terms of the technical aspects, I am the only who works with this solution in our organization.

Initially, we purchased the Firebox just for us but, as of today, we have deployed it to two or three other companies. The client sent us project specs with necessary internet configurations for each device, as well as the physical locations. We replicated their infrastructure in our test environment, configured each device according to their specs, and shipped the device to them. The client then connected the device with a cable to the ports outlined in our instructions and everything worked the first time.

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TS
Computer Programmer at Crestwood Inc

The initial setup was straightforward. It walked through everything as far as the configuration. Everything that we needed was right there. So, I didn't have to search for anything. It was easy set up.

We went from a different version to this version. Even from that to this version, it was probably up and running within an hour.

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AR
Owner at Thermioninc.com

The initial setup is complicated. Unless you know what you're doing with it, you can make mistakes, which are really difficult to recoup from. You have to know what you are doing with it. Otherwise, you'll screw it all up.

It only took our IT guy probably an hour to set it all up, but he knows what he's doing with it. He works with them everyday.

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MD
COO/CTO at a pharma/biotech company with 11-50 employees

Go to the WatchGuard site:

>enter the model and serial number of your device

>That loads the site automatically with the provisioning apps, firmware updates and other system checks relevant for that device

> The set-up is nearly automatic

> Once the firmware is updated, the device reboots

> Drill into the site for additional steps and additional software you can activate - you have to know what they are talking about to understand which checkboxes to click and why.

> You can reference the YouTube "JSCM" for extra support and background helps that go beyond the WatchGuard site. 

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FB
Infrastructure Administrator at CFA-INSTA

The solution is difficult to implement without a specialist, especially the first time. It requires an IT technician. It's become easier for us to deploy ourselves now that we've had some experience.

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SE
Project Consultant at SysGroup PLC

The initial setup was easy, and the time it took was a couple of hours.

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RL
Technical Consultant at Rainbow Security

The initial setup is very easy. It is not complex.

For a small organization that has between fifty and one hundred users, the deployment can be done in perhaps fifteen minutes to three hours. Our deployment took approximately one hour.

Only one person is required for maintenance.

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DV
Manager

It is fairly easy to deploy. You can also deploy it remotely. It provides a very easy and out-of-the-box experience.

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JS
Network Admin at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees

The setup was fairly straight forward. We were actually dealing with a failure situation when we received the product. So we had WatchGuard support on the lines from the get-go, helping us get started so that we could get the information. It's something that we would not have been able to do had they not helped.

The main firewall was deployed within a day. The satellites were deployed within a week.

We have two home offices that they're distributed to. Typically, I get the device in, I provision it with the workflows and the exceptions they need, and then they plug it.

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SS
Technical Support at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

Setup was easy because the manual was there and it was quite easy to connect to a particular port. It's very understandable. Setup was very straightforward, nothing complex.

Deployment could take only a few minutes or up to an hour and we can already set up a few basic policies. But the thing that drags longer is teaching the client to use it and to set up their own security policies. Sometimes they don't have enough experience at setting up WatchGuard, it's still new to them. But maybe after a few hours of lectures from us they get it. We still continue to support them after initial set up, for example if if they want to set up a policy we can assist them with that.

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GH
VP at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees

I don't believe we had any trouble with the initial setup. 

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GS
Network Engineer at Vanderburgh Police Department

The initial setup is straightforward. You just read the manual and follow the directions. It didn't take very long to set up. It was about an hour to have it configured and set up.

I have deployed Firebox to distributed locations. You just plug in the numbers, the IP addresses. That's all you do. It's pretty simple.

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GP
System Analyst at a transportation company

We have deployed this product to distributed locations. We have a couple of branch offices and we've set them up in all of our locations. We set it up, we configure it to our network settings, we put in all of the information we need, and we go from there. We usually take a configuration from an existing and apply it. It's straightforward. The documentation goes step-by-step on how to set it up. The last time I did one it took about an hour.

In terms of maintenance of WatchGuard there are three people in our department. Whoever sees a problem or hears about an issue takes care of it. Two of us are system analysts and the third is our director of information technology.

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PE
CFO at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

The setup was straightforward with a simple GUI-based administrative tool.

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Surjith Cs - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr.System Administrator at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

The installation was straightforward and took between one and two hours. I would rate our experience with the initial setup as four out of five.

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JP
Principal at a consumer goods company with 1-10 employees

The setup was easy enough. It was more or less plug-and-play. There weren't a lot of settings that we had to run through. The setup wasn't that complicated. It took about two hours and there was just one person involved.

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YH
IT Management and owner at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The initial setup was straightforward.

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LP
Assistant Manager at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

The initial setup was straightforward. 

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AS
IT Audit Group Head at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The initial setup is simple and understandable.

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SS
Technical Support at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

The initial setup is very easy for somebody who knows the product, so I can't say that it is complex. For someone who is new to the product, of course, they would find it intimidating at first.

The deployment took three days, with the third day being the turnover. I had to train them on how to use it. The first two days were spent setting it up.

One IT person handles maintenance for the solution, just for secondary support.

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CM
Chief Technology Officer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Buyer's Guide
WatchGuard Firebox
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about WatchGuard Firebox. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.