Check Point NGFW Reviews

We're using Check Point Next Generation Firewalls to secure the internal LAN network from unwanted threats and for protecting the environment for business use.

The most valuable feature is the central management system through the Security Management Server. Apart from that, the graphical user interface helps us to do things easily.

The frequency of the antivirus updates which we get for Check Point firewalls should increase. They should be of good quality compared to the competitive firewalls on the market. They should give us stable antivirus signatures. That is an area in which they can improve.

I have been using Check Point's Next Generation Firewalls for the last three-and-a-half years.

These firewalls are very stable and, apart from the antivirus issue which I mentioned, everything is stable in them. The best thing is that they are the most advanced firewall on the market.

Per my experience, it is very easy to scale these firewalls, because they are combined with the central management point. It is very easy to push the same configuration to different firewalls at the same time. It does not take much time to extend usage.

We use them throughout our organization. Currently we have used them for around 50 percent of our needs and there is definitely a room to grow. In the future we will definitely try to increase usage, if it is required.

We have had a good experience with the Check Point support guys. The solutions they provide are very straightforward and are provided quickly.

I used Palo Alto firewalls. Compared to Palo Alto we are happier with the Check Point Firewall features. Key differences are the ease of operating Check Point firewalls and the use of Linux, as we are all trained in Linux. It is easier for us to work on the ELA of Check Point firewalls. And Check Point's support is good.

Check Point is the best firewall we have found for our organization so we went with it.

In our company we do setup of Check Point firewalls very frequently because we are a growing company and we are required to do them on a fresh basis for our new branches.

The initial setup for these firewalls is straightforward. There's nothing complex about Check Point firewalls. They are easy to install and configure. We have cloud-based VM firewalls. We configure them in our environment. It is easy to access them and it is also easy to implement the changes on them.

Deployment time depends on the condition and the space of the organization. In our case, it requires three to six months for the setup phase. We have the same implementation strategy for all our branches, which is very simple. It is a three-level hierarchy which is recommended by Check Point. We use the SmartConsole, we use the Security Gateway, and we use the Security Management Server.

In my organization there are six people who have the access to the Check Point firewalls. Two of them are network administrators and four are managers.

We are happy with the return on investment from the Check Point firewalls. We are happy with the features and with the protection they provide us.

The licensing part is easy for Check Point firewalls. You just purchase the license and install it on the firewall. The pricing is a bit high, but obviously it gives you advanced features. If you want to buy the best thing on the market, you have to pay extra money.

When implementing the product, follow the recommendations which Check Point provides. Follow the backup for the firewall so that in case of an issue, you have a secondary firewall active.

The biggest lesson I have learned is that there is a scope of improvement. Companies that are improving and providing updates frequently are growing more. In addition, improving support is a very key part of things. Check Point rates well on all these points.

It's an on-prem deployment where we use it to protect our client and end-users who are working with the internet, and to protect their servers from external access. They have about 100 users and two servers.

When we did not have SSO, we had problems related to attacks compromising our firewall. That has been mitigated. We have the traffic going through the firewall to the server, so those types of things have really improved. We are seeing less traffic going to the server. When there was direct access to it, there was more and more traffic going to our server. So it has improved our server performance.

My favorite feature is the UTM piece and that was the main reason we bought it. It helps us to fine tune the network. We use it to block certain websites, to block access to particular locations, such as in Singapore or say Malaysia, where we have offices. We keep the previous device updated and, based on that, we also have static MAC address binding.

We also use the VPN services. The VPN features are mostly for our cloud connectivity and for our remote users to have local server access.

When I was creating the VPN on it and the client side through the portal, that feature was very annoying. I could not use it. It was much more usable after downloading it to the laptop. That was very good compared to using it directly from the browser.

I have been using Check Point NGFW for almost two-and-a-half years.

It's a stable solution. In the time I have been using this product, I have hardly seen anything break.

In terms of scalability, they have products that can fit into the environment. It's a very scalable solution. For our requirements, it fits very well. You can go with whatever kind of setup you want: Active-Passive, Active-Active. Check Point is very easy. Their solution is ready for our market; it's very well suited. Wherever we want to go, Check Point can provide a solution.

Currently, we are using somewhere around 50 to 60 percent of the box's capacity.

Sometimes, when I have gotten stuck, I have reached out to support and it's okay. They have helped me very quickly.

We did not have a previous solution. We went directly with Check Point. We liked the features provided by Check Point and we went for it.

The setup is not complex. It's easy to deploy. The documentation provided is very good. Deployment takes me two to three days. The hardware takes one-and-a-half days and then I get all the features up and running.

We have a standard implementation strategy. We have a checklist. We plan it out. Then we go into the field for the deployment. We have one dedicated engineer for deployment, and I also check it on a regular basis. The two of us are also the ones who manage the solution.

We have to consider things, cost-wise, when we are expanding into other locations. We don't have the budget to use it in other platforms. We have some servers that we deploy in AWS and other locations. But instead of going with Check Point, we go with other vendors to fit into the budget.

Check Point is really costly. When it comes to the Indian market, where we are located, we always consider budget solutions. So this is an area where Check Point could use some improvement.

In addition to the standard fees, support is an added expense.

The biggest lesson learned from using this solution is in terms of security. It is a really good product. I don't think there is anything missing from the Check Point firewalls. The features provided by the company are very good and provide what we need.

It's a very good security product, as long as you have the budget. It provides modern security and the architecture Check Point provides is good. And the application side will really help any size of business to deal with traffic based on the application.

We use the solution for network security, perimeter security, DMZ, antibot, antivirus, endpoint protection, email security, sandblast, and DLP. The environment is a multi-environment and consists of multiple networks, segmented and managed by a management server. These firewalls protect the network, external and internal. 

We are also protecting several customers and it allows remote access connection from anywhere in a secure way.

There are also site-to-site VPNs with different customers, vendors, and cloud providers, using the highest security encryption algorithms.

The organization is more secure. These firewalls work as expected. We have a perimeter and network segmentation well defined and firewall features and blades like IPS, Identity awareness, antibot, antivirus, threat prevention, endpoint security, and DLP, all allow the organization to have most of the security components centralized which allows for easier maintenance and monitoring. 

In relation to the monitoring, Check Point has tools that allow the administrator to track the traffic, and identify threats, attacks, and also check the forensics to understand what happened in case of a breach and ensure it won't happen again.

The most valuable elements include:

Smart View Tracker: To check the traffic logs easily. This is the best logging tool for me so far. You can identify almost everything from the logs, using a smart view tracker.

Smart Dashboard: allows for rule creation and administration and management and is user-friendly. The administration allows you to copy and paste rules, move the order, and create objects, pretty easily. It is very handy.

CPUSE: A Smart way to upgrade firewall software versions. You can easily verify if you can upgrade to the desired version, download the right package and upgrade, and also check the status of the upgrade. It's a great tool.

Error logs can be more specific. Sometimes the error shows only a general error and the solution could be hard to find or difficult to apply. 

Documentation can be improved. It has been improved, however, when you search for errors, in relation to documentation and how to solve it, sometimes it is not that simple to find the right solution. Troubleshooting errors could be sometimes difficult and some tools are only available for the Check Point support team. 

The price is also a factor to take into account. Other competitors offer low prices in relation to Check Point and the executive team may opt for the cheapest vendor (if you have to compare to another good one yet note a cheaper price).

I've used the solution for ten years.

The solution offers good scalability.

The solution offers good customer service and good support.

Positive

I have been using Check Point since the beginning.

The initial setup is straightforward.

We handled the setup in-house.

The solution is super stable.

The pricing could be better, however, the vendor is excellent and I strongly recommend it.

I did not evaluate other options.

The user interface is very good.

The level of security is excellent. It protects our organization well.

It's a good overall product and we have a high level of satisfaction with the features on offer. 

Technical support could be improved. It's hit or miss in terms of the level of service and getting the answers you need.

I've been using the solution for ten years. 

We have hundreds of users that use the solution currently within our company.

We aren't 100% satisfied with technical support. Sometimes you get the help you need and sometimes you don't. Sometimes it's absolutely amazing. Sometimes they're great. However, you can't rely on them being like that all the time. We'd like the service level to be more reliable.

I can't speak to the installation process, as it was handled by an outside firm.

We had an integrator that assisted us with the implementation. 

I'm a customer and an end-user.

I would recommend the solution to other organizations especially if the company is looking for a certain level of security.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

We use Check Point NGFW for perimeter protection of our network from the internet. We also use it for threat protection at the network level and the endpoint level.

We provide implementation, installation, and support services. We know about all types of firewalls, and we work with all types of installations. We usually use appliances, but in test environments, we use virtual appliances.

It is easy to use, and its management is the best. Check Point has a great unified management solution for firewalls and security products. 

Their technical support can be better. In addition, when we need to use it in a government environment, we face a lot of legal issues related to different types of certifications. It would be better to improve it for these issues.

Check Point doesn't have a SOAR system. They work with Siemplify, but it is an integration with another vendor. It would be great if Check Point has an integrated SOAR system.

We have been dealing with Check Point firewalls in our company for more than 20 years.

It is quite stable, but it can vary based on the version.

It is scalable. We can use the Maestro solution from Check Point for scalability. We can add new appliances as the company grows. If we need more performance and throughput, we can add additional appliances and have more performance. Check Point Maestro is the best solution for scalability.

Their technical support can be better.

Its initial setup is easy for me. The deployment duration varies. A simple deployment takes two or three days. A complex deployment that involves a cluster configuration or appliance replacement can take up to five days.

Its price is reasonable. If we compare its TCO for three years, it is more reasonable than some of the other vendors such as Fortinet, Palo Alto, etc.

I would recommend this solution. It is a great solution for endpoint protection and threat prevention. I have been working with Check Point products for a very long time. Check Point is one of our best vendors, and they make great products. 

I would advise others to learn about firewalls and other Check Point solutions. They have a lot of different solutions. If you choose their firewall, it would be useful to know more about other solutions. It would be one of the ways to improve the protection of your network with Check Point.

I would rate Check Point NGFW a ten out of ten. 

Check Point protects our environment from external threats. In particular, we use:

• Application Control for Internet access
• HTTPS Inspection for outgoing connections into the internet
• Separate the OT network from the normal data LANs
• SSL VPN for End Users - Check Point Mobile VPN Client is used on the end-user clients
• Site-to-Site VPN for connecting other companies to our environment

We are using two Check Point boxes in a ClusterXL Setup so that one appliance can die and the environment is not affected. We also use a cloud gateway for internet security on users, which are only connected to the internet (outside the office).

Check Point has improved our organization in the following ways:

• Provides for central management over all of the Check Point gateways
• Maintains a changelog that shows which users have made changes
• Version control allows us to roll back a ruleset after, for example, a misconfiguration
• Offers very granular application control
• Allows for various internet permissions for various users
• Gives us very good logging, which is nice for troubleshooting because you can instantly which rule is affected for each action
• The cloud gateway (Check Point Capsule Cloud) ensures that users are getting the same internet permissions as they would if inside the company, no matter which internet connection they are using

The most valuable feature is the centralized management, which gives us control over all of the Check Point gateways. This means that you do not need to connect to each gateway and make the necessary changes.

Cluster functionality, "ClusterXL", works like a charm. A rollover to the standby gateway does work with no noticeable delay in the network.

You can buy a Check Point appliance or install the Check Point NGFW as a VM on your own hardware.

The extremely wide function horizon covers almost every possible scenario.

The Performance on a policy install takes too long for my taste. This might be because, at each policy install, the management pushes the whole policy on the affected gateways.

Without any training, it is very hard to administrate the whole Check Point NGFW.

In our case, the main Check Point gateways are in a cluster configuration. Sadly, the management always shows the standby box as failed. This may be because it is set to STANDBY and not ACTIVE. It would be better to show the standby box as good.

I have been using Check Point NGFW for about five years.

Support is very customer-oriented and you are always in good hands.(customer wishes are often implemented in the next hotfix)

Most Support engineers are located in Israel. (Very good spoken english)

Very fast response from R&D Team

We were using SonicWall and switched because of EOL.

The pricing for Check Point depends on your environment.

Before choosing Check Point we evaluated Fortinet and a newer version of SonicWall.

It's simply a firewall.

1. Enables us to meet compliance requirements.
2. It maintains our security posture.

Filtering. It filters unwanted traffic.

Their products are pretty robust but, at the same time, we deployed ours in HA mode so we don't really worry about downtime, we have redundancy. We've never had any problems.

We have the right appliance for our specifications. If we wanted to get a bigger box then we will just get a bigger box based on our requirements.

We tend to go to our reseller for technical support.

The setup wasn't complex. I went to training and after training it pretty much all made sense. I was prepared for it.

Do your homework and make sure it fits. You have to know exactly what you want, what your requirements are. Make sure that whatever product you are actually going for meets your requirements, suits your infrastructure and how your IT operates.

What I look at when selecting a vendor is how long the vendor has been around, the level of focus on technology, how good they are. And one of the most important things we do is check industry ratings. That's one of the first things we look at, to see which vendors to consider.

I would rate Checkpoint eight out of 10. To get to a 10, there are some issues compared to other products. Ease of use is one. Also, I can never give any product a 10 out of 10. It's just impossible. There's always something definitely missing.