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FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
318
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
FortiGate Next Generation F...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (11th), ZTNA (4th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (9th)
Zyxel Unified Security Gateway
Average Rating
6.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (14th)
 

Featured Reviews

EhabAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient, user-friendly, and affordable
In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets. For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line. The stability has room for improvement. When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.
MOHAN SUKUMAR - PeerSpot reviewer
User-based policies improve network security but integration complexity persists
The main area needing improvement is the user-friendliness of FortiGate's integration with other Fortinet tools like FortiAuthenticator and VPN services. Configuring these services is quite complex and not very user-friendly, requiring technical steps that are difficult for normal users to understand. Fortinet support's resolution of issues is slow, and the research on making the solution user-friendly needs to progress further.
Alexander Azikov - PeerSpot reviewer
A robust appliance that is reasonably priced and straightforward to set up
Although manageable, the user interface is a little bit slow and could be improved. There are two user interface options available, namely the basic and the advanced. The basic UI is not very good and doesn't have a lot of features, although it is fast. The advanced UI allows me to do whatever I want, but this is where the issue of speed exists. At one of our sites, the CPU utilization was very high, and for no reason. Technical support needs to be more responsive to requests.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is security. They are known for efficiency and are on the top of Gartner Quadrant reviews. Fortinet FortiGate has an easy-to-use platform with a good graphical interface. The configuration is simple and the solution provides an overall good layer of security."
"With FortiClient, you can easily connect when you are home, check out what you want to do, and connect to your network when you are not at work. You can switch on servers and you can check what is wrong."
"A strong point of FortiGate is that the graphical interface is complete and easy to use, especially if we think there is a list of operations that we are able to perform inside."
"I am "headache free" that I don't have to categorize all the websites and that security has been pre categorized by the people, and that the services are getting updated. At least one part of my problem is over."
"Easy to use support and licensing portal as well as activation process."
"The Fortinet FortiGate local partners were good. I did not have direct contact with Fortinet support."
"Unified Threat Management (UTM) features."
"The customization potential is quite impressive."
"The solution is secure."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall has a very high ROI"
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) 's most valuable features are reporting and filtering."
"FortiGate's threat detection capability is excellent."
"The product is user-friendly and not complex."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to operate."
"Overall, I am satisfied with the product."
"I found the upgrades valuable."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from web filtering, malware protection, and antivirus."
"The solution can scale well."
"This is a capable appliance and the standard features work well for us."
 

Cons

"I would suggest that Fortinet add sandboxing to their solution."
"The license renewal process, annual renewal price, and the web application firewall features should be improved."
"Fortinet already improved FortiGate, but in the current market, many brands of security devices have improved together. Fortinet still needs to catch up with market standards. Fortinet is lacking in features in comparison to competitors."
"The configuration part was challenging, especially converting configurations from another OEM to FortiGate."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having a frequent ask questions(FAQ) area for people to receive quick answers to popular questions. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an SMS notification feature. For example, if you cannot access your email you could receive an SMS message."
"They need to improve their technical support."
"The sniffing packets or packet captures, can be simplified and improved because it's a little confusing."
"Pricing for it is a bit high. It could be cheaper."
"The solution's GUI is not very appealing."
"One area for improvement is the IPS engine."
"There is an area for improvement in vulnerability management."
"The solution needs to integrate VPN features."
"The inability to change passwords when using FortiGate firewall and relying on a local FortiGate database for account creation can be problematic, particularly in non-Active Directory setups."
"The solution should allow more user-friendly integrations or deployment"
"Someone without certification and experience with other firewalls might find it a bit more challenging to grasp the FortiGate format and its platform layout."
"The solution needs to improve its support."
"Although manageable, the user interface is a little bit slow and could be improved."
"Sometimes it reboots when you least expect it, and that's the main issue."
"The product has some scalability and data management issues where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet is the least expensive solution."
"​We saved a bundle by not needing all the past appliances from an NGFW.​"
"The pricing is very reasonable."
"The price of FortiGate is average and I would say that based on the top five products available on the market, it is in the affordable range."
"Compared to other firewall products, it's a little cheaper in terms of pricing."
"When you look at these end security systems and firewalls, these firewalls even five years ago were $50,000 or perhaps $25,000 to implement in some types of customer sites. Now we're talking about tools that are $1,000. In this case, it might have been $500 or something like that."
"We are on an annual license to use Fortinet FortiGate."
"If the customer is looking for SD-WAN, it comes free with FortiGate."
"The pricing is better compared to other solutions like Check Point, Arista, or Cisco."
"I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall a five out of ten for pricing."
"I rate the pricing an eight and a half on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"I'll rate FortiGate's pricing a five out of ten since it is moderately priced."
"The solution is more expensive than Sophos. It could be cheaper. The licensing is on a yearly basis. We have had it for about three years. We must only pay extra for the license, additional requirements, and the hardware box."
"FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution."
"There is a licensing fee; it is on a yearly basis."
"This gateway is pretty cheap."
"The price of Zyxel Unified Security Gateway is good compared to other similar products in the market."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Unified Threat Management (UTM) solutions are best for your needs.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
20%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
20%
Comms Service Provider
17%
Retailer
6%
Real Estate/Law Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?
When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...
What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?
From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
What do you like most about FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?
The tool's most valuable feature is IPS. In my experience, I haven't encountered any issues with integration. It easi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?
The pricing of the FortiGate firewall is good. It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
What needs improvement with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW)?
There should be more testing before releasing software since it can be a little buggy sometimes when new features com...
What do you like most about Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?
The most valuable features of the solution stem from web filtering, malware protection, and antivirus.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?
The price of Zyxel Unified Security Gateway is good compared to other similar products in the market.
What needs improvement with Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?
If you have very secure data, Zyxel Unified Security Gateway will not be very useful. My company doesn't have to deal...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
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Find out what your peers are saying about FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) vs. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.