We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiGate and Meraki MX based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Fortinet FortiGate and Meraki MX have a similar user rating regarding ease of deployment, pricing, service and support, and ROI. In terms of features, users of Fortinet FortiGate had mixed reviews on the interface, and felt the reporting feature needed updating. On the other hand, users of Meraki MX felt there was a need for better and more monitoring capabilities.
"The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."
"The most valuable features are that it is very simple to configure and to manage."
"Its administrative panel is very intuitive and simple. It is simpler than the other solutions that we had. As an administrator, we are always looking for the easiest solution to manage network policies. We are able to filter everything on our network and also use the VPN feature, which is important these days when people are working remotely during COVID."
"Fortinet FortiGate is scalable for our users. Right now, we have almost 70 users. We do not have any plan to increase our usage of FortiGate. For maintaining the firewall solution, one staff member is enough."
"The flexibility and ease of configuration are the most valuable features."
"The solution is very user friendly. The user interface in particular is quite nice."
"It is easy to use and performs very well."
"Unified Threat Management (UTM) features."
"Managed centrally over the web: You can manages all your Meraki devices in a single account."
"Meraki MX offers advanced filtration options, plus it behaves like a router and a firewall at the same time."
"When you try to create an IP or when you have an alert about when a website is banned, these features are helpful."
"We've had no issues with the scalability or the stability of this solution"
"The most valuable feature is that we didn't have any problems with Meraki MX."
"I am happy with the technical support for the solution. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."
"I think cloud management is key. The cloud management and support are the two things that make the product great."
"The security level of our organization has changed by using Meraki MX Firewalls. We didn't have the UTM before, but now we have sandboxing, tray scanning, attack preventions and monitorization. Our security level has improved."
"I would suggest that Fortinet add sandboxing to their solution."
"NGN, reporting and controls."
"The non-error conserve mode has room for improvement."
"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."
"It would be good if they had fewer updates."
"The routing capability on the FortiGate devices has room for improvement."
"A couple of things I've seen that need improvement, especially in terms of a hard coding. The driver-level active moment really is out-of-the-box and we have to have contact the customer support and sometimes it is difficult to resolve."
"Some features of Fortinet FortiGate are actually fee enabled that are inconvenient for deploying in production. Other issues relate to isolation with Cisco products and your server."
"They need to improve the link between Meraki and Active Directory."
"Meraki MX can come across as an expensive solution."
"They're very complacent and I find the rule set to be a little arcane."
"The problem is that the two licenses do not currently integrate. We have to create separate companies and do an interconnection."
"Load balancing options and ability to manage a couple of Internet connections."
"You can only have one tunnel in the whole infrastructure — one tunnel with one device."
"The security is not as strong as it could be"
"I need more UTM protection security features."
Fortinet FortiGate is ranked 2nd in Firewalls with 306 reviews while Meraki MX is ranked 2nd in Unified Threat Management (UTM) with 58 reviews. Fortinet FortiGate is rated 8.4, while Meraki MX is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate writes "It's a reliable solution that's easy to install and cheaper than competitors ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Meraki MX writes "Cost-effective, simplified, easy to manage, and reliable with advanced security features and granular visibility". Fortinet FortiGate is most compared with Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall, Netgate pfSense, WatchGuard Firebox and Check Point NGFW, whereas Meraki MX is most compared with Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Cisco Secure Firewall, Sophos XG, SonicWall TZ and Netgate pfSense. See our Fortinet FortiGate vs. Meraki MX report.
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definitely the FortiGate , I can assist you with configuration and support if needed .
I recommend that using a Sonicwall as the peripheral firewall as you can easily configure the firewall rules to block certain countries. Its ease of use and SSL inspection and many other features and reporting features are more than sufficient for a small company.
You don't need a dedicated IT department, Sonicwall provide cloud-based support services that can assist you 24hrs/ 7 days.
To enhance the firewall protection further, we also deploy ZoneAlarm and webroot security firewalls at the desktops level. We also have several firewalls routers to safeguard very important servers, giving an onion-like "layers defense" structure.
We have Meraki Mx devices now, we are looking to replace them. But that is because the Meraki MX platform lacks SSL Inspection, Granular Firewall rules (Block only, no allow setting), client vpn relies on windows vpn setup (we would prefer a software solution).
But when we bought Meraki's we were switching from something with little to no visibility into the network. The visibility we got with the meraki and the content filtering and ability to block countries was quick and easy to setup. If we weren't looking to lock things down further, we would renew our Meraki's rather than replace them.
We are also looking at the fortigate series, but we would be using the latest generation - I think the 60f would be the newest of the 60 size.