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Fortinet FortiGate vs WatchGuard XTM [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
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)
WatchGuard XTM [EOL]
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Q&A Highlights

Miriam Tover - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 23, 2020
 

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.
it_user498942 - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps me create firewall policies for networks and services.
1. It is difficult to configure WatchGuard with your internet settings. Actually, a normal internet setting/configuration is easy. However, I had a problem with multi WAN and multi LAN. I have a few different LAN subnet and two WAN. What I want to do is to route traffic from LAN1 through WAN1 and use WAN2 as failover. And for LAN2, it would route through WAN2 and use WAN1 as failover. So all traffic from LAN1 supposed to go through WAN1 only unless WAN1 is down, then it will go WAN2. However, I still could see some packet from LAN1 go through WAN2 at the same times. I checked the Traffic Monitoring in WatchGuard and I figured it out that is because of default “Outgoings” policy. Unfortunately, I could not disable default “Outgoings” policy and if I do “all clients could not access the internet even if I created another Outgoing Policy to replace the default one”. I used to ask my Vendor to help with this problem, but they could not do it. 2. I would like to see more granularity on each IP bandwidth that is used. I want to check which IP consume internet Bandwidth the most, but it is not convenient to check the total bandwidth that one IP is consuming. I need to go to “Traffic Management” to see which group IP that used most of the bandwidth, and then I go to “Hostwatch” to check bandwidth of each IP and sum the consumed bandwidth by myself. 3. It cannot block Internet Download Manager nor the Torrent application “BitComet” Internet Download Manager and BitComet are two applications that I cannot block in “Application Control”. I used to ask my vendor for help, but they still could not do it. Other application (Messenger, other peer-to-peer application, social network, VOIP .. etc), WatchGuard can block them.

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 features of Fortinet FortiGate are the APIs. They are the most widely known."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the SD-WAN and their IP4 policy."
"UTM/NGFW features and FortiCloud for logs and backups are awesome."
"Fortigate's most valuable feature is that it doesn't need a push policy when writing rules."
"We are very happy with the general bandwidth agility we have seen from one website to another website."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a security device. It can optimize security on the networks of a company. It actually protects the company from attacks from outside. With FortiGate, you can categorize the users. You can create a group of users that can access all of the websites for their work. You can limit other users' access."
"It blocks the vulnerabilities that can negatively impact us."
"Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features are ease of use, flexibility, and most of the configuration we can be done using the GUI. When we compare Fortinet FortiGate with other solutions the firewall policy are very easy to understand."
"After installing the product, we achieved awareness of our data protection needs and email misuse."
"SNMP status monitoring and the Central Management Software."
"I like the hostwatch because I can see what traffic uses the most bandwidth and I can block that site."
"They have a reporting system which can store data over a very long period of time. Not many other firewall vendors provide a reporting system, but if they do, like Fortinet does, then you've got buy that as an additional product and that can be more than twice as expensive as the initial investment in the firewall. And without reporting over a long-term period, you're just about wasting your time."
"It is stable and does not require you to reboot all the time.​"
"There is a site-to-site VPN configuration between others people."
"We have used technical support for WatchGuard many times and overall, we are satisfied with it. They are always listening and there is a good reaction time to our findings. When there are issues, they really try to resolve them."
"It configures in all-in-one place.​"
 

Cons

"The debugging and troubleshooting has room for improvement."
"FortiLink is the interface on the firewall that allows you to extend switch management across all of your switches in the network. The problem with it is that you can't use multiple interfaces unless you set them up in a lag. Only then you can run them. So, it forces you to use a core type of switch to propagate that management out to the rest of the switches, and then it is running the case at 200. It leaves you with 18 ports on the firewall because it is also a layer-three router that could also be used as a switch, but as soon as you do that, you can't really use them. They could do a little bit more clean up in the way the stacking interface works. Some use cases and the documentation on the FortiLink checking interface are a little outdated. I can find stuff on version 5 or more, but it is hard to find information on some of the newer firmware. The biggest thing I would like to see is some improvement in the switch management feature. I would like to be able to relegate some of the ports, which are on the firewall itself, to act as a switch to take advantage of those ports. Some of these firewalls have clarity ports on them. If I can use those, it would mean that I need to buy two less switches, which saves time. I get why they don't, but I would still like to see it because it would save a little bit of space in the server rack."
"The stability of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"I could not configure sFlow from the FortiGate graphical user interface. I realized that the sFlow configuration is available only from the CLI, and discovered that sFlow is not supported on virtual interfaces, such as VDOM links, IPsec, or GRE."
"We would like to see a better training platform implemented."
"The logs need to be better. They need to be more visible and easier to access."
"There are some tiny bugs that sometimes affect the operations. In the past revision of it, there was a bug. Because of the bug, we had to downgrade the version. It happened only with the last revision."
"Due to its higher cost, Fortinet FortiGate can lead to increased operational expenses."
"WatchGuard doesn't have a product that allows them to get into the data center. And that's just because there is no hardware to do the job. The software could do it, but there's no hardware that allows that to happen at the moment. So it doesn't scale as well as some other products, that's for sure."
"Syslog (Dimension) is focused on presentation, but needs more focus on utility like SonicWall syslog (GMS/Analyzer)."
"The VPN errors are not helpful when troubleshooting."
"The setting policies need improvement. It needs an easier way to do static NAT and check on what policy is being used for that specific traffic."
"One huge issue with WatchGuard XTM is that I'm not getting reports in a readable format. Readable means, I don't want Excel online. We repeat auditing when we trigger the report or setup calendar. That functionality is what we are looking for from WatchGuard XTM here."
"Sometimes we have had issues with stability of the product."
"I would like them to improve the product's overall protections. This would be good for all product users."
"The initial setup is neither simple nor complex. If you know the base in networking and how the firewall works, you will be able to figure it out.​"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of the solution is very competitive."
"The price of FortiGate is good."
"Fortinet FortiGate has different licensing models, depending on what you're going to do. Services included would depend on the license model. Licenses can be renewed annually."
"Fortinet's pricing is more straightforward than other solutions. If Fortinet doesn't stick out when you're searching for a solution, you are a glutton for punishment. You only need to know two things when purchasing a Fortinet solution: your total bandwidth and bandwidth at the site. You need to estimate the future bandwidth with other solutions if your customer plans to upgrade."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is better than Cisco, Check Point, and Palo Alto. In terms of pricing, it's probably a better-priced firewall solution overall."
"I had to pay for the license for the firewall, but it is guaranteed to have updates. I expect a good service for it. It was about €1000 for a year, and there was no additional cost."
"The pricing is fair."
"The price of the license and warranty can be better because it is very expensive."
"It costs less than the SO works and others (like SonicWall, Cisco, and Barracuda) without increasing so much CPU use."
"The licensing and renewal is very expensive."
"Get at least a maintenance contract for the updates and take a larger WatchGuard than you need. A WatchGuard creates new ways to secure your network."
"Like all other manufacturers, there are a lot of features and different pricing. The best is to talk to a representative.​"
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Comparison Review

it_user216600 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 3, 2016
Sophos UTM vs. Fortinet FortiGate
I have used both Sophos and Fortinet products in production and I have found the Sophos UTM appliances (hardware and virtual) to be a better fit most of the time -- with a few caveats which I will touch on below. In both instances, the transition from TMG will be mostly straightforward. The main…
 

Answers from the Community

Miriam Tover - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 23, 2020
Mar 23, 2020
The main difference between Watchguard and Fortinet is the operating system, and how it uses the hardware features. The user interface in Fortinet is cleaner and we can adjust network and security needs in a logical way. Point-of-care only for SSO, certificate usage does not work sometimes, but this issue is handled in new OS releases.
2 out of 17 answers
MZ
Mar 18, 2019
Hi Nick, Thank you for email. I have no experience of WatchGuard product. Regards, Michael Zhang
reviewer895482 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 18, 2019
Hi Nick, Sorry, but I can hardly provide relevant comparison between two products as I have never used WatchGuard XTM. As I have no intention to promote certain brand, no matter how satisfied I am with FortiGate - I feel incompetent to advise on this matter. Best regards, Vladimir
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 at large. In my opinion, Fortinet would be the best option and l use Fortinet too...
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 the firewalls change every 5 to 7 years as stated but you really do need to upg...
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 good. The most valuable features for me are their web and email filtering. I wou...
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Comparisons

 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
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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
AVG, Cyren, Kaspersky Lab, Lastline, NCP engineering, Trend Micro, Websense
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