We performed a comparison between OPNsense and SonicWall NSa based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."It's a firewall that secures our internal network. I have been using it since 2013, and I find that most of the features are advanced, and very user friendly."
"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."
"The most valuable feature is the interface, which is very user friendly. We are utilizing most of the features, like content filtering. The firewall is powerful."
"The SD-WAN is the most valuable feature."
"It is a good source for firewall protection."
"The solution can scale well."
"It enables our organization to become more productive. Also, it protects our NEtWare from viruses and malware."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the rules and quality of service."
"The most valuable features of OPNsense are the GUI and frequent updates."
"The graphic user interface is very good and it is user-friendly which makes the product easy-to-use."
"The initial implementation process is simple."
"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."
"We can open a new VPN connection easily. It's much easier than with Fortinet in our experience."
"The technical support is very good."
"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."
"OPNsense is easy to use and open source."
"Valuable features include a web filter, DHCP, and monitoring capabilities."
"This product is user-friendly and easy to configure."
"I like that SonicWall NSa is a stable product. It's also a scalable product."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the GUI pre-filtering and the ATP (advanced threat protection)."
"The most valuable feature is the sandbox."
"Setup is easy. Anyone with basic firewall experience can do it."
"SonicWall has USCS and anti-virus at the gateway level. Everything is filtered, and if it detects an intruder, it drops the line."
"I really like the performance; there are no delays and no latency, which is a unique quality in firewalls nowadays."
"Difficult to add or define, and not that easy to configure and manage."
"My only complaint about FortiGate is a lack of QinQ VLAN tunneling. I haven't found this feature in any Fortinet product. You can do this on all Cisco routers, including the smaller models. However, QinQ isn't available on the biggest, most expensive Fortinet units. They still don't have that. I think now we're on software version 6.0, and they still haven't found a solution for QinQ. It isn't a dealbreaker, but that's my main complaint."
"There are SD-WAN network monitoring, SD-WAN features, Industrial Databases, Internet of Things, Detection, etc., however, we do have not licenses for those features. We thought that if you bought a product, you should have all of the features it offers. Why should you need to make so many extra purchases to enable features? They should have one price for the entire offering."
"I would like reporting to be improved and should offer a lot more tools to monitor the products."
"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."
"In the next release, I would like to see the interface simplified to be more user-friendly."
"The way everything is set up could be easier. Currently, people need a lot of experience and knowledge to administer it and to link it to devices."
"I'm not sure if it's something that they already have or are developing something, however, we need some dedicated features for container security."
"When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve."
"OPNsense could improve by making the configuration more web-based rather than shell or command-line-based."
"In terms of improvement, the performance could be enhanced."
"Its interface should be a little bit better."
"The ability to set the VPN IP address would be a welcome addition."
"I would like better documentation concerning the provided packages and their integration."
"There are some add-ons that need enhancements to make management easier for users, especially the reporting features. Some reports don't show the level of detail I'm looking for, and I've had trouble installing certain add-ons, especially for Internet bandwidth shaping within my company."
"The interface isn't so friendly user. But we have some technicians here who are quite confident with this tool. OPNSense could maybe add sets of rules so it's simpler to manage different groups with particular needs."
"The scalability is something that should be improved."
"The dashboard must be improved."
"There are a few areas that need improvement including the VPN, user management, and reporting."
"The web interface administration of SonicWall NSa could be improved. Compared to Sophos and FortiGate, making rules is easier with those systems."
"SonicWall does not support DynDNS, yet this is an important feature for smaller companies that do not have a static IP address."
"We also use the Sophos Firewall for web configuration, which we don't have in SonicWall. Only Sophos has those options. If SonicWall included that feature, that would be a benefit for us."
"The product could expand its throughput capacity."
"The cost could be lower. There could also be more flexibility for smaller companies."
OPNsense is ranked 3rd in Firewalls with 36 reviews while SonicWall NSa is ranked 19th in Firewalls with 80 reviews. OPNsense is rated 8.4, while SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of OPNsense writes "Robust network security and management offering a user-friendly interface, open-source flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, with challenges regarding initial setup and the absence of official support". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". OPNsense is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, Untangle NG Firewall, Sophos UTM and IPFire, whereas SonicWall NSa is most compared with SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall and Check Point NGFW. See our OPNsense vs. SonicWall NSa report.
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