Peplink SpeedFusion vs SonicWall SMA comparison

The compared Peplink and SonicWall solutions aren't in the same category. Peplink is ranked #8 in SDW , with an average rating of 10.0, and holds a 5.0% mindshare in the category. SonicWall is ranked #2 in UAG , with an average rating of 9.5, and holds a 40.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Peplink users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Peplink SpeedFusion and SonicWall SMA based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

December 2025

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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

Mindshare comparison

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Peplink SpeedFusion	5.0%
Fortinet FortiGate	13.9%
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN	11.2%
Other	69.9%

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

Universal Access Gateways Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SonicWall SMA	40.2%
Citrix Gateway	39.1%
Other	20.69999999999999%

Universal Access Gateways

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Samuel Romero

Field data engineer at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees

User-friendly, easy to install, and scalable

Peplink SpeedFusion needs a thin rail model for industrial solutions. The stability has room for improvement. Peplink SpeedFusion needs to have a heavy-duty heat sink on the case to perform better. Generally, what I found is that devices that have a heat sink on a case or, more weight on a case to absorb the heat, perform a little better. I get some areas where I'm right at the hundred and fifty degrees. So I've had a few failures not many, but I found more failures than a Cisco ISO eleven or a Moxa router. Those solutions have more mass to absorb the heat. Most failures have a lot to do with the case. That's why a lot of people have a hard time pushing Peplink SpeedFusion, and they want to move to Cradlepoint because they have a much more ruggedized case.

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Barry Arendt

Owner at ThinkEzIT

Security enhances through autonomous protection and strong support while multi-factor authentication secures access

I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need to. I don't know where they can focus their energy on continuous improvements, as I haven't been looking at what they're releasing. We're a small shop, so we drop stuff in and manage it and do what we need to do to maintain it. If we run into an issue, we contact support. There's a learning curve, but it comes down to getting support to train you on the product, and then once you have the training you need, you're able to make the changes and updates that you need to.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Its interface is the most valuable. It is quite easy to manage."

"We are a visual effects company, and there have been a number of high profile security issues in our industry. This has brought us to a higher standard of security, which our clients are very keen on these days."

"Fortinet FortiGate saves a lot of time in expert hours from an expert engineer because the administration of the Fortinet FortiGate solution is easy, which may lead to fewer hours of an engineer spent on Fortinet FortiGate."

"We were looking for the VPN feature and controlling the inflow and outflow of all the traffic within the site and across the sites. We are also using it for the VPN and VLANs."

"The simplicity of the configuration and the stability of the product are most valuable. The VPN concentrator is very useful."

"It is easy to manage, and it doesn't need much knowledge from the team. It is a stable device, and there are many features that are included out of the box."

"Fortinet FortiGate has many functions, and it is one of the best next-generation firewalls with an affordable cost than other vendors."

"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is load balancing. It can provide central management and VPNA. Additionally, it has enhanced our security environment."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"Our customers find it to be an interesting and tempting solution."

"The SpeedFusion feature is good. It allowed us to move away from IPsec between the sites. It is also a really easy product to deploy."

"The most valuable feature is the virtual VPN concentrator."

"The SpeedFusion feature is the most valuable."

"The valuable feature is that, after reading about its capabilities and using it for a while, Peplink SpeedFusion employs eight technologies within its SD-WAN profile, addressing issues like packet loss and latency. The solution is highly stable. I rate it a nine out of ten. The support team gives quick response and efficient local support."

"It is a very stable product."

"In the Philippines, VPN usage may not be widely known, but we leverage VPN effectively within my organization. I've shared our in-house systems with other district offices, as I cover fifteen municipalities and cater to the entire province. This platform is a valuable tool for us, enabling collaborative work, and allowing us to update our services remotely."

"Secure Mobile Access (SMA) is easy to configure and the deployment is straightforward. However, this is mostly because of the AWS setup."

"What I like best about SonicWall SMA is the relationship between its features and its price, because the solution is both affordable and functional."

"SonicWall SMA allows us to provide CML-based access to any user."

"I like the load balancing capability."

"The advanced threat protection and the endpoint control features of SonicWall SMA have helped improve security measures tremendously."

"It is faster than other security options when using remote connections."

"The management and the dashboard are the solution's most valuable features."

"I think they ask for a fair price."

More SonicWall SMA pros

Cons

"It would be helpful to have a better tool for migrating all policy rules using an automatic script."

"There are some issues with security features and aspects like logs not being up to the mark."

"Fortinet FortiGate SWG can be expensive for some customers."

"One issue that I have had is that sometimes I need to monitor the traffic, so I need to filter it according to the user and which user is using it the most. I experience a bottleneck most of the time, particularly at the peak time when the number of contracts and users are at maximum."

"FortiGate may include AI capabilities and integrate external threat intelligence. However, version management and backup/restore operations could be improved."

"The user interface could be improved to make it less confusing and easier to set up."

"With the standard support subscription, if the device goes down, the customer has to first ship the box, and then Fortinet sends the replacement. With the higher support, the customer has to ship the device after they have the replacement. It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription."

"The solution's stability should be improved because it is extremely unstable."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"There is room for improvement in enhancing security features, such as incorporating intrusion detection blocking capabilities and integrating artificial intelligence to bolster security aspects on the device."

"The stability has room for improvement."

"I believe there could be some enhancements in the enterprise segment, offering greater options or something similar."

"Their hardware support isn't the greatest. We've had one unit go down, and it took a while for them to replace it. It was in the Caribbeans, so it might be a location-related issue."

"They don't have next generation firewall, UTM, like the other competitors."

"Its pricing is the main issue. The pricing could be improved. I would like to see an outbound policy based on the application. It is a very good feature, and most of the customers are looking for that. They can also include stronger firewall features. This would help the customers in choosing this product as the only device for the SD network."

"The product needs to aggregate the bandwidth of different ISPs. It needs to improve scalability as well."

"The overall menu is not very user-friendly and it could be easier."

"The problem is that when combined with what the client already has, there are two different logins and two different management systems, and these should be consolidated into a single interface."

"The product's technical support services could be improved."

"Enhancing live tracking capabilities could improve the product, particularly in monitoring user activity and request statuses in real-time on the web interface."

"I'd like to see the product maybe polish keyboards in Bookmark."

"The solution has 2FA, it will generate a token and send it to an email, but multifactor authentication is not available. I would suggest that there should be MFA integration and provided with the appliance."

"The product itself is very good, but Dell needs to work on product visibility in their advertising."

"The only thing that they could try to improve is the support for enterprise customers. Normally enterprises and SMBs can create a ticket, but for enterprises, SonicWall SMA needs to provide a global view, and this is what's currently missing. It's not even a question of timing. It's a question of the global vision because currently, it's lacking. They concentrate on the topic, but not on the means and not on the global picture. In most cases, there's something wrong with the integration of SonicWall SMA with other products, so that could also be improved."

More SonicWall SMA cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The initial setup is super straight forward and as far as the licensing goes for the small product that we have, the pricing was pretty competitive. It wasn't as simple and as cheap as a SonicWall but for the service we would get it was a good price."

"The price for the Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable. Secure SD-WAN is free of charge. If you have their firewall, it's free of charge. It's very tempting."

"The price could be lower."

"Before choosing a piece of equipment you have to take into account the cost-benefit offered by each one. Sometimes it is not worth paying a very cheap price to have a minimum level of security."

"Fortinet FortiGate IPS is cheaper than other solutions like Cisco or Check Point."

"The price depends on the size of the company. From the beginning, you just want to know the internet bandwidths, speed, and the number of users to be able to offer the right product and model. They have a lot of products in FortiGate according to the size of the company, like 200D and 300D."

"Easy to understand licensing requirements."

"The value is the capability of having multiple services with one unique license, not having the limitation per user licensing schema, like other vendors."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"The cost is in the middle, a five out of ten."

"I rate Peplink SpeedFusion's pricing an eight out of ten."

"It has lifetime licensing. Its pricing is high for most of the markets."

"Its licensing fee is on a yearly basis. For the price, it is actually pretty good value."

"It's not cheap, but it is highly competitive."

"Perpetual licensing, which is good for customers that don't want any annual or subscription based license."

"This solution is priced well and we currently have the maximum number of licenses allowed."

"The cost of the licensing is based on the maximum number of concurrent users, and it costs a lot to add them."

"All the costs are included in a bundled license."

"The platform has medium pricing."

"I don't know about the pricing of the SSL-VPN box. I know the SSL-VPN software is free. Global VPN client, by comparison, is licensed for around $150 or something like that. But the SSL-VPN software is free. It is already built-in with the box."

"Our licenses are stackable and can be anywhere from five users to a million users."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	188

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	1

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	2

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Peplink SpeedFusion?

In the Philippines, VPN usage may not be widely known, but we leverage VPN effectively within my organization. I've s...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Peplink SpeedFusion?

I rate Peplink SpeedFusion's pricing an eight out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Peplink SpeedFusion?

The product needs to aggregate the bandwidth of different ISPs. It needs to improve scalability as well.

See all answers

What do you like most about SonicWall SMA?

Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall SMA?

The pricing for the solution could be a lot less.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SonicWall SMA?

I haven't utilized the high availability and scalability features of SonicWall SMA yet because I've never had a need ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 13% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 6% of the time

OPNsense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortinet FortiGate Competitors

Cradlepoint NetCloud vs Peplink SpeedFusion

Compared 21% of the time

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Peplink SpeedFusion

Compared 13% of the time

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN vs Peplink SpeedFusion

Compared 9% of the time

Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform vs Peplink SpeedFusion

Compared 6% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs Peplink SpeedFusion

Compared 3% of the time

More Peplink SpeedFusion Competitors

Citrix Gateway vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 12% of the time

SonicWall Netextender vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 11% of the time

Ivanti Connect Secure vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 11% of the time

Sangfor SSL VPN vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 10% of the time

Cisco IOS SSL VPN vs SonicWall SMA

Compared 4% of the time

More SonicWall SMA Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

January 2026

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Peplink SpeedFusion

January 2026

Download Peplink SpeedFusion product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall SMA

January 2026

Download SonicWall SMA product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

No data available

SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

Peplink’s patent-pending SpeedFusion technology powers enterprise VPNs that tap into the bandwidth of up to 13 low-cost cable, DSL, 3G/4G/LTE, and other links connected anywhere on your corporate or institutional WAN. Whether you’re transferring a few documents or driving realtime POS data, video feeds, and VoIP conversations, SpeedFusion pumps all your data down a single fat datapipe that’s budget-friendly, ultra-fast, and easily configurable to suit any networking environment.

Peplink

SonicWall SMA is a unified secure access gateway that enables organizations to provide anytime, anywhere and any device access to mission critical corporate resources. SMA's granular access control policy engine, context aware device authorization, application level VPN and advanced authentication with single sign-on empowers organizations to embrace BYOD and mobility in a hybrid IT environment.

SonicWall

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

MIT Robotics Team, Intel, Apple, Google, Hootsuite, Northrop Gruman, Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Avocent, GE, VW, Marriott, Renaissance, WSI, Union /Pacific

UnitedStack, Newport City Homes, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, PRIME aerostructures GmbH, Celtic Manor Resort

Buyer's Guide

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

December 2025

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