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Peplink SpeedFusion vs SonicWall SMA comparison

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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
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
584
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Firewalls (1st), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Peplink SpeedFusion
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (12th), WAN Edge (16th)
SonicWall SMA
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Universal Access Gateways (2nd), SSL VPN (6th), Enterprise Infrastructure VPN (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Peplink SpeedFusion4.3%
Fortinet FortiGate12.3%
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN10.1%
Other73.3%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
Universal Access Gateways Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SonicWall SMA42.6%
Citrix Gateway41.9%
Other15.5%
Universal Access Gateways
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
MJ
IT Officer at Department of Education - Philippines
Helps to connect remote systems and offers collaborative features
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.
BA
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Fortigate is very scalable to serve our customers' needs. We have scaled already from fifty to more than a hundred instances of Fortinet FortiGate. Around 20 staff are required for deployment and maintenance, mostly engineers."
"The main value comes from the simplicity of the product in terms of configuring and managing."
"SD-WAN has had a positive impact by reducing the operational costs in terms of headcount and management."
"It has a valuable SD-WAN feature and provides good performance."
"I only deal with it from a security analyst's point of view. I don't really get into the features of the actual FortiGate. From the security point of view, it works, and it does its job."
"It's very fast and easy to configure."
"The dashboard I have found the most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate."
"The performance is good."
"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."
"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."
"The most valuable feature is the virtual VPN concentrator."
"Our customers find it to be an interesting and tempting solution."
"It is a very stable product."
"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."
"Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security."
"SonicWall SMA allows us to provide CML-based access to any user."
"This solution has many options for remote desktop and access."
"I like the load balancing capability."
"The performance is good."
"Secure Mobile Access (SMA) is easy to configure and the deployment is straightforward. However, this is mostly because of the AWS setup."
"The solution is reliable and has good overall performance."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is they have IT consultants that know SonicWall."
 

Cons

"One of the features that I would like to have is to do with endpoint production, it should be integrated. For example, the firewall gets notified of any kind of forensic event that needs to be done, such as if there is a ransomware attack and how it originated, all those records have to be available from the firewall, which is not."
"Fortinet FortiGate SWG's SSL offloading features need improvement."
"The sniffing packets or packet captures, can be simplified and improved because it's a little confusing."
"Previously it had a hiccup around a bug within the authentication VPN due to the firmware, but after updating, it's easier to control."
"I would rate the technical support of Fortinet a six or seven out of ten. It is not very helpful. I would like to see improvements in their support."
"There are too many updates coming for VPN, and the VPN keeps disconnecting frequently, which I find problematic. It does what it's supposed to do, but I practically face reconnection issues with the VPN."
"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."
"It could use more templates for third-party site-to-site VPN setups other than FortiGate and Cisco."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"They don't have next generation firewall, UTM, like the other competitors."
"The product needs to aggregate the bandwidth of different ISPs. It needs to improve scalability as well."
"The stability has room for improvement."
"SonicWall's reporting isn't good. Reports should be part of a data plan. The login mechanism should be improved. It would be helpful if the client could use an agent to log in. An agent-server model would improve the performance of the RDB, which consumes a lot of bandwidth."
"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 solution could integrate better with other platforms."
"This is an expensive solution and I think that the price could be improved."
"SonicWall SMA is difficult to use and it does not provide easy access to different parts of the network."
"The product's technical support services could be improved."
"User interface could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay $500 per year for the license."
"The solution is offered as an annual license."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is the lowest in the market."
"I rate FortiGate's pricing a five out of ten."
"We have the full version of Fortinet FortiGate and we are on a three-year contract with a commitment of five years."
"For our organization, the licensing costs are approximately $7,000 per year."
"Fortinet bundles FortiGate with other products and because of this, the price is a little expensive to some SMB enterprises."
"I give the pricing of the solution a six out of ten."
"Perpetual licensing, which is good for customers that don't want any annual or subscription based license."
"It has lifetime licensing. Its pricing is high for most of the markets."
"It's not cheap, but it is highly competitive."
"Its licensing fee is on a yearly basis. For the price, it is actually pretty good value."
"I rate Peplink SpeedFusion's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The cost is in the middle, a five out of ten."
"All the costs are included in a bundled 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."
"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
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Real Estate/Law Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business359
Midsize Enterprise133
Large Enterprise190
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

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Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about SonicWall SMA?
Blocklisting and allowlisting are the most beneficial features for network security.
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 ...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
SonicWall Aventail, SonicWall SMA SSL-VPN, SonicWall Secure Mobile Access
 

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
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions. Updated: January 2026.
883,619 professionals have used our research since 2012.