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SonicWall NSv vs Stormshield Network Security 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
7.2
Number of Reviews
317
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
SonicWall NSv
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (35th)
Stormshield Network Security
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (12th)
 

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.
Sumesh Panikkar - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides effective threat prevention and helps improve security
We face some challenges when we upgrade the solution. If I use NSv 400, I can't upgrade to the next generation. We cannot upgrade the VM to the next generation. We have to rebuild a new VM and copy the configurations. We cannot upgrade straightaway. The solution must allow us to upgrade the same machine to a newer version without many changes.
BV
It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use. Their support needs improvement, as they could not help us and everything stopped working.
We are not happy with the support. It is a basic support offering. Sometimes, we have to chase support on progress, which is not good, especially on firewalls. We are an enterprise and we have firewalls on the edge. If we have an issue, I want support to be on top of issues, because for us, it's a lot of money if the firewall fails. They only give support up to a specific level, and when we like to exceed that level of support, then we need to fall back on our reseller. This is one issue. If your reseller landscape is not really up to speed, then in the most critical cases, we're depending on the reseller and not on the support of Stormshield because we cannot escalate. It's impossible for us to escalate a situation at Stormshield by ourselves. We have to fall back on our reseller. When our reseller was on vacation, it was impossible for us to act on an issue. We had just created a brand new firewall cluster to offload our website. Then, all of a sudden, we bumped into root errors on the connection which pointed to the firewall, and Stormshield support couldn't even help us fix it. Therefore, we had serious issues for a couple of weeks and it was all related to firewalls. It was a combination of unexpected or unwanted behavior and bugs. Sometimes things happen that can be due to configuration errors or something we did ourselves, which is not according to the plan, eventually we ruled everything out, and it was mainly due to the firmware on the Stormshield firewalls. The biggest issue was their support department was not able to help us, then everything stops. This is a no-go area for me. I would rate their support as a five out of 10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The user interface is relatively easy. The devices are easy to deploy and figure out when you have experience with other security appliances."
"The solution is stable."
"We've found the solution to be pretty stable."
"We purchased Fortinet because of the pricing, its functionality, because it met our requirements, and the total cost of ownership over five years was quite reasonable. In the market, Fortinet is rated quite well."
"There are lots of features and most of them are deployed for internet security. Users are protected if they accidentally go to some malicious sites."
"The product is very stable, easy to troubleshoot, and configure, so it has reduced the time it takes for support."
"The inspection and web security features are most valuable."
"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."
"The product helps improve our security."
"The solution has no additional charges and no restrictions on the number of users."
"The security of this system is fantastic, including the IPS and IDS."
"One of the standout features of SonicWall is its simplicity in creating and managing rules."
"We purchased the AGSS Bundle (Advanced Gateway Security Suite) for the security services, such as antivirus, intrusion prevention system, and anti-spyware botnet GUI."
"SonicWall NSV is easy to use, and you can use it to manage the logs easily."
"The customization of firewall rules provides great value to our customers as it allows them to lock things up in the way that they desire. When it is used for internal access, with a VPN in place for remote workers, the firewalling services provided by Azure, such as the default services that can be turned on, are applied. However, the use of a software-based virtual firewall gives us greater flexibility in introducing security controls for customers who are publishing applications that are publicly accessible from the public cloud. This virtual firewall provides an additional layer of security and more extensive security control options to ensure the protection of our customers' valuable information and assets."
"Our organization's main concern is stability, and this is a stable solution."
"The most valuable features are the IPS, the firewall function, and the price."
"It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"I like how you can configure the rules. There is the task for the rules and a task for the network configuration. It also provides SMD filtering, and it can be integrated with the active directory for the users, their mission, and the VPN configuration. We are here in Sudan, and Stormshield didn't work in Sudan for more than a decade. Stormshield is a very strong firewall and very easy to configure and maintain. I am just working with the firewall solution, and we don't have any other solutions like endpoint solutions or something like that."
"A very robust product."
"I like that it works fine. Stormshield is a very good solution."
"The solution has improved my organization because I can see what traffic is happening and I can use it to block and prevent attacks."
 

Cons

"The cloud features can be improved."
"When we cluster the two Fortinet FortiGate boxes together we have some issues."
"They need to improve their technical support."
"The command line is complicated, and the interface could be better."
"The biggest "gotcha" is that if the client purchases what they call the UTM shared bundle, which has unified threat management on both, it's not as easy to manage if you have more than one firewall."
"Lacks training for new features."
"The main aspect of FortiGate that could be improved is load balancing. Our management team does not want to buy another appliance for only load balancing."
"They've become quite expensive."
"We face some challenges when we upgrade the solution."
"SonicWall NSV's initial setup is complicated and requires good knowledge."
"An area that could be improved is the export and import settings functionality."
"There are limitations to bandwidth management."
"It has been brought to our attention by a few customers that they are dissatisfied with the fact that our virtualized service is only offered as a subscription option on the cloud. However, it is worth noting that many other similar services are also offered through a subscription model on the cloud and not through perpetual licensing. It is unclear why these customers would have an issue with this subscription service when so many others are utilizing similar methods."
"I would like to see the reporting opened up and have several more opportunities for automatic reports."
"SonicWall NSV's SSL VPN could increase its number of users to 100-plus users."
"The filtering configuration could be better. We have some difficulties with the filtering configuration and the filter extension. It's not that easy. It's not that straightforward. In the next release, I would like to see a reporting system. Stormshield doesn't have any tutorials on how to do the configuration and things like that. They just have documentation on the website. If you want to configure, for example, Cisco or Fortinet, you can find tutorials on YouTube. They show you how to configure the features, and so on. In Stormshield, there is nothing on social media or the internet on how to configure different things. The lack of documentation or the lack of material makes it difficult for others to adopt this solution."
"With Stormshield, there are difficulties joining things, and it can be complex depending on the architecture."
"A more user-friendly interface would be helpful."
"It could be better if it were more user-friendly. It's too complicated for us to use it. The price could be better as well."
"This is not a next-generation firewall."
"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."
"Improvement is needed in terms of the technical support of the manufacturer."
"The SD card could be more secure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Fortinet FortiGate as a less expensive solution than Palo Alto."
"The price of FortiGate is good."
"Pricing and licensing is a little bit complicated in FortiGate. They are always on the higher side. This is one issue that we always raise with the company that they should reduce the price according to Indian market requirements. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"The product pricing is reasonable."
"It has been two years. I don't remember the actual price, but it was affordable. We buy the boxes and then use the license for three years."
"It is quite affordable for our customers. There is a separate cost for IPS, antivirus, web filtering, and other features. They have a great choice of licenses. You can go for the license that you want, which is quite useful."
"It is expensive. You need to pay for the subscription every year, which is very expensive. The subscription includes technical support and hardware exchange in case of failure."
"By default, they give SD-WAN along with the firewall. They don't have separate licensing for the SD-WAN functionality. However, they have security licenses that are sold separately on a subscription basis. Customers can consume these security features to protect their users from internet traffic."
"We are currently using the trial version."
"SonicWall NSV is not very costly."
"The tool is moderately priced."
"Our initial purchase, which included a three-year term of support, was about $25,000 USD."
"The solution's pricing is good for the technology it offers."
"The solution’s pricing is less compared to other products."
"The pricing could be better."
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."
"I think the price is good."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
24%
Government
8%
Legal Firm
7%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
22%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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 a...
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...
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 ...
What do you like most about SonicWall NSV?
The product helps improve our security.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSV?
The tool is moderately priced. We need to purchase an additional license for NSM. We can manage all the firewalls thr...
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSV?
We face some challenges when we upgrade the solution. If I use NSv 400, I can't upgrade to the next generation. We ca...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
SonicWall Network Security Virtual
NETASQ Firewalls
 

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
Comlogic, Depaul, Hutt City Council
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Find out what your peers are saying about SonicWall NSv vs. Stormshield Network Security and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.