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Stormshield Network Security vs WatchGuard Firebox comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024
 

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)
Stormshield Network Security
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (12th)
WatchGuard Firebox
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (12th), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
 

Featured Reviews

DineshKumar28 - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective threat prevention with responsive customer support
We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability. The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in…
YA
Handles monitoring, collection, analysis, and reporting of data in our HQ and branches
Before using this solution, we used one by McAfee. We switched because we have an issue with sanctions for American products. I began with this solution when it was Arkoon Netasq, which later became Stormshield. In addition to this solution, I have experience with Sophos. In our HQ, we have two levels of security. Our Content Filtering is handled by another company.
CarlosArdila - PeerSpot reviewer
Serves as the main firewall for customers' premises and data centers
The initial setup is straightforward. You can deploy it on-premises or using the cloud. If you configure the device to connect to the cloud, you can deploy the Firebox based on templates. You can add a template for a specific client and deploy it for a particular use case. For example, if you're setting it up for a restaurant or a cafe, you can have templates tailored for those businesses. This significantly reduces deployment time, especially if you have several customers of the same type of business. One person is enough for the solution's deployment, but it will run in less than an hour. A network security engineer meets with clients to gather configuration requirements. He prepares a configuration template before the implementation. When he arrives at the site, he turns on the device, applies the template, tests everything, and then migrates the settings from the existing router or firewall to the Firebox.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's a user-friendly firewall. Most of the tasks are very simple. It's simple to configure and troubleshoot this firewall."
"I like several features that this product has, such as antivirus and internet navigation inspection. It is also simple to use."
"All of the features of Fortinet FortiGate are useful and the security protection is good."
"The application control features, such as Facebook blocking and Spotify blocking, are the most valuable."
"I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be scalable."
"It has very easy management and an amazing ETM configuration."
"Fortinet FortiGate meets all the security demands of my industry. It covers endpoint security, including web interface, DNS security, and ELP. I'm currently using the latest version. The features that have most improved our network security are Web Control, filtering, application control, IDS, IPS policies, and Deep SSL inspection."
"Advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless and simple integration into a large network."
"It's an easy, straightforward management platform to use."
"The most valuable features are the IPS, the firewall function, and the price."
"This solution is quick and easy to configure."
"I like that it works fine. Stormshield is a very good solution."
"A very robust product."
"I can see what traffic is going on. I can easily block any programs from attacks."
"The scalability of the solution is good."
"Easily manageable in a variety of environments."
"The solution has many security features. We have an intrusion provision system and filtering and block filtering."
"The most effective and helpful features of WatchGuard Firebox, especially when purchased with the full suite of applications, are its bundled applications and subscriptions for comprehensive protection against various threats."
"The ports that I have assigned appear to be unattainable to outside 'mal-actors,' unless they have an address registered on the internet that this thing is expecting. That's a layer of security."
"The throughput is great. It's perfect. We have no issues whatsoever. The management features are very powerful..."
"The most valuable features of this solution are live logging, rule setup and maintenance, and VPN creation."
"The solution has increased productivity with our outside salespeople being able to connect into their computers and use those remotely."
"Among the most valuable features is the ease of use — love the interface — of both the web interface and of the WatchGuard System Manager."
"The ease of use is most valuable. You can quickly train someone who hasn't seen a firewall in life. You can get people up to speed, and in a few months, they are able to manage this product very easily. It is a very user-friendly, scalable, and stable product. Its price is also spot-on."
 

Cons

"It would be ideal if they had some sort of GUI interface for troubleshooting and diagnostics."
"We were not able to build a full-mesh VPN; however, I am not sure if this was the fault of Fortinet FortiGate."
"I would like to see improvements in the support from Fortinet. Here in the Philippines, whenever we have problems with a Fortinet product, we mostly ask for support from distributors and resellers and not directly from Fortinet."
"There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."
"The central management for the FortiGate Fortinet Firewall needs improvement. They have the manager to do the essential management for both SD-WAN and for the security policy. They should also improve the SD-WAN function."
"The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."
"A couple of things I've seen that need improvement, especially in terms of a hard coding. The driver-level active moment really is out-of-the-box and we have to have contact the customer support and sometimes it is difficult to resolve."
"One area for improvement is the performance on bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."
"This is not a next-generation firewall."
"This solution has a big problem with web filtering and it needs to be improved."
"The biggest issue was their support department was not able to help us, then everything stops. This is a no-go area for me."
"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."
"Stormshield Network Security is quite expensive."
"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."
"The product must improve its pricing."
"I'd like to have better access to workstation monitoring, connection monitoring, and the amount of time an address is being used, to better gauge proper network utilization. If I knew that something was connected to a particular external location for an extended period that seems abnormal, I'd be able to act upon it."
"Make WatchGuard Firebox capable of integrating with third-party vendors like FireMon, Splunk, Tenable, etc."
"It's sometimes not easy to understand and can require specialist assistance."
"There is a slight learning curve."
"I think one area for improvement in this solution would be enhancing communication with tools like Active Directory. This would make the tool easier to integrate and effective for users."
"Some of the configuration options are somewhat confusing."
"I would like to see more simplified management of the firewall... It's a complicated system to use."
"In terms of what could be improved, I would say their web blocker feature. It is still quite a confusing setup, especially when you want to filter out a particular category for granularity. For example, you do not want to filter Facebook but you do want to filter Facebook games only. It can be done, but the process to do it is very confusing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"FortiGate's pricing falls within the mid-range when compared to other leading firewall solutions."
"It's an expensive solution."
"Price-wise, it's at a good price point for our market."
"The license is yearly. We pay for the top end. It's called 360."
"The pricing is very reasonable."
"Here in Brazil, we're going through difficult economic times and the tax on the dollar is high. All the solutions from minor competitors are growing in the market. The prices have come more competitive."
"Its price is normal. If I compare it with other vendors, such as Palo Alto, it's normal. Palo Alto is expensive."
"Its pricing is competitive with other solutions."
"The pricing could be better."
"I think the price is good."
"We bought a three-year license, and we renew it whenever it expires. The price could be better. It's always very expensive."
"For mid-sized companies, they sell their appliances for good prices."
"We chose Stormshield for its price, as the Azure firewall was too expensive."
"The price of this solution and the price of support are ok."
"The SN200 series costs between $500 USD and $600 USD per year, whereas the SN700 series costs approximately $1,000 annually."
"I spent $600 or $800 on this product and I'm paying a couple of hundred dollars a year in a subscription service to keep the lights on, on it... It works out to $100 or $200 a year if you buy several years at once. It's fair."
"WatchGuard offers competitive pricing with attractive margins, benefiting both the company and its partners."
"WatchGuard had a very competitive price. It was only 10 to 20 percent more than a single instance device but with that extra cost it provided a second load balancing device... unlike other brands whose method of hardware and software licensing would have doubled our cost."
"The cheapest configuration, for maybe five people, is approximately $500."
"The licensing costs are comparatively lower than other providers, and I would rate the pricing as five out of five."
"We don't have any other costs other than the licensing stuff."
"I find the solution to be very affordable."
"I usually tell people that it's really affordable as well, particularly compared to Cisco."
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Unified Threat Management (UTM) solutions are best for your needs.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
22%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Hospitality Company
6%
Retailer
5%
 

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 is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We are providing our services to all WatchGuard customers in the region.
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We just use it as a secondary WiFi device. We're a small office and we needed to set up a WiFi device for a few of ou...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Firebox?
We're a hospital and we use it for developing our incoming and outgoing policies, and we also use it for VPN.
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
NETASQ Firewalls
No data available
 

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
ACESUR group, Ministry of Education Oman, Anios Laboratories, Zain, DLM Location
Ellips, Diecutstickers.com, Clarke Energy, NCR, Wrest Park, Homeslice Pizza, Fortessa Tableware Solutions, The Phoenix Residence
Find out what your peers are saying about Stormshield Network Security vs. WatchGuard Firebox and other solutions. Updated: November 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.