We are using the solution for our internal and client purposes. We are a cloud service provider.
Manager | Engineering | Cloud Managed Services at Sify Technologies
The product is secure, robust, and reliable, but it is very expensive
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is robust and reliable."
- "The product is expensive."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The solution provides good application delivery and network optimization features. We use all the features provided by the solution. It fulfills our requirements. All our infrastructure is set up with high availability through hardware and virtualization in all flavors and levels based on the customer requirements.
What needs improvement?
The pricing must be more flexible. We get billed for firewalls based on the usage. It will be helpful if the solution provides such flexibility.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for many years.
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
886,011 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is scalable. It meets the requirements.
How are customer service and support?
We have contacted the technical support team. The team is customer-friendly and knowledgeable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment takes just one minute because we use scripts. We need one technical person for the deployment.
What was our ROI?
The solution is robust and reliable. It provides us with security.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive. We pay a yearly licensing fee.
What other advice do I have?
We recommend the product to others. It is scalable and reliable. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Senior Network and Security Specialist at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
It's like a Swiss Army knife, and you can scale it horizontally or vertically as much as you want
Pros and Cons
- "BIG-IP can do anything. It's like a Swiss Army knife."
- "BIG-IP LTM is taking a long time to mature in cloud environments. They plan to improve cloud integration in the next version, but it isn't out yet. It's essential because more companies are moving to the cloud these days and using things like Kubernetes or microservices. F5 needs to improve in that direction, and they are."
What is our primary use case?
BIG-IP has multiple uses, including VPN, application firewall, and load balancing.
What is most valuable?
BIG-IP can do anything. It's like a Swiss Army knife.
What needs improvement?
BIG-IP LTM is taking a long time to mature in cloud environments. They plan to improve cloud integration in the next version, but it isn't out yet. It's essential because more companies are moving to the cloud these days and using things like Kubernetes or microservices. F5 needs to improve in that direction, and they are.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used BIG-IP for about 15 years
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
BIG-IP LTM's hardware is stable, and the operating system is great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
BIG-IP can scale horizontally or vertically because it's a blade system. If you need more hardware on the same appliance, you can put blades on it. They are a bit expensive but work fine. You can create a cluster if you want to scale horizontally and put any hardware you need on it. You can scale as much as you want.
How are customer service and support?
I rate F5 support seven out of 10. The response time is okay, but sometimes you have to explain your issue to multiple support engineers before it gets resolved. It's a common issue with most tech support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
Setting up BIG-IP LTM was complicated in the beginning, but it has gotten easier over time. The deployment time varies depending on your environment. You have to connect and activate the license, but the operating system and modules are pre-installed. The basic setup takes only an hour, but you might need to do some additional configuration.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
BIG-IP LTM is somewhat pricey for a small company with a limited budget.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM)
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
886,011 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior System Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Excellent application security and data collection
Pros and Cons
- "LTM's most valuable features include application security, data collection, and parameter-level rules."
- "LTM would be improved with the inclusion of signature-based blocking."
What is our primary use case?
I mainly use LTM to protect applications.
What is most valuable?
LTM's most valuable features include application security, data collection, and parameter-level rules.
What needs improvement?
LTM would be improved with the inclusion of signature-based blocking. In the next release, LTM should include the ability to configure account details and access user logs.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using LTM for six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
LTM is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
LTM is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward, so long as you have some understanding of the solution, and it should take around forty-five minutes. However, if you're unfamiliar with LTM, it will take longer.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend LTM to other users and give it a rating of nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Security Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Effective policy and access manager, flexible, and simple setup
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are DNS, APM, and ASM. Additionally, it is easy to use and you have a lot of flexibility to use the solution within a network."
- "Additionally, it is easy to use and you have a lot of flexibility to use the solution within a network."
- "The user interface could be improved in F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager."
- "The user interface could be improved in F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager."
What is our primary use case?
We are using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager for all the modules for DNS applications. It is a core product for us.
How has it helped my organization?
Since the COVID pandemic hit the whole company has been working remotely. It's improved the remote working by handling the security and the reachability of the company.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are DNS, APM, and ASM. Additionally, it is easy to use and you have a lot of flexibility to use the solution within a network.
What needs improvement?
The user interface could be improved in F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager.
There's can be some improvements done on the access policy manager(APM) such as supporting APIs and web services.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager for approximately eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have found F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager to be stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of the solution is good.
We have approximately 20 engineers using the solution.
The solution is extensively being used and we plan to increase usage.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We use many other solutions in our company.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation of the solution in-house.
We have one engineer that handles the support of the F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager.
What was our ROI?
We have seen an ROI by using this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are on an annual license to use the solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have evaluated other solutions but we found the scalability and usability to be better in F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager.
What other advice do I have?
I strongly recommend this solution.
I rate F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior IT Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Improves load balance and efficiency
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are the WAF and the big IP."
- "This product has improved our load balance, especially when it comes to using the termination at the A5 level, making us more efficient."
- "The initial setup can take a long time."
- "The initial setup was straightforward, but it took some time to complete."
What is our primary use case?
My primary use cases of this solution are as a big IP solution, a WAF solution, EPM, and reverse proxy.
How has it helped my organization?
This product has improved our load balance, especially when it comes to using the termination at the A5 level, making us more efficient.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the WAF and the big IP.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for over eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This solution is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My impression is that it's scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward, but it took some time to complete.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution as eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Associate CSA at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Knowledgeable support, great stability, and easy to use
Pros and Cons
- "Its user interface is very easy to use on a day-to-day basis. It is very user-friendly."
- "Its user interface is very easy to use on a day-to-day basis; it is very user-friendly."
- "My only point of contention would be that it is a little pricey."
- "My only point of contention would be that it is a little pricey."
What is our primary use case?
We are using it for internal traffic management and traffic load balancing. Its version is up to date.
What is most valuable?
Its user interface is very easy to use on a day-to-day basis. It is very user-friendly.
What needs improvement?
My only point of contention would be that it is a little pricey.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Its stability has been great. I haven't had any issues with it in terms of downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable, especially in the cloud. On-prem, it may need additional licensing or an additional appliance. That depends on how large and what the use case is specifically for the customer.
How are customer service and support?
I'd evaluate their tech support as a five out of five. They are very knowledgeable. They have the answers, and if they don't, they're able to escalate and point us to the correct people or provide the correct literature.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
I was not a part of the initial deployment or rollout. There are three people who are managing it and deploying it. They are system admins.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is a little pricey. I wish the pricing was cheaper, but I wish the pricing was cheaper for everything.
What other advice do I have?
Make sure that you know how much traffic you're going to have coming through because that can affect whether you need a big box or a small box.
I would rate it a nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Lead Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Is stable, scalable, and easy to install
Pros and Cons
- "Currently, it's distributing the load perfectly, as per my understanding of our requirements."
- "Currently, it's distributing the load perfectly, as per my understanding of our requirements."
- "I'm not very sure about the security with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). We have our own private data center, but we are going to migrate our private data center into the Azure cloud environment. Security will then be a major concern when we migrate our own whole infrastructure to the public cloud."
- "I'm not very sure about the security with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). We have our own private data center, but we are going to migrate our private data center into the Azure cloud environment."
What is most valuable?
As an IT developer, mostly I use load balancing for the traffic. Currently, it's distributing the load perfectly, as per my understanding of our requirements.
It's definitely scalable and is stable as well.
The initial setup is not complex, and the technical support is fine.
What needs improvement?
I'm not very sure about the security with F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). We have our own private data center, but we are going to migrate our private data center into the Azure cloud environment. Security will then be a major concern when we migrate our own whole infrastructure to the public cloud.
So, I think they should improve in terms of security because nowadays, most organizations try to build their infrastructure on public cloud.
More documentation should be uploaded because very limited documentation is available on the internet. It will also help us to understand the system before purchasing the product.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's definitely scalable. It's a distributed architecture and micro services, so it's scalable. In fact, we are planning to increase usage and scale horizontally.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't have any issues with respect to technical support; it has been fine.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex.
What other advice do I have?
If you have your own data center, then you can use F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM). I don't see any issues because they have been in the industry for a long time, and F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) is very stable.
I would rate this solution at eight on a scale from one to ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Lead Network Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Secure, and has a lot of available documentation that makes it easy to install and deploy
Pros and Cons
- "There is a lot of documentation available."
- "F5 BIG IP is a rock-solid solution."
- "Technical support could be improved."
- "Technical support could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
I am an integrator. I implement solutions for our customers.
It's straightforward deployment application delivery control.
Our customers have a lot of services that are public, in their internal network and external public network.
They use F5 BIG-IP to publish these services in a secure manner.
They use it for publish billing system services, and some uses for their internal services, such as the DNS active directory.
What is most valuable?
F5 BIG IP is a rock-solid solution. It's a very good solution.
I am very satisfied with the quality of this product.
There is a lot of documentation available.
I'm not very familiar with the services pattern. I am still exploring the features of this solution.
I am just working with a single application, which we need to publish. I don't know how many services they are using, and what kind of services they operate.
What needs improvement?
Technical support could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I am still a bit of a novice. I have only been using F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) for a year.
We are currently deploying this on the service providers but dealing with the IT department for our customers.
It's an enterprise network that is servicing the internal IT traffic for our customers. This is traffic from the IT management systems, and billing systems.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
All systems have bugs, and F5 is not an exception.
In my experience, I didn't face any critical bugs that stopped the deployment.
I don't think that F5 is worse than other vendors in this perspective.
How are customer service and technical support?
I had some cases where I contacted technical support.
They have a good quality level of support and have helped us resolve our issues.
However, I have had a situation where I had a bad experience, but overall it's not the norm, it was just an exception.
I would compare technical support with Cisco, although I would say that Cisco is better.
Technical support could improve.
How was the initial setup?
The setup of the F5 BIG-IP system is a very straightforward process. It is very well documented and is described on the vendor information systems.
They provide a lot of information on their site and on the central portal. You can even find information on YouTube.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am not familiar with the price of this solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others. I am very satisfied with it.
I would rate F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Buyer's Guide
Download our free F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2026
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