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GuillermoRoman - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology Manager at Tech Mahindra Limited
Real User
Expandable and reliable with good local support
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution can scale."
  • "The interface could be better."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for security reasons. It's our wall between the inside to outside. That's why we are using it. We use it for VPNs also. People who work outside of the office use the VPN through the firewall, for example.

What is most valuable?

The solution is quite stable.

The solution can scale.

We have good local support.

What needs improvement?

The interface could be better.

We would like the initial setup to be a bit easier.

It isn’t missing any features. We’re pretty happy with it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I’ve been using the solution for two years.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate IPS
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate IPS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,690 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It’s very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn’t crash or freeze. It’s reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

While the solution is scalable, we don’t need to scale it for our operations.

We have about 80 people on the solution right now.

How are customer service and support?

We have a local company that assists us with support when we need it. They are pretty good.

How was the initial setup?

The solution is pretty easy to set up. However, you do need some previous knowledge. It helps if you understand the environment. It’s not hard per se, however, it can be a bit tricky. We’d like it if it was a bit easier.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I can’t speak of how much the cost of the license it. I don’t have any details in relation to the pricing.

What other advice do I have?

I am a customer and end-user.

I’m not sure which version of the solution we’re using.

It is a good solution. I’d recommend it to others.

Overall, it’s a good solution, and I would recommend it to others.

I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Mostafa  Nawar - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network & Security Engineer at TransIT
Real User
Intuitive to use, easy to set up, and simple to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is easy to use."
  • "Overall, the integration could be better."

What is our primary use case?

I use the Fortinet as a perimeter firewall. All of the servers are on this Fortinet firewall. All traffic comes from the perimeters and email accounts and we also use it for this purpose.

What is most valuable?

The solution is easy to use.

It is a scalable product.

The solution is stable. 

Its GUI is very intuitive.

I found the solution very easy to set up.

The IPS's correct application control is perfect.

What needs improvement?

Overall, the integration could be better. The FortiManager is likely not good. I can't use it as it is unstable most of the time. We'd like to have an SD-WAN for a sandbox, for the Fortinet perimeter. We'd like to be able to manage different boxes.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is great. There are no issues with crashing or freezing. There are no bugs or glitches. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable and easy to expand. 

We have ten users on the solution. It is mostly the network team that deals with the product for the most part. We have 200 or so end-users as well that indirectly use it regularly.

We do plan to increase usage and would like to upgrade to a Fortinet perimeter firewall (a 501 model), however, on the financial side, it's difficult right now. 

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is great. I called them twice in the last month and they were very helpful and responsive. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We also have experience with Palo Alto products.

We had ASAs and other legacy firewalls that we used in the past.

How was the initial setup?

The product is very straightforward and simple to set up. It's not a complex process at all. 

We have around 10 engineers that handle the operation, maintenance, and follow-up.

What about the implementation team?

We used partners as the integrator to facilitate anything with the vendor. It didn't take long and we were able to have different timelines for different deployment areas. 

What was our ROI?

I have not witnessed an ROI.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost of the product is reasonable. It's not overly expensive. 

We pay a yearly license that renews every three years. 

It's been two years since we set up the license. I can't recall how much we agreed to pay.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at Fortinet and Palo Alto. Fortinet is well known in the industry, which is why we focused on it. It was reasonably priced and offered good efficiency. 

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution an eight out of ten. We're pretty happy with the product in general.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate IPS
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate IPS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,690 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President at Eureka Forbes Ltd
Real User
Effective logging method, easy to understand, implement, and maintain.
Pros and Cons
  • "It's simple to operate and use."
  • "The most important feature to have is zero trust, which is lacking in Fortinet FortiGate IPS."

What is our primary use case?

Fortinet FortiGate IPS utilizes the main firewalls.

What is most valuable?

Fortinet FortiGate IPS is a very good firewall. We don't have any complaints, it is doing its job correctly.

The functionality is good.

It's simple to operate and use.

There are various firewalls on the market, but we found Fortinet to be the most appropriate for the structures we have in place for our company. It is simple to comprehend, run, and maintain. The logging method is effective; it provides us with a clear picture of how threats are deflected or avoided.

What needs improvement?

When everything is taken into account, the migration is quite painless. I believe that improvements will continue to come from the fact that as threat vectors get more complex around the world, advanced threat protection and deep packet inspection will become increasingly vital. That is where technology needs to advance much more quickly.

The most important feature to have is zero trust, which is lacking in Fortinet FortiGate IPS.

Zero trust is something that has to be embedded and I would still like to see how Fortinet approaches it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate IPS for a couple of years.

This solution is updated on a regular basis.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The Fortinet FortiGate IPS is an extremely stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I can't speak to scalability because we are getting started with virtual machine-based firewalls. We are transitioning to FortiGate VM.

In our organization, we have 3,000 users.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good. They are made up of experienced professionals.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward.

This solution is maintained by one person. We are using AMC services, which includes multiple people, but we have only chosen one.

What about the implementation team?

During the deployment phase, we always utilize the assistance of an integrator. Working with them was a good experience for us.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing costs are very competitive.

There are no fees in addition to the licensing costs.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

When evaluating the solution, we wanted to make sure that it was simple to use, operate, and simple to maintain.

We have done a lot of research because we're bringing in the cloud version. We considered other vendors, but because we already had an on-premises Fortinet with a robust backend monitoring system, we decided that extending Fortinet into the Cloud was the best solution.

Gaining a good understanding of the simplicity of cloud migration will take about two months. It's not so much the implementation as it is the services that support it.

Before proposing a solution, it was critical that they have a progressive awareness of what we have and that they comprehend our requirements.

Because Fortinet was involved, we were reassured that they were acting in our best interests.

We also utilize the VPN with Fortinet, but we intend to go to zero trust in the future, eliminating the need for this dependency.

What other advice do I have?

We are expanding our Fortinet for our cloud security. The VM will be implemented in our public cloud, which is where we operate.

I wouldn't say it's specific to FortiGate; it applies to all firewalls. You should consider the simplicity of the task at hand, as well as the convenience of deployment, maintenance, and, most crucially, the availability of qualified personnel to carry it out. These are the reasons we chose Fortinet.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate IPS an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
TiagoSilva - PeerSpot reviewer
Security coordinator at a tech consulting company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 5
Enables organizations to prevent access to classified IP addresses and protects environments from attacks
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution protects the environment from internal and external threats."
  • "Two-way inspections are not possible in FortiGate."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for a large government customer. We helped them migrate from Check Point to Fortinet FortiGate. The customer had a lot of applications that are accessed by HTTPS. It was necessary to put some protection in place to prevent certain internet access. They have a reverse proxy published behind FortiGate. The reverse proxy balances the servers.

FortiGate uses IPS profiles for the reverse proxy. The operation system is Linux, and the server is Apache with HTTPS of medium, high, and critical severity. FortiGate is used to inspect the connections between the servers and the customers. It is used to protect the environment.

What is most valuable?

We use .NET services to block IPs. We use the tool’s features to prevent access to classified IP addresses. We use ISDB to prevent network access to malware, botnet, BitTorrent networks, and mining for cryptocurrencies.

We prevent access to certain classified addresses to stop attackers from understanding our environment. Attackers try to study the environment to explore its vulnerabilities and attack us. The solution protects the environment from internal and external threats.

What needs improvement?

Our customers have a specific application for two-way inspection. Two-way inspections are not possible in FortiGate. It is usually available in load-balancing solutions like F5. It would be a good improvement if the product provides two-way inspection features in the next release.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for five years.

How are customer service and support?

The support is good. We need to raise specific tickets for specific problems. If we have any issues, the team helps us solve them.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to deploy the solution. The configuration of the firewall is simple.

What was our ROI?

The protection of the customers’ networks is our return on investment. The integration with FortiAnalyzer allows us to see the traffic and perform troubleshooting. Creating a profile with IPS does not require many steps. The level of protection provided by the tool is better than other vendors.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Fortinet FortiGate is better compared to Check Point.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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PeerSpot user
Medical Coder at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Reliable, simple to implement, and offers good accessibility
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is stable."
  • "We'd like to have multi-factor authentication via fiber."

What is our primary use case?

We're a healthcare company and use the solution in many ways. It builds a tunnel between the customer and our office. We use it for directing applications. It clears application problems based on latency and packet loss. People working from home can connect to the VPN in a secure way as well. 

What is most valuable?

We like the accessibility it provides.

Every process we do is underwritten under Fortigate. 

When we have to access the tunnels, we can use a VPN to access applications from the customer. 

We can dig into the security and enforce security policies. Everything is controllable from the server. 

It is easy to set up. 

The solution is stable.

It's reliable.

Technical support is helpful and responsive. 

What needs improvement?

Fortigate is always innovating. I'm not sure if any improvements are needed.

We'd like to have multi-factor authentication via fiber.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for six to seven years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. I'd rate it eight out of ten. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution scales very well if it is the cloud. If there are hare hardware pieces involved, and more users are added, we have to swap out the hardware box. 

Most SMBs are on this solution. We have 20 to 50 customers on the product.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is very good. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have a mixed environment. We have Cisco and Fortigate. Whatever is needed is what we will use. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy. I'd rate the ease of setup nine out of ten. The deployment depends on how long it depends on the design and implementation needs. It might take about a month. Most of the infrastructure is static. 

Right now, we have three people who are able to handle deployment and maintenance. It does depend on what kind of network it is. 

What about the implementation team?

We handled the implementation ourselves. We are certified in Fortigate. We only depend on a vendor for the hardware part and any related warranties. We can do the configuration and building of the firewall. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I'm not sure of the exact pricing. My understanding is it is pretty pricey. I'd rate it seven out of ten. 

What other advice do I have?

We are a customer and end-user.

Fortigate is a one-stop solution for all network needs. There are many features that are embedded into the firewall. The more you use it, the more options will be revealed. It's very strong on the market.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten overall. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Network Cybersecurity Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Reseller
It protects against zero-day threats, which is critical in a constantly changing the threat landscape
Pros and Cons
  • "I like FortiGate's zero-trust capabilities and protection against zero-day threats. Zero-day threat protection is critical because we're seeing constant changes in the threat landscape. The sandboxing and web access controls are also robust."
  • "FortiGate IPS is somewhat pricey compared to other solutions. There is also room for improvement in terms of the radio signals. The FortiGate WiFi has a relatively short range. I've found there is a lag in its zero-day malware response that could be better, and FortiGate could integrate better with other brands of equipment or identity management solutions."

What is our primary use case?

I'm a reseller with clients in industries ranging from healthcare to banking and manufacturing. My customers use FortiGate IPS for network protection and segmentation. 

What is most valuable?

I like FortiGate's zero-trust capabilities and protection against zero-day threats. Zero-day threat protection is critical because we're seeing constant changes in the threat landscape. The sandboxing and web access controls are also robust. 

What needs improvement?

FortiGate IPS is somewhat pricey compared to other solutions. There is also room for improvement in terms of the radio signals. The FortiGate WiFi has a relatively short range. I've found there is a lag in its zero-day malware response that could be better, and FortiGate could integrate better with other brands of equipment or identity management solutions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used FortiGate IPS for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate FortiGate IPS nine out of 10 for stability. When we've had problems with the platform, they were mostly configuration issues, not the fault of the product itself. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate FortiGate IPS eight out of 10 for scalability, but we haven't scaled it up that much. We would have a better idea of its scalability if we used it on a bigger project. We can say with certainty that FortiGate is scalable enough for the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Most of our clients are small and medium-sized companies, but we do some smaller projects on the enterprise side, like consultation and subcontracting. 

How are customer service and support?

I rate Fortinet support eight out of 10. They're generally quite good, but sometimes the response is slower than I would like. When you're paying for support, you usually expect a response in a day or so, but it took Fortinet two or three days to address an issue once. That was the only time I got a slow response. They are usually much quicker. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

I rate FortiGate IPS eight out of 10 for ease of setup. We do on-prem and cloud deployments. It's a hybrid cloud setup where we install FortiGate on virtual machines from AWS. We can typically deploy FortiGate in a day. It might take two days if our client needs a lot of configuration work. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I rate FortiGate IPS two out of 10 for affordability. It's more expensive than competing solutions. It ranges between $1,000 to $7,000 depending on the model. They offer one-year or three-year licenses. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Fortinet FortiGate IPS eight out of 10. If you're already using Fortinet, I recommend staying with it. However, if you want to reduce your costs, you can consider other solutions like SonicWall, Sophos, or Palo Alto. Fortinet is an excellent cybersecurity solution, but it's expensive.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Infrastructure manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Excellent protection for websites, servers and more
Pros and Cons
  • "The feature that I find most valuable is its protection of the websites."
  • "I would like to be able to generate reports about the protections that we have. I would like a report feature."

What is our primary use case?

We have FortiGate with all the licenses - antivirus, IPS, and advanced threat protection. It's a combination of protection in the perimeter. We have configured some rules for IPS protection in the FortiGate perimeter.

We use it as part of a combination of protections because we have the DMT virus, the IPS, and WOFF option. We protect our services like Apache, our website and the internet.

We configure the rules for the Windows server, the Linux server, and Apache and AIS.

What is most valuable?

The feature that I find most valuable is its protection of the websites.

What needs improvement?

I would like to be able to generate reports about the protections that we have. I would like a report feature.

For example, I would like to see that in VPN and FortiGate, that the equipment that connects to the network is evaluated. Right now, FortiGate validates the users in the active directory and the users have the right permissions to connect. I would also add the user and the computers that are allowed in the active directory. It evaluates the actual active directory, and some computers are allowed but not all. Only the computers that are in the active directory. Right now, when you connect to the VPN, FortiGate checks the active directory. They have the check feature but it should be improved.

This solution has records but I would like to see that in IPS you could define your rules - we have almost 10 or 15 rules, and see if these rules provided protections over the month. For example, to track a specific rule across the IPS solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate IPS for five years and Cisco for about eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Yes, it is stable. The solution protects us from attack. We have heard that other companies are being attacked, but we are not since we installed FortiGate.

The way the configuration was supplied was correct and we don't have any events. But we heard about other, similar companies, that do have events, but we don't.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate IPS is scalable.

In our case, we are a company of 100 employees and we selected a solution for 250, so we didn't have the need to scale because we designed it from the beginning for more people. We are still using it after five years. We have to change the equipment because they don't allow us to migrate to a new version. In the renewable licenses, they offered me a trade-in and I returned the last FortiGate and they gave me the new FortiGate. I have the FortiGate 600D model. After five years we had to change the equipment. With Cisco, for example, you can keep going. I have the same model with Cisco for eight years and I didn't have to change it. But in FortiGate, after five years, I had to trade it in.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is excellent. I prefer to open a case directly to FortiGate because I can have a session with a technical contact, and we can review the case directly with the support. We also have some protocols, like BGP in the perimeter, and in two cases, I needed the support person to connect me to another person for technical support to help me with our special protocol.

The support is 24 hours.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup us is easy and friendly.

It took almost a month. In a month, we deployed all the FortiGate with the features and the rules.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to anyone considering Fortinet FortiGate IPS is that it is important to set the right rules and set all the configurations to make them preferred for a partner. The partner makes all the rules that the company needs because if you stay the course, although it's easy and friendly in the beginning, some configurations need a common line and require you to design how it works right around the network. So it is important that you take a partner who has experience with designs and can implement the correct solution for your company.

On a scale of one to ten, I would give Fortinet FortiGate IPS a nine

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1995546 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Analyst at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
An effective checkpoint for intercepting and blocking unwanted traffic
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution effectively blocks unwanted traffic."
  • "It would be helpful to have a better tool for migrating all policy rules using an automatic script."

What is our primary use case?

Our company uses the solution to prevent traffic that is not supposed to be traveling through our firewalls. When we find log issues, we easily fine tune the IPS to block that traffic so it cannot penetrate our environment. 

We have 300 users in a hospital-to-hospital environment where traffic is transmitted through the firewall and intercepted by the IPS for monitoring. 

What is most valuable?

The solution effectively blocks unwanted traffic. 

What needs improvement?

It would be helpful to have a better tool for migrating all policy rules using an automatic script. The current tool does not place entire configurations in their desired locations. It takes time to manually configure for compatibility across different platforms or vendors. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. 

How are customer service and support?

I have not needed technical support. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We migrated from Cisco to the solution. 

How was the initial setup?

The setup is simple and straightforward. Knowledge-based documents are available and useful for setups. 

What about the implementation team?

We implemented the solution in-house. We migrated from Cisco to the solution so it was more of a deployment situation. 

We had some deployment challenges but managed to overcome them. It took an entire day to get the environment running because we could not use the scripting tool for naturals so had to do them manually. 

There is no ongoing maintenance because the solution is not a device, but rather  a software blade provided as a checkpoint within FortiGate. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is based on a licensing model for each IPS in your environment. The solution is included as part of the IPS license and automatically updates to the latest version when firewalls are updated. We are currently on a three-year licensing model. 

What other advice do I have?

The solution is a good tool to have in place. Most vendors provide a software blade with their firewalls but it is disabled because it uses too much CP or memory. It is important to enable the tool every time to prevent environments from being intruded by attackers or threats. 

I rate the solution an eight out of ten.  

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate IPS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate IPS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.