We primarily use FortiGate IPS for security tasks like forwarding, firewalling, attack detection, etc. All of our internet and portal connections are routed through FortiGate IPS. For example, we use it in our entire wireless setup, including the guest wireless and our internal LAN for wireless distribution. All public internet traffic is filtered through Fortinet.
Security Analyst at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
We like the solution's website change feature
Pros and Cons
- "We like FortiGate's website change feature."
- "Right now, it's not really scalable, but it's okay for us. However, looking ahead to three years from now, we might have a problem with scalability. We foresee a little risk down the road. The stability is okay for now."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
We like FortiGate's website change feature.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using FortiGate for about five or six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I think it's stable now. Yeah, exactly.
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate IPS
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate IPS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Right now, it's not really scalable, but it's okay for us. However, looking ahead to three years from now, we might have a problem with scalability. We foresee a little risk down the road. The stability is okay for now.
Our usage is measured by the number of sessions in FortiGate, and it's divided by zones. In the French market zone, we have around 10,000 users.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also use Juniper in some cases. In some ways, Juniper is more useful because we use this in our switch core for the internal LAN, so it's maybe more critical. Our sector depends more on Juniper than FortiGate. Three years from now, we might completely replace Juniper with FortiGate.
How was the initial setup?
It is not difficult to set up FortiGate, but we have support helping us detect and troubleshoot difficult situations. FortiGate is easier to deploy than Juniper.
We need a few people for maintenance, but we have some support working with us, and we need that.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a FortiGate license for UTM, routing, firewalling, HTTPS, and some web features.
What other advice do I have?
I rate FortiGate IPS eight out of 10. I would rate it higher if it had more features, stability, scalability, etc. For our requirements, I can rate it eight out of 10, but not more than that.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Security Engineer at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Low maintenance, simple implementation, and useful deep inspection
Pros and Cons
- "I have found the decryption of Fortinet FortiGate IPS very good. It's called SSL deep inspection, it's working very well. This is how you decrypt access and traffic, and it is through the IPS antivirus center. Additionally, the UI is user-friendly."
- "I have used technical support and they could improve."
What is our primary use case?
I use Fortinet FortiGate IPS as an internet firewall. We are using IPS, application control, and access control.
What is most valuable?
I have found the decryption of Fortinet FortiGate IPS very good. It's called SSL deep inspection, it's working very well. This is how you decrypt access and traffic, and it is through the IPS antivirus center. Additionally, the UI is user-friendly.
We already have the firewalls, and when I compare Fortinet FortiGate IPS to all the other firewalls, Fortinet is really useful and works very well.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate IPS for approximately six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate IPS are very stable. However, the older versions were not stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
We have approximately 300 users that use the solution.
How are customer service and support?
I have used technical support and they could improve.
I would rate the technical support from Fortinet FortiGate IPS a seven out of ten.
When comparing their support with Cisco which is a lot better.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We use many Fortinet products, not only firewalls. We have Fortisand-S, FortiSandbox, Fortinet wireless controllers which are part of the Fortigate, FortiAnalyzer, and FortiMate.
We have approximately 40 devices of Fortinet firewalls.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
We did the implementation ourselves.
The solution does not require a lot of maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is an annual license to use this solution. The prices have been increasing over the years.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Fortinet if they have a medium budget and if they don't have much experience with the firewalls because it's easy to use and the administrative management is simple. Additionally, Fortinet has a good wireless solution that is very good for medium-sized enterprise organizations.
I 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.
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate IPS
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate IPS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Occupational safety technician at Concremat
Filtering information is easy with this stable and scalable solution
Pros and Cons
- "The solution provides an easy way to filter information and Fortinet lab is a great place to discover new things."
- "The interface and product support could use improvement."
What is our primary use case?
Our company has 500 users of the solution.
What is most valuable?
The solution provides an easy way to filter information and the Fortinet lab is a great place to discover new things.
What needs improvement?
The interface and product support could use improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used the solution for fifteen years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Product support could use improvement.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is offered as an annual license.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution 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: Partner
Technical Engineer at Harnssen Group Limited
Useful network segmentation, beneficial firewall creation, and highly stable
Pros and Cons
- "The most useful features of Fortinet FortiGate IPS are you can create a virtual firewall within it, most other firewalls do not have this feature. You are able to manage your network and have network segmentation within your firewall. Additionally, you can create virtual switches within the firewall and have policy management, such as firewall and access policy."
- "Fortinet FortiGate IPS could improve the configuration. In some use cases, there can be some configuration conflicts."
What is our primary use case?
Fortinet FortiGate IPS is a firewall that can be deployed on-premise, as an appliance, or you can be deployed on the private cloud as a VM or public clouds such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon AWS.
One use case is where traffic is coming in, and it is scanned because all traffic is untrusted, even within the network. You want to scan the traffic within your network. Most of the use-cases are internal networks and external networks.
What is most valuable?
The most useful features of Fortinet FortiGate IPS are you can create a virtual firewall within it, most other firewalls do not have this feature. You are able to manage your network and have network segmentation within your firewall. Additionally, you can create virtual switches within the firewall and have policy management, such as firewall and access policy.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet FortiGate IPS could improve the configuration. In some use cases, there can be some configuration conflicts.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate IPS for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate IPS is a highly stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have found Fortinet FortiGate IPS to be scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The support from Fortinet FortiGate IPS is good.
I rate the support from Fortinet FortiGate IPS an eight out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate IPS was not completely easy, it is in the medium range of difficulty.
I would rate the initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate IPS a seven out of ten.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing policies need to be fixed because if our license expires for Fortinet FortiGate IPS then all the functionality and internet do not work. However, with other vendors when the license expires the internet continues to work but some functionality is limited. Once my license expired before I even knew it, I could not continue with my business functions.
If you compare the price of Fortinet FortiGate IPS to other firewalls, Check Point is priced very high followed by Palo Alto and Sophos. Fortinet FortiGate IPS price is more reasonable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have evaluated other solutions, such as Check Point, Sophos, and Palo Alto.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate IPS a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
System Administrator at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Provides good data on client usage patterns with great VPN capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "Provides good VPN capabilities."
- "Security level could be increased."
What is our primary use case?
This solution is the gateway for protecting our network. We are customers of Fortinet and I'm a system administrator.
How has it helped my organization?
The solution has allowed us to get more data than we were previously able to and we also employ the FortiGate analyzer to provide more data on the usage patterns of our clients which provides us with security metrics. FortiGate gives us a better picture of what's going on in the network and how best we can approach improving the service or addressing any security issues.
What is most valuable?
We're currently relying heavily on the VPN capabilities, given that a lot of users are working remotely and that's been particularly useful for us. FortiGate has an extensive library for support so you rarely need to reach out to them, it's all easily accessible.
What needs improvement?
The solution is quite expensive and I'd like to see the cost reduced. I think Fortinet could raise their level of security. Their VPN service for users gives them the ability to direct remote users to exactly where they're supposed to go. It's good but some other solutions don't give access for remote users to come on to the network. Rather the cloud platform relays or reflects the application that the remote user would've wanted to get access to on the network. It means that remote users don't get to the physical network of the company and that's good for security.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
As long as you know what you're doing, it's a pretty stable solution - they push out firmware updates pretty regularly and I haven't noticed any update that breaks anything.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable and adaptable depending on network activity or clients having a network. There's a solution for everything and it's pretty granular for each individual appliance. It gives you leeway and room to work. We have around 100 users in the company, everybody is connected; our staff are security administrators, systems administrators and database admins. We're planning to increase usage. I think FortiGate has a ZTNA service as well and we're in talks to determine the best solution.
How are customer service and support?
We haven't had much contact with support but they're pretty good. You do need to schedule a time for them to get back to you so the solution isn't immediate. The support is quite comprehensive.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used SonicWall before moving to Fortinet. It was a good product but it was pretty complex and complicated when it came to implementing certain things. We needed a solution where anyone could come in and get the job done without having to research deeply.
How was the initial setup?
We used a Fortinet partner for implementation because we were busy with other projects at the time. They did a great job for us. Deployment took about a week but it could have been done in less time if we hadn't had some scheduling issues. We have three people involved with maintenance.
What was our ROI?
We used to have issues with data, internet usage, and controlling our users' access to the internet. It impacted other areas of the company. With Fortinet, we're able to control how users utilize resources and pull back on certain things while allowing more access in others. It would include things like online calls, IP calling or use of Teams for legitimate business. Having control over that means there are fewer break ups, and fewer dropped calls because we have more control.
People with BYOD's can hog the network but with that level of granular control, we can decide where the priority is. In terms of ROI, there are fewer expenses, less time wasted addressing issues related to reporting, whereas before it was quite chaotic. Fortinet provides the ability to create more order and the ability to better analyze exactly what it is that is going on in the network.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is expensive although I'm not sure of the cost. It does include support and updates.
What other advice do I have?
This is a good solution, it provides an extensive library for any issues or for when you're building out a new solution. It has different appliances for different tiers. Planning is important, knowing what's in the environment, where you expect it to go, and then ensuring that you develop or acquire a solution necessary to address that situation.
I rate this solution eight out of 10.
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.
Solutions Integrator at ASC
It solidly protects our clients' networks and performs well.
Pros and Cons
- "FortiGate protects and secures our clients' networks. The security is solid, and it performs well. I think they use some artificial intelligence, so I think it's excellent equipment."
- "The graphical interface could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
FortiGate is a firewall. It protects from viruses, malware, and other threats. We deploy it along with other Fortinet solutions, including the next-generation firewall, FortiClient, and FortiProxy.
What is most valuable?
FortiGate protects and secures our clients' networks. The security is solid, and it performs well. I think they use some artificial intelligence, so I think it's excellent equipment.
What needs improvement?
The graphical interface could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been a Fortinet partner for 15 years, and we're the sole distributor of Fortinet and other brands in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FortiGate is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I thank FortiGate is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Fortinet support is good.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up FortiGate is straightforward and requires two engineers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
FortiGate's price is reasonable for this type of solution. It's competitive with other products.
What other advice do I have?
I rate FortiGate IPS nine out of 10. I like it, we have experience deploying Fortinet products. We know this product well and can explain how it works. They trust in us. FortiGate is a good appliance, and I recommend it.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Gerente Regional at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Stable, easy to manage, and offers good regional support
Pros and Cons
- "Regionally, we are well covered. Technical support is good in this area."
- "The solution has limited scalability."
What is our primary use case?
We use it, for example, to protect our business application servers so nobody can hack those servers internally and illegally access the information they have.
What is most valuable?
The administration of the solution is the most valuable aspect. It's easy to manage.
Fortinet has a very well distributed team around our region, and the product is pretty stable.
The integration is good.
We like the dashboards.
The pricing is not overly expensive.
I have found the initial setup to be very easy.
What needs improvement?
I can't speak to coming across any missing features.
The solution has limited scalability. The sizing is based don't eh scale of the hardware.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been dealing with the solution for about five years or so. It's been a while at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability so far has been great. there are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is limited. You have to change the hardware in order to ensure the solution can scale.
How are customer service and support?
Regionally, we are well covered. Technical support is good in this area.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation process is quite straightforward. It's not a complex implementation at all. A company shouldn't have any issues with it.
You only need one person to handle deployment and maintenance tasks. This is typically a technician. You do not need a huge team to manage it.
What was our ROI?
If you use this solution, within three years, you will get your investment back. It provides a good ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We find the solution to be very reasonably priced overall.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a partner.
I'm pretty sure we have the most updated deployment, however, I'm not sure of the exact version number.
I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten overall. My experience has been positive in general.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Lead Network Solution Developer at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
A good and stable product with IPS and URL filtering features
Pros and Cons
- "It is a good product. It does what we want it to do so. I didn't find many false-positives or things like that. We mainly use the IPS and URL filtering features, and they are pretty good."
- "They can probably improve the reporting feature. Reporting and report alerting are the main key features of this solution. They can always find ways to improve these."
What is our primary use case?
We manage all the IT for airports and airlines. We have some data centers for providing different services, such as tickets, to customers. We use Fortinet FortiGate IPS to secure the environment.
What is most valuable?
It is a good product. It does what we want it to do so. I didn't find many false-positives or things like that. We mainly use the IPS and URL filtering features, and they are pretty good.
What needs improvement?
They can probably improve the reporting feature. Reporting and report alerting are the main key features of this solution. They can always find ways to improve these.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate IPS for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is doing good in terms of stability. It is a good product and a good feature within the firewall.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We haven't tried to scale it.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have contacted them. Their technical support is good. They are pretty responsive and knowledgeable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. Basically, it is quite easy to set up. You just need to follow the guidelines because they are well-made for Fortinet FortiGate IPS.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are currently evaluating a Palo Alto solution, and the pricing could be a reason for going for Palo Alto.
What other advice do I have?
I'm a part of the team that is testing the Palo Alto solution. We are only responsible for testing to ensure that it matches what we want, but we are not responsible for making the actual decision. Another team will decide which solution to go for based on the contract in terms of money and other things. Technically, either FortiGate or Palo Alto will be able to provide what we want.
I would rate Fortinet FortiGate IPS an eight out of ten. It is a good product.
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.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate IPS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
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