Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

We primarily use the solution for the firewall for the most part. It's to help us with security on our network.

The solution has a very good set of rules.

The customization potential is quite impressive. It can be customized based on our licensing contracts.

The initial setup was pretty simple. We didn't find it to be overly difficult to execute on.

Technical support is rather helpful.

We find the stability to be pretty good.

We didn't have any trouble setting up the solution.

We find the pricing to be fairly good.

The ease of use could be improved. 

We've been using the solution for about five years. We have been continuously working with FortiGate itself throughout that time. It's been a while.

So far, the stability has been pretty good for us. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. I'd describe the stability as reliable.

I can't really speak to the scalability of the solution, as it isn't as aspect I handle. I've never tried to do it, so I'm not sure how it works.

We have about 50 users on the solution. About one third have access to it.

We only really had one issue in the past where we had to deal with technical support. We needed some restoration of some data. It wasn't a bad experience. We were satisfied with their level of service. They seem to be knowledgeable and responsive.

In terms of the initial setup, the process was not complex at all. We found it to be very straightforward and easy. We didn't run into any issues setting everything up.

We have one engineer that handles ongoing maintenance for us when we need it.

The pricing is fair. I don't feel that it is too expensive.

I've been good with using Fortinet. It's a fine tool. 

Overall, I would recommend the solution to other organizations.

I would rate it a nine on a scale from one to ten.

Our primary use case is providing cybersecurity applications to internet (IT) clients throughout India. 

Since we are still in the implementation period we still need more time to evaluate how this solution can add value to our organization.

We are very happy with the general bandwidth agility we have seen from one website to another website.

Since we are in the initial stages of implementation I can't suggest any additional features for the next release. At this point, I really need more time to evaluate the tool. The only thing I can recommend at this time is to make improvements for the user end when the user website is running slowly; the speed can definitely be improved. There is room to include IP wise and net-wise and bandwidth settings.

Currently, we have more than 600 employees using this product. Our users range from IT staff, management, and senior executives. We are all using it. And we plan on increasing the number of users to more than what we are currently at.

My technical support experience has been very poor. I think the technical support personnel isn't experienced in Bangladesh. They have much less technical experience and aren't as able to handle the work, as I am.

Initially, we were using an IPVanish. We switched to this tool because we believed it would be easier to set up and use but it turns out it wasn't easier.

The initial setup was complex. The deployment took a few days to get set up. Initially, we were using an IPVanish. We switched to this tool since we thought it would be easier. But it turns out it wasn't easier to set up and run.

Our vendor team implemented the tool for us; the vendor team is based here in Bangladesh.    

Maintenance only requires two or three people. At the moment both a Senior Executive and an IT manager are in charge of maintenance.

Besides wanting to see a faster connection speed I would like to see the expanded bandwidth, IP, and proprietary net settings feature included within the tool. 

I rate this product an 8 out of 10.

We use it for a multi-tenant virtualized environment for public cloud services. We provide cloud services for the public sector.

We have two clusters with the latest version, and we also have two clusters that I would like to replace with the latest version. We have support from the vendor, and we're going to buy two new clusters.

We have all the solutions from Fortinet, and it integrates very well with all of them. I'm very satisfied with its integration with FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer.

The multi-tenancy feature is most valuable. It integrates very well with FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer.

They are flexible in terms of installation. They support many architectures. They can operate with most major public cloud providers. It is a trend now to use hybrid solutions.

It has a lot of features, and it is reliable.

Their software support needs improvement. I would prefer to have better support for bug fixes. Sometimes, we open a ticket, and it is very difficult to get a solution. Specifically, we are not at all happy with their support for load balancing. 

I have been using this solution since 2015.

We're happy with its performance. I would rate it a 10 out of 10 in terms of performance.

We are happy with its scalability. Its users are administrators. Our administrator team has about six people. The environment is set up as a multi-tenant, so each tenant has its own administrator for configuration.

It has been used every day since 2015. It is a core appliance for us.

Their support needs to be improved. We're not at all happy with their support. It sometimes becomes very difficult to get a solution. We are not satisfied with their support for load balancing. The support we have for Cisco firewalls is much better. I would rate them a seven out of 10.

We also have a Cisco solution in operation.

Its initial setup is normal. It is not too complex.

The deployment takes place with the help of an integrator. We have an integrator to help us deploy and install all the solutions. They analyze all the features that we need to use, and then we discuss and finalize the solution before starting with the installation.

We have five to six people in the network team.

We have seen an ROI with this solution.

The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical.

Before buying, I would advise thinking about the exact features that you need to avoid expenses. You must understand very well what you need for your daily operations and then decide on the features to buy.

Overall, we're very happy with their firewalls, but when we have issues or bugs, there are some difficulties in finding the resolution. In terms of features, we haven't found any problems. It has many features, but when we use a feature and it has some bugs, I expect better support.

I would rate it a nine out of 10.

We have created a virtual cloud on-prem, providing services to our different IT domains in terms of software, database and ERP. We've also created a virtual firewall handling the security and protecting servers in the network. No unwanted or unauthorized user can access the servers. That's a good sign of security and the handling of the network. It provides us with oversight. I'm a senior network engineer and we are customers of Fortinet. 

With the Covid pandemic, the VPN has become the most valuable feature. With the majority of traffic connecting from remote locations, the VPN provides stability and reliability. The antivirus and its IPS, intrusion prevention system, also helps with stability.

In our environment, we need multiple virtual firewalls to facilitate end users and customers. Fortinet doesn't provide that but they really should include that feature. 

I've been using this solution for three years. 

Overall stability of the solution is good. I am totally dependent on this device. Basically, it's deployed on the edge of our network. All the software and HR, admin, every department is behind this network. And every user connects their internet services via the VPN. 

Scalability of this solution is good, we can add devices whenever we like. 

Whenever there's an issue and we contact support, the response is positive. The support is impressive. 

We previously used Cisco ASA but that model didn't support the latest technology, and was also very expensive. The main issue that caused us to switch solutions was the throughput of the interface. Cisco was providing us with one gig interface. Because of our gradually increasing bandwidth and network requirements, we had to move to more bandwidth and a 10 gig interface, which Fortinet provides. Although Cisco provides the same on a different model, that model was very expensive. That's why we chose to switch to Fortinet Firewall.

The initial setup is simple. It's only complex if the design hasn't been sorted or tested. If we're deploying, we study the network, traffic patterns, and traffic path, which is, I think, the most important thing about deploying any network device. We can easily create or delete, modify or customize and optimize the feature, the network, the routing, the policy, and the different features of this device. Most of the time we carry out the implementation ourselves, deploying in different phases; firstly connecting the network, and then partially shifting the traffic phase by phase. When we removed ASA and shifted all the traffic to Fortinet, the overall performance and overall working was very impressive. Downtime probably came to a total of 15 to 20 hours. We have multiple groups using this product - I would estimate somewhere between 12,000 to 13,000 users and the solution is used continuously. 

I think the licensing of Fortinet is in the middle range. We also had a demonstration from the vendor that gave us the confidence to work with these devices. We purchased the solution on a bundle basis which the vendor offered us. There are additional costs if we enable a new feature not included in the bundle.

I think Fortinet is a cheaper, stable, scalable, and reliable device. 

From my experience, I would rate this solution a nine out of 10. 

I primarily use the solution for network security - especially for the VPN connection, the remote site connection. 

The solution is very easy to install.

The services from Fortinet products are very, very good. The WIFI that Fortinet provides for us, for example, is fantastic. 

The VPN tunnel is very stable and there is more than one option for the tunnel, which is helpful. 

We can customize the product well.

There's a very intelligent solution that they gave us in order to make the VPN connection easy. It is a very, very, very useful tool. 

The stability of the solution is excellent, as it is with other Fortinet products.

Fortinet is a very big product. It has FortiGate, FortiWiFi, FortiSwitch, email security, etc. Due to this, they have some weaknesses in the ISPs, the services. They could improve these aspects. Hotspot services especially could be a lot better. 

There are just some services that aren't available. For example, the Ethernet or point-to-point protocols. They could add these services to their product offering - especially services for ISPs.

I've been using the solution for about three years at this point.

The solution is very stable. That's not a problem at all. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's quite reliable.

The solution can scale well. If a company needs to expand it, they can.

I have various clients that use the solution and they have a user base that can range anywhere from five users to over 10,000.

I do plan to continue to use the solution in the future, however, I can't speak as to if my clients will expand their services or not.

Technical support, by and large, is very good. Fortinet has a very fast response time for their support tickets. It doesn't matter if the help is coming from the local distributor, or from web support. I don't face any problems with their level of attentiveness. I'm quite satisfied.

I use a wide variety of products in my shop. For example, I also work with Sophos UTM, Cisco, HPE, and Aruba products. 

There's a lot of problems in, maybe, let's say, Sophos products. Especially in their support. They have very weak support. Cisco has good support, on the other hand, and a very good product, however, it is too expensive. HPE is a very nice product and has good support, however, it's not a UTM. Therefore, often we end up recommending Fortinet options.

The initial setup was not complex. It was pretty straightforward.

How long it takes to deploy the solution depends on the company and the configurations required. Sometimes I am able to do it in one day, whereas other times it takes more than one month to complete.

I'm just a customer. I'm using the latest version of the solution. I'm using the F-series. Previously, I used the E-series.

We use the on-premises version of the solution as Fortinet does not yet support the cloud.

I am not an organization, I am in IT support. I have my own agency for installing such devices. I use it for some universities which is more than 10,000 students in some cases. I also use it in some factories which have four to five users. It works just as well for small and medium-sized companies as it does for enterprise-level organizations.  

I would recommend the solution to others for sure.

Overall, I would rate Fortinet's solution at a nine out of ten.

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.

It gives priority to certain applications compared to others as well because internally all our applications are web based.  We use FortiGate to prioritize certain applications to be accessed much faster than the others. For end users, it enables access to the applications and web filtering, as well. That's where we block off most of the sites and we can do scheduling, as well as access to certain sites within certain periods of time.

The web-cache feature which was previously on the FortiGate device, but was deleted with the recent upgrade, should be returned. It was a very valuable feature for us.

The stability of the product is consistent with our needs.

In terms of usage, I have a main branch and then we have smaller branches throughout the country. Connecting to each site through FortiGate is much easier.

It is cost-effective, and provides a good value for your money. The pricing, and license renewal, is very reasonable for us. The bottom-line is that it all comes down to the pricing of the solution.

I looked at Cisco, and I think that FortiGate is more reliable, consistent and stable.

When choosing a new solution, I suggest seriously researching the pricing and the features. It must be a solution that fits your particular requirements and specifications. 

I think FortiGate is more reliable, consistent, and easy to learn. It is robust and more secure than other solutions on the market.

We use Fortinet FortiGate for basic network security and people accessing through VPN.

Fortinet FortiGate is a reliable and practical solution that assists us in our day-to-day operations.

Fortinet FortiGate's reliability is valuable.

I would like some automated custom reporting.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for one year.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable.

The scalability has met our requirements. We have around 40 users.

We previously used DrayTek before switching to Fortinet FortiGate which has more features.

The implementation was completed in-house.

We evaluated Palo Alto Networks, but the cost of the solution and support were higher than Fortinet FortiGate.

I give Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

The maintenance requires one person.

The primary use case is for security purposes, mainly at the gateway level and for internal security, such as virtual training. We also use it for cybersecurity and internal communication, like having a portal. The main goal of implementing the product is to resolve security problems.

We have seen benefits. Recently, Sophos Firewalls and Palantir have also entered the market. However, FortiGate provides a higher throughput at a lower cost than these features and licensing. Our company acts as an integrator, and we work based on the customer's needs and requirements.

Fortinet FortiGate is easy to use. Anyone can easily maintain the box in small to large organizations. Even if we configure and hand it over to them, they can easily consider and register policies. And it's easy to monitor the end-to-end network through the firewall.

There are mainly two areas of improvement in Fortinet FortiGate— the licensing cost and the timing of upgrading licenses for boxes. FortiGate's renewal cost is quite high, and our customer care team also receives complaints about it. The renewal part of the firewall is expensive. If a customer pays for the license in advance, they may lose their privileges.

For example, if the license of a box expires in one or two months, and the customer wants to upgrade, there are three to four months between the operation and the end of the current license. If I purchase a new license, it will only take effect from that date. So, it fails in the backward fetch, and I am currently busy setting it up. But if the customer is not processing the card for six months, they will not benefit from the system.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for two to three years.

I would rate stability a nine out of ten. It's a stable product. For the most part, it's very reliable.

It is also a scalable solution. However, as integrators, the scalability depends on us. There are many options available, and we can choose the size of the box based on our requirements.

The customer service and support are very good. Once we create a ticket, we can contact them using the ticket number, and they will provide the support we need. As for the contact names, there is no rate, but there are more challenges.

Neutral

We have used Sophos Firewall, Check Point Power EOL, and others. But none of them were like FortiGate. When we upgrade the license, it shows another one, two or three years from that date.

There are no challenges in the initial setup. The people required to deploy the situation are based on the customer's expertise. We handle various types of configurations, and sometimes there are additional requirements with load balancers on top of the firewalls. We need to integrate these firewalls with that ALG.

Generally, we consider security as a separate thing. These firewalls and the LOBs will take care of some further issues based on the customer's requirements. For smaller organizations, one person can provide or ensure a sort of service. We will need three more administrators or developers if there is more traffic or high-cost tech.

Generally, most of the customers maintain their solution on-premises, not on the cloud. I am a technical guy. I am involved in deploying the solution to our customers. I take care of the HCLM upgrade, inflation rate consideration, automation, and other technical aspects of the solution.

We evaluate the area first and then proceed with the implementation by creating a DMZ zone and policies such as CRM and CAP.

FortiGate is a bit pricey, but its unique features and specifications make it an excellent option for certain customers.

As an integrator, we have observed that the licensing cost and the upgrade process are important considerations. When we purchase a new license for one or three years and upgrade it to the existing box, the expiry date does not change from the original. It can create a gap of three, eight, or even twelve months for the customer. Consequently, they buy another box instead of going through the ticket process to get it fixed.

We definitely explore the options. We always understand the customer's requirements first and then offer solutions accordingly. We ask what the customer needs and what their budget is. If their budget is INR 10,00,000, and we find a product that matches their requirements, we will offer it. If FortiGate provides the same features and throughput but costs INR 11,00,000, we might still offer it to the customer. However, if FortiGate doesn't match the customer's requirements, we won't suggest it.

So the main differences between products are the features and specifications. If a product has the same throughput and features as another product but costs more, we may not suggest it to the customer.

The challenge is licensing. Hardware-wise, it's supportive, and the support is good. But the licensing and renewal costs should be lowered, and renewing the license and data for the new license is tough. So, only for licensing, we face challenges. I would rate it a seven.

We have many boxes, and we have changed all the boxes to other products because of this licensing factor only. Even for FortiGate, such a thing happens. If I have a hundred boxes and I want to renew the license, they suggest taking new boxes with three or four at least. So that is why customers are not liking FortiGate. They could provide the same license card along with the box, which is why customers are unhappy.

Overall, the product is a four out of ten because scalability, box performance, and support are all great. However, once it's commercially used, you can only use this box; no other options are available.

We can recommend it, but FortiGate's ability to capture the market, fix the order, and meet the requirements or opportunities is also important. As an integrator, we don't have any issues with it.