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Director, CFO at IT Green Public Company Ltd.
Real User
Securely Protects Databases in Business Operations
Pros and Cons
  • "Fortigate is very scalable to serve our customers' needs. We have scaled already from fifty to more than a hundred instances of Fortinet FortiGate. Around 20 staff are required for deployment and maintenance, mostly engineers."
  • "Fortinet already improved FortiGate, but in the current market, many brands of security devices have improved together. Fortinet still needs to catch up with market standards. Fortinet is lacking in features in comparison to competitors."

What is our primary use case?

Fortinet FortiGate has many use cases: firewall, security, and wifi controller. We use the solution for our project's internet gateway.

How has it helped my organization?

My company operates a large data center with many useful applications, sections, and databases. We have to put the security function into FortiGate to protect the databases in the organization.

What is most valuable?

Fortinet FortiGate has many excellent functions and good security. The firewall is the most common function that we have used for a long time.

What needs improvement?

The Fortinet FortiGate firewall has been improved with many new functions. Fortinet is working to develop a new generation of firewalls with better security.

Fortinet already improved FortiGate, but in the current market, many brands of security devices have improved together. Fortinet still needs to catch up with market standards. 

Fortinet is lacking in features in comparison to competitors.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our experience with Fortinet FortiGate depends more on the sizing of the customer. Fortigate is very scalable to serve our customers' needs.

We have scaled from fifty to more than a hundred instances of Fortinet FortiGate. Around 20 staff are required for deployment and maintenance, mostly engineers. 

We are not a distributor for Fortinet, so we will not actively promote it as a solution.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support with Fortinet is good. We have our engineers required to have certification in Fortinet products. We provide training classes for our engineers.

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

We also implement solutions with Palo Alto Networks and WatchGuard.

How was the initial setup?

Fortinet FortiGate is user-friendly to set up. The UI is fine. We still have concerns about security with Fortinet. 

The security could be improved compared with Palo Alto Networks equipment. Palo Alto Networks products have more technical issues than Fortinet.

Overall, Fortinet FortiGate is not complicated to set up. 

What about the implementation team?

We had a team for implementing Fortinet FortiGate on these projects. We also have many business partners for service work as integrators. 

Our partner for the Fortinet FortiGate installation was one of the few consultancies that have exceptionally good service in the market currently.

We have begun Fortinet FortiGate training through the consultant company and now have many partners for service contracts. 

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

The pricing and licensing of Fortinet FortiGate are good if they stay the same. The price is not too high now, but license pricing still changes too much. 

Fortinet FortiGate is comparable with the other products in the current market.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are not sole-distributors of Fortinet products currently. It is part of a portfolio of solutions that we offer our business clients.

What other advice do I have?

The policy for integration and for configuring Fortinet FortiGate should be friendlier than in the version we are using now. Because Fortinet has been in the market for a really long time, and we are very experienced with Fortinet products, I would rate FortiGate with an eight or nine out of 10. I would rate it this score because of the experience that Fortinet has as a market leader for such a long time.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Noam Segal - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at NS (IL) Systems Ltd.
Reseller
Top 20
Easily integrates with existing infrastructure and has a helpful technical support team
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is easy."
  • "The platform's compatibility with Wi-Fi equipment needs improvement."

What is most valuable?

The product's basic firewall feature is one of the best in the market for network security.

What needs improvement?

The platform's compatibility with Wi-Fi equipment needs improvement. Sometimes, the Wi-Fi units don't work, or one of the networks stops working, and we have to reboot the FortiGate client's endpoint.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for more than ten years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a reliable solution. I rate the stability a ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Small-scale companies sometimes use the whole UTM solution, which includes antivirus and URL protection. However, enterprise clients usually use additional solutions for those kinds of things.

I rate the scalability a ten. 

How are customer service and support?

The technical support team is responsive and helpful.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy. Depending on the project, the deployment process can take several days.

What was our ROI?

The platform generates a good return on investment. 

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

The product pricing is reasonable. 

What other advice do I have?

It is easy to integrate FortiGate into existing infrastructure. As a firewall, it's one of the best products available today. For other features, we sometimes prefer other vendors, but for firewalls, especially for SMBs, it is a great product.

I rate it a ten out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
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PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.
HEST manager at ALTT CONTROL PLUS
Real User
Top 20
An easy to handle product that has good user interface
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool is a nice product and easy to handle. The software's user interface is also good. You can easily implement remote access in the solution."
  • "I would like to see improvements in the product's application rules."

What is most valuable?

The tool is a nice product and easy to handle. The software's user interface is also good. You can easily implement remote access in the solution. 

What needs improvement?

I would like to see improvements in the product's application rules. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the tool since 2015. 

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. 

How are customer service and support?

I did not contact the tool's technical support team because it is very strong and stable. 

How was the initial setup?

The tool is easy to deploy. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate the product an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
PeerSpot user
Yassin Hassan - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Support Engineer at a agriculture with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
I can manage all of my on-prem devices from the cloud
Pros and Cons
  • "I like Fortinet's cloud management. It allows me to manage all my devices in different branches for three cloud accounts. Even though I use on-prem devices, I can manage everything on the cloud."
  • "I would like Fortinet to add more automation to FortiGate."

What is our primary use case?

FortiGate covers multiple schemes. I am using the firewall for basic protection. The work console and access console are powerful tools.

What is most valuable?

I like Fortinet's cloud management. It allows me to manage all my devices in different branches for three cloud accounts. Even though I use on-prem devices, I can manage everything on the cloud.

What needs improvement?

I would like Fortinet to add more automation to FortiGate.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using FortiGate for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

FortiGate is a highly stable system.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

FortiGate covers everything we need. Our company has looked into changing our firewall, but I recommended this solution because it meets all our requirements. Currently, we have between 150 to 200 users covered by the platform.

How are customer service and support?

Fortinet technical support is nice.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up FortiGate isn't complicated. I handled the installation myself, but we have two technicians responsible for maintenance. 

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

We have a yearly subscription. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate FortiGate eight out of 10. I'm from Egypt, and FortiGate has a vast share of the security market in this country. Fortinet isn't the leader in routing or switching, but they have a nice share in security.

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
reviewer940329 - PeerSpot reviewer
ICT Systems Administrator at a philanthropy with 11-50 employees
Real User
Stable security solution with easy integration, ease of use, and good product support
Pros and Cons
  • "Security management tool that's easy to integrate and easy to work with. No issues found with its stability and scalability."
  • "Bandwidth usage in reporting could be improved for Fortinet FortiGate."

What is our primary use case?

Our use case for Fortinet FortiGate is that it's a firewall for managing our security.

What is most valuable?

What I found most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate is its easy integration.

It's also able to individually manage users.

I also like the VPN aspect of this solution.

It's a product that's easy to work with, especially when you work from home, e.g. you're able to integrate it easily with the users.

What needs improvement?

Bandwidth usage in reporting could be improved. There's an aspect in reporting that I'm trying, but what I noticed is if you logged into the VPN, there's an effect on the reporting in terms of bandwidth, that needs improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've dealt with Fortinet FortiGate for the last four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We didn't have any issues with the stability of Fortinet FortiGate.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We find Fortinet FortiGate scalable, because currently, we have 150 users of it, and it could handle up to 1,000 users. It's good for growth.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support for this solution is really good.

The first time we were using it, we called support and reported an issue, and saw that support was really good. There's nothing I can complain about regarding technical support for Fortinet FortiGate.

How was the initial setup?

The setup for Fortinet FortiGate was easy, because we had it done by another company. It was a construction company that we had this set up for, but I can't remember their name.

What about the implementation team?

Another company implemented this solution for us, and they also took us through the training and it was okay.

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

If you compare Fortinet FortiGate with Sophos and other firewall products available in the market, this solution is affordable. If you really want to use Fortinet FortiGate, you'll find that it's affordable.

What other advice do I have?

Fortinet FortiGate works well for me. I have not encountered any issues that required me to recommend an action or request if this solution could be improved. It suited the needs of the organization I'm using it in, so I didn't really find an area that needs to be improved, because this solution works very well for us.

My advice to others looking into implementing Fortinet FortiGate is that they need to do their research. They need to find out exactly why they need to use this product and for what purposes, because there are so many options for users. They really need to know what they want for their organization before they implement Fortinet FortiGate. They also need to think about the type of files they require, how many users will use this product, and what they intend to do with it.

If I could give Fortinet FortiGate a score of 11 out of 10, I would. It's very good. It's a ten out of ten for me. It's a really good solution.

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
PeerSpot user
Information Security Principal at Alkhorayef
Real User
Easy to manage, improves visibility, and lowered our TCO
Pros and Cons
  • "FortiGate Secure SD-WAN includes best-of-breed next-generation firewall (NGFW) security, SD-WAN, advanced routing, and WAN optimization capabilities, delivering a security-driven networking WAN edge transformation in a unified offering."
  • "There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."

What is our primary use case?

We are using the FortiGate firewall for multiple purposes including network antivirus, Application Control, Web Filtering, IPSec Tunnels, and SSL-VPN using soft FortiTokens.

For the past year, we have also been using this technology for Secure SD-WAN. This added a lot of value in terms of technology, such as datacenter connectivity using IPSec tunnel-added security filters, with less cost by canceling MPLS.

How has it helped my organization?

We have implemented secure SD-WAN using FortiGate firewalls in 15 locations and it is working extremely well. 

Since implementing, the total cost of ownership (TCO) has been lowered and the day-to-day security operations have been simplified through our FortiOps services. These provide cloud-based management, visibility, and automation across your Fortinet Security Fabric. It also helps to realize the operational benefits of a Fortinet-enabled Secure SD-WAN.

At the same time, cybersecurity threats have become more sophisticated and fast-moving. Fortinet offers a full range of services and subscriptions to help us simplify and make the most of your SD-WAN deployment with the lowest TCO possible.

What is most valuable?

FortiGate Secure SD-WAN includes best-of-breed next-generation firewall (NGFW) security, SD-WAN, advanced routing, and WAN optimization capabilities, delivering a security-driven networking WAN edge transformation in a unified offering. 

Fortinet Secure SD-WAN delivered the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) per Mbps among all other vendors.

Antivirus, Application Control, Web Filtering, IPSec, and SSL-VPN are great features with the next-generation Fortinet firewall. They are all very easy to manage.

What needs improvement?

We are managing FortiGate using a FortiManager and it needs improvement with respect to the ease of administration tasks.

There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN.

Technical support could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using FortiGate technology for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

FortiGate is a very stable firewall.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

With respect to scalability, it's an excellent product.

How are customer service and technical support?

The customer service is good, although there is room for improvement with technical support.

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

We did not use another solution prior to this one.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented this solution with this assistance of a partner.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did evaluate other products, including solutions by Cisco.

What other advice do I have?

There is always a need for improvement with any vendor.

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
it_user283398 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Analyst at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
MSP
The UTM (application control) features have solved many issues that other firewall providers cannot, such as Google suite blocking and allowing.

What is most valuable?

The UTM (application control) features have been very important, because they have solved many issues that other firewall providers have not developed as Fortinet has.

A clear example of this feature advantages is blocking and allowing the Google suite. For example, without UTM, we would not have been able to execute some customer requirements like this one:

A customer asked us that some host on their LAN is going to be assigned to be a POS workstation. They needed that workstation to have permissions to some applications and some URLs, and they needed to block users from opening sites like YouTube, Google+, and Google Drive, but they needed to get in to some POS URLs hosted in the Google cloud. We were working with rules allowing some specified URLs, but it didn’t work because the subnetting IP address the customer needed to be allowed, sometimes matched the YouTube service. Google support engineers told us they rotate their IP addressing subnets to be more secure and they do not always attach an IP address to a domain name. So, sometimes the customer’s workstations were able to open YouTube sites too.

The way we could block YouTube and allow the customer POS URLs sites, was by configuring an application control sensor, where we were able to block some categories like this:

Another requirement was to allow some specified applications, so we configured the next sensor structure:

Another customer reported to us they had issues working with Gmail attachment files; they could not do it. Executing some packet captures and with the Fortinet TAC help, we found they were using the latest Chrome versions that use the QUIC Google protocol, which is not supported by Fortinet because it is not a valid protocol. We proceeded to block the QUIC protocol using an application control sensor.

After this blocking action, the customer was able to work without any issue.

How has it helped my organization?

It can block applications in level 7.

Even though other companies have latest-generation firewalls, FortiGate’s database is bigger.

What needs improvement?

They could improve performance with all the UTM features working.

Sometimes, we have seen that when you enable the antivirus sensor, customers report slow web browsing. We know this is normal, but we would like to know if it is possible to make feel the customer their web browsing is fast with not as much delay. The antivirus sensor analyzes all the protocols and packets we specified, and this is an important performance affectation. In my personal point of view, I don’t think it is a serious issue, but we receive many reports from users who browse the web with antivirus sensors applied to their firewall policies.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for seven years.

It is working in route mode, with all UTM licences active; it has FSSO configured to give permission to the users. It is configured to provide VPN SSL service.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have encountered stability issues only when we enable all the UTM features.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have not encountered any scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is 9/10.

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

We have been using FortiGate solutions for eight years. We have been upgrading when solutions in the family become unsupported.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy; no issues with doing it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

My company did not evaluate other options. They decided to purchase FortiGate directly.

What other advice do I have?

Work a lot with all of the UTM features because they can be very helpful right now with configuring firewall policies. The policies became very whole.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: My company is a Fortinet provider for Mexico.
PeerSpot user
it_user326337 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user326337Customer Success Manager at PeerSpot
Real User

Hamza, I think you may find our product comparison between Checkpoint and Fortigate interesting:

www.itcentralstation.com

See all 8 comments
Özden Aydın - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 5
The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable
Pros and Cons
  • "The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy."
  • "Web security solutions can be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for the network security operations of our customers. We've many different use cases, such as client security, server security, or DMZ sites. 

What is most valuable?

The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy.

It's a very easy and simple solution for implementation and integration. I don't have any problems with this solution.

What needs improvement?

Web security solutions can be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Its scalability is good. It's generally used in only one place as a standalone, but sometimes, it's used at multiple locations. 

How are customer service and support?

Their support is good. I'd rate it an eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I've used Palo Alto, which is a good solution for a firewall, and their application signatures are very good. 

How was the initial setup?

I was sometimes involved in its deployment. Its deployment was simple for me. It was very simple and easy. It took five to six hours.

It does require maintenance. There are probably one to two people required for its maintenance. 

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

Its price is normal. If I compare it with other vendors, such as Palo Alto, it's normal. Palo Alto is expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

I'd recommend it to other people. It's good, and in our country, this product is very popular in our sector. It's easy and cheapest.

Overall, I'd rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight 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: Reseller
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: February 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.