My primary use of FortiGate is for general enterprise modeling.
SALES PRODUCT MANAGER at NOURNET
Excellent enterprise modeling and simple interface
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are the enterprise modeling and the simple interface."
- "The cloud features and integration could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the enterprise modeling and the simple interface.
What needs improvement?
The cloud features and integration could be improved. There are also sometimes problems connecting the endpoint protection to the firewall.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FortiGate is a stable product.
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
February 2025
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Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,737 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
FortiGate is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
FortiGate is very easy to set up
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
If the customer is looking for SD-WAN, it comes free with FortiGate.
What other advice do I have?
I would give this solution a rating of nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
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System Engineer - Security Presales at Raya Integration
Reliable, good support, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be scalable."
- "Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve to be on par with its competitors, such as Palo Alto and Sophos. They are the market leaders. Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve its capabilities. However, we are happy with Fortinet FortiGate."
What is our primary use case?
We use Fortinet FortiGate as a transparent firewall, it is covering the LAN. Whereas, I have a Cisco firewall, which is covering the internet outside. We have two layers of security. FortiGate focuses on the LAN traffic, which is outgoing from the servers in the LAN.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve to be on par with its competitors, such as Palo Alto and Sophos. They are the market leaders. Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve its capabilities. However, we are happy with Fortinet FortiGate.
Fortinet FortiGate should provide firewall certifications training for NSE 1, 2, and 3.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We were satisfied with the technical support from Fortinet FortiGate.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated many other firewall vendors, such as Juniper, Sophos, Palo Alto. and SonicWall.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend to everyone that wants to implement Fortinet FortiGate to always have a support contract.
I rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.
I do not give a score of ten to any vendor because there is always room for improvement.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
February 2025
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Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,737 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Director Of Technology at PT Exa Teknologi Indonesia
I like the SD-WAN feature and their IP4 policy
Pros and Cons
- "The features that I have found most valuable are the SD-WAN and their IP4 policy."
- "In terms of what could be improved, the SD-WAN is quite difficult, because if you install the new box, 15 is okay, but if you change from an old configuration, if there is already configuration and a policy when you change to SD-WAN, you must change the whole policy that you see in the interface."
What is most valuable?
The features that I have found most valuable are the SD-WAN and their IP4 policy.
What needs improvement?
In terms of what could be improved, the SD-WAN is quite difficult, because if you install in the new box, 15 is okay, but if you change from an old configuration, if there is already a configuration and a policy when you change to SD-WAN, you must change the whole policy that you see in the interface.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for about two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate is stable so far. We had a difficulty, but after we opened the support, we found out that it was only from having the wrong config. But so far, it is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
So far our biggest client is only FortiGate 400, a small-medium business.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their technical support is very helpful, although they only have it for their in-the-box and sometimes we have difficulty with the out of box, with the ISP or other things. So we must find a solution for the customer. But if it is the wrong product or if there is a configuration issue in the product, yes, they're very helpful.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have also worked with the Hillstone network, with Palo Alto and with Barracuda.
In terms of support, so far FortiGate is helpful whereas with Barracuda I didn't get the support like FortiGate.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup and new configuration are very easy. It is very user-friendly. It's only three clicks from the menu, two or three sub-menus and we already have it configured. It's not difficult because we have experience with the SonicWall, Palo Alto, etc.., but Fortinet is user-friendly.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
In terms of price, FortiGate's price is reasonable. Most of the customers stand by it, and are aware that the price is worth it for the performance.
What other advice do I have?
In terms of advice for anyone looking to use FortiGate, you need to learn about trouble-shooting, because sometimes you find out you have the wrong configuration, not because of a FortiGate problem or FortiGate config, so you are responsible to handle the trouble-shooting.
On a scale of one to ten, I would give Fortinet FortiGate a nine.
One thing they could offer is a version that already has the configuration. This would make it easier. This is something that I would request. I worked with Barracuda, I worked with Palo Alto. If you want it easy. It's very easy. But FortiGate needs to have something more like that, to do it faster.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Managing Director at FORESEC
Very user friendly solution with cumbersome licensing structure
Pros and Cons
- "The features that I have found most valuable are that it is good to use, and most importantly, the pricing. The customer especially likes the discount when they trade up or something like that."
- "There are some license issues. Not every feature must have a separate license. There must be some of kind synergy between the license so we don't have to pay for every individual license that we would like to have."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for Fortinet FortiGate is for the center firewalls. We use the VMware server. That seems good and acceptable to the customers.
What is most valuable?
The features that I have found most valuable are that it is good to use, and most importantly, the pricing. The customer especially likes the discount when they trade up or something like that.
What needs improvement?
In terms of the product, we don't have anything to improve. But I have a concern about the FortiGate team here in Egypt, because there is an opportunity that we are working on and when we opened it and did the deal installation, it was rejected. When I talked to the FortiGate team here in Egypt, they told me they know about the deal, but they rejected it.
Additionally, they could make some modifications in the license. There are some license issues. Not every feature must have a separate license. There must be some kind of synergy between the license so we don't have to pay for every individual license that we would like to have.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for around one year now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In m company there are around seven technical engineers required for deployment and maintenance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, our biggest customer using it has 500 people.
How are customer service and technical support?
I haven't worked with the technical support. I did face some admin problem with the team here in Egypt.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are a partner with Sophos, with Palo Alto, and with WatchGuard. So we have a lot of competitors for FortiGate.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate was easy. The most important thing is the management software with the license for accounts that need an additional license. But it is also acceptable.
The initial setup takes a while. It seems to take some time longer than usual due to the customer's onsite preparation of the required information. Overall it takes around five to seven working days.
What about the implementation team?
We are a partner, and a technical team qualified for implementing.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is also an issue here. Maybe we get a massive discount on the product, but the renew cost is higher. In addition there are some admin issues. When I receive a request for a renew for a customer, the local team here only deals with the company that makes the primary deal, and refuses to give us a quotation. So we may lose the opportunity, or we may go with the vendor with their native product.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend the product. I think it's good and they're doing well on the roadmap. But again, for the team they have to take better care of the local partner.
On a scale of one to ten, I would give Fortinet FortiGate a seven.
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
Owner at Gabutto MArket
Stable and useful for intrusion prevention, VPN, and anti-malware purposes
Pros and Cons
- "We are using the FortiGate 100D series. VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features."
- "It should have a better pricing plan. It is too expensive. It should also have a more granular view of the attack. I don't have FortiAnalyzer, and it is difficult for me to have a complete view when there is an attack on my server."
What is most valuable?
We are using the FortiGate 100D series. VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features.
What needs improvement?
It should have a better pricing plan. It is too expensive.
It should also have a more granular view of the attack. I don't have FortiAnalyzer, and it is difficult for me to have a complete view when there is an attack on my server.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable.
How are customer service and technical support?
I don't have any experience with their technical support. My partner contacts them for me.
How was the initial setup?
Its installation is not easy for me because I handle some other work, but I have two partners. One of them is very skilled at using FortiGate, and it took him a day to deploy it. After that, it took us a week to set all parameters and check all parameters and firewall functions.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is too expensive for us. My organization is very small, and we have a total of ten users. We have three internal users and seven external users. The FortiGate 100D series is too expensive for renewing the licenses.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution if you can afford it. I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a 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.
Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Good pricing with very good threat and content filtering switches
Pros and Cons
- "The solution has very good threat and content filtering switches."
- "It's my understanding that more of the current generation features could be brought in. There could be more integration with EDRs, for example."
What is our primary use case?
We have used the solution as a perimeter firewall. We are using it as an anti-ATP solution also.
What is most valuable?
The firewall features are pretty good.
The solution has very good threat and content filtering switches.
The initial installation is fairly easy.
What needs improvement?
I'm from the sales side and therefore I wouldn't really know if there are features that are lacking.
It's my understanding that more of the current generation features could be brought in. There could be more integration with EDRs, for example.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for two or three years. It hasn't been too long.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. It doesn't have any issues with bugs and glitches. It doesn't crash and freeze. It's very reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Since we are integrators, this product gets sold to people who have a minimum 25 and up to 600 users.
At the moment, we don't plan to increase usage.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is very good. We're satisfied with their level of support. They are quite responsive and knowledgeable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were previously using Sophos and Watchguard.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not complex. It's pretty much a straightforward implementation. There aren't really any surprises.
The length of deployment differs based on the kind of policies a client would like to implement. If they are very simple policies, then there isn't a lot of work to worry about. However, if there are complex policies or multiple policies, it does take some time to get things up and running.
I didn't handle the installation personally, as I am in sales.
We have three or four people in our organization who handle maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
We have a systems integrator in-house that handles the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution isn't too expensive.
What other advice do I have?
We're integrators. We help our clients with this solution.
We're using the latest version of the solution.
I'd recommend this solution to other users.
Overall, I would rate the solution nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator.
President at simnet
Detailed analytics that integrates with SIEM products and has good support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of this solution is the analytics."
- "Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
What is our primary use case?
Typically, we use Fortinet FortiGate with edge devices for businesses.
We also use them to integrate with a SIEM product and we use it for detailed analytics.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of this solution is the analytics.
What needs improvement?
Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs.
I would like the licensing price to be better. It would be nice if it were less than 25 percent of the hardware costs.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for fifteen years. We are an MSSP.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
With respect to scalability, it's good.
We have 15 people using this solution in our organization.
How are customer service and technical support?
We contact technical support almost daily. They have good support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was not straightforward but not too complex. It's a bit of both.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
For our organization, the licensing costs are approximately $7,000 per year.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing the Fortinet FortiGate, I evaluated other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Fortinet FortiGate 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
ICT Officer at a non-profit with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is straightforward to implement the device from scratch
Pros and Cons
- "There is an easy process for configuring it, and it is straightforward to implement the device from scratch."
- "At first glance, the interface for the device is very confusing."
What is our primary use case?
We have been using the FortiGate antivirus software for a couple of years, as of mid-July. The hardware solutions for the firewall, we have been using for less than a year.
We are using FortiGate 80E for a medium-sized office. I am pretty satisfied with it. It has performed well. The primary use is to protect the internet traffic for a medium-sized office, up to fifty users, using a local domain with a not so intensive cloud traffic. Generally, it is just to protect the internet access for all the users in the network.
Also, we are using VPN at external locations to the office, which FortiGate supports.
How has it helped my organization?
It give us the liberty to let us do our jobs.
What is most valuable?
- There is an easy process for configuring it, and it is straightforward to implement the device from scratch.
- It has a somewhat diverse device interface, but if you have one day to play with it, you can easily find whatever you need.
- All types of policies need to be installed, then all the parameters are configured. It is not very demanding,
What needs improvement?
At first glance, the interface for the device is very confusing. However, every version is getting better.
For how long have I used the solution?
One to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have had no concerns with the stability so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have been in no position to upgrade our number of users. So, I cannot judge this aspect of the product.
How are customer service and technical support?
They provides local support. I have been using them only for some site blocking. They are pretty efficient in this. They say they will respond in 24 hours, but I have received responses in a maximum of one hour, which is impressive.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We had a server acting as our service-based firewall, so no solution for firewall.
FortiGate is my first actual solution for firewalls.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It provides mid-sized company pricing.
What other advice do I have?
Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: We have specific procurement rules, then we specify the technical specifications. After that, whoever is cheapest should get the job.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: February 2025
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