Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

These devices allowed my organization to connect a network of gas stations and convenience stores nationwide. The VPN capabilities provide a reliable connection to our corporate network over very low cost internet services (basically, any Internet service locally available can be used for this connections).

We also leverage the NGFW, UTM and WLAN controller features to provide security for corporate network traffic, and secure, content-filtered guest internet access for customers in the convenience stores. All this at a relative low cost.

• LinkGreat firewall capabilities
• Great IPS and web filter for small remote locations, with VPNs for tunneling to the corporate network, makes this device a solid choice for many sites.

Stability and technical support are the two major issues I have found with Fortinet.

We’ve had cases of unexplained bugs that go away with a simple device reboot. Software updates usually help with these issues.

I have personally found that Fortinet advertising can be misleading. The devices will usually fail way before reaching the capacity advertised in the data sheets, especially when you activate several of the features the device can handle. This is not a dealbreaker for me, especially because of the cost. But I would advise care when dimensioning the devices you’ll need.

Customer Service:

Customer service in Fortinet is OK. Lately they've been making efforts in this area. They actually call you when licenses are about to expire which is a nice touch on their part.

Technical Support:

I would say technical support is 6/10. I’ve found tech support to vary, sometimes being decent, sometimes painfully inefficient. Much room for improvement here IMHO.

We still use Cisco for some cases. However, where we need the advanced security and UTM features, Cisco’s prices can be very restrictive. Fortinet is a much more cost-effective choice for those cases.

Initial setup was very straightforward. Interface is very friendly and easy to comprehend.

Before choosing this product, we also evaluated Cisco.

Be careful with dimensioning. Don’t expect the device to handle ALL the features. Usually firewall, Web Filter and the WLAN controller work well. But if you need IPS, app control and AV, I would advise over-dimensioning the device a bit (taking Fortinet data sheets as the reference).

My primary use of FortiGate is for general enterprise modeling.

The most valuable features are the enterprise modeling and the simple interface.

The cloud features and integration could be improved. There are also sometimes problems connecting the endpoint protection to the firewall.

FortiGate is a stable product.

FortiGate is scalable.

FortiGate is very easy to set up

If the customer is looking for SD-WAN, it comes free with FortiGate.

I would give this solution a rating of nine out of ten.

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 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.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for about two years.

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.

So far our biggest client is only FortiGate 400, a small-medium business.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for around one year now.

In m company there are around seven technical engineers required for deployment and maintenance.

In terms of scalability, our biggest customer using it has 500 people.

I haven't worked with the technical support. I did face some admin problem with the team here in Egypt.

We are a partner with Sophos, with Palo Alto, and with WatchGuard. So we have a lot of competitors for FortiGate.

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.

We are a partner, and a technical team qualified for implementing.

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.

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.

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.

I have been using this solution for six years.

It is stable.

I don't have any experience with their technical support. My partner contacts them for me.

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.

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.

I would recommend this solution if you can afford it. I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

We have used the solution as a perimeter firewall. We are using it as an anti-ATP solution also.

The firewall features are pretty good. 

The solution has very good threat and content filtering switches.

The initial installation is fairly easy.

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.

I've been using the solution for two or three years. It hasn't been too long.

The solution is stable. It doesn't have any issues with bugs and glitches. It doesn't crash and freeze. It's very reliable.

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.

The technical support is very good. We're satisfied with their level of support. They are quite responsive and knowledgeable.

We were previously using Sophos and Watchguard.

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.

We have a systems integrator in-house that handles the deployment.

The solution isn't too expensive.

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.

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.

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.

I would like the licensing price to be better. It would be nice if it were less than 25 percent of the hardware costs.

I have been using this solution for fifteen years. We are an MSSP.

The stability is good.

With respect to scalability, it's good.

We have 15 people using this solution in our organization.

We contact technical support almost daily. They have good support.

The initial setup was not straightforward but not too complex. It's a bit of both.

For our organization, the licensing costs are approximately $7,000 per year.

Before choosing the Fortinet FortiGate, I evaluated other solutions.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

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.

It give us the liberty to let us do our jobs.

• 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,

At first glance, the interface for the device is very confusing. However, every version is getting better.

I have had no concerns with the stability so far.

We have been in no position to upgrade our number of users. So, I cannot judge this aspect of the product.

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.

We had a server acting as our service-based firewall, so no solution for firewall. 

FortiGate is my first actual solution for firewalls.

The initial setup was very straightforward.

It provides mid-sized company pricing.

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.