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reviewer1346826 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager - IT at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Provides zero-day protection against undiscovered malware and vulnerabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "We use the FortiGate Sandbox to detect zero-day vulnerabilities, such as anomalies or malware, that are unknown and have not yet been discovered."
  • "We would like to see a better training platform implemented."

What is our primary use case?

We are dealing in the payment business where we provide services to end-users, and FortiGate is part of our security solution.

The customers swipe their cards into our product, which transmits the data through another server to the acquirer or bank. The server is hosted behind the FortiGate firewall, so all of the traffic that comes in and out goes through the firewall policies, intrusion detection, and instruction prevention systems.

What is most valuable?

We use the FortiGate Sandbox to detect zero-day vulnerabilities, such as anomalies or malware, that are unknown and have not yet been discovered.

What needs improvement?

We would like to see a better training platform implemented.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for the past five years.

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.
838,737 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. We are able to integrate new products and different payment options. As new projects come in, we are looking for a hybrid setup that will incorporate the cloud.

How are customer service and support?

We have been in contact with technical support and I find them to be good. We've had no issues with them.

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

We are continuing to use FortiGate but we are in the process of upgrading to the 200E and 300E enterprise firewall.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was complex. We had to connect it and set up the PCI DSS compliance. To maintain this, there are a lot of things that have to be done on a regular basis. This includes scanning and hardening the servers, then rescanning. Initially, it is very complex.

We have the FortiGate firewall in our environment, and we are using network segmentation. Based on the segmentation, there are policies. Based on the policies, the traffic to the critical components is monitored and goes through the IDS/IPS antivirus profile. We also have hosted applications, so a basic DDoS and WAP are configured.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 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.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Solution Architect at Brillbean Ventures Pvt ltd
Real User
Good security, performance, and traffic inspection
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the VDOM, which allows the customer to have multiple firewalls in a single campus."
  • "Improvement is needed in the Web Filter quotas to restrict users with allocated quotas."

What is our primary use case?

I have deployed FortiGate with multiple organizations such as universities, government institutions, healthcare, and ISP providers. I have worked with FortiGate models 30-500 series and I have deployed the 3200D model for one of the broadband service providers located in India, Namely Sikka Broadband. 

How has it helped my organization?

I have installed the FortiGate 500 and 400D to replace a Sophos firewall in a main corporate office. This implementation provided improved network performance.

This solution made it easier to connect all of the branches together via an IPsec VPN and remote users with SSL VPN.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the VDOM, which allows the customer to have multiple firewalls in a single campus.

Using the FortiGate security solution provides comprehensive visibility and advanced layer 7 security, including threat protection, intrusion prevention, web filtering, and application control. They face a major complexity hurdle managing these point products with no integration and lack of visibility.

Thie solution provides a high-performance inspection of clear-text and encrypted traffic.

The FortiOS Operating system is robust, and the WAN load-balancing very much transparent.

What needs improvement?

Improvement is needed in the Web Filter quotas to restrict users with allocated quotas.

It would be an improvement to add a feature for active users to change/reset their own passwords.

Fortinet renewal prices for all models are too high, so they should offer discounts for customers on renewal. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for almost seven years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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.
838,737 professionals have used our research since 2012.
PeerSpot user
Project Consultant at a tech consulting company
Consultant
I can delegate more simple and routine tasks to other administrators and I don’t have to be the “Firewall” guy all the time, but the graphical interface always has room for improvement.

What is most valuable?

I enjoy the combination of an intuitive graphical interface and also a traditional shell command line environment for more advanced administration. The option to configure policies in a graphical environment is very easy to understand and also simple to teach someone else unfamiliar with the product.

How has it helped my organization?

It’s much easier to share administration tasks with more people. Due to the flexibility and ease of certain features, I can delegate more simple and routine tasks to other administrators and I don’t have to be the “Firewall” guy all the time.

What needs improvement?

I think the graphical interface always has room for improvement. I would like to see more attention put towards the logging functions as well.

For how long have I used the solution?

I worked with this solution daily for over 12 months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I encountered several strange issues in v5.0 (and earlier) OS versions. Strange anomalies like random reloads, VPN instability and unexplained policy changes. However, all of these issues were resolved in v5.2.

How are customer service and technical support?

I always had great experiences with Fortinet. I worked with them several times to resolve configuration issues and process RMA’s on failed equipment, which was rare.

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

I’ve personally used Cisco ASA and PIX architecture and after using Fortinet, I always prefer FortiGate products in terms of functionality and ease of use. I recommend these to clients looking for a firewall solution.

How was the initial setup?

Usually always simple and straight forward. I can get a client up and running with most standard policies and inbound/outbound control in a single day and make adjustments as needed. I can usually preconfigure Fortinet products and send them out for install.

What about the implementation team?

I always implemented via in-house. I think the most important advice is to always test new configurations in the lab especially, when upgrading firmware.

What was our ROI?

From my experience, FortiGate products are affordable and worth the investment.

What other advice do I have?

I think for almost any small to mid-size business this is a great solution. Fortigate should definitely be considered before choosing a more expensive and complicated product.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Network Security Executive at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Competitively priced solution with excellent threat intelligence
Pros and Cons
  • "Fortigate's most valuable feature is that it doesn't need a push policy when writing rules."
  • "Fortigate's hardware capacities could be improved."

How has it helped my organization?

Fortigate's threat intelligence service has improved how our organization functions.

What is most valuable?

Fortigate's most valuable feature is that it doesn't need a push policy when writing rules.

What needs improvement?

Fortigate's hardware capacities could be improved. In the next release, Fortigate should include SSL decryption.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using FortiGate for almost seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortigate's stability is good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy and took around half a day.

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

Fortigate's pricing is competitive.

What other advice do I have?

I would give Fortigate a rating of eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1254792 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Real User
Useful resources, low price, and reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system."
  • "The platform's interface could improve."

What is our primary use case?

We use both newer and older models of Fortinet FortiGate.

Fortinet FortiGate is used for protecting the perimeter network. Our customers require a solution that secures the network traffic or the communication with the central site.

The communication between the remote site and the central site is with the VPN and we need to analyze the traffic to assure security. Additionally, we use antivirus and IPS for protection. We can see the traffic when applying these objects with security.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system.

What needs improvement?

The platform's interface could improve.

The client and the Fortinet FortiGate have good integration, but there are times it doesn't work as it should. The union with the two technologies, endpoint, and firewall, doesn't work well. There are some things that do not work.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a good solution for new clients.

I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are times Fortinet FortiGate can not be scalable.

We have 20 people using the solution.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good. However, there are some problems with the new technology for the new version of the operating system that the support does not know much about. 

We have had two or three cases when we had a problem and the support was very good and responsive. We had an immediate response.

How was the initial setup?

The implementation of Fortinet FortiGate is very easy. The equipment is simple to deploy.

What about the implementation team?

There is little maintenance required, and what needs to be maintained is easy to do.

Most projects required one engineer. If the project requires several branches, with simultaneous deployments, we can need more than three engineers.

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

The price of Fortinet FortiGate is the lowest in the market.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1084257 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infrastructure Specialist at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A resilient, secure, and scalable solution that provides a secure connection for remote work.
Pros and Cons
  • "The web filtering feature and the intrusion protection system are the most valuable. It is a resilient appliance. I never had an issue with it in terms of any security breaches."
  • "Its reporting capabilities can be improved. It should have some out-of-the-box reporting capabilities and some degree of customization. The basic reporting that it currently has is not sufficient to create more usable reports. It needs some sort of out-of-the-box reporting. They try to make customers purchase FortiAnalyzer for this kind of reporting, which is an additional cost. Other firewall vendors, such as SonicWall and Sophos, provide this sort of reporting without any additional cost."

What is our primary use case?

We utilize the services to ensure the stability of our network and clients protection from external treats. With the recent pandemic mobile working have increased in demand and Fortinet have easily bridge that gap to continue to support employee needs.

How has it helped my organization?

It has provided us the ability to work remotely during the pandemic. It opens a secure connection to the office for an employee working remotely from home.

What is most valuable?

The web filtering feature and the intrusion protection system are the most valuable.

It is a resilient appliance.

What needs improvement?

Its reporting capabilities can be improved. Some out-of-the-box reports needs to be able to provide usable data for example for web monitoring and reporting or browsing patterns and details.  Some customers does not require any forensic type reporting and may not want to invest in all the features offered by the FortiAnalyzer.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for the past seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. There are no issues. In terms of the number of users who use FortiGate, we have only about ten users for remote working. Only selected users utilize this remote capability.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good. If I have an inquiry or request, it is usually addressed within the same business day or within the 24 hours period as per the vendor's support agreement.

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

I was on a Check Point platform, and then I migrated to FortiGate. Migrating from the Check Point environment to the FortiGate environment was new for me. We rely on a vendor for support. The vendor was kind of phasing out the support of the Check Point product. That's why we switched. 

How was the initial setup?

We are currently on 80D, and it was a direct upgrade. The deployment didn't take that long because it was a direct replacement or upgrade from an older appliance 60D to 80D. It was easy for the vendor to deploy because they saved the policies and other things that were in use for the older appliance and had to be migrated over to the new appliance. It was done within maybe a day or two.

What about the implementation team?

We outsourced it to a local vendor, and it was deployed by the vendor. We do our own internal monitoring, and the vendor does the actual set up. So far, our experience with the vendor has been excellent in terms of response. Their technical staff is also very knowledgeable.

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

We just pay an affordable flat monthly fee to the vendor for the monitoring and support.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I learned about different options and their benefits and listened to vendors' proposals for migration. We evaluated pfSense, which is open source. We were trying to determine whether to go for open source as opposed to an industry-standard and proprietary product. I also engaged other vendors who offered Sophos technology and SonicWall. I trusted the vendor-supported product and considered the cost associated with the migration. The current vendor could upgrade it with no implementation cost, and we just had to pay a monthly service fee or rental. 

Based on the research, FortiGate seemed like a reasonable firewall, and it is also more or less recognized and trusted all over, so I trusted FortiGate. Overall, I was happy with the performance of the FortiGate, so I kind of stuck with that one.

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend this product, but there are other products in the market, such as Sophos and SonicWall, that are just as effective. 

We will be using this solution for at least the next three years. We renewed the license for three years in August of this year. We are thinking of upgrading to a newer appliance before that.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten. I am pleased with this solution and the features it offers right now. It just needs minor adjustments in terms of reporting and staying up to date with industry standards.

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
reviewer1193787 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Manager at a transportation company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Installation is super easy, stable operations, and has prompt and responsive customer service
Pros and Cons
  • "The product is easy to use and is stable. The SV1 functionality is a benefit."
  • "Some of the software stability could improve."

What is our primary use case?

We use it as a firewall for securing our HQ and branch.

What is most valuable?

The product is easy to use and is stable. The SV1 functionality is a benefit. 

What needs improvement?

A feature for bandwidth monitoring and the ability to have more bandwidth testing would be useful to include in future releases.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for just about a year.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have approximately 40,000 employees and the product is very scalable. The different hardware units are quite good and are an appropriate size for enterprise-sized businesses.

How are customer service and technical support?

They're very prompt and responsive, and very helpful. In our experience, they responded on the same day and the next day for fixes.

How was the initial setup?

The installation was super easy, we were up and running in less than 50 minutes.

What about the implementation team?

We did it the implementation ourselves. We used an in house team of four to do the deployment. 

What was our ROI?

Some of the software stability could improve.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend FortiGate to others.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate 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.
PeerSpot user
Directorate at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
Real User
A user friendly solution that helps protect us against spam
Pros and Cons
  • "It is user friendly, and has all the features you need."
  • "I feel that the reporting needs to be improved."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case for this solution is to protect ourselves against email spam.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution helps to protect us against spam and offers features like intrusion prevention.

What is most valuable?

The most important feature is that it's easy to use. It is user-friendly and has all the features you need. You can have IDS (Intrusion detection systems) and IPS (Intrusion prevention systems) in just one device. You don't need multiples. 

What needs improvement?

The reporting needs to be improved. Also, the VPN (Virtual private network) monitoring needs improvement.

Beyond these improvements, I cannot think of any additional features that I would like.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. We rarely have problems.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Regarding scalability, we have bought a very large box, so it meets all of our requirements.

We have a big company, with fifteen hundred end points.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is excellent.

How was the initial setup?

I was not there when the initial setup was done.

Currently, we have five staff in charge of maintenance.

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

Each feature costs money, so it is important to study your needs.

What other advice do I have?

Before implementing this solution, you have to study your network first, and then consider your needs. Decide what features you need and what features you don't need.

It is important to know what is required from the device because they come in very different models. There are different features and each feature costs money, so you need to be prepared so that you can optimize your cost. You don't want to end up buying something that you won't use in the future.

I would rate this solution eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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.