Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
reviewer1392531 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dy General Manager at a real estate/law firm with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Rich in features, good support, and setup and deployment straightforward
Pros and Cons
  • "Some of the valuable features are the firewall, IPS, web filter, and gateway capabilities. Additionally, it is easy to use and flexible."
  • "It would be a benefit if Fortinet would release a one-stop solution that is better integrated with other products and an automated emergency response system."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution for network security protection.

What is most valuable?

Some of the valuable features are the firewall, IPS, web filter, and gateway capabilities. Additionally, it is easy to use and flexible.

What needs improvement?

It would be a benefit if Fortinet would release a one-stop solution that is better integrated with other products and has an automated emergency response system.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for 12 years.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution's scalability is a problem because when you use a LAN, you use hardware and hardware wastes resources. However, it is more scalable than some of its competitors, such as Check Point. We have 620 users using the product.

How are customer service and support?

The solution is designed in a way to help you, the support is good. 

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

We have used many solutions previously such as Check Point and Stone software. We changed to this solution because we wanted something more stable.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was easy.

What about the implementation team?

You will need one or two integrators for the deployment and it was very easy. The maintenance is simple too.

What other advice do I have?

We are going to continue using this solution.

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
Works at Aeon Mall Indonesia
Real User
Easy to install, stable but security features could improve
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is stable."
  • "We would like to see an upgrade to the VPN feature, we are using the VPN from outside of our office and there is a limitation to 10 connections, more connections would be suitable."

How has it helped my organization?

We use the solution for security but we are planning on upgrading to another product.

What is most valuable?

We currently are using the basic features of the product but one of the features we use is for blocking traffic.

What needs improvement?

We would like to see an upgrade to the VPN feature, we are using the VPN from outside of our office and there is a limitation to 10 connections, more connections would be suitable. Also, the security could improve on some features that are available.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for approximately five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

How are customer service and technical support?

The support is they provide is good.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was easy.

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

The pricing for the product is alright. Our organization has not yet provided an end budget for this area.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are not yet certain if we need a different solution in the future. We are evaluating our options. We have looked at Cisco and Barracuda solutions but I believe Cisco is very expensive and Barracuda might be the one we choose. It is too early to tell, we are still evaluating these options and others.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Fortinet Fortigate a six 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
Fortinet FortiGate
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Infrastructure Engineer at Communication Progress
Real User
Scalable, Easy to implement, security fabric integration, wireless controller, low cost, stable
Pros and Cons
  • "Web filtering and two-factor authentication are great features."
  • "Vulnerability scanning could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case of this solution for our clients is for protecting internal networks with data center firewalls, internal segmentation and next generation firewalls. 

We are a gold partner of Fortinet.

What is most valuable?

SD-WAN, Security fabric integration, two-factor authentication, ADVPN, Dynamic routing, single pane of glas managements are great features. FortiGate is very easy to use, and to configure.

What needs improvement?

I think some improvements could be made in vulnerability scanning. I'd also like to see additional features in the authentication. They support RADIUS, LDAP  but the solution doesn't have API integration with other solutions. They have API in FortiAuthenticator, but not in the firewall and not all customers want to buy another solution. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been providing this solution to clients for seven years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a very stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is scalable. They have now built hyperscale firewalls and it's very easy. Also VMs, for example, is very easy to scale, you just need to adjust the licensing. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is very, very good. They respond quickly and provide the solution to the problem. 

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

I have previously used Check Point and Cisco ASA. In terms of cost and security features, Fortinet has the advantage and it's also easy to implement. Cisco and Check Point are a little bit more difficult in that aspect. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is simple, as with all Fortinet technologies. Deployment time depends on the situation. For small customers it takes about one to two hours. For larger companies with different kinds of firewalls in their infrastructure, it may take a day or two, it depends on the complexity of the network, the infrastructure and the size of the business. The solution is suitable for any size company. Maintenance depends on the contract with our customers, but Fortinet includes support with every license. If a customer wants support from us, we provide it. 

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

Fortinet offers four types of licensing - Advanced Threat Protection, Unified Threat Protection and Enterprise Protection and 360 degree Protection.  Licensing costs are dependent on the VM  or Hardware model, not per features. For example if vm or Hardware model supports 200 IPsec tunnels you can setup 200 IPsec tunnels, it doesn't matter what kind of license you have. 

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend this solution. 

I would rate this solution a 10 out of 10. 

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
reviewer1425057 - PeerSpot reviewer
Documentation Manager at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
MSP
User-friendly, stable, and the functionality is logically designed
Pros and Cons
  • "The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."
  • "The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper."

What is our primary use case?

I used FortiGate only for the firewall.

What is most valuable?

The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much.

The functions are designed very logically.

What needs improvement?

The price of FortiGate should be reduced because there are some other leading products that are cheaper.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for about one month.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have not experienced any bugs or glitches.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability-wise, I haven't had any problems. Because of the price, I would say that this product is better for large enterprises.

What about the implementation team?

My colleague set up FortiGate.

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

Fortinet bundles FortiGate with other products and because of this, the price is a little expensive to some SMB enterprises. 

What other advice do I have?

FortiGate is the number one solution, both in the global market and the Chinese market. Most of the Chinese market follows FortiGate's news and its roadmap is very popular. I would recommend people buy it.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1458159 - PeerSpot reviewer
Officer / General Manager Software R&D Laboratory at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Easy to use with good GUI and an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The usage in general is pretty good."
  • "The performance could be a bit better. Right now, I find it to be lacking. Having good performance is very important for our work."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for the VPN.

What is most valuable?

The initial setup is pretty easy, at least if you are looking to take advantage of basic functionality.

The usage in general is pretty good.

The GUI is pretty good.

What needs improvement?

The support could be improved upon somewhat.

The performance could be a bit better. Right now, I find it to be lacking. Having good performance is very important for our work.

The command line operation is a bit out of our depth.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been dealing with the solution for about two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is quite stable. We don't have issues with bugs or glitches. For us, we haven't had problems with crashing or freezing. It's been working well for the most part.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I can't speak to the scalability. I've never attempted to scale and therefore don't have a sense of how well the solution would take to it.

We have about 30 engineers that work with the solution currently. I'm not sure, however, if there are any plans to increase usage in the future.

How are customer service and technical support?

The support wasn't the best. We weren't too satisfied with the level of service we were given.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very easy and straightforward. It was not complex. We do, however, use the basic functionality and therefore we don't really get into much complexity during the implementation.

The deployment itself is rather quick and we were able to get everything sorted in about one day.

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

The pricing isn't too bad. Right now, we find the cost to be manageable.

What other advice do I have?

We're just a customer. We don't have a special business relationship with Fortinet.

We're a development company. We sometimes use the cloud, however, we're open to other deployment models as well.

I've found the solution to be very good. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

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

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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.

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 technical 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
System Administrator at a media company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Provides a high standard of security for our clients
Pros and Cons
  • "We are a visual effects company, and there have been a number of high profile security issues in our industry. This has brought us to a higher standard of security, which our clients are very keen on these days."
  • "We had a minor problem where there was a major system upgrade on the hardware platfrom and the Mac client was not available as soon as it might have been. The PC client was available immediately, but we had to wait a month or so, before there was a mac client. I was slightly irritated that it was not ready on time, but it was eventually resolved."

What is our primary use case?

I primarily use this solution for external security of our network.

How has it helped my organization?

We are a visual effects company, and there have been a number of high profile security issues in our industry. This has brought us to a higher standard of security, which our clients are very keen on these days. 

What needs improvement?

We had a minor problem where there was a major system upgrade on the hardware platform and the Apple Mac client was not available as soon as it might have been. The PC client was available immediately, but we had to wait a month or so, before there was a Apple Mac client. I was slightly irritated that it was not ready on time, but it was eventually resolved.

For how long have I used the solution?

Almost two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Fortigate has more than adequate capability to cope with everything we require for the foreseeable future. 

How are customer service and technical support?

The support is very good, and we have had no issues. 

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

Previously had a SonicWall. Even allowing for an upgrade discount on the SonicWall, the FortiGate was a more compelling purchase.

How was the initial setup?

It was fairly straightforward. 

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: November 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.