- It's version of throughput is good
- It has a strong active cluster, as you can have between three and 32 units to a cluster
Network Security Infrastructure - Tech Specialist with 10,001+ employees
It has given me complete oversight of my network in a centralized fashion but certain features need improving.
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
Finally there is a UTM Fortinet. It has given me complete oversight of my network in a centralized fashion, so I know what is going on at all times. It provides me with a solution that can automatically take control of situations when they arise, with the most intuitive interface. It stops you needing to be on the phone to tech support, or a local vendor, for days on end.
What needs improvement?
- Security
- LAN
- WAN
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used it for three 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 was my experience with deployment of the solution?
No issues encountered.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No issues encountered.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues encountered.
How are customer service and support?
Customer Service:
8/10.
Technical Support:8/10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
No previous solution was used.
How was the initial setup?
It was easy to set up.
What other advice do I have?
The most important factor is that you choose a firewall or UTM solution that fits your organizations security requirements. Begin by determining what business problem you are trying to solve, what technical controls you need to implement (Firewall, IPS, NAC, VPN, endpoint, mobility, web filtering, malware detection, etc.). Then, determine what hardware features you need such as (HA clustering, link aggregation or 10Gb, port sensity), and what kind of throughput, and how many concurrent connections.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Support Analyst at a non-tech company with 501-1,000 employees
Cisco's license is more expensive than Fortinet - that was the tipping point for why we changed to Fortinet.
What is most valuable?
The two most valuable features are VPN and firewalling.
How has it helped my organization?
Fortigate 300c is a very robust product, unlike Cisco ASA Firewall, you have already the web gui interface inside the device. Although they the same concept. Fortigate 300c has one of the easiest gui configuration compared to ASA Firewall, where you can lose your way.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for 2 years. It has served as an SSL VPN server.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
So far, I haven't encountered any issues and that was the first time I implemented it. I just followed some concepts with Cisco ASA firewall and 2 hours later I finished configuring SSL VPN with 3 different capabilities.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
None so far.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
None so far, well it depends with license of the vpn. You need to purchase it and discuss it with the vendor.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before I was to implement ASA for SSL VPN, it was already working. My boss told me that we would be implementing Fortigate instead. He told me that Cisco's license is more expensive than Fortinet so I think that was the tipping point for why we changed to Fortinet.
How was the initial setup?
Yes it was, when you plug-in to the Fortigate Manager there is this wizard that will guide you to making it work basically, and that was it.Afterwards you can add your additional features as your company needs. The initial setup took me just 10 or 15 minutes.
What about the implementation team?
Through a vendor team. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate them 8. The representative from the vendor seems to know the basics of the product but when it comes to troubleshooting he seems to lack information. He had to come back the other day just to provide a solution for a specific issue.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We only evaluated two, Cisco and Fortinet.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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 Lead at iConnect IT Business Solutions DMCC
Offers good protection and security
Pros and Cons
- "Overall security features and performance routing is good."
- "Lacks sufficient security options."
What is our primary use case?
Fortinet protects us from web attacks. We also use it to connect our remote users. I'm the IT infrastructure lead.
What is most valuable?
I think the overall security features and the performance routing is good.
What needs improvement?
The security features are good but I'd like to see additional security options.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a stable solution, yes.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple and took us about half an hour. We have 50 users in the company. We have one person who deals with all our maintenance and deployment issues.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have a three-year license.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend this solution and rate it eight out of 10.
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.
Easy to use with a lot of security features right out of the box
Pros and Cons
- "The SD-WAN is the most valuable feature."
- "I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive."
What is our primary use case?
I am a reseller of the FortiGate solution and we use it as a firewall to protect the parameter of the network.
What is most valuable?
The SD-WAN is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
I think that the infrastructure for the VPN could be improved. The way that it is bundled also made it difficult to use and sell as it is too expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using FortiGate for three years.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. It is easy to use, and there are a lot of security features right out of the box. For those who do not need the enterprise VPN, it is an excellent product.
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.
CIO at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Scalable and stable, fair pricing, and the VPN helps us with global site connectivity
Pros and Cons
- "I like that they have given me a solution at a fair price."
- "The user interface could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We are using this solution to filter communication to and from the website or our site.
We also use it to create a VPN connection for all of our sites in the world.
What is most valuable?
I like that they have given me a solution at a fair price.
What needs improvement?
The user interface could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with FortiGate for more than ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a stable solution, we have not had any issues. It works.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's a scalable product. We have 600 users in our organization.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have not contacted technical support. We have been fortunate in that we did not have any issues that needed it.
How was the initial setup?
I am working as a manager, and I am not doing any of the configurations.
We only require one person for the maintenance of this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is fair.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it. That said, nothing is perfect and there is always room for improvement.
I would 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.
Head of Customer Success at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Straightforward to setup, good support, and offers good visability
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are the possibility of having one fabric for switching on security."
- "I would like to see a more intuitive dashboard."
What is our primary use case?
We are system integrators, and this is one of the products that we implement for our clients.
The primary use case of this solution is as a firewall, with advanced capability features for sandboxing, for preventing ransomware and other related threats.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the possibility of having one fabric for switching on security.
They have the feature where the fabric and the security fabric can be extended. That gives us visibility as a single pane of logs for many of the activities.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see a more intuitive dashboard.
Technical support can improve in knowledge sharing and they can implement better.
The dashboard appearance needs to be more refined. It has to be smoother and more customer-friendly.
As the cloud is more prominent and more are moving towards the cloud, people are used to certain ease of doing things, and less complicated.
I understand that a firewall is a technical product, but we can try to make it a better customer experience which will increase usability with good results.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with this solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution. We have not experienced any issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's a scalable product.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is fairly good. We are able to get our message through, they look into our issues and provide us with a solution without any hassle.
I would rate technical support a seven out of ten.
To be better, they would need responsive pre-set activities to be more refined. They need to be in a position to give more modular solutions or more pre-defined solutions that are present.
How was the initial setup?
We did not have any problems with the implementation.
The initial setup was straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The Indian market is different than the European and American markets. When you compare, they need to be a bit more aggressive on pricing.
What other advice do I have?
We would recommend this firewall at any given point in time.
I would rate this solution a seven 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
Works at Smartdev LLC
The graphical interface is complete and easy to use
Pros and Cons
- "The IPS is good. It protect my network from attackers."
- "A strong point of FortiGate is the graphical interface is complete and easy to use."
- "One area for improvement is the performance on the bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."
What is our primary use case?
It is a UTM firewall with many features. It has helped me to control users and public multi-servers easily. It also can make the VPN connection free through advanced routing (RIP, OSPF, BGP, PBR). It gives you a seamless, simple integration into a large network.
How has it helped my organization?
It help me control users, so I could review how users access the Internet or the bandwidth, and what they use per day.
What is most valuable?
- A strong point of FortiGate is the graphical interface is complete and easy to use.
- The IPS is good. It protect my network from attackers.
What needs improvement?
One area for improvement is the performance on the bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technical Services Manager with 501-1,000 employees
Easy to set up, make policies; the switches automatically get policies from the firewall
Pros and Cons
- "It's very easy to set up, it's very easy to make policies and, for an organization, that means you don't need IT expert in firewalls. You just need to have somebody who knows a little bit of IT, and that's it. With other products, you need someone with a "Masters" degree in firewalls."
- "You can purchase switches and you don't need to do anything with them. You just put in the firewall and the switches get all the policies and rules that you already have in the firewall. With Fortinet, you just connect the FortiSwitch to the Fortinet and that's it."
- "As far as wanting more scalability or things in the network diagram, it's going to cost you."
What is our primary use case?
I am using it as an IPS, intrusion protection system.
How has it helped my organization?
The first benefit is the cost. It is very affordable.
Also, it's very easy to set up, it's very easy to make policies and, for an organization, that means you don't need IT expert in firewalls. You just need to have somebody who knows a little bit of IT, and that's it. With other products, you need someone with a "Masters" degree in firewalls.
What is most valuable?
It's a complete solution. You can purchase switches and you don't need to do anything with them. You just put in the firewall and the switches get all the policies and rules that you already have in the firewall. That's a very nice feature because with, for example, Cisco, you need to set the switch, you need to set the firewall, and you need to test it. With Fortinet, you just connect the FortiSwitch to the Fortinet and that's it. It's very easy.
In the last version of the FortiOS - the operating system of the firewall - they put a lot of new features to support communications in a firewall. Whatever the communication that you have, you can put that in the firewall, and that's great.
What needs improvement?
For me, at this time, it's very complete.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is very good. I have no problems right now with any of my customers. I haven't had a call from a customer in about three months, other than to make new policies. That's it. They are not complaining about the Fortinet, that it is damaged or something like that.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is very good. We just did a quote for a university here that has about 25,000 students, and all the solutions that we put in the RFP, they were accepted. The only thing is the cost. As far wanting more scalability or things in the network diagram, it's going to cost you.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support is very good. If you have any questions, they have a forum and, apart from the forum, depending on the FortiGate that you purchased, they have very good support from second-line engineers. Whatever your problem is, you call and at least you get a callback.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I was using a SonicWall. The problem with SonicWall is that they were purchased by Dell, and apparently, Dell is not putting any research money into the devices. That is the reason I changed because there are a lot of new things, new generation firewall technologies and they are not using them. Also, apparently, the price is very high right now. If you compare the price with a FortiGate, which has a lot of additional features, it's not worth it.
When selecting a vendor the most important criteria are support and cost.
How was the initial setup?
Setup is very straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing is good. They offer a lot of things, the most important is the support. Every time you upgrade your license, you also get insurance for the equipment. If you have any problem with equipment, they send in new equipment.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did a total cost of ownership analysis against Sophos and also Palo Alto, but that was out of scope, it was too expensive. Another one was WatchGuard. When you start looking at the cost of the license for all the things that you get, Fortinet is by far the best option. The problem with the other companies is the licensing.
What other advice do I have?
I rate FortiGate a 10 because every time I need to use the support, they are there. There were times when I went to a customer to give support, I called Cisco, they pass me to Brazil, and on another call, they passed me to India. After I gave the guy in India all this information for an hour, he asked me, "What's the problem?" So there was a communication issue with them and they don't know the problems very well. With Fortinet, they are in the US, not in India.
Do a total cost of ownership analysis with all the features you are looking for and, based on that, make the purchase. Also, reviews are very important.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
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