SonicWall NSa Reviews

The solution is used basically a parameter firewall and to secure the company network.

The content filtering is very good.

The solution is easy to use.

They offer good antivirus solutions. It's basically a complete package.

The solution is stable. 

There's always room for improvement. 

For example, the monitoring system is in need of improvement. Their monitoring system is too expensive. Most of the company doesn't apply the monitoring system as it's too expensive. Some more monitoring features should be built into the firewall device itself.

Management spends a lot of money on the device, and they want to know what is working, et cetera. To understand this, we need some reports, graphs, and figures. Without these items, management may not be convinced they are spending the money in the right way. Having reports that reflect the work done to keep the network secure would show the benefits and the ROI in a positive way that would help sell management on the product itself.

The ongoing service fees are high.

The solution could use more online educational tools to help users understand the underlying functionality of the product. Things like videos and tutorials could help a lot. 

I've been working with the solution for the last nine years or so at this point. It's been almost a decade.

The solution is very stable. We can do 80% to 90% of tasks with no issues whatsoever. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable.

The solution can scale, however, in Pakistan, it's not easy not to spend so much. One device can last over five to six years. You can say scale, however, you need to have an understanding of what functionality you will need over the years. Over four to six years, the device can fulfill your requirements. After six to seven years, you can replace it with another model or another brand to meet your updated needs.

I didn't use support over the last nine years, except for handling the device replacement itself. I needed a device replacement due to some damage, and they fulfilled my request and requirements. In terms of tasks such as configuration issues, I've never actually asked for assistance for those queries and therefore could not rate how helpful or responsive they are when they cover those matters. 

In the past, I have also used Fortinet and FortiGate as well as Juniper. I have 19 years of experience with various solutions. I have used multiple devices including Cisco, Juniper, FortiGate, SonicWall, and others. Basically, FortiGate and SonicWall are more or less the same types of solution. However, the SonicWall is easier to install than FortiGate.

I have deployed the solution myself. I did not need the help of an integrator or consultant.

The pricing is reasonable, however, all firewalls have high prices for subscriptions for their services to cover after warranty needs for content filtering, for antiviruses, for web filtering, et cetera. All firewalls have extra prices. 

After spending so much money year over year, we were surprised that we had to still pay more than the device cost just to covers services. That's why you may find that most companies stop their services and just running the firewall as a box. Most small companies stop their services just due to the high subscription fees. That said, multinationals or larger organizations likely still pay the service fees.

In places like Pakistan, a developing country, it's hard to continuously pay, as we find the continuing service fees expensive. They should work to make an exception for certain regions such as ours.

I'm a customer and an end-user.

I can't remember the exact versions we are using. We may be on version 6, and the models I have used include the 2600, 2500, and 3600 series.

I'd warn new users that the box is huge. The box has multiple functionalities and most users are not trained. They can't benefit from all the functionality as they don't know that it exists. Due to the lack of knowledge, most users don't leverage additional functionalities which they should. While the solution offers good devices and reasonable pricing for the box, companies need to educate themselves on how they can best use the product to their advantage. SonicWall can help by posting more videos and sharing more information.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

I walked into a job where we had an end of life ns2400 that was a mess. Coming from a Meraki environment there was a learning curve on how to navigate the sometimes overly complicated user interface. Tasks I should have been able to complete in 10-15 minutes took longer and I bounced between menus to hash out NAT rules and port forwarding.

There is no Network Engineer on site, and there are too many piecemeal options to realize the full effect of the firewall's capabilities.

Support is usually good when it comes to helping out with issues. Once the matrix is learned, it becomes a much better tool, but the learning curve is pretty large.

Port forwarding could use streamlining. Otherwise, once you learn the user interface, the capabilities of the firewall are good.

The tool is easy to manage with a friendly GUI.

SonicWall provides endpoint security with advanced protection. Moreover, SonicWall includes access points and additional features.

The product could expand its throughput capacity.

I have been using SonicWall NSa as a reseller for 19 years.

The SonicWall NSa is considered a high-end midrange firewall suitable for integrating small businesses and main offices. The range of NSa models can accommodate from as few as 250 users with the smallest model to 1,400 users with the NSa 6700 model.

All those features are the same, but NSa SonicWall is cheaper than other solutions. It has a Secure Upgrade Plus offering, with options for either one plus one or two plus one.

The initial setup is fair and quick. Deploying a certain firewall takes three or four hours, depending on the client's requirements.

We are also selling SonicWall products. We have a dedicated team that handles the deployment process. As a pre-sales engineer, I conduct presentations on the NSa and facilitate client discussions.

SonicWall is free for the first year and chargeable for the second year if you opt for two years.

The NSa is a model of SonicWall firewall. It encompasses firewall, content filtering, DNS filtering, antivirus scanning, and primary and advanced firewall requirements.

It helps with threat prevention up to the memory level.

I recommend the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution nine out of ten.

We are a software development company, and we have approximately 100 to 125 users working at the same time. This firewall is part of our security solution and we are planning to upgrade it to a TZ or another NSA model.

The most valuable features are the antivirus and reporting.

SonicWall NSA is easy to deploy, easy to maintain, and easy to configure. There are lots of features, which is really good for us

The reporting feature could be better because most of the companies want to have the analytics included, which is something that you have to buy separately.

We bought our SonicWall NSA between nine and ten years ago.

This is a stable solution, as per our needs. We have not experienced any problems with it.

We have 125 concurrent users at this time.

We are planning to replace the current model with either a TZ or another NSA.

The NSA model is very easy to deploy and it does not take a long time to do.

I deployed it myself. I watched some videos online and then completed the deployment.

Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis, and we are happy with the pricing. This is one of the reasons that we choose this product.

This is definitely a product that I can recommend to others.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

This product is the firewall that protects us from attacks from the internet.

This product has kept us safe and we haven't had any breaches.

The most valuable feature for us at the moment is the VPN, given that everybody has moved to home offices.

It is easy to integrate.

Initially, it may be difficult for some people to learn and become acquainted with it. I have been using it for a long time and find it straightforward to use.

I have been using SonicWall NSA for about 20 years.

SonicWall NSA is very stable. It is refined and well-tested, and it has been around for almost 30 years. It's a proven technology.

Each model scales to a certain point. If you outgrow it, then you buy another version.

Nobody specifically uses this product but every day, all of the company traffic goes through it.

The technical support is great.

At this site, SonicWall NSA is the only firewall that has been used.

I found the initial setup to be straightforward.

The price is reasonable for what it does.

My advice for anybody who is implementing this product is to get some training if it is your first time. It can be a little complex for new users.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

We use it to activate firewalls, VPN, and traffic analyzer.

The firewall feature is most valuable since my work is to analyze if there is any potential attack. SonicWall NSa gives the perfect analysis.

They need to improve their product information and product highlights because, here in Thailand, customers need to recognize SonicWall NSa. Also, Fortinet’s datasheet has a lot of information, but for SonicWall NSa, that information needs to be included. SonicWall NSa needs to make their product more user-friendly.

Sometimes, customers ask about the configuration and integration of SonicWall. Then I have to download the manual, configuration, and integration guide to explain the procedure. But for other brands, the configuration and integration are more accessible, and they also have a sample for implementation, which is missing for SonicWall.

Another area for improvement is compatibility; sometimes, my customers use SonicWall, and the partner uses some other brand, and there is an issue with compatibility matching. So if SonicWall could give us information about the compatible model and the name of the vendor with whom it is available, that would be helpful.

I have been using SonicWall NSa for two years.

It is a stable solution. I rate it eight to nine out of ten.

It is a scalable solution. I would rate it a seven out of ten.

I have not contacted technical support. The partner has contacted the solution's technical support, as I am not a SonicWall expert.

The price is high. I would rate it four to five out of ten.

I would rate the overall solution a seven out of ten.

SonicWall prevents and restricts access to websites for employees as well as anyone who comes into the office.

Most firewalls have active/active high-availability mode. If I'm paying for two firewalls, why shouldn't AI utilize both? It would be better if SonicWall came with n active/active feature instead of active/standby.

I've been working with SonicWall NSa for more than five years.

SonicWall NSa is simple to scale. You can easily add more firewalls to the cluster.

SonicWall's sales support is much better than other vendors'. 

Deploying SonicWall NSa is straightforward. A new user can easily configure the firewall. You can usually complete the deployment within a day. Setting up the prerequisites takes about two hours and then it takes some time to deploy the policies. That varies depending on what the customer wants. 

Maintenance is primarily configuration-related stuff, and our customers have their own engineers, but we give them advice. One engineer can maintain the solution.

You don't need to pay an annual fee, but any cost matters to the customer. Let's say SonicWall is giving me a firewall at a certain price, while a FortiGate firewall costs the same but offers added features like free SSL and active/active. Then customers might think it's better to buy a FortiGate.

Competitors provide SSL encryption licenses for free, whereas SonicWall only provides two licenses by default, but you have to pay for the rest of the licenses.
However, when most customers go beyond 20 or so users with SSL licenses, they usually go with a dedicated appliance, so a firewall should provide at least 20 to 25 SSL licenses for free.

I rate SonicWall NSa eight out of 10.

I use SonicWall NSA primarily for data center and perimeter security.

When I switched from Fortinet to SonicWall, the number of network attacks significantly decreased. This change greatly helped in maintaining a secure network environment.

I find the simple licensing, a good GUI, and cost-effective throughput of SonicWall NSA to be excellent features. Also, real-time deep memory inspection is very helpful and has had a positive impact on our security posture.

I would like more free VPN licenses. It would be beneficial if they could enhance the analytics part. It needs to be more monolithic, and more details in the analytical tools offered would be appreciated since it is not yet mature. Integration with AI tools could also be an improvement.

I have been working with SonicWall NSA for four years.

The stability of SonicWall NSA is quite good. I would rate it a nine out of ten.

SonicWall NSA is quite scalable. I would rate its scalability around eight out of ten, meaning there are no issues, and it is pretty easy to scale.

I have had little need for technical support. When I did contact them, the support from SonicWall was excellent. I would rate them ten out of ten.

Positive

I previously used Fortinet and switched due to their unsatisfactory post-sale support and the high renewal costs. There were also concerns about data security, as Fortinet is a Chinese-based company, and we experienced network attacks while using Fortinet.

The initial setup of SonicWall NSA was very simple.

We initially used third-party consultants for the setup yet found it simple to use afterward.

SonicWall is much cheaper compared to Fortinet, particularly regarding renewal and licensing costs.

I recommend SonicWall for its good support, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. It is suitable for various sizes of enterprises.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.