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CEO at Tawassul Technology
Real User
Secure, affordable, scales well, and simple to install
Pros and Cons
  • "Sophos is easy to use."
  • "Some businesses require Dynamic IP. This feature would be useful if it worked."

What is our primary use case?

We are resellers. We provide solutions to our clients.

What is most valuable?

I like the connectivity and the security.

Sophos is easy to use.

The GUI is very simple.

What needs improvement?

Some businesses require Dynamic IP. This feature would be useful if it worked.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Sophos XG for approximately four years.

Buyer's Guide
Sophos XG
March 2025
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Sophos XG is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is easy to scale with Sophos XG.

Our customers have medium sized businesses

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is okay.

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

I have also worked with Fortinet and one other solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy.

It can take one to two hours to install.

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

The price is reasonable. It's not as expensive as other solutions. 

What other advice do I have?

It's good, I would rate Sophos XG a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Synchronized security with Sophos endpoints, easy to configure, and easy to deploy
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable is the synchronized security between Sophos XG and Sophos endpoint because it provides a lot of visibility about unknown applications. The endpoint shares the information of unknown applications, and you can learn about those applications and create policies to allow or block those applications."
  • "Everything is working as expected at this moment, but the anti-spam solution in Sophos XG needs to be improved. It needs more granular features and more stability. The anti-spam solution currently doesn't have many features, and we would like to have more features. At this moment, there is no expression filter for anti-spam. We need something to be able to filter subjects or attachments in emails based on the keyword. Sometimes, there is an issue with anti-spam, and Sophos XG suddenly stops processing incoming or outgoing emails. The only solution for this issue is to restart the appliance. Their support should be improved. It takes a long time to escalate a support case from level one to level two."

What is our primary use case?

Most of the clients use it for web filtering, application control, SSL inspection, and VPN. We have on-premise and cloud or virtual environment deployments. On the cloud, Sophos XG is on Azure or OVH.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable is the synchronized security between Sophos XG and Sophos endpoint because it provides a lot of visibility about unknown applications. The endpoint shares the information of unknown applications, and you can learn about those applications and create policies to allow or block those applications.

What needs improvement?

Everything is working as expected at this moment, but the anti-spam solution in Sophos XG needs to be improved. It needs more granular features and more stability. The anti-spam solution currently doesn't have many features, and we would like to have more features. At this moment, there is no expression filter for anti-spam. We need something to be able to filter subjects or attachments in emails based on the keyword. Sometimes, there is an issue with anti-spam, and Sophos XG suddenly stops processing incoming or outgoing emails. The only solution for this issue is to restart the appliance.

Their support should be improved. It takes a long time to escalate a support case from level one to level two.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Sophos XG for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable, but sometimes, there is an issue with anti-spam, and Sophos XG suddenly stops processing incoming or outgoing emails. This is the only issue that I have with the anti-spam solution on Sophos XG.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. Most of our clients are small enterprises. We also have some medium enterprises.

How are customer service and technical support?

Their support should be improved. When we open a support case on their support portal, it first goes to their tier-one support. When an issue is complex, it takes a long time to escalate a support case to a level-two engineer, which is frustrating. Their response time is slow.

How was the initial setup?

Its deployment and setup are very easy. It is not at all complex to set up. The deployment duration varies. It can take around three days for a deployment with anti-spam, application control, IPS, and VPN with filtering.

What about the implementation team?

For its deployment and maintenance, usually, there are two of us, but sometimes, there is just one person.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Most of the customers here evaluate FortiGate against Sophos XG. Some of them also evaluate WatchGuard Firebox. In the past, FortiGate had the advantage of having an SD-WAN solution, but now Sophos also has an SD-WAN solution with a graphical user interface.

Sophos XG is very easy to follow and easy to configure, which is something very valuable for me and our customers. It is also very easy to use a site-to-site VPN with certificates, which is another pro. SD-RED devices are one more advantage that Sophos has over other vendors. These devices are very useful for those customers who don't have IT personnel in branch offices. With SD-RED devices, they can connect to the central site. The connection is automatically established with Sophos XG on the site. There is no need to have an IT person on the site.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution because it is really easy to implement. Sophos XG is very focused on cybersecurity. Its ability to synchronize information with Sophos endpoint is a very good feature when you are concerned about security. Other vendors or firewalls are more focused on establishing the connection and policies.

I would rate Sophos XG an eight out of ten. It is very good, but it could be better.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Sophos XG
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about Sophos XG. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,651 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Entrepreneur at Carmel Infotech Solutions
Reseller
Good reporting, stable, with local support available
Pros and Cons
  • "It is feature-rich, I like the server authentication, and the reports are good."
  • "In the next release, I would like to see improvements made to the policy and simplify the policy-making, as the complexity of it makes it really tough."

What is our primary use case?

I am a reseller.

What is most valuable?

It is feature-rich, I like the server authentication, and the reports are good.

What needs improvement?

The recent changes of the policy compared to Cyberoam are a little bit less user-friendly and complicated. Cyberoam is much easier to use.

Security could be better.

In the next release, I would like to see improvements made to the policy and simplify the policy-making, as the complexity of it makes it really tough.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Sophos XG for more than six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's more scalable than most, but like other products, a Sandbox cannot be scalable.

Our clients are small and medium-sized companies.

How are customer service and technical support?

We get a local-level team for support. There is less support with Cyberoam.

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

Cyberoam is the first product I started selling. We sell Fortinet also. Customers prefer Fortinet.

There is not a lot of difference between Sophos and Fortinet, they are very similar but in a large environment, Fortinet is better.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is really not a problem, but the policy-making is a bit complex.

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

The price is not reasonable. The price is a bit higher.

Cyberoam is better in terms of cost.

What other advice do I have?

I always recommend Sophos but there is a Enterprise security concern so I prefer Palo Alto.

I would rate Sophos XG an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

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

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: reseller
PeerSpot user
Senior Technical Consultant at Hash 1 IP services llp
Consultant
Good content filtering and intrusion prevention, but needs better quality checks for firmware upgrades and better support
Pros and Cons
  • "Content filtering and intrusion prevention are most valuable. Our customers are fully satisfied with the performance of Sophos. It has all the features that they require in a firewall."
  • "They need to do more quality checks before they release firmware upgrades. Currently, a few Cyberoam firewall customers are facing some issues while upgrading the Cyberoam firmware to Sophos. After the new firmware is installed, they are seeing some performance issues, which require some bug fixes. The performance is fine after getting the required support. Customers who are already using Sophos hardware are quite satisfied with this solution. Their support should also be improved. We are facing difficulties getting support on time through email or phone."

What is our primary use case?

I'm providing services to my customers. They are using Sophos firewalls, and a few of them are also using antivirus.

What is most valuable?

Content filtering and intrusion prevention are most valuable. Our customers are fully satisfied with the performance of Sophos. It has all the features that they require in a firewall. 

What needs improvement?

They need to do more quality checks before they release firmware upgrades. Currently, a few Cyberoam firewall customers are facing some issues while upgrading the Cyberoam firmware to Sophos. After the new firmware is installed, they are seeing some performance issues, which require some bug fixes. The performance is fine after getting the required support. Customers who are already using Sophos hardware are quite satisfied with this solution. 

Their support should also be improved. We are facing difficulties getting support on time through email or phone.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for three to four years.

How are customer service and technical support?

I regularly contact them. Connecting Sophos support is quite a difficult task during the pandemic. We are facing difficulties getting support on time through email or phone. Sometimes when a problem comes, it has to be sorted for the customer quickly, but it is taking time. One of the customers has just upgraded a firewall from Cyberoam firmware to Sophos, and it took them around ten days to get that firewall upgraded from Sophos.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Most of the customers compare Sophos with Fortinet. In comparison to Fortinet, people are more satisfied with Sophos. Sophos has a big customer base in India. Therefore, they are good in terms of performance and customer satisfaction.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Sophos XG a seven out of ten. We are satisfied with its performance.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1740045 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Good filtering and application control features, but the bandwidth could be more effective
Pros and Cons
  • "Some of the most valuable features are filtering and application control. The DDoS detection also shows traffic jamming and traffic shaping."
  • "This solution could be improved with more effective bandwidth. I found that when I enable DDoS detection for our clients, bandwidth is reduced. If DDoS detection is disabled, the bandwidth will be high, but it isn't secure. We recommend that customers enable DDoS detection, but if they need high bandwidth, we recommend Palo Alto and FortiGate instead of Sophos."

What is our primary use case?

We provide Sophos XG to customers. We work at deploying this solution from scratch to the customer, from unboxing, racking, or stacking, and doing licensing and upgrades for the box. Then we establish the process and security profiles that the customer requires. 

This solution is deployed on-prem. 

What is most valuable?

Some of the most valuable features are filtering and application control. The DDoS detection also shows traffic jamming and traffic shaping. 

What needs improvement?

This solution could be improved with more effective bandwidth. I found that when I enable DDoS detection for our clients, bandwidth is reduced. If DDoS detection is disabled, the bandwidth will be high, but it isn't secure. We recommend that customers enable DDoS detection, but if they need high bandwidth, we recommend Palo Alto and FortiGate instead of Sophos. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Sophos XG for about six months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is not as stable as other products. In terms of stability, our number one recommendation is Palo Alto, number two is FortiGate, and number three is Sophos. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Sophos is scalable, but not enough. 

How are customer service and support?

Sophos technical support is effective. 

How was the initial setup?

The installation takes two days. It is easy to deploy, and not as complicated as Palo Alto or FortiGate. We make it in our company labs and, for deployment and maintenance, we recommend one or two people. 

What about the implementation team?

We provide and implement this solution for customers. 

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

The licensing for Sophos XG is based on the number of users, so I get the module from the sizing of the customer. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also recommend that customers use FortiGate and Palo Alto, since these solutions are more stable and have more effective bandwidth. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Sophos XG a seven out of ten. I would recommend it to others, based on their needs, but the stability could be better. 

We have five to seven customers who are using Sophos XG. 

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
Technical Support Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Reseller
Easy to set up with good technical support but takes a while to load
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support is responsive."
  • "The user interface could be better."

What is most valuable?

The solution is mostly a good firewall. 

The initial setup is pretty easy compared to other options on the market.

The product has been stable.

The solution can scale. 

Technical support is responsive. 

Sophos offers pretty good pricing.

What needs improvement?

The user interface could be better.

We find that the solution takes too long to load. It's slow. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been dealing with the product for six or seven years at this point. It's been a while. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution has been stable. We haven't had any bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have customers of every size, including medium and enterprise-level.

The product can scale and if a company needs to expand it can do so.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is pretty good. We've been happy with their level of responsiveness. I have no complaints. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup isn't too difficult or complex. It's pretty straightforward. 

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

We find the pricing to be reasonable and not overly expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

We are a Sophos reseller. 

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten. If the graphical user interface was better and the performance was stronger, I would rate it higher. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
reviewer1513272 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head ICT at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Reliable, easy to install, reasonably-priced, with good management control
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the dashboard, the interface, the management console, and the remote login."
  • "I would want the level of integration to have another device on your network that is also reliable."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution as a firewall, and for remote login during the lockdown period.

We have used Sophos client, which is connected to the firewall to help our users to log in remotely. 

How has it helped my organization?

We have always used firewalls, this is just a different one that we have deployed. It allowed our clients to log in remotely. 

It has also helped us with outbound and inbound account management.

We have used it to manage the usage of the sites and helping to control the internet usage during productive hours.

What is most valuable?

I like the dashboard, the interface, the management console, and the remote login.

What needs improvement?

I would like to explore network access control. I haven't seen that it is clearly deployed.

It might be something that is already in place, or if it is available on another device.

I would want the level of integration to have another device on your network that is also reliable.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Sophos XG for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's very stable. It has never given us any problems.

When there are power failures, we have to reboot the network.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not tested the scalability. Our users are below 100, and from the time that we got it, our number of users has not gone above that original 100.

From what I have read, it's scalable and we have plans to increase our usage. For example, we are not using the Intrusion section, which is an area that we want to use. 

We also plan to install the Sophos endpoint.

We are looking at integrating the two solutions and seeing how they work.

We have been using a different antivirus for our endpoints.

How are customer service and technical support?

I haven't used technical support from Sophos. I have not required it. It's been easy for me to sort out myself.

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

Sophos was our first physical firewall device on our network.

Before that, we were using Linux-based open-source software firewalls.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It is easy to install.

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

The price for the firewall is reasonable.

The endpoint, however, is expensive. The price is not very standard, considering where we are coming from.

What other advice do I have?

We are considering Sophos endpoint and should have it next month.

I would recommend Sophos XGto others.

I would rate Sophos XG 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
reviewer1483797 - PeerSpot reviewer
Service Delivery Engineer - Network Security Lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Reseller
Simple to use, simple to manage, and simple to administer
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the Intercept X. It is the advanced features that are used for malware detection, and antivirus."
  • "Sophos can definitely improve with the interoperability between solutions."

What is our primary use case?

This firewall is part of the security solution that is implemented in medium-sized enterprises.

We are using it for endpoint and user security for laptops and mobile phones.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the Intercept X. It is the advanced features that are used for malware detection and antivirus. It's similar to antivirus on steroids.

It's simple to use and has a simple interface. It's generally straightforward and configuration-wise, it's not complex. 

It's a very simple product to use and that's why you find it is used mostly in small to medium-sized enterprises. They don't have the manpower that a large organization can have, in terms of the skilled workforce when it comes to cybersecurity. They just need something that is simple to use, simple to manage, and simple to administer, but effective at the same time. That's the main selling point for Sophos.

What needs improvement?

I have not used their SD-WAN product or the SD-WAN feature, so I don't know how scalable the SD-WAN is. But, I hope just that the SD-WAN is up to par with FortiGate.

The integration is an area that can improve a bit. One of the other solutions that I have used that is highly interoperable is Fortinet. It's easy to integrate with other products. 

Sophos can definitely improve with the interoperability between solutions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Sophos XG for a year and a half.

We are using the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. I've not had any issues with it.

In terms of bugs, I've not had any bugs, or I've not encountered any bugs when deploying Sophos or administering Sophos products. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, it's very scalable because they have different sized firewalls for different requirements or different specifications. 

It is also able to do high availability, so it's very scalable.

Currently, in our organization, we have coverage with Sophos Intercept X Endpoint Protection. We have 49 employees. We plan to continue to use this solution.

We are currently subscribed to a three-year product and will be using it for a duration of three years.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not had any cases where I had to log technical support, but I believe it would be fast enough in case I needed to reach out to them.

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

We are also using Fortinet FortiGate Firewall. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple.

For a normal deployment with basic configuration in a  medium-sized enterprise, it can take a day and a half.

If it's a complex network design then it might be three to four days.

It only requires one person to deploy and maintain this solution.

What about the implementation team?

We used an implementor and an integrator, but usually, I do it by myself.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The features in Sophos XG are the same features you would find in Palo Alto or Fortinet.

What other advice do I have?

I just like it the way it is. I wouldn't recommend any changes to it, because what they have is working and it's working very well. It is a product that I definitely recommend to others.

I would rate this solution a nine 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
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Sophos XG Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2025
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Sophos XG Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.