The WatchGuard Firebox is our version of a firewall. It has several use cases.
Network and System Technician at MFAL LDA
Reliable and stable solution
Pros and Cons
- "WatchGuard Firebox's two-factor authentication feature is particularly useful and provides an added layer of protection."
- "When working with WatchGuard, specifically in configuring Panda Security on the portal for the first time, it was challenging for me."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
WatchGuard Firebox's two-factor authentication feature is particularly useful and provides an added layer of protection. It's been a reliable and stable solution for us.
What needs improvement?
When working with WatchGuard, specifically in configuring Panda Security on the portal for the first time, it was challenging for me. Creating the partner center and setting up the account in Panda Security was not straightforward. Although working with the Panda Security part itself is easy, I faced difficulties in creating the partner center. So, maybe this could be an area of improvement.
Another area of improvement is the license. The price could be cheaper.
For how long have I used the solution?
We currently use WatchGuard Firebox T20 model.
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October 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There are around 26 users using this solution. In terms of user capacity, the T20 model can support up to 20 users.
How was the initial setup?
WatchGuard Firebox is easy to use and set up. I work with the solution every day, so I'm quite familiar with it. In my experience, setting up WatchGuard has been straightforward. It didn't require much effort.
Although I have spoken to others who mentioned that implementing it for the first time can be challenging, I personally found it easy. I had no issues with the setup.
Whether it was deployed in the cloud or locally, it took a month. I maintain the solution and provide technical support.
What about the implementation team?
I recall when I bought the first Firebox; someone advised me to start by seeking assistance from the WatchGuard support center. I found all the necessary information to implement the solution. That's why I believe it was relatively easy for me to implement it the first time. However, I am aware that many people find it challenging to implement WatchGuard on their first attempt.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Currently, we use an internal lead to sell WatchGuard to our clients. So, the price varies. However, it's worth mentioning that our internal use of WatchGuard includes Panda Security as well.
We do pay for a license. It's a three-year license. It is an expensive solution. The price could be lower.
What other advice do I have?
WatchGuard is not a widely known solution in my country. People here tend to use CheckPoint, Fortinet, and Palo Alto more. However, I believe WatchGuard is a good solution that more people should be aware of and consider. We are actively working to promote it in Angola. In fact, there might be more companies in our country that could benefit from using the WatchGuard solution.
Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
Security Engineer at Cyber Value
Very flexible without any licensing limitations
What is our primary use case?
We use this for our network, mainly for the configuration of rules, such as VPN connections, remote access connections, and application web filtering. I'm a security engineer and we are customers of WatchGuard.
What is most valuable?
This is a very flexible product without licensing limitations. They offer good classes through Gartner.
What needs improvement?
Although this solution is better than others on the market, I'd like to see improvement in the visibility of network traffic. It feels that the web interface is missing some parts, particularly access and configuration.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We've never had to use the technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution eight out of 10.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
Buyer's Guide
WatchGuard Firebox
October 2024
Learn what your peers think about WatchGuard Firebox. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Network Administrator at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
Granular solution enables being both restrictive or non-restrictive; reporting could be better
Pros and Cons
- "From my experience with their customer service team, I would say that they seem quite knowledgeable and fairly quick to respond."
- "The area where I think this product can be improved is the user interface and the reporting. It can be quite difficult to find the correct logs and to actually find out what is going on. The digging can be time-consuming."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for this solution is a primary firewall.
What is most valuable?
The features I found most valuable are probably the built-in VPN functionality and the scalability because they can both be centrally managed. It is very easy to scale. It is also very granular, so you can be as restrictive or as non-restrictive as you like. This means you can be very precise with it.
What needs improvement?
The area where I think this product can be improved is the user interface and the reporting. It can be quite difficult to find the correct logs and to actually find out what is going on. The digging can be time-consuming.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for a year now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of this solution an eight out of 10, with one being unstable and 10 being very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability of this solution a 10, on a scale of one to 10, with one being not scalable at all and 10 being very scalable.
We currently have about 200 users.
How are customer service and support?
From my experience with their customer service team, I would say that they seem quite knowledgeable and fairly quick to respond.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we used FortiGate. FortiGate is a much more mature product. I feel like FortiGate is a lot easier to work with. Firebox, you're able to achieve the same outcomes, but it can be a lot more complicated to do so.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup can be somewhat complex. I would rate it a six out of 10, with one being not complicated at all and 10 being very complex.
What about the implementation team?
Our deployment was done through a third party.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would rate their pricing plan a four, which means it's definitely on the cheaper scale.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this product, but you need to make sure that you've got the technical capability to work with it because it can be quite complicated. Overall, I would rate this solution a seven out of 10, with one being poor and 10 being excellent.
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.
CEO at Specifix Limited
A lower-end product that does the job, but doesn't do it very well
Pros and Cons
- "The set up was quite straightforward and we handled it in-house. It took a few hours to deploy the product."
- "There is room for improvement in the threat protection, data packet inspection, and performance of the solution. Generally, it's just a lower-end product. It does the job but doesn't do it very well."
What is our primary use case?
It's mainly an internet gateway that is used for internet gateway protection and remote access.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement in the threat protection, data packet inspection, and performance of the solution. Generally, it's just a lower-end product. It does the job but doesn't do it very well.
Compared to Palo Alto, for example, some of the main differences are zero-day protection, performance, deep packet inspection, and App-ID. I'm not really a fan of WatchGuard. We only use it with one client and we're trying to get them to get rid of it. I prefer to use Palo Alto instead. Industry analysts have voted Palo Alto the number one firewall for the last eight consecutive years, so if you want good protection, it's a no-brainer.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with this solution for 18 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is reasonably stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I do not think the product is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The set up was quite straightforward and we handled it in-house. It took a few hours to deploy the product. One a scale of one to five, one being very hard and five being very easy, I would rate the set up as a five.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is an entry-level product, so the price is cheap.
What other advice do I have?
The program requires maintenance, including updates, patching, and subscriptions.
My advice to someone considering this project would be to look into Palo Alto instead.
I would rate this solution as a one 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: Reseller
Easy to use and configure with very good scalability
Pros and Cons
- "There are many fantastic features."
- "There should be better integration and a way to configure multiple vendors into the same data center in order to offer more flexibility."
What is our primary use case?
We provide the solution to our customers. It's primarily used for security.
What is most valuable?
The reporting aspect of the solution is what is most valuable to us.
The solution is very easy to configure.
The product has been very easy to use.
We've found the stability to be very good.
The scalability is excellent.
The pricing of the product is reasonable.
We've been in touch with technical support and found them to be very helpful.
There are many fantastic features.
What needs improvement?
Often, customers don't end up using a lot of the features.
They should move more towards integration with other OEMs such as web application firewalls, et cetera. There should be better integration and a way to configure multiple vendors into the same data center in order to offer more flexibility.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been working with the solution for about seven to eight years at this point. It's been a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution is very good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's quite reliable in terms of performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We've found the scalability to be very good. There are no limitations. If a company needs to expand it, they can.
How are customer service and technical support?
We've contacted technical support in the past. We've found them to be very good. They are helpful and responsive. I would say that we are quite satisfied with the level of support we've received.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of the product is pretty good. I would describe it as fair. It's not overly expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
One of our customers wanted us to compare this solution against Azure Firewall to see which would be better. We're still looking into that.
What other advice do I have?
We are resellers.
I'd rate the solution at a ten out of ten. It's a pretty fantastic solution overall.
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: Reseller
Technical Consultant at Rainbow Security
Protects us from daily attacks against our IT forum and email server
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature for small and medium businesses is the support for various protocol proxies."
- "It would be wonderful if the WatchGuard team develops nice products for threat intelligence."
What is our primary use case?
This device is for Unified Threat Management (UTM). Our primary uses for this solution are as a firewall, antivirus, anti-spyware, web-blocker, and APT blocker.
How has it helped my organization?
I can say that it has been defending our organization. There are from ten to one hundred attacks per day to our IT forum and our email server.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature for small and medium businesses is the support for various protocol proxies. Without any subscription, they can realize an IDS/IPS solution.
What needs improvement?
It would be wonderful if the WatchGuard team develops nice products for threat intelligence. They have a subscription service called DNSWatch, but this needs to be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
Twelve years personally, but the company has had it running since early 2000.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This product is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There is no problem with the scalability. If I need a more powerful appliance then I can buy it, but I can also use less powerful devices. Overall, scalability is ok with this solution.
We have about fifty people using this solution. There are two IT specialists, and all of the rest are salespeople, office support, etc.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is very good. I know only of one company whose tech support is better than WatchGuard's.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have experience with Check Point UTM, and I find that this application has approximately the same functionality, but it is cheaper.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very easy. It is not complex.
For a small organization that has between fifty and one hundred users, the deployment can be done in perhaps fifteen minutes to three hours. Our deployment took approximately one hour.
Only one person is required for maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
We handled the deployment ourselves.
What was our ROI?
I can see ROI within several months.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cheapest configuration, for maybe five people, is approximately $500.
There are several other license steps that vary based on the number of security services that are included in the subscription.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We had considered several other solutions such as pfSense, MikroTik, and Fortinet. However, we became a WatchGuard distributor for the territory of the Russian Federation, so we are using only WatchGuard solutions.
What other advice do I have?
It is a very reliable and very easy solution. I think it is the best solution in the world, judging by its price and quality.
I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Company Owner at SCI Bilişim
The tool's antivirus and malware detection systems require improvement
Pros and Cons
- "If you just plan to use WatchGuard Firebox in your office and not publicly, then it is okay to purchase it. With WatchGuard Firebox, you can manage your users and permissions while also taking care of the basic setup phase in your office."
- "In WatchGuard Firebox, the antivirus and malware detection systems are areas with shortcomings that require improvement since they are the most important elements of a cybersecurity tool."
What is our primary use case?
My company uses WatchGuard Firebox for the data centers that work in our office. My company has websites and web applications, because of which we use WatchGuard Firebox for system security.
What needs improvement?
In WatchGuard Firebox, the antivirus and malware detection systems are areas with shortcomings that require improvement since they are the most important elements of a cybersecurity tool.
In the future releases of WatchGuard Firebox, I want to see more frequent updates.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using WatchGuard Firebox for two years. I am an end-user of WatchGuard Firebox.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a one out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is not a very scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a three out of ten. The scalability structure of the product does not work properly. There are some downtimes in the solution for which we don't get any notifications. In our company, we don't worry whenever there is an upgrade for the solution.
In my company, we are full-time users of WatchGuard Firebox, and we have applications that are not just used inside our office but publicly on the internet. My company faces many cyberattacks from Russia and China, which is really bad.
My company does not plan to increase the use of the solution.
How are customer service and support?
When trying to contact the product's technical support team, it turns out to be a slow process.
I rate the technical support a three out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Negative
How was the initial setup?
I rate the initial setup phase of the tool a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.
The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.
The solution's deployment process takes just a few hours to be completed.
For the deployment process, you first connect to a serial cable. WatchGuard has management software that you need to install on a computer to manage the firewall software. You need to connect the firewall serial cables to your computers. In my company, we manage just one software for upgrades and deployments.
One person is enough to take care of the product's deployment process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
WatchGuard Firebox is a cheap solution.
What other advice do I have?
The systems from WatchGuard are not properly working since I have seen that my company faces exploits in security when using WatchGuard Firebox.
If you just plan to use WatchGuard Firebox in your office and not publicly, then it is okay to purchase it. With WatchGuard Firebox, you can manage your users and permissions while also taking care of the basic setup phase in your office. For systems open on the internet, you can use solutions bigger than WatchGuard Firebox that can provide you with more professional services.
Since the tool's performance is not good, I rate the overall tool a two 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.
Network Admin at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Intuitive to configure and provides us with layered security
Pros and Cons
- "It also provides us with layered security. It has onboard virus scanning features that allow it to scan before something gets to the host. It will also stop a person from going to a site that is known to be bad."
- "There is room for improvement on the education side, regarding what does what, rather than just throwing it at a person and assuming they know everything about it. A lot of times, you have to call WatchGuard support to get the solution that will work, rather than their just having it published so that you can fix the problem on your own."
What is our primary use case?
It's our external firewall and VPN solution.
How has it helped my organization?
- It allows us to access the outside world.
- It keeps us safe from external threats coming in.
- It allows us to have remote access.
What is most valuable?
The fact that it just works is one of the most valuable features.
It's fairly intuitive when trying to figure out how to try to get things configured the way you need them. It either works or it doesn't, which means if you have a failure you have a chance to get things fixed.
In addition, I have not noticed any throughput issues at all. The device we have will actually operate at faster technologies than we have available to us.
Management of the solution is great and it also provides us with layered security. It has onboard virus scanning features that allow it to scan before something gets to the host. It will also stop a person from going to a site that is known to be bad.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement on the education side, regarding what does what, rather than just throwing it at a person and assuming they know everything about it. A lot of times, you have to call WatchGuard support to get the solution that will work, rather than their just having it published so that you can fix the problem on your own.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been with WatchGuard now for about six years. We've got their XTM firewall.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their support is awesome. I get a solution to my problem within 24 hours, and if they don't have a solution within 24 hours, they usually have a higher-tier tech working with me until the problem is solved.
How was the initial setup?
The setup was fairly straight forward. We were actually dealing with a failure situation when we received the product. So we had WatchGuard support on the lines from the get-go, helping us get started so that we could get the information. It's something that we would not have been able to do had they not helped.
The main firewall was deployed within a day. The satellites were deployed within a week.
We have two home offices that they're distributed to. Typically, I get the device in, I provision it with the workflows and the exceptions they need, and then they plug it.
What other advice do I have?
I can't say whether Firebox has saved me time. It's a firewall and it does its job. So whether it be WatchGuard, SonicWall, or anybody else, if it does its job and I don't have to look at it, I'm happy. I haven't really looked at a lot of the reporting features. I mainly go in there, figure out where people are having troubles, and fix their problems.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Updated: October 2024
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