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WatchGuard Firebox pros and cons

Vendor: WatchGuard
4.2 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

Buyer's Guide

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

WatchGuard Firebox is easy to set up, run, and maintain, saving time and cost.
Its VPN and proxy features are highly valued for stability and reliable performance.
The reporting capability provides detailed insights and enhances efficiency.
Support for various protocol proxies and SD-WAN features adds to its versatility.
It provides robust security with malware protection, intrusion prevention, and traffic management.

CONS

Cloud-based central administration of all devices is lacking in WatchGuard Firebox.
WatchGuard Firebox setup is complex and not plug-and-play.
Technical support requires a license for access.
Pricing of WatchGuard Firebox is considered high.
Reporting features are not user-friendly and lack clarity.
 

WatchGuard Firebox Pros review quotes

PE
CFO at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Jan 4, 2018
The client is easy to use and stable
ChiefTec1e3f - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Feb 6, 2018
WebBlocker has the best URL category database ever.
reviewer690582 - PeerSpot reviewer
COO/CTO at a pharma/biotech company with 11-50 employees
Nov 16, 2018
I could still keep the data rates really high, up near the two gigahertz data speeds, without compromise on the security perimeters being acted simultaneously.
Learn what your peers think about WatchGuard Firebox. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,853 professionals have used our research since 2012.
HA
IT Manager at YAMAZEN, INC
May 16, 2019
The most valuable feature is the GUI, especially the real-time bandwidth usage report. Also, its integration with WiFi access points is nice.
reviewer1046019 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Support at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
May 16, 2019
The reports are detailed.
RL
Technical Consultant at Rainbow Security
May 16, 2019
The most valuable feature for small and medium businesses is the support for various protocol proxies.
ITManage3d45 - PeerSpot reviewer
I.T. Manager at a construction company with 201-500 employees
May 26, 2019
The Dimension control, the one-spot reporting and control, has been nice. It's been easy to go in and make sure people are doing what they're supposed to be doing and that only the right stuff is getting in.
RM
Sr. Systems Administrator at a individual & family service with 201-500 employees
May 28, 2019
I like the High Availability features of the newest ones I'm using because they allow a firewall to fail and still be up and running.
RP
IT Manager at INSULATION DISTRIBUTORS, INC
Jun 23, 2019
The most valuable are the VPN and proxy features.
Virusanti677 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Datastream LLC
Jun 24, 2019
I haven't a problem with anti-virus stability using WatchGuard for over two years.
 

WatchGuard Firebox Cons review quotes

PE
CFO at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Jan 4, 2018
Cloud-based central administration of all devices from one point would be nice
ChiefTec1e3f - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Feb 6, 2018
Make WatchGuard Firebox capable of integrating with third-party vendors like FireMon, Splunk, Tenable, etc.
reviewer690582 - PeerSpot reviewer
COO/CTO at a pharma/biotech company with 11-50 employees
Nov 16, 2018
Setup of this solution is complex, it's not plug and play.
Learn what your peers think about WatchGuard Firebox. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,853 professionals have used our research since 2012.
HA
IT Manager at YAMAZEN, INC
May 16, 2019
We bought Firebox four or five years ago, and with the first version I had to reboot it every two or three months for no apparent reason. We upgraded last year to the M370 and it's been running, but it is rebooting from time to time. I don't know why.
reviewer1046019 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Support at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
May 16, 2019
This solution needs the option to add an external hard drive.
RL
Technical Consultant at Rainbow Security
May 16, 2019
It would be wonderful if the WatchGuard team develops nice products for threat intelligence.
ITManage3d45 - PeerSpot reviewer
I.T. Manager at a construction company with 201-500 employees
May 26, 2019
A 12-hour power outage... got our batteries.
RM
Sr. Systems Administrator at a individual & family service with 201-500 employees
May 28, 2019
The documentation for the System Manager/Dimension configuration, could be a little bit clearer... The use case where you have multiple sites with multiple firewalls, and one site that has the System Manager server and the Dimension server, wasn't really well defined. It took me a little bit of digging to get that to actually work.
RP
IT Manager at INSULATION DISTRIBUTORS, INC
Jun 23, 2019
It's very hard to get information from their website, for exactly what I need to do. Sometimes I end up having to open a lot of support tickets... It's a navigational issue which makes it hard to find what I'm looking for and it's just so broad.
Virusanti677 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Datastream LLC
Jun 24, 2019
WatchGuard technical support requires a license.