We performed a comparison between OPNsense and SonicWall NSa based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Firewalls solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the rules and quality of service."
"The payment function for applications is good."
"The initial installation is very straightforward."
"FortiGate is on the cheaper end, and it offers good value."
"The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate was straightforward."
"A strong point of FortiGate is that the graphical interface is complete and easy to use, especially if we think there is a list of operations that we are able to perform inside."
"Fortigate represents a really scalable way of delivering perimeter network security, some level of layer 7 security, WAF, and also a way to create a meshed ADVPN solution."
"It is simple to manage, and there are a lot of functionalities in the same box."
"The most valuable feature is the Dual WAN in OPNSense, which offers advanced capabilities."
"The DNS-level filtering is impressive for thwarting time scanners."
"One of the most valuable features is the network checking. Additionally, the firewall and web filtering functionalities are highly useful."
"The VPN server feature is the most valuable. It is integrated with Radius and AAA for doing accounting and authentication. Insight view is also an important feature for me at this time. It allows me to assess our network traffic. I also like the firewall feature. The BSD kernel has a packet filter. It is one of the most solid frameworks for firewalls. Its user interface is one of the best interfaces I have used."
"The IDS and IPS features are valuable. From the usability perspective, there is a lot of good documentation. As IT professionals, we found it very easy to configure the firewall. It was easy to configure and use."
"I find the solution to be user-friendly. It has a lot of reports and easy settings."
"It has firewall and VPN capabilities, which are very valuable features."
"The feature I find most valuable, is that the program helped me to realize all the requested functionality that was needed."
"Setup is easy. Anyone with basic firewall experience can do it."
"The most valuable feature I've found is VPN and web protection, particularly with navigation assessment. We use the application control feature to create rules controlling specific application navigation."
"SonicWall has USCS and anti-virus at the gateway level. Everything is filtered, and if it detects an intruder, it drops the line."
"The DPI-SSL is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's handy."
"Compared to Cisco, SonicWall NSa is much easier to configure."
"The most valuable features to us are the security services which is a critical factor in our deployment. Today we need to have all the security services enabled because firewalls are not enough."
"It allows us to block applications, i.e., websites by application type category. It is far more capable than content filtering alone."
"The antivirus and items of that nature were quite helpful to have."
"I don't like that anything more than very basic reporting is not included."
"I would like to see a more intuitive dashboard."
"The solution needs to improve its integration with cybersecurity."
"They need faster serviceability and more security features."
"The command line is complicated, and the interface could be better."
"Some of the software stability could improve."
"The graphical user interface of Fortinet's FortiGate product does not function well with text-based interfaces."
"This product needs to have an analysis feature, rather than having the analysis done through the integration of a different product."
"Its interface should be a little bit better."
"The logging could improve in OPNsense."
"The interface of the solution is an area with shortcomings."
"There is room for improvement in SSL inspection."
"When using the solution at the beginning was difficult. There was a steep learning curve."
"The solution could be more secure."
"On the customer-side, because I'm a small business, I need a cheaper or free solution option."
"OPNsense showed me some problems when using it in different environments. The problem is integration with a virtual server."
"Some of the configurations could be better."
"SonicWall does not support DynDNS, yet this is an important feature for smaller companies that do not have a static IP address."
"It's very hard to manage this box. You really need a lot of skills to operate the SonicWall. There is training and the like, but it's just hard to manage. Even if you have the knowledge, there are too many options. The menus are not very clear, where you should find the information."
"The scalability is something that should be improved."
"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."
"Customer support is severely lacking with very slow response times."
"It doesn't require much improvement. The only improvement area is that cloud reporting, assessment reporting, and other reporting features should be available with the subscription. They should provide reporting features with the subscription base, which is currently not there. We bought the reporting tool, but there are some complications. They have made some changes to the application, and now the reporting management is completely on the cloud."
"A room for improvement in SonicWall NSa is the log server because it could be more user-friendly compared to Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks. My company has many rule sets up for review, so sometimes, my team needs to use Excel for filtering, but the UI cannot support the Excel function."
OPNsense is ranked 3rd in Firewalls with 36 reviews while SonicWall NSa is ranked 19th in Firewalls with 80 reviews. OPNsense is rated 8.4, while SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of OPNsense writes "Robust network security and management offering a user-friendly interface, open-source flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, with challenges regarding initial setup and the absence of official support". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". OPNsense is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, Untangle NG Firewall, Sophos UTM and IPFire, whereas SonicWall NSa is most compared with SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall and Check Point NGFW. See our OPNsense vs. SonicWall NSa report.
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