We performed a comparison between Sonicwall TZ and Sophos XG based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Sophos XG’s single pane of glass makes it easy to manage the entire solution and it can be done anywhere. Users find it very light, stable, and it provides excellent real-time control. Users say SonicWall TZ struggles a bit with load balancing and data filtering, making it a slightly less desirable solution.
"Fortinet FortiGate's reliability is valuable."
"The most valuable features are SD-WAN, application control, IPS control, and FortiSandbox."
"All of the features of Fortinet FortiGate are useful and the security protection is good."
"This is an easy solution to deploy."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the analytics."
"The most valuable feature is the web filter."
"Good anti-malware and web filtering features."
"Fortinet FortiGate is stable. It's used across all the countries, this is the way most multinationals run their system."
"I have found this solution to be easier to use when compared to other products, such as those offered by Cisco."
"SonicWall TZ is a stable product."
"The stability is very nice."
"It's a stable solution."
"We use the content filter quite a lot because it's an office setting. During working hours, we like to censor the sites users can visit so it increases productivity. Therefore, the content filter has been good for us."
"Once it's configured properly, the solution is unbreakable."
"The solution is priced fairly and competitively."
"It does exactly what it says on the tin. It is good for protecting the business from being compromised. Its port protection is very good."
"The solution has very good security features, is easy to use for administrators and users, and has informative reports."
"The two most valuable feature of Sophos XG is, one the option to filter according to different applications and two, the integration with the Active Directory."
"Overall, this is a good product and I would recommend it for small to mid-sized customers."
"The most valuable features are its nice interfaces and configuration. The endpoint is also very good."
"The VPN access for users is also a great thing, especially nowadays when working from home."
"I like the dashboard, the interface, the management console, and the remote login."
"It has a very friendly interface like the Cyberoam iNG units, it has customizable policies, it has proper templates that you can even modify, and you can customize the rules, down to each single user."
"It's a product that is in continuous improvement and is following what the customer is asking for. They are taking inputs and designing new releases specifically according to the client and their needs."
"Fortinet could improve the windows opener or the virtual IP solutions for opening windows. The virtual IP settings need improvement as firewalls are trending in new development directions."
"Some features of Fortinet FortiGate are actually fee enabled that are inconvenient for deploying in production. Other issues relate to isolation with Cisco products and your server."
"Price, of course, can always be more competitive or better."
"Technical support could be better. You don't always get the level of help you need right away."
"In the balance between links feature normally you can just choose one option to balance. It would be better for the solution to have more than one option, preferably three."
"The non-error conserve mode has room for improvement."
"Its customer service could be better."
"They can do more tests before they release new versions because I would like to be more assured. We had some experiences where they release something new and great, but some of the old features are disabled or they don't work well, which impacts the product satisfaction. The manufacturer should be able to prove that everything works or not only that it might work. This is applicable to most of the other services, software, and hardware companies. They all should work on this. We cannot trust every new release, such as a beta release, on the first day. We wait for some comments on the forums and from other companies that we know. We always wait a few weeks before we use the updated version. They should also extend the VPN client application, especially for Linux versions. Currently, it has an application for Linux devices, but it doesn't work the way we want to connect to the VPN. They use only the old connection, not the new one. They have VPN client applications for Windows and Mac, but they can add more useful features to better manage the devices and monitor the current health of each device. Such features would be helpful for our company."
"Support for SonicWall TZ needs improvement, particularly the time it takes before you're able to speak to a support person, e.g. you have to wait for at least 30 minutes on the phone."
"I'd like to have cloud management at no additional cost. Unfortunately, leveraging SonicWall's cloud management capabilities is cost-prohibitive, so we don't use it. They should have a reasonable subscription or offer it to us at no cost as an MSP."
"I think content filtering is the area this product should improve. It's a little tricky to get put in correctly."
"I would like to see a SonicWall integration with the DLP tool, this would be interesting. Data Loss Prevention integration."
"Full monitoring obviously needs to be improved. We need full monitoring covered under the security licensing."
"In terms of what needs to be improved, I would say better load balancing and data filtering."
"The solution's antivirus checking could be improved so that we can have a deeper inspection of the packets."
"FortiGate has a client DNS in the firewall, but SonicWall doesn't have that. To create or configure a site-to-site VPN tunnel, we have to give a DNS name. Currently, we have to get the DNS name from a third party and then include it in SonicWall, whereas FortiGate has its own client DNS, so it provides a DNS name, and it does not require a third party. There should be a graphical option to view the network utilization and bandwidth usage."
"The management console could be improved and the solution lacks good technical support."
"Their updates can be faster and more regular."
"It is already secure but it could be better in terms of other breaches that may occur."
"Data traffic analysis could be better. I think Fortinet products like FortiAnalyzer are very effective in analyzing data traffic. I think it's better than Sophos. It could also be more stable."
"The time taken by Sophos XG's support team to respond to and resolve an issue is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"I would like to next release to be able to support on-premise deployment. The construction of the rules within the firewall could also use some improvement."
"When I call, I have to wait at least one to two hours to reach them."
"Some of the firewall rules are complicated for us to understand, they should be simplified."
SonicWall TZ is ranked 12th in Firewalls with 78 reviews while Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 192 reviews. SonicWall TZ is rated 8.0, while Sophos XG is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of SonicWall TZ writes "Has efficient user access control feature and good technical support services ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Easy to use and deploy with an improved pricing structure in place". SonicWall TZ is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, SonicWall NSa, WatchGuard Firebox and Cisco Secure Firewall, whereas Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Sophos XGS, Meraki MX and Sophos UTM. See our SonicWall TZ vs. Sophos XG report.
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