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Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall vs SonicWall NSa comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.9
Fortinet FortiGate offers a high ROI through enhanced productivity, efficiency, security, cost savings, and simplified management.
Sentiment score
7.8
Organizations reported rapid returns with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall, noting cost savings, improved metrics, and enhanced security controls.
Sentiment score
6.0
SonicWall NSa enhances efficiency and security, reducing costs for organizations, saving nearly ten lakh rupees annually.
The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.
BDM Fortinet & BDM Teamlead at Exclusive Networks
It's a very useful tool to mitigate and protect your enterprise.
Staff Infrastructure & Security Engineer at Mozn Systems
When investing in cybersecurity with Fortinet FortiGate 200, which costs more than $10,000, companies that are growing directly can expect ROI within 1.5 to 3 years.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
With Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall, that need is completely eradicated.
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
I believe there is a return on investment with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall for every company that deploys it, as they typically see returns quickly, often within a few months, and the value measured is reasonable and comes back quickly.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
Because of the integrated ecosystem, we are able to gain better insight and develop better controls around securing our system.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
We had budgeted about thirty lakhs, but after negotiating with SonicWall NSa, we saved almost ten lakh rupees in a year.
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Fortinet FortiGate's 24/7 support is generally well-rated but needs improvement in response speed for urgent issues.
Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, despite licensing concerns and shift change issues.
Sentiment score
8.5
SonicWall NSa customer support is praised for expertise but needs improvement in response times and accessibility.
The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.
Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch
I would evaluate my customer service and technical support experience as fantastic.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
I would evaluate the customer service and technical support as a white-glove experience for sure.
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
I evaluate the customer service and technical support as excellent, as the support provided by Cisco is superior to other companies I have dealt with across various products.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
SonicWall support is always available to help us on an immediate basis.
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
The support from SonicWall was excellent.
Channel Account Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
SonicWall support is very helpful and responsive.
Product manger at Asbis Mediteranean
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Fortinet FortiGate is praised for scalability and adaptability across enterprises, though some users face cloud scaling and upgrade challenges.
Sentiment score
7.7
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall scales effectively, supports East-West traffic, and is praised despite some deployment challenges.
Sentiment score
6.7
SonicWall NSa provides scalable options for various company sizes, though some upgrades may be necessary to meet demands.
They scale up really well from smaller models like the FortiGate 40 and 50 to bigger sites with the FortiGate 100 for more throughput - up to enterprise datacenters.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We determine sizing based on multiple factors: number of users, available links, traffic types, server count, services in use, and whether services will be published.
General Surgery Specialist at Helwan University Cairo
I find that Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall is well-prepared to scale with the growing needs of my organization, as it is designed with scalability in mind.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
It scales well with the growing needs of my organization.
IT Director at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall scales well with the growing needs of our organization.
Senior Domain Architect II at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I would rate its scalability around eight out of ten, meaning there are no issues, and it is pretty easy to scale.
Channel Account Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Regarding scalability, it's important to ascertain the customer's future requirements, as firewalls need to be sized according to their expected scalability, such as moving from 500 users today to more in the coming years.
CEO at Kapstone Technological Services LLP
SonicWall NSa is very supportive and capable of handling everything from smaller organizations to big enterprise-level organizations on a model-wise or configuration-wise basis.
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Fortinet FortiGate offers reliable and consistent performance, with quick resolution for occasional bugs, ensuring minimal downtime and high availability.
Sentiment score
8.1
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall's stability has improved, resolving initial issues and ensuring a smooth transition without disruptions.
Sentiment score
7.9
SonicWall NSa is stable and reliable, though some firmware and configuration issues require occasional technical support.
We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently.
Manager, Information Technology at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.
NAC Support at Rah Infotech Pvt Ltd
Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.
CISO at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
No downtime or crashes experienced once it has been onboarded.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
I have not experienced any downtime or crashes with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall.
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
Configuration changes have been made that have reduced that latency.
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
The stability of SonicWall NSA is quite good.
Channel Account Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Fortinet FortiGate users face high costs, integration and stability issues, sluggish support, and need improvements in usability and security features.
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall needs improved licensing, networking features, integration, documentation, pricing, and enhanced security product support.
SonicWall NSa faces challenges with its GUI, VPN, outdated technology, pricey nature, and support responsiveness, requiring enhancements.
It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
It is how quickly each of these companies adapts to that and brings in more value to the customer.
Principal Consultant at Epitome Infotech Solutions (P) Ltd
The main area for improvement in Fortinet FortiGate is the firmware versions, as we face uncertainties regarding upgrades and frequent bugs that require self-fixing of problems.
Senior Manager IT at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Licensing is always a pain point and represents the worst aspect of the solution.
Senior Domain Architect II at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Whenever we ask for a feature while working with Cisco, within a day, we get the feature added.
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall could be improved by refining the documentation around the migration path from Cisco Defense Orchestrator or Farsight Manager because when we were early adopters, the migration path was quite unset and very vague and ambiguous.
Director of Security Solutions North America at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
More details in the analytical tools offered would be appreciated since it is not yet mature.
Channel Account Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
At those times, the CPU spikes considerably, and due to that, the firewall response becomes slow.
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
There are some aspects of the dashboard configuration or customization that could be improved.
Product manger at Asbis Mediteranean
 

Setup Cost

Fortinet FortiGate is cost-effective with a good feature set, ideal for mid to large enterprises, though complex licensing.
Enterprise buyers find Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall affordable and valuable, with special pricing, reinvestment potential, and justified investment benefits.
SonicWall NSa offers competitive pricing and value; however, advanced feature fees may challenge companies with tight IT budgets.
It offers cost savings as it is generally cheaper than the competition.
IT Infrastructure Architect at Apotek 1
It is about 20% cheaper.
Network Security Engineer at TD SYNNEX
The advantages of Fortinet FortiGate over its competitors include good pricing and meeting our requirements at a lower cost.
Information Technology Infrastructure Section Head at a consumer goods company with 11-50 employees
While some vendors offer cheaper options, the real value lies in the technology and the support provided by Talos and TAC, justifying its price in comparison to other vendors.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
Pricing has been competitive, and any savings we make on infrastructure can be reinvested in patient experience, care, and safety.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been satisfactory.
IT Director at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
SonicWall is much cheaper compared to Fortinet, particularly regarding renewal and licensing costs.
Channel Account Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would rate the price of the product as seven out of ten.
Product manger at Asbis Mediteranean
 

Valuable Features

Fortinet FortiGate offers robust security, ease of use, and integration, with cost-effectiveness and reliable support, enhancing network efficiency.
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall offers centralized management, integration, monitoring, segmentation, and machine learning for streamlined security operations and cost savings.
SonicWall NSa features VPN, deep inspection, user-friendly interface, threat protection, and scalable security for enhanced network protection.
They put in a thing called the FortiCookbook, which is very easy to read with real-life scenarios that make networking tasks like joining networks very straightforward.
IT Manager at Daltons Limited
The firewall and VPN features are the most valuable in protecting our customers' networks.
Sales & Support at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
The most valuable feature is the deep inspection for traffic, which is capable of identifying zero-day attacks.
Consultant at SKYE AS
The centralized management console has helped my organization streamline security policies because we have a single place to view logs, ingestion, and to correlate all logs and events from one dashboard.
Solution Principal Senior . at Insight
We also have the ability to document changes and indeed have the ability to roll back failed changes in a much more expeditious manner with an audit trail, which ensures that both our network team and our security and compliance organizations are confident that we can not only effectively implement change, but we can also manage the risk that comes along with change.
Director of Security Solutions North America at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The most valuable feature is the integration with all of the other Cisco tools that we have, and its platform-first approach.
Manager, Network at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Real-time deep memory inspection is very helpful and has had a positive impact on our security posture.
Channel Account Manager at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
SonicWall NSA's most valuable features are its SD-WAN and a system RTBI that blocks all attacks.
Product manger at Asbis Mediteranean
We were the only organization that remained secure with a zero infection rate.
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Ranking in Firewalls
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
592
Ranking in other categories
Secure Web Gateways (SWG) (2nd), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st), ZTNA (1st), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (1st)
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall
Ranking in Firewalls
71st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Firewall Security Management (20th)
SonicWall NSa
Ranking in Firewalls
18th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

JK
IP Network Security Specialist at MTN Ghana
Process-Level CPU Visibility: Introduce detailed CPU-usage metrics per subsystem (e.g., IPS engine, logging) so administrators can quickly identify and address performance spikes.
Analytics with FortiAnalyzer. Being able to pull in logs not just from our FortiGates but from all our other firewalls and then get them in one view has been a game changer. Whether I’m building an executive dashboard or doing a deep dive forensics session, I get everything I need without navigating consoles.Straightforward Application Control. FortiGate spots and blocks unwanted apps (eq. like BitTorrent or streaming services) with accuracy. Segmentation with VDOMs. We’ve carved our data center into four logical ‘mini-firewalls’ enterprise, core, billing, and WAF—all on one box. Each has its own rules and logs, and any traffic between them still gets inspected. It’s like having multiple appliances without the extra hardware. Always-Up-to-Date Threat Feeds. Daily signature updates and AI-driven threat sensing mean we’re blocking the latest vulnerabilities almost as soon as they’re announced.
BC
Sales And Brand Strategist at CrossConnect
Smart switching has transformed data center security and now simplifies stateful segmentation
To improve Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall, I think right now awareness is the biggest area for improvement. Cisco should focus on raising awareness about what the firewall on the switch actually is and how policy has changed. That is a massive story that has not been emphasized enough regarding saving time and effort due to the combination of all these tools. From a feature perspective, I am discovering new features as we deploy, so I do not know if there is a good answer yet because we are at the forefront of this technology. I can tell you that whenever we ask for a feature while working with Cisco, within a day, we get the feature added. For instance, understanding flow data is crucial. Within the N9300, to be able to apply the policy as we are discussing, you need to understand your network flow and what communicates with what. We were able to collaborate with the Cisco BU to refine how we consume that data and migrate old policies to the new structure necessary with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall and HyperShield.
Mahendra Basera - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr.Engineer at Akara Capital Advisor Pvt. Ltd.
Automated breach prevention has protected critical workloads and keeps external attacks blocked
I am familiar with SonicWall TZ. I have done a POC of TZ but I have not worked extensively with it. I have worked with the 2600 firewall and then the 3600. These are the models which we have worked with.SonicWall NSa was an on-premises solution. The two firewalls which were in production, in the data center and on the LAN side, were both on-premises solutions. We had a pre-decided budget under which we would purchase the firewall. All parameters including security, high availability, and budget concerns were covered with SonicWall NSa being implemented at that time. SonicWall NSa is a user-friendly product that is easy to configure, and it is easy for network personnel and firewall administrators to work with. Even the L1 team captured and learned this firewall effectively, helping us resolve all parameters related to high availability firewalls within budget-friendly costs. I rate this review a nine out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
No data available
Construction Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business369
Midsize Enterprise139
Large Enterprise195
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

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From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...
What are the biggest technical differences between Sophos UTM and Fortinet FortiGate?
As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall?
My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall is that it was minimal compar...
What needs improvement with Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall?
Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall could be improved by refining the documentation around the migration path from Cisco Defen...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall?
My main use case for Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall is the consolidation of multiple tools into one management platform.A...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSa?
I am overall satisfied with everything, including the price.
What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?
The CPU configuration for SonicWall NSa, based on my experience, is average. It should be increased somewhat because ...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall NSa?
We have SonicWall NSa models including NSA 2600, NSA 3600, and 6600 firewalls in our environment.We have used the Dee...
 

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall
No data available
NSA 250M, NSA 2600, NSA 3600, NSA 4600, NSA 5600, Dell SonicWALL NSA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya
Information Not Available
Orange County Rescue Mission, First Source, Michaels & Taylor, Green Clinic Health System, Aspire Chiltern Skills and Enterprise Centre, UnitedStack, Faith Lutheran College Redlands, Celtic Manor Resort, Star Kay White, Air Works, Unimat Life, NHS Yorkshire and Humber Commissioning Support (YHCS), Hutt City Council, Mato Grosso do Sul, Nspyre
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall vs. SonicWall NSa and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,495 professionals have used our research since 2012.