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FatPipe SD-WAN vs Steelhead comparison

 

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:
 

Categories and Ranking

FatPipe SD-WAN
Ranking in WAN Edge
19th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (18th)
Steelhead
Ranking in WAN Edge
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
WAN Optimization (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the WAN Edge category, the mindshare of FatPipe SD-WAN is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Steelhead is 1.3%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
WAN Edge
 

Featured Reviews

Akshay Kharkar - PeerSpot reviewer
Beneficial technology, reliable, and simple deployment
Our client has a data center and all the applications servers and servers are in their data center. We design a solution, for all their branches. If they wanted to access the internet or the applications, they route traffic to their data center and then can access these applications with FatPipe…
Raj Metkar - PeerSpot reviewer
Auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency & bandwidth saving, best layer 7 QoS shaping policy can be achieved with ease
There are several features specific to branches, like keeping data hot and active on Steelhead devices. These features prevent unnecessary data travel across the international MPLS. Additionally, functions like acting as an NTP server, DNS, DHCP for branches and auto-optimization mode enhance efficiency along with really good QoS for bandwidth shaping.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of FatPipe SD-WAN is it's based on SD-WAN technology."
"It is very easy to install the solution."
"Steelhead's most valuable feature is its ability to hash and send only the important parts of the information, avoiding the resending of data."
"One of our most valuable features is Steelhead's cloud migration optimization. Moving to the cloud helped optimize our workflow, improving performance for end-users."
"TCP optimization... caches a particular TCP connection and the next time a user uses that connection he will reach the destination easily."
"Steelhead has drastically improved user experience."
"SteelHead works from the application. I use it to optimize traffic from Amazon. It is mainly used for customers who need to increase the traffic to 33K. For other users, it has been more of an operation."
"The most valuable feature of Steelhead is its optimization capabilities."
"Scalable data referencing is a great feature."
 

Cons

"FatPipe SD-WAN can improve the price to scale the solution."
"The product needs improvement in its integration with SDN."
"The solution needs to have alert notifications."
"One area for improvement is related to monitoring and visibility."
"Application response time and network performance could be improved."
"There was a significant challenge when moving from an older version to a newer one due to changed quality of service policies."
"Steelhead's handling of encrypted traffic could be improved because it requires some complex configuration to optimize encrypted traffic, especially when working with Microsoft protocols for mail servers and VPN services"
"Steelhead is considered an expensive solution in our country. On a scale of one to ten for expense, it would be rated an eight."
"The application response time of the solution can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The solution is expensive and the service contacts are costly too. The cost of the device makes the value proposition borderline acceptable for us. The service contract fees we pay is approximately $30,000 annually."
"Across our 12 data centers, we spend around $150k annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
28%
Media Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?
We just did an assessment for our 47 datacenters around North America. The top two enterprise-level network monitoring solutions were ExtraHop first, Riverbed SteelCenter second. Their negotiated c...
What do you like most about Riverbed Steelhead?
One of our most valuable features is Steelhead's cloud migration optimization. Moving to the cloud helped optimize our workflow, improving performance for end-users.
What is your primary use case for Riverbed Steelhead?
In the past, we have sold a lot of Steelhead ( /products/steelhead-reviews ) for retail companies, insurance companies, some finance companies, and some engineering companies. Steelhead ( /products...
 

Also Known As

FatPipe Symphony, Symphony, FatPipe Symphony SD-WAN, Symphony SD-WAN
RIverbed Steelhead
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
ElAraby, SFK Leblanc, Bobst Group, Northwest Pipe Company, Halkbank, Tradebridge, EFG Hermes
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet, Cisco, Check Point Software Technologies and others in WAN Edge. Updated: May 2025.
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