Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs Juniper Session Smart Router comparison

Forcepoint and Juniper are both solutions in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category. Forcepoint is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.0, while Juniper is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0. Forcepoint holds a 2.3% mindshare in SDW, compared to Juniper’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 78% of Forcepoint users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Juniper users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 1, 2025

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall and Juniper Session Smart Router are network security products. Juniper Session Smart Router appears to have the upper hand due to its innovative features and overall value for money.

Features: Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is known for comprehensive threat protection, access control, and application monitoring. Juniper Session Smart Router features advanced routing, cloud-native architecture, and enhanced network visibility. The distinction lies in Forcepoint focusing on security functionalities, while Juniper emphasizes routing and network optimization.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Forcepoint offers a straightforward deployment process with strong customer support, minimizing setup complexity. Juniper provides flexibility in cloud environments but requires a steeper learning curve, balanced by superior support resources. Forcepoint is suited for ease of use, while Juniper supports depth and scalability.

Pricing and ROI: Forcepoint's cost aligns with its feature set, offering a favorable return through significant threat reduction. Juniper Session Smart Router, requiring a higher initial investment, provides substantial ROI by reducing infrastructure costs and enhancing network efficiency. The choice is between immediate affordability and long-term value.

To learn more, read our detailed Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. Juniper Session Smart Router Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. Juniper Session Smart Router

July 2025

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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

Fortinet FortiGate

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Fortinet FortiGate is 19.9%, down from 21.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is 2.3%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Juniper Session Smart Router is 2.5%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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OusaidAbaz

Security Network Architect at Inmac

Provides decent protection for the LAN but complicated interface

We had some licensing issues with its web filtering capabilities. That's why we migrated our web filtering to Cisco Umbrella. Moreover, the interface is complicated. It's difficult to locate all the necessary menus and functions. For example, one of the many issues is with SSH. Even now, we haven't successfully opened the port to connect using SSH mode when we want to change the configuration. It's like a black box—not very open to changes and customization. It's simply not easy to configure. There are other problems, too. For example regarding Forcepoint's Websense component. We had a lot of problems managing the web settings within Websense. That's why we migrated to Cisco Umbrella for cloud-based web filtering. It's not that Forcepoint is inherently bad. The issue is that it's not user-friendly. It is not easy to use. The developers need to redesign the interface (GUI) for better management. It is very difficult to manage. For example, simple actions require too many clicks compared to FortiGate or Palo Alto. That's the main problem.

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SRI GANESH PHANIYAPPA

Sub Divisional Engineer NOC Bangalore at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

Delivered tailored features and meets requirements effectively

We are using it as a DNG. This means all subscriber PPPoE sessions or ILS Smart VPN connections are terminated through the access network to this BNG, Uniphore BNG. From there, they are managed Everything has been fine. Although we did not explore much about the solution, they provided us with a…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The GUI is good."

"Fortinet FortiGate meets all the security demands of my industry. It covers endpoint security, including web interface, DNS security, and ELP. I'm currently using the latest version. The features that have most improved our network security are Web Control, filtering, application control, IDS, IPS policies, and Deep SSL inspection."

"The CLI and GUI do a good job of putting a lot at your fingertips."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a security device. It can optimize security on the networks of a company. It actually protects the company from attacks from outside. With FortiGate, you can categorize the users. You can create a group of users that can access all of the websites for their work. You can limit other users' access."

"The user interface (UI) is very, very good."

"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is the simple configuration."

"The most important feature, normally for small business customers, is link load balancing."

"The interface is very good."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the support."

"The VPN is great."

"We find the product to be stable and reliable in terms of performance."

"It is stable and scalable. In addition, their support is great. When you ask them for something, they provide support, and if required, they also involve the R&D team to help you to resolve the issues in your configuration."

"The most valuable feature is controlling the traffic and the logging. They have real-time logins for traffic logs. Troubleshooting was very easy for me."

"The people we deal with is a local partner in Cambodia and we can get good support from them."

"The support is great. They also have very good categorization. It's very good. It captures a lot of threats."

"The Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is a scalable product."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall pros

"Customer service is very prompt."

"They provided us with a customized product according to our requirements."

"The solution is especially Session's smart, application-aware, AI-based."

"As compared to the other major vendors in the SD-WAN market, such as VeloCloud, Cisco, and others, the tunnel-free and secure vector routing technology is its major USP, which gives plenty of room to discuss with the customer why IPSec from 1998 is a bit outdated."

"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."

Cons

"FortiManager has not been my favorite. I don't use it and cannot say I really care for FortiManager for managing the firewalls."

"The pricing could be reduced or include the first year warranty."

"The support team for Fortinet FortiGate needs to be more customer friendly."

"They should improve the interface to make it more user-friendly."

"We would like to see better pricing."

"There should be some open-source training or free training for decision makers, or some webinars should be available."

"Fortinet already improved FortiGate, but in the current market, many brands of security devices have improved together. Fortinet still needs to catch up with market standards. Fortinet is lacking in features in comparison to competitors."

"The UI could be improved."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"The solution's support could use improvement."

"It's a complicated firewall. Until you come to know the firewall inducers, most people don't like the firewall because the components for the firewall are a little bit complex. User-friendliness is a little bit tough. It needs to be user-friendly when creating policies, and pushing policies. Committing takes more time compared to Palo Alto."

"Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall could change its interface, allowing standard or direct connect modes to be configured."

"The endpoint protection capabilities of the product are an area of concern where improvements are required."

"Next Generation Firewall's configuration could be improved."

"The network interface could be better, and it could be cheaper."

"I would like to see more sizing in the next release, and the roadmap should be clear."

"They need to improve their alerts."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall cons

"Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do."

"Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in terms of software performance."

"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks. What we are missing there are wizards. For example, I have two applications, and I want one application to be prioritized against the other. In such a case, a wizard for assigning policies to a service without configuring each step by hand would be very helpful. There should be an overhaul of the GUI of the conductor. The functionality they have got in the Mist portal should be baked into the conductor itself. It would be really great, but as we all know, that won't happen."

"Juniper Session Smart Router can improve the integration for Wi-Fi devices and add additional Sassy deployments."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The beauty is the price performance ratio is great with FortiGate. It provides all the features we needed and the price is comparable with others' firewalls. The price is quite competitive with the firewalls with similar features."

"Fortigate's pricing is competitive."

"The price of the license and warranty can be better because it is very expensive."

"It's an expensive solution."

"The price of FortiGate is comparable to that of most other firewall solutions and is more affordable than Cisco."

"Its pricing is good. It's average or normal as compared to Palo Alto and Check Point firewalls."

"Its price is good."

"The solution requires a license annually, it is not a user license, you can have as many users as your want. I must renew the license regularly per device."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is reasonable, it is priced the same as other firewalls."

"I consider Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall's price to be good."

"There is a need to make payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The product is not expensive."

"I believe the licensing fee is for one year, three years, and five years, or something like that. If you wants to increase the support level from a simpler level to platinum, I think that there's a cost. There are differences between every kind of support, but I don't know the numbers."

"The pricing should be more competitive against other vendors in the market."

"We would love to take other solution from Forcepoint, but unfortunately the price is too high. That's why we are not considering using Forcepoing for our proxy and DLB. They have a very good DLB, but the matter in the end is the cost."

"The training that they offer to their end-customers. It's quite expensive, I believe it costs roughly $11,000"

"The big advantage of this solution is that we can select the right model for our requirements, which is not too expensive."

More Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall pricing and cost advice

"We are currently renegotiating the offer for the licenses and the license bundle model. The license for an ISP has to be different from the license for an end customer. This is something we are currently renegotiating with Juniper, but, of course, the pricing for the licensing is always an issue when you want to get more customers."

"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Which is the better NGFW: Fortinet Fortigate or Cisco Firepower?

When you compare these firewalls you can identify them with different features, advantages, practices and usage a...

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Sophos XG and FortiGate?

From my experience regarding both the Sophos and FortiGate firewalls, I personally would rather use FortiGate. I know...

See all answers

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 ...

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What do you like most about Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?

The product's initial setup phase is easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?

The licensing model is dependent on negotiation skills, but there is room for improvement. The costs can be high sinc...

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What needs improvement with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?

The licensing model should be more flexible. I recommend that additional features be included in a single license to ...

See all answers

What do you like most about Juniper Session Smart Router?

The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?

Juniper Session Smart Router is not significantly cheaper than, for example, Cisco.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?

I did not find any problem with Juniper. Regarding improvement, we still need to see what it can do.

See all answers

Comparisons

Sophos XG vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 20% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 12% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 11% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 5% of the time

SonicWall TZ vs Fortinet FortiGate

Compared 4% of the time

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Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 19% of the time

Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 10% of the time

Sophos XG vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

Rapid7 InsightIDR vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

OPNsense vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

Compared 5% of the time

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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 25% of the time

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 13% of the time

NFX Series Network Services Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 11% of the time

Prisma SD-WAN vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 9% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Juniper Session Smart Router

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortinet FortiGate

August 2025

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Buyer's Guide

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall

August 2025

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall report

Download Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall product report

Buyer's Guide

Routers

August 2025

Download Juniper Session Smart Router product report

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall

Forcepoint NGFW, Stonesoft Next Generation Firewall, McAfee Network Security Platform, Intel Security Network Security Platform

128T Networking Platform, 128 Technology SD-WAN, Juniper SSR Series

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate offers comprehensive network security and firewall protection across multiple locations. It effectively manages data traffic and secures environments with features like VPN, intrusion prevention, and UTM controls.

Organizations rely on Fortinet FortiGate for its robust integration with advanced security policies, ensuring significant protection for enterprises, cloud environments, and educational sectors. It facilitates network segmentation, application-level security, and authentication management, securing communication within and between locations such as branches and data centers. Its efficient SD-WAN and UTM features enable streamlined data management and enhanced threat protection capabilities. Users appreciate its centralized management, facilitating seamless operations across diverse environments.

What are the key features of Fortinet FortiGate?

VPN Capabilities: Ensure secure remote access for users and seamless site-to-site connections.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Detect and prevent security threats and vulnerabilities.
Advanced Firewall: Offers robust firewalling with application control and web filtering.
SD-WAN: Optimizes application performance and enhances bandwidth management.
SSL VPN: Provides reliable and secure access for remote workers.

What benefits should users expect from Fortinet FortiGate?

High-performance Security: Delivers effective threat mitigation with high availability.
Centralized Management: Simplifies network operations with cloud-based management tools.
Detailed Analytics: Provides comprehensive insights into network activity and security threats.
Load Balancing: Ensures optimal resource distribution and traffic management.

Fortinet FortiGate is crucial in sectors like education, offering robust networks for secure data flow between campuses and facilitating remote learning. In enterprise environments, it allows efficient management of application traffic and security across multiple branches, while in the cloud, it seamlessly integrates with diverse platforms to enhance security infrastructure.

Fortinet

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is a versatile and comprehensive solution for perimeter security, offering features such as SD-WAN, IPS, VPN, and cloud or on-premises subscription keys. It is preferred by many clients over Cisco and is used for obligation redundancy, VPN access, and as the main point of security in infrastructure.

The product is praised for its simplicity, flexibility, complete feature set, scalability, and central management capabilities. Other valuable features include IPS, firewall, sandbox, application control, filtering, security management center, connectivity, and integration capabilities.

Forcepoint

The 128T Networking Platform (128T) natively provides network-based security, control, and insight across data centers, wide-area networks (WAN), and edge locations for enterprises, service providers, and cloud companies alike. 128T is reshaping the way organizations design, deploy, and operate real-world networks by making them dramatically simpler, smarter, and more secure — it’s going to fix the router — and ultimately the network — as we know it.

Juniper

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

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)

Revation Systems

Buyer's Guide

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. Juniper Session Smart Router

July 2025

Free Report: Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. Juniper Session Smart Router

Find out what your peers are saying about Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall vs. Juniper Session Smart Router and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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