We performed a comparison between Fortinet FortiGate-VMand SonicWall TZ based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Features: Fortinet FortiGate-VM is commended for its robust protection features, including geofencing, firewalling, IPS, and antivirus. Users appreciate its user-friendly interface. SonicWall TZ is recognized for its comprehensive threat management, VPN capabilities, web security, ease of use, reliability, and content filtering.
Fortinet requires enhancements in several aspects such as key activation, log management, cloud management, MFA offerings, web filtering options, application inspection, GUI features, IPsec failover, monitoring tools, setup process, layer-seven functionality, bandwidth issues, VPN connectivity, pricing, performance, and security. SonicWall needs improvements in throughput, secondary DNS hosting, cloud management, user interface, reporting analytics, affordability, automation, application signatures, syncing, proxy feature, DPI-SSL clients, DNS hosting, technical support, VPN connections, and pricing.
Service and Support: Some customers appreciate the prompt and knowledgeable support team at Fortinet. However, others have faced challenges with slow response times and difficulties in accessing information quickly. SonicWall TZ has received mixed reviews, with some customers facing delays and language barriers when dealing with support from India. On a positive note, there have been instances where local partners have provided exceptional support for SonicWall TZ.
Ease of Deployment: The setup process for Fortinet FortiGate-VM is generally uncomplicated and can take a varying amount of time. It is user-friendly and not excessively complicated. The initial setup for SonicWall TZ is described as quick, intuitive, and can be finished within a short to moderate timeframe. It is considered straightforward and not troublesome.
Pricing: Fortinet FortiGate-VM offers a competitive setup cost. It includes licensing fees without any extra expenses. SonicWall TZ has varying reviews on pricing and licensing, with some users finding it cost-effective while others find it pricey. Additional licenses are necessary, and users have expressed the desire for more features in the basic subscription.
ROI: Fortinet FortiGate-VM provides enhanced security and stability, resulting in a favorable return on investment. It is crucial to select the appropriate size initially to prevent any financial drawbacks. SonicWall TZ has achieved positive ROI and is suggested for improved performance. Both products are essential for ensuring network security.
Comparison Results: Fortinet FortiGate-VM is highly recommended in comparison to SonicWall TZ. Users value its robust security capabilities, user-friendly interface, and seamless deployment. It offers comprehensive filtering options and scalability.
"It's very good and very stable for businesses. It works very well."
"I like Fortinet's cloud management. It allows me to manage all my devices in different branches for three cloud accounts. Even though I use on-prem devices, I can manage everything on the cloud."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system."
"Whenever I need something, Fortinet improves and updates the software for me."
"In terms of security, we have not experienced any security flaws or loopholes, and it has proven to be quite stable."
"The solution is easy to configure and maintain remotely."
"From the firewall perspective, the rules and policies are very sufficient and easy to use."
"The most valuable features of the solution are SD-WAN, filtering testing applications, web filtering, and the new VPN."
"I've found the UTM features and the SD-WAN to be most valuable."
"It is highly scalable because it has a mesh architecture that allows consistent policies."
"Good for the servers and can stop network attacks, including spam."
"I like the visibility and monitoring features because they're easy to use to monitor traffic. Features like geo-blocking and more have AI, and we're currently using all of it. But for now, we're only using geo-blocking, and we're able to block traffic from different countries. I also like that it's highly responsive. VM04 is also very powerful."
"The thing that I like the most is that they're very willing to work with us to resolve issues that they haven't taken care of before in their product."
"The product can scale."
"The best part about FortiGate-VM is its strong security."
"All the security features that are built into the product are valuable."
"SonicWall TZ think it's a good, solid, and stable product."
"The VPN is quite useful for us, as well as the ATP."
"It's a stable solution."
"We like the unified threat management for defense-in-depth. We can terminate our site-to-site and remote access VPNs with it."
"SonicWall TZ is very user-friendly and has network MAC binding. Additionally, the firewall works well."
"It protects against intrusion while allowing needed access."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The network security is great."
"Its reporting can be improved. Sometimes, I don't get proper reports."
"Bandwidth usage in reporting could be improved for Fortinet FortiGate."
"We would like to have the ability to disable some of the security functionalities."
"Lacks sufficient security options."
"Fortinet FortiGate is not very easy to use. The navigation could be improved to make it easier to use."
"I would like to see improvements with the antivirus and IPS as they are not working properly all the time."
"I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having a frequent ask questions(FAQ) area for people to receive quick answers to popular questions. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an SMS notification feature. For example, if you cannot access your email you could receive an SMS message."
"There should be integration with an active directory — with Microsoft."
"The solution can improve by adding separate interfaces for proxy and flow-based usage."
"The pricing is expensive."
"Support could be improved a little."
"It would be better if it could provide you with options before completely blocking anything through the web filter. If you are doing a deep SSL inspection on the site if it says it's expired, it doesn't give you the option to continue at your own risk. I can't say that it's bad, but SSL internally isn't really a requirement. However, its security features can help. Right now, we have people going out and spending on purchasing the SSL certificates for internal sites."
"One thing that can be better is added automation. And, on top of that, enhanced security when it comes to the automation itself."
"his is not a good solution for enterprises. It's better for smaller companies."
"There is always room for improvement in any solutions, including Fortinet's FortiGate-VM. Although the solution claims to have a superior throughput compared to other OEMs, upon closer examination and comparison, there is potential for significant improvement in this area. In today's rapidly evolving technology world, it is important to continuously strive for enhancement and development, and I believe Fortinet can make significant strides in this direction for the FortiGate-VM."
"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."
"The quality of tech support can vary."
"Getting support can be slow."
"I would like to see a SonicWall integration with the DLP tool, this would be interesting. Data Loss Prevention integration."
"Sometimes there is a glitch between the network connection. Last time, something happened on our IP phone, the SonicWall team did some updates to fix the issue. However, glitches happen very rarely. I did not experience any other types of problems."
"I would like to see lower antivirus pricing."
"I think content filtering is the area this product should improve. It's a little tricky to get put in correctly."
"If the operation increases and the bandwidth consumption increases, it does not perform as per the expectations."
Fortinet FortiGate-VM is ranked 8th in Firewalls with 27 reviews while SonicWall TZ is ranked 14th in Firewalls with 23 reviews. Fortinet FortiGate-VM is rated 8.8, while SonicWall TZ is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Fortinet FortiGate-VM writes "Flexible with good cloud management and a straightforward user interface". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall TZ writes "Multifeatured firewall solution with a user-friendly interface, high availability, scalability, and stability". Fortinet FortiGate-VM is most compared with Azure Firewall, Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, Fortinet FortiOS, OPNsense and Netgate pfSense, whereas SonicWall TZ is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, SonicWall NSa, Meraki MX and Cisco Secure Firewall. See our Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. SonicWall TZ report.
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