McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] vs SonicWall NSa comparison

Why PeerSpot?

McAfee and SonicWall are both solutions in the Firewalls category. Additionally, 75% of McAfee users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SonicWall users who would recommend it.

McAfee Firewall Enterprise ...

Read 5 McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] reviews

75% willing to recommend

SonicWall NSa

Read 89 SonicWall NSa reviews

7,842 Views
7,450 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

McAfee Firewall Enterprise ...

SonicWall NSa

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] and SonicWall NSa based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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Firewalls

October 2026

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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

McAfee Firewall Enterprise ...

Average Rating

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

SonicWall NSa

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Firewalls (26th)

Featured Reviews

reviewer999975

Computer Technician at a leisure / travel company with 1,001-5,000 employees

We cannot find resources to help us configure it, so most of the time the virus still goes on our computer and McAfee doesn't detect it

It's pretty easy to use on a daily basis, but there are no other features because it's hard to configure on the server. On the endpoint it's really easy to push. It's hard to configure on the server, though. It's hard to find resources to help us configure it, and there is not much online help that you can find. Most of the time, we were looking at the forums, and we needed to go very deep to find what we were looking for. It was hard, and McAfee was not really helpful when we were trying to get the product to work perfectly. This is why are changing it.

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Mahendra Basera

Sr. Engineer at InterGlobe Technology Quotient

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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have 10 offices throughout Brazil, and now they are all connected by using the VPN feature of the firewall."

"It's a very functional and stable product if you're looking for a Layer 7 firewall with reputation filtering and encrypted traffic inspection."

"For managing multiple MFE firewalls it is incredibly handy, convenient, and it is easy to use the product with McAfee Control Centre."

"ROI: It's good."

"It does give certain protection for everything that is well configured on our McAfee server. We have good protection with it. If we could find a feature and make it work, it would work perfectly, there would be no bugs, and it would be really good."

"Support has improved dramatically since their separation from Dell."

"Technical support is very, very good."

"SonicWall NSa's most valuable features are the ease of configuration and the GUI."

"For small segments, such as a small office or home office environment, SonicWall is perfect."

"Using SonicWall NSA helps my company save approximately 20% of operational costs in the long run."

"I really like the performance; there are no delays and no latency, which is a unique quality in firewalls nowadays."

"SonicWall has USCS and anti-virus at the gateway level. Everything is filtered, and if it detects an intruder, it drops the line."

"I like the solution's configuration, interfaces, and user guides."

More SonicWall NSa pros

Cons

"HA configuration is a bit difficult for the first time."

"Customer support and AV are both lacking and are really hard to come to you when the product is installed. Those are the two major points that they need to work on."

"Administration of the firewall is a little confusing for end users."

"The hardware is not stable and we have faced many stability issues."

"Migrating from v7 to v8 of McAfee Firewall Enterprise, in many cases, involves you having to completely re-write all of your previous McAfee Firewall Enterprise v7 policies due to the difference in the way the interfaces are named in the product going from v7 to v8."

"Port forwarding could use streamlining."

"They are not ready for managed security services. Their Cloud GMS product is weak, barely out of beta (buggy)."

"The web interface administration of SonicWall NSa could be improved. Compared to Sophos and FortiGate, making rules is easier with those systems."

"The product could expand its throughput capacity."

"Sometimes, the GUI is extremely annoying and you need to implement external tools for better network monitoring."

"The user interface could be better."

"Certain features like SD-WAN are sometimes confusing to configure."

"An area for improvement would be SonicWall NSa's integration with antiviruses."

More SonicWall NSa cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The solution is cheaper than others."

"It's become difficult to get the best price from SonicWall."

"SonicWall NSa has two types of license. The advanced license is a bit expensive when compared to the comprehensive license, but when you compare the advanced license to the licensing cost of other brands or competitors, it is expensive."

"Normally, when we buy any product, we buy it with a five-year service built into it. Later on, depending on the growth of the organization, we go for a new one or an upgrade."

"Additional resources are too expensive."

"The solution is expensive. Its pricing is based on the number of users."

"SonicWall is a one-time purchase and there is no renewal license."

"Compared to Fortinet and Cisco, SonicWall NSa is a cheaper solution."

More SonicWall NSa pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

21%

Construction Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	56
Midsize Enterprise	21
Large Enterprise	24

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall NSa?

I am overall satisfied with everything, including the price.

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What needs improvement with SonicWall NSa?

The CPU configuration for SonicWall NSa, based on my experience, is average. It should be increased somewhat because we are not always aware of the load under varying organizational working standar...

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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 Deep Packet Inspection feature of SonicWall NSa. We adopted a security package that...

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Comparisons

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Compared 10% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL]

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL]

Compared 9% of the time

Netgate pfSense vs McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL]

Compared 9% of the time

More McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] Competitors

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Compared 16% of the time

Cisco Meraki MX vs SonicWall NSa

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs SonicWall NSa

Compared 6% of the time

SonicWall NSv vs SonicWall NSa

Compared 6% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs SonicWall NSa

Compared 5% of the time

More SonicWall NSa Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Firewalls

October 2026

McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] report

Download McAfee Firewall Enterprise MFE [EOL] product report

Buyer's Guide

SonicWall NSa

October 2026

Download SonicWall NSa product report

Also Known As

Firewall Enterprise MFE, Intel Security Firewall Enterprise MFE

NSA 250M, NSA 2600, NSA 3600, NSA 4600, NSA 5600, Dell SonicWALL NSA

Overview

McAfee Firewall Enterprise defends critical assets, such as regulated data repositories (customer, financial, and healthcare data), email and web servers, extranets, and data centers. This proxy-based firewall also offers application visibility and deep application controls for defense, delivers strong policy-based controls, blocks the latest threats, and eliminates unwanted traffic.

McAfee

SonicWall NSa stands out for its advanced security features, easy management, and cost-effectiveness, making it effective for businesses seeking robust network protection and efficient management.

Renowned for its comprehensive security mechanisms, SonicWall NSa provides a user-centric interface with enhanced VPN capabilities and content filtering. Features like deep packet inspection, application control, and site-to-site VPN ensure that it meets complex business needs. Its scalability is supported by SD-WAN functionality and unified threat management services. However, enhancements in firmware reliability, VPN scalability, and reporting tools are needed to fully optimize its potential for smaller businesses. Improved integration with AI and better threat detection will further enhance its robust security offering.

What are SonicWall NSa's most important features?

Deep Packet Inspection: Identifies threats through thorough traffic analysis.
Application Control: Manages and controls application activity for network efficiency.
Site-to-Site VPN: Creates secure connections between different office locations.
Automated Breach Prevention: Proactively blocks security threats.
Scalability with SD-WAN: Adapts to growing network demands with controlled traffic across multiple sites.

What benefits or ROI should users recognize?

User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies management tasks with straightforward operation.
Cost-Effective Throughput: Delivers high performance at a competitive price, ensuring value for investment.
Reliable Performance: Provides consistent security and operational efficiency.
Single-Pane Management: Facilitates integrated and cohesive network oversight.
Comprehensive UTM Services: Offers extensive security coverage suitable for business requirements.

In industries like education, industry, and government, SonicWall NSa plays a key role in safeguarding networks against potential cyber threats. Service providers and integrators deploy it for efficient firewalling, VPN management, bandwidth monitoring, and intrusion prevention. Its flexibility attends to needs from small businesses seeking secure internet access to large enterprises requiring thorough connectivity controls.

SonicWall

Sample Customers

French Ministry of Education, RWTH Aachen, Avency, Cegedim, Cobweb, Intel Security, Cemex Mauser, R_sler Oberfl_chentechnik

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 Fortinet, Cisco, Netgate and others in Firewalls. Updated: October 2026.

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