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Smoothwall Firewall vs Sophos Cyberoam UTM 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortinet FortiGate
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
411
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (2nd), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (1st), WAN Edge (1st)
Smoothwall Firewall
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (32nd)
Sophos Cyberoam UTM
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
84
Ranking in other categories
Unified Threat Management (UTM) (9th)
 

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Himanshu-Sharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good scalability and monitoring features
There is room for improvement in the UI. They can improve it by making it so that everything is in one place, so we don't have to jump around to different pages. For example, if we're creating a rule, we should be able to do everything on the same page. Just a drop-down thing or something. This would improve productivity.
Dipak M Gohil - PeerSpot reviewer
Centralized management enhances remote work with comprehensive security and efficient VPN
The VPN is the most usable feature and is advisable for us to work from home. It provides bandwidth management, category management of websites, blocking certain elements, IPS blocking, DDoS protection, and VPN management between sites and clients. It offers centralized management, which allows us to use everything from a central console.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's a user-friendly firewall. Most of the tasks are very simple. It's simple to configure and troubleshoot this firewall."
"It can expand easily."
"The interface is very user-friendly and I like it very much."
"This version is stable. I don't have any issues with this solution, in our environment, it works well."
"Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features are ease of use, flexibility, and most of the configuration we can be done using the GUI. When we compare Fortinet FortiGate with other solutions the firewall policy are very easy to understand."
"The product is easy to use and is stable. The SV1 functionality is a benefit."
"Valuable features include the Web Application Firewall, and it even has DLP (data leak prevention)."
"It increases security posture and is helpful for firewall reporting, intrusion protection, web filtering, and SD-WAN implementation."
"It was easy to initially deploy it."
"The product's most valuable features include comprehensive bandwidth management and secure end-to-end VPN connections."
"The solution is excellent for web and application filtering and remote access with the VPN."
"You can geofence yourself if there is an incoming attack or a continuous ping from a company outside your country."
"I would recommend Sophos Cyberoam UTM to other organizations based on my experience."
"I'm more inclined towards the conventional firewall. So for me, I'm more geared towards the standard firewall type functionalities as well as the web application firewall because that seems to work fine."
"The VPN is excellent on the solution."
"SD-WAN and IPSec features are valuable to me."
"The interface is user-friendly."
 

Cons

"The big license options have web filtering, IDS, and a lot of other things, but it's not like they are all good."
"We have an issue with hotel guest vouchers."
"In my experience, Fortinet FortiGate is not stable at all."
"With the reports, you can see it, and you can get good feelings so upper management can go, "Oh, wow. That looks pretty." However, it's very basic."
"The firewall engine is not so strong as of now, in my opinion... My second concern is that, while they have Zero-day vulnerability and anti-malware features, the threat engine needs to be strengthened, its efficiency can be increased."
"They've become quite expensive."
"The initial setup and configuration are not intuitive and require training."
"I would like Fortinet to add more automation to FortiGate."
"There is room for improvement in the UI. They can improve it by making it so that everything is in one place, so we don't have to jump around to different pages."
"The reporting part could be more user-friendly for troubleshooting and identifying network issues. It should be more easy for a normal user to identify the problem in their network."
"The configuration requires an expert to be set up, so it could be made simpler."
"The solution had a feature to import users from a CSV file. However, the latest version does not have that option."
"Sophos VPN connectivity could be improved, as it can be lengthy, and users take longer to connect"
"The documentation is not straightforward."
"The solution is at its end of life and some of the appliances are finishing."
"The solution should improve its scalability because it cannot support enterprise networks."
"There are some issues with logs and report limitations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of the solution is very competitive."
"The price of Fortinet FortiGate is better than Cisco, Check Point, and Palo Alto. In terms of pricing, it's probably a better-priced firewall solution overall."
"If you are looking for a quality product, it will come at a higher price. Expecting them to be significantly cheaper is unrealistic. In terms of pricing, it is a bit costly. However, the functionality and support offered are worth it."
"The price for the device and software is high. However, the solution is of good quality and has a lot of features."
"For the performance that we get, the price is reasonable. There are cheaper options, but they may not deliver the same kind of performance that we want. For the performance they provide, the price is acceptable."
"Compared to Palo Alto, which we have used in the past, pricing and licensing are okay."
"The license of Fortinet FortiGate should be reduced."
"The pricing is comprehensive and clear. You can easily understand what you are purchasing, including which features correspond to each license and maintenance contract. Overall, the information is straightforward. Additionally, compared to other vendors, their prices are competitive."
Information not available
"The solution's pricing is good since it is neither too high nor too low"
"It’s value for the money. It’s functionally competitive with higher priced alternative brands."
"It is worth the value."
"We pay for licensing the solution. It's my understanding that it is not overly expensive. It may be somewhere around $2,000 for a license."
"We paid for a two-year FullGuard license that includes support."
"Separate license keys are required for different solutions that we implement in the server room, which are an additional cost."
"Prices are very high."
"Licensing is a bit costly, mostly for features requiring subscription."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
21%
Educational Organization
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
University
11%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Media Company
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

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...
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...
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 needs improvement with Smoothwall Firewall?
There is room for improvement in the UI. They can improve it by making it so that everything is in one place, so we d...
What is your primary use case for Smoothwall Firewall?
Our use cases are for monitoring and security. The primary purpose of the firewall is maintaining security and benefi...
What do you like most about Sophos Cyberoam UTM?
The solution works perfectly without any users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Cyberoam UTM?
The price is appropriate, but if you want the real truth, it's actually quite expensive. The annual software licensin...
What needs improvement with Sophos Cyberoam UTM?
I face issues when connecting to the VPN since it requires an authenticator. It would be beneficial if phone calls or...
 

Also Known As

FortiGate 60b, FortiGate 60c, FortiGate 80c, FortiGate 50b, FortiGate 200b, FortiGate 110c, FortiGate, Fortinet Firewall
No data available
No data available
 

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
Gulf Corporation for Technology, Maridive & Oil Services, Fidelity Bank, Petra University, Capital FM Kenya, Safari Park Hotel and Casino, Mayfair Casino, Pacific International Lines, Mozambique Ministry of Education, University of Namibia, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, University of Hawai, New Delhi Municipal Council
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