We compared SonicWall NSa and WatchGuard Firebox across several parameters based on our users' reviews. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:
Comparison Results: SonicWall NSa's setup is generally considered easy, while WatchGuard Firebox is described as straightforward and simple. SonicWall NSa offers advanced threat protection and unique features like centralized firewall management, while WatchGuard Firebox is praised for its comprehensive features and user-friendly interface. SonicWall NSa could improve integration and bandwidth monitoring, while WatchGuard Firebox needs enhancements in areas such as interface, web blocker feature, reporting, and customer support. The pricing and licensing for both products are generally reasonable, but SonicWall NSa offers more diverse pricing models.
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the analytics."
"Fortigate's most valuable feature is that it doesn't need a push policy when writing rules."
"The security fabric is excellent."
"Fortinet has a very good solution for Secure SD-WAN. One very good feature is that they have robust and simple FortiOS through which they provide all solutions. That's their strength. There's not much complexity involved with the Secure SD-WAN solution of Fortinet as compared to Cisco's solution, which has a lot of flexibility but complexity also comes with that flexibility."
"We are using the FortiGate 100D series. VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features."
"It's a user-friendly firewall. Most of the tasks are very simple. It's simple to configure and troubleshoot this firewall."
"The SD-WAN is the most valuable feature."
"Good performance, stability, and virtual domain ability."
"The antivirus and items of that nature were quite helpful to have."
"SD-WAN is a good feature."
"I like the solution's configuration, interfaces, and user guides."
"SonicWall NSa has a user-friendly firmware"
"It allows us to block applications, i.e., websites by application type category. It is far more capable than content filtering alone."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the GUI pre-filtering and the ATP (advanced threat protection)."
"Content Filtering and sandboxing are valuable features."
"SonicWall has USCS and anti-virus at the gateway level. Everything is filtered, and if it detects an intruder, it drops the line."
"Policy VPN, site-to-site VPN, traffic monitoring, anti-spam filters, and all other advanced features are valuable."
"Regarding the reporting, I was in the Dimension server earlier today. It's very powerful. I like it. And the management features are easy to use. I like the fact that I can open up the System Manager client or I can just do it through the web if I'm making a quick change."
"[A] valuable feature would be the branch office. We have five offices throughout the United States, and it coordinates the connections of those offices."
"The product's usability is good. It is straightforward and simple. One of the benefits is that it is easy to navigate and intuitive."
"They've done a lot of work with their SD-WAN, which we do use, to have our old internet service with our new internet service. If anything goes down on a particular interface, I can have different rules applied. Most of my users don't even know when our primary internet goes down anymore... I don't have to be here to do anything to switch it to our backup internet or to switch it back."
"I could still keep the data rates really high, up near the two gigahertz data speeds, without compromise on the security perimeters being acted simultaneously."
"Firebox operates effectively in the background, blocking potential threats without a need for constant monitoring."
"I have found the DNS Watch feature for intrusion and prevention response and APT Locker most valuable to me."
"Compared to some other products, the DLP is not at par for the moment."
"Currently, without the additional reporting module, we only have access to basic reporting."
"It should provide better visibility over the network and more information in the form of reports for the end users. Its installation should also be easier."
"The solution's framework needs to be frequently updated in order to have a stable solution."
"I feel that the reporting needs to be improved."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve if it had a cloud-managed solution."
"Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve the protection, it did not prevent us from being attacked. Additionally, Fortinet FortiGate could provide more features for WAF devices. I should not have to purchase two solutions, it would be a benefit to combine these features into one solution."
"The reports are very basic."
"The scalability is something that should be improved."
"We have used other solutions such as pfSense and Linux native firewalls. I prefer SonicWall NSa but if you are going to use something for an enterprise you need another solution."
"The implementation for VLANs is a little bit cumbersome. It would be good to make that a little bit easier."
"The solution can be a bit expensive."
"The logging, reporting, and storage capacity size could improve in a future release."
"I would like to see better integration."
"The content ID needs to be improved."
"I would like to have a built-in vulnerability scanner in the firewall. It would be great to have such functionality. Its price could also be better. It would also be good to have a local warehouse. It doesn't get damaged a lot, but if a customer needs a replacement, currently, it has to come from Miami or Mexico, which can take a few days. It would be better if they have a local warehouse from where we can just pick replacements and quickly solve a client's needs in terms of replacing equipment. It would be great to have it locally instead of waiting for it from Mexico or the USA."
"We were able to take from an older configuration, build a new one quickly, and get it up and running, which didn't take long, but there was some pain around it."
"I don't think I can get a full-blown DNS client from it. I've been trying to have DNS services. It has forwarding, but I don't get the services of a full DNS client. My main difficulty with it is that I can't run a complete service. I need NTP. I need DNS. I need DHCP for my domain, but I only get forwarding. As far as I can tell, I don't get caching and the kinds of reporting and registration needed to host a DNS for a domain. I have to have a separate solution for that."
"Last year, I had an issue with one of the Fireboxes going down. It was overheated, because my server room became overheated and this fried it."
"There is room for improvement in the threat protection, data packet inspection, and performance of the solution. Generally, it's just a lower-end product. It does the job but doesn't do it very well."
"I haven’t dug deeply into the reporting features yet or if they are working well. However, I have generated several reports and there was too much unnecessary information, in comparison with the reporting features in the Sophos firewall. Sophos' reporting is more readable and easier to configure."
"The solution can improve by adding a feature to tag a MAC address of a computer system in the policy and more IP configuration settings."
"WatchGuard Firebox could improve the speed of updates, such as new features or improvements. However, they are frequently improving the solution in many areas, such as geo-locations, definitions, and web blocking."
"This solution needs the option to add an external hard drive."
SonicWall NSa is ranked 20th in Firewalls with 77 reviews while WatchGuard Firebox is ranked 13th in Firewalls with 78 reviews. SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8, while WatchGuard Firebox is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". On the other hand, the top reviewer of WatchGuard Firebox writes "Offers a streamlined deployment, intuitive interface and robust security features". SonicWall NSa is most compared with SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall and OPNsense, whereas WatchGuard Firebox is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Sophos XG, OPNsense, SonicWall TZ and Check Point NGFW. See our SonicWall NSa vs. WatchGuard Firebox report.
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