We performed a comparison between Sonicwall TZ and Sophos XG based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Sophos XG’s single pane of glass makes it easy to manage the entire solution and it can be done anywhere. Users find it very light, stable, and it provides excellent real-time control. Users say SonicWall TZ struggles a bit with load balancing and data filtering, making it a slightly less desirable solution.
"The most valuable feature is the bundled subscription, which is IPS, TV and web filtering."
"The most valuable feature is the SSL VPN, as it allows us to connect and it separates this product from other firewalls."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is security. They are known for efficiency and are on the top of Gartner Quadrant reviews. Fortinet FortiGate has an easy-to-use platform with a good graphical interface. The configuration is simple and the solution provides an overall good layer of security."
"Some of the key features of the solution is that it has good reporting, you can receive many details from the connection, for example, clients and website information."
"Consolidated our network environment at all locations, but mainly at our datacenter."
"You can purchase switches and you don't need to do anything with them. You just put in the firewall and the switches get all the policies and rules that you already have in the firewall. With Fortinet, you just connect the FortiSwitch to the Fortinet and that's it."
"Fortigate is very scalable to serve our customers' needs. We have scaled already from fifty to more than a hundred instances of Fortinet FortiGate. Around 20 staff are required for deployment and maintenance, mostly engineers."
"There is an easy process for configuring it, and it is straightforward to implement the device from scratch."
"It's been very easy to implement and deploy."
"The product is easy to deploy."
"The feature we found most valuable in SonicWall TZ is that it is user-friendly for an administrator."
"I have found this solution to be easier to use when compared to other products, such as those offered by Cisco."
"The features that we have found most valuable in SonicWall TZ are the intrusion and brute force attack prevention."
"They give good protection to my network and support it."
"We are able to block whatever we want to block by using this product. It provides all required security features, such as content filtering, VPN, in one box. Before switching to SonicWall, we had specified all required features."
"It lets me monitor in live time if someone is 'hogging' bandwidth."
"What I have found most valuable with the Sophos XG is it's a key component of the Intercept X EDR environment. You have to have it to receive the full benefit. If you've you are using Sophos SG firewalls, they're great firewalls and in many ways, I prefer them to the Sophos XG. Since I have set them up, programmed them, and manipulate firewall rules, et cetera, the Sophos SG's a better interface. However, the Sophos XG's very powerful. I prefer it over other solutions I have used, such as Cisco Meraki and SupportNet, I don't like them. They're not very friendly to people who have to set them up and implement them."
"Using Sophos endpoint and the firewall, synchronized security is easy."
"The product has a console that is based in the cloud for all their products. In this console, they have email security, firewall security, endpoint security, et cetera. All of the products on offer in the console are very useful for us."
"It is very easy to configure and straightforward. The firewall rules are straightforward. It works great out of the box. It has been working as advertised, and I haven't had any issues with it."
"This is a very stable solution."
"This solution is very user-friendly and even a non-professional can configure the policies."
"The solution is more cost-effective than FortiGate, Cisco and Palo Alto, which have very expensive licenses."
"Sophos XG has cybersecurity. It integrates with the antivirus software."
"We had some issues in the beginning while setting it up, but after doing the firmware update, it is working fine."
"Compared to some other products, the DLP is not at par for the moment."
"Some configuration elements cannot be easily altered once created."
"There were quite a few problems with the stability of the system."
"They should offer special pricing to premium partners and customers."
"The firmware needs improvement because there are bugs when a new release comes through. Sometimes, the configuration changes, and it's a bit harder to see where the fail is. The first time that you have the firmware, it tends to have some issues, and it's better to wait a bit to update the equipment."
"One area for improvement is the performance on the bandwidth demands for smaller devices, as well as better web filtering."
"The reporting in Fortinet FortiGate could improve. Customers are having to purchase additional reporting components. When I have used the Sophos solution it is a complete solution, in Fortinet FortiGate you have to use additional tools to have the features needed."
"It could probably be more user-friendly, and it could be more scalable with releases and subscriptions."
"From a support perspective, if we're talking tech support I think Silver Partners, Gold Partners, Platinum, whatever level, should have a different number to call. End users can call tech support over at SonicWall if they've paid for support as part of their AGSS or whatever services they bought. The end-user can call, or we can call, however, I don't want to be calling the same line that an end user's calling. I don't want the same response time. I need a different level of expertise."
"The technology in this particular version is very old."
"The VPN that is available in the new version is a bit bulky and slower in speed."
"You need to be a certificate holder to set it up and configure it. It's really important because it looks easy, but it is complex. You need to have the knowledge and experience. But this is normal for technical products. It's not a product for regular user. It's for technical people. You need to have skills."
"It could be made more user friendly."
"We would like to improve the rules configuration in SonicWall TZ. Sometimes the rules don't work."
"The stability could be a lot better."
"It would be great if the user can have a portal to check on activities related to their account."
"There are issues with electricity with this solution."
"It is performing well. However, the only challenges that we are facing are the effectiveness with blocking the proxy and tuneling applications, aside from proxy and similar applications. So the application filter on the product is not really performing 100%. Every now and then there are some updates that are happening on such applications, and it takes time until it gets the appropriate updates and becomes capable of capturing such applications and blocking them. A new feature I would really like to see would be some sort of an enhanced application filter with greater efficiency when it comes to the applications that can bypass firewall policies. These applications are really a nightmare. Once they are on the network and not detected, or the appliance is not really successful in capturing them and unblocking them, the bandwidth gets wasted all the time."
"Their technical support needs improvement. I've been on hold with them for hours waiting for their support."
"I would like to see the performance improved."
"The user interface could be better."
"I would like to have remote access to clients using a static IP for a certain period of time."
"While it is a secure solution, I believe it could be improved."
SonicWall TZ is ranked 12th in Firewalls with 78 reviews while Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 192 reviews. SonicWall TZ is rated 8.0, while Sophos XG is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of SonicWall TZ writes "Has efficient user access control feature and good technical support services ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Easy to use and deploy with an improved pricing structure in place". SonicWall TZ is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, SonicWall NSa, Cisco Secure Firewall and WatchGuard Firebox, whereas Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, Sophos XGS, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Meraki MX. See our SonicWall TZ vs. Sophos XG report.
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