Fortinet FortiClient Reviews

We use the solution for operational technology and remote maintenance and monitoring.

Our typical customer is interested in VPN extension and a zero trust process. 

The solution should have faster turnaround when it comes to new technology. I'm speaking of next generation technology. For instance, they have a laboratory for investigating new technologies and I work with them towards the goal of releasing these to the industry a bit faster to allow us to start planning. 

I have been working with Fortinet FortiClient for around two years. 

The solution offers great stability. Of course, the way we're connecting it relies on the network, but they offer other solutions to help with the stability besides the Network.

The solution can be scaled to Class A.

Their support is very good. I actually had a briefing with them today concerning a very large government project that I'm working on and feel their technical support to be very good.

I would say that the setup and initiation of all the VPN types is pretty simple. The setup depends on what the solution is. They have straightforward solutions for which they had to test a lot of support for matching purposes.

The licensing fee varies with what one is trying to accomplish. It can range from being free to costing several hundred thousand dollars per year. 

For one looking for a secure virtual private network that maintains connectivity and has future development for next generations of VPN, the solution is a good place to start. 

I rate Fortinet FortiClient as a nine out of ten. 

We are using Fortinet FortiClient to allow our workers to connect remotely to work. This is mostly because of the lockdown or if they are on vacation.

FortiClient has not given us any ongoing problems. We did have a problem with uninstalling it, but we opened up a service request ticket to resolve it.

The solution can improve by adding new remote console or endpoint features to make the solution easier to use.

In a future release, the web client section could improve by adding more features, such as a firewall.

I have been using Fortinet FortiClient for approximately two months.

The solution is stable, we have not had any issues in the time we have been using it.

The scalability of Fortinet FortiClient has been good.

We have had some problems related to FortiClient and other products, which is related to Fortinet. We have owned other Fortinet solutions which have had a problem connecting with the switch. We have opened a service request ticket on their system, and it has been nearly one month and they are still looking for a solution.

The installation was easy, we did not face any major issues. We had one small issue related to the proxy settings because we did not have a direct connection to the internet. When we applied the license to the FortiClient, we needed to connect through EMS. However, because we do not have a direct connection to the internet, we needed a proxy, but later resolved it. We created a service request ticket and they said that there was no proxy feature, that is why we created a second adapter and it allowed us to have internet. If there were proxy settings on their EMS, it would have been beneficial.

I rate Fortinet FortiClient an eight out of ten.

The solution is good. I like it very much. It has inexpensive scalability, works very well and can communicate with other Fortinet devices.

While I cannot think of new features to add, it would be nice if the reports were improved, to have these sent automatically. 

I currently use Fortinet FortiClient on my computer and have been doing so for around three months. 

The solution is stable. 

The solution is very scalable. It is inexpensive and works very well. 

Based on my past training, I have not yet had need to contact technical support. 

The EMS is very simple to install. The product is very simple. 

For the moment, I only use a fraction of the features offered by the solution and these are very good. For someone like me, who is in Africa and has a small company numbering 500 users, the current features are more than sufficient. I do not use all that is provided by EMS. 

When it comes to the competition, I can only wonder how Fortinet stacks up. I would be interested in knowing if it has the Data Lake feature offered on Palo Alto or machine learning about prevention. 

The solution is on-premises and we have our own server. 

We have a database server and, for the moment, I don't have any issues with its resources. Perhaps, in the future, this will change. 

I would recommend the solution to others without hesitation. It works very well. The EMS is very nice. 

I rate Fortinet FortiClient as an eight out of ten. 

We primarily use the solution for the VPN as well as for end protection. Those are the only two use cases for us. We don't use it for anything else.

The solution has improved our organization as the VPN has allowed us to work from home, which has been quite handy during COVID. We don't need to be at the office to access the VPN. We can work from anywhere. It's made work much more flexible.

The anti-virus that the product offers is the most valuable aspect of the solution for us.

The VPN has proven to be quite useful. We access the VPN through FortiClient. 

The stability is very good.

Technical support is okay.

The version we have is free to use. It doesn't cost us anything.

We've found the solution to be very user-friendly. It's easy to navigate.

I'm now looking for some sort of option that can maybe be centrally located. We want the IP in our office to centralize the settings and so on. The one that we use, hasn't had that kind of capability to push the settings.

We'd like to be able to properly encrypt the data more effectively. We want them to offer encryption of the hard drive.

The initial setup can sometimes be complex.

I've been using the solution for a while now. It's likely been about five or so years. I've had some time to get to know it.

The stability is pretty good. there are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. Its performance is reliable. 

We use the solution on every PC right now. We use FortiClient, and we are happy with it, however, we do not have plans to increase the usage as our employee count has remained the same and we haven't added anyone to our team.

Technical support is okay. It's been fine. If we need assistance, we simply create a ticket. It's not hard to get a hold of them. I would say that we are satisfied with the level of support.

We used McAfee previously. It was the standard one that is already installed in the software. It's pre-installed software that was available on the computer. However, we needed to centralize the system. That's why we use FortiClient now instead.

I haven't handled the initial setup personally. Usually, it's handled by my IT team. They are the ones that install it for me. I don't know whether it's complex, or not. However, from my point of view, sometimes I've heard that it has failed, and therefore it's possible it's quite complex.

Since I didn't handle the initial setup, and can't speak to how much time the deployment actually took.

We are currently using the free version of the solution. We don't pay a licensing fee to use the solution.

We are Fortinet partners.

I would recommend the solution to other users and companies. It's a very useful tool and I have enjoyed working with it. It meets our expectations.

I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten.

We use it for securing all of our endpoints as they move behind our firewall and outside our firewall or in and out of our network. We are using its latest version.

Having a centralized console is a valuable feature. The Fortinet fabric is also very valuable where all different pieces talk together to secure our network and track the North, South, East, and West movement of files and data through our network.

Its stability can be improved. It is not as reliable as I would like it to be. There are times when things don't work quite right.

Our biggest pain point is not related to Fortinet FortiClient and the whole scheme of things. It is related to one of the additional services called FortiGuard. They are the arm that does all of the updates to definitions, keeps all the signatures updated, and responds to new threats and whatnot. What we have found is that they react quickly, but sometimes their solutions aren't compatible with all of the components of the Fortinet security suite, specifically around FortiSandbox.

I have been using this solution for about eight months.

It is not as reliable as I would like. Its reliability is around 95%. There are times when things don't work quite right.

We're a relatively small company, and we haven't expanded really large. We're in the 500 or less range, and it works fine for our environment. I don't know how scalable it is. We will continue to use it in the foreseeable future.

They have been responsive. Sometimes, it takes them a little while to understand what the issues are. Fortinet right now has a little bit of growing pain. They have acquired a lot of different technologies over the last 18 months, and it hasn't been an absolutely smooth integration between all of those different products, support infrastructures, and developers.

Its deployment was complex and drawn out. It took a long time.

Its pricing is good. One thing that has always attracted us to the Fortinet range of products is that their pricing is very competitive.

Our particular licensing is on a yearly basis. However, as part of this project, we did pre-purchase three years of maintenance and support at a fairly significant discount.

I would recommend this solution. They are developing more EDP as it comes out, and they are staying on track with their development side and current trends. 

I would recommend others to talk to Fortinet Professional Services before using a local professional. What we found as part of our long implementation was that the local professionals generally have a very good grasp of one area but not in bringing the fabric together, where you have the EMS, Folder Manager, Sandbox, all the firewalls, and other things coming together. There may be some out there who are good at it, but we ran into a number that didn't have a grasp across the whole thing, and we ended up talking directly to Fortinet Professional Services.

I would rate Fortinet FortiClient an eight out of ten.

We typically use the solution for remote access. We do not typically use any of the other features.

This solution has improved the way our organization functions.

We find the VPN features valuable.

SAML authentication was newly introduced (Post 6.2) but the free customizable version (Forticlient Configuration tool) from FNDN is still at 6.0.10. I would like to see in an upcoming release the free version of Forticlient Configuration tool supporting authentication and customizable for the customers. This is available in the FortiClient developing networks, but it is only available without SAML authentication. 

Also would like to see more descriptive error messages when authentication fails in Forticlient specially when using forticlient VPN connection from Windows Login with Fortitoken as a 2FA

I have been using the solution for three years.

There are some stability issues with the solution, compared with other solutions such as Cisco. We were having glitches, bugs, and sometimes crashes.

The bugs that I received was on a PC on the client-side, the authentication would almost never provide feedback about what the cause of failure was. This was a usability related issue, it is not built on the actual firewall. We need to look at the application level to see what is really happening on the user level.

The solution is quite scalable, there are approximately 60 people using it.

I used technical support for FortiClient and I would say that they are good. They are knowledgeable and responsive. The product quality itself or the way in which it debugs is relatively complex to other solutions. This could be the reason why support is needed.

I rate Fortinet FortiClient technical support an eight out of ten.

We've used OpenVPN and it is quite limiting. However, It is free. We wanted to have a solution that was more scalable towards high-level deployment. In some countries, where we operate as well, OpenVPN is censored. We also used Cisco Anyconnect (As clients only with our customers)

FortiClient is excelling there because they are not censored or have features blocked.

Relatively straightforward 

The install is not straightforward. It was complex and the guidelines are not straightforward. If you want to have something secure and segregated, it is advanced.

The base price should include basic VPN support in addition to Vulnerability scanning, and I think this is beneficial against other solutions. The price is reasonable compared to competitors, it is very good to upgrade to paid EMS + forticlient for the additional features covering Endpoint protection.

OpenVPN was our primary VPN solution for internal usage

I would advise looking into the EMS feature we are considering it right now, it is worth investing into. In the free base solution for FortiClient, you do not get to customize your VPN solution in the with the client. The current versions that are available for FortiClient they are quite old. If you want to use the solution to its potential, get the Enterprise Management System (EMS). Additionally, purchase the customization of the FortiClient tool, it is also beneficial.

I gave this solution a seven out of ten because I would say its stability needs serious improvements, but on the upside it is relatively cheap to implement and free for basic features also well integrated into the Fortinet solution. To get my scoring up to a ten they need to have better stability.

I rate Fortinet FortiClient a seven out of ten.

There are multiple use cases for different customers. 

It has a very easy-to-use interface. It has ease of management, and all the modules are there. SKUs are also easily identifiable. 

Whatever is required in the firewall is already there in it. It's very advanced, and analytics reporting is very good. They also have cloud reporting. You get all the services that are available for your device in the cloud. You just have to subscribe. It's very easy.

There's a lot of demand for this solution because it's an all-in-one solution. The throughput is very high.

The only thing that is lacking in this product is the support. Their support can be improved.

I have been using Fortinet FortiClient for almost ten years. 

The stability of Fortinet FortiClient is very good.

The scalability of Fortinet FortiClient is very good. In my organization, around 300 people are using it. We also have mobile users who are connecting over 4G technology or, basically, over wireless technology to the devices and resources on the internal network. It's pretty good and robust.

It integrates very well into any IT infrastructure. They've come up with a lot of tools or different service modules that are able to talk to other technologies. So, you have an open architecture where they get a lot of information or security feeds from different providers. That's how they make their product more robust and scalable.

Their support is very bad. The product is good, but the support is very bad. Their support should be on par with the product. 

They are too lazy to answer the calls, They do not take the calls immediately. Even if you have subscribed for 24/7, 365 days support, they will give you a call only after 24 to 48 hours. There is a lag in their response time.

The initial setup was straightforward. It is very easy to set up. Even a person who does not know anything about firewalls will be able to set it up.

Deployment depends upon the strategy the customer requires. The setup can be complicated, but usually, it is straightforward. The implementation of a FortiGate firewall, usually, does not take more than three days. If you ensure that all the security policies are there and everything is there, it usually takes three days.

The cost per port is very less as compared to the other technologies.

I have deployed FortiGate's FortiAnalyzer, FortiMail for a lot of customers to replace their existing legacy-based firewalls such as Cisco ASA or Cisco PIX, SonicWall, FiberHome, Sophos, etc. We are replacing these technologies with FortiGate.

If you want to know the product, or if you do not want to rely on the support, then you have to master the product. Basically, you should know in and out of the product, and you should have extensive knowledge about it. You'll get that knowledge only by working, provided you have the right tools to understand. I learned this tool by using it and going through the knowledge base. They have a knowledge base website, which has almost everything. You just need to apply a little bit of logic to understand what it is. I did not use technical support for help.

We don't require anything extra because it has everything that is needed for current infrastructures. Whether it is the cloud infrastructure or the on-premises infrastructure, they have got everything inside it. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

I am a senior Network and Security Solution architect and having certifications, like JNCIE-SP, JNCIP-Sec, JNCDA, Fortinet certified, Sophos Certified Engineer, and certified in ethical hacking v10. with hands-on experience of Tele 3G, 4G, Metro Ethernet, IGW, and large Data Center Design. my primary focus is to recommend cost-effective solutions, to save End customer CAPEX & OPEX.

Comprehensive protection and user visibility when using FortiGate Firewall with FortiClient.

Right now, my opinion is that FortiClient is very inexpensive for what it is. They have a very feature-rich product available in the UTP (Unified Threat Protection) bundle when compared to what other vendors offered Endpoint. Other vendors sell different parts of their security solutions in different pieces, but Fortinet sells all the features like a unified solution in one UTP bundle. For example, they included limited WAF (Web Application Firewall) features, load balancing, SD Wan (a very important feature), cloud sandbox, antivirus, anti-spam, web filtering, IPS protection, and Remote VPN including SSL VPN. All of this is included in the one UTM bundle.

If we compare with other products like Cisco, Juniper, Sophos, and Palo Alto, those companies require separate purchases for all the different features. So this is why I consider Fortinet very inexpensive. But it is also not a sacrifice because even with low cost for what you get, their security rating is very high. Many customers right now in the situation caused by the pandemic are having budget issues. These companies have lower budgets right now and they have to be aware of the value. They still have the same security need and they want a very feature-rich solution. Fortinet fits in their budget and that is why customers prefer to buying Fortinet as compared to other solutions.

The improvement required for Fortinet is that they must increase RAM in low-end Firewalls. because low-end Firewalls come with very low RAM, due to low RAM users faced performance issues when increase user traffic, that can cause performance issues. even we know other vendors are using a minimum of 04 GB RAM. But Fortinet for their low-end entry-level box is using only one/two GB RAM. That is very low and can be a performance issue.

If we compare the performance based on their datasheet, it does not really meet the full requirements. For example, if we are using the FG-60F Network Security Firewall 10xGE, the throughput is 10 gigs. But the memory is two GB. Two GB of memory is too low to handle the throughput. So they should increase the memory in the box. Fortinet can gain end customer confidence.

I have been working with Fortinet products and FortiClient for five years.  

FortiClient is stable as per my experience with multiple clients. Right now, we have installed the FortiClient internally as well. It is protecting our network as well so we are not only resellers. We do not experience any issues with the endpoint security.  

Fortinet technical support requires a little bit of effort to improve their services. The level of services is based on the customer's purchased support bundle. So if a customer purchases a 360 support bundle, then the customer can contact directly at a higher level with the technical support team. But if the customer purchases the normal 24/7 bundle and they try to open a ticket and make a case for service — either on a call or using the websites — your customer can open only a maximum P3 (Third Priority) level case. This is a low level of priority and it is not suitable for more serious problems. My experience with Cisco and Juniper is different. Those companies have an excellent way of dealing with support cases and they are very skilled. A customer can open a P1 case via phone immediately. With Fortinet, if you want to open a P1 case, you can not do it that way with a standard support package. Support for FortiClient needs to be more in line with the severity of the case.  

I previously worked with Kaspersky and Sophos Intercept X products. I used both as endpoint security.

The main difference is the advantage of FortiClient in CAPEX cost and feature-richness.

One problem I faced was when a customer went to renew FortiClient for their second Year, in Fortinet SKU is the same as a new purchase.

even other venders having renewed SKU for next year.

The case was really more like an upgrade than an initial purchase and should have been somehow included as a bundle. If we compare that with Intercept X and Kaspersky, those companies give the option to renew in similar cases and the renewal pricing is very low compared to the initial cost. It is maybe a place where the Fortinet pricing structure could be modified to appear more competitive.

As per my experience, Fortinet has the simplest way of making deployments compared to other products and companies like Sophos. It is very simple and predictable. Just follow the simple steps and — one, two, three — the firewall is ready to deploy. So you do not need to get more experience and you do not need to study up too much documentation or courses to determine how to configure it. All the information you need is available for free. The customer does not need a technical expert to configure and operate Fortinet products. But if the customer wants to configure competing products like Juniper, Cisco, Palo Alto, and Sophos, they need the technical knowledge to configure the products to achieve proper functionality.  

FortiClient is very simple and user-friendly. The GUI is very user friendly and it is the simplest GUI compared to other vendor products. This is another plus point for Fortinet.  

Clients need not only to look at the price of the product as a bottom line. Some products offer more as a package, as Fortinet does in this case. Some customers see only dollar signs when there is more to evaluating the value of a product offering than the only cost.

My advice to Fortinet is that they should make a change to FortiClient pricing. They should have a renewal price that is lower than the new purchase price. They should include the price bundle as a renewal price, like say you were purchasing UTM (Unified Threat Management) next year for support. They should include a renewal process in their pricing scheme, and not just treat all purchasing as a new contract.  

On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate FortiClient as an eight-out-of-ten.