Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

We use it for our security needs. It enables us to effectively manage and monitor all the websites our employees access.

One of the features I appreciate the most is application control which offers great flexibility.

They should consider making some improvements regarding the pricing. It could be more competitive and cost-effective. I would also like to know more about Fortinet's XDR offering, understand how it operates, and how we can effectively implement it in our network.

I have been working with for one year.

It offers reliable and stable performance.

I would rate its scalability capabilities ten out of ten. In my previous job, I worked with it, and the company was substantial in size. They used Fortinet's FortiGate in a Solaris environment, which was quite extensive. Now, I'm with a different company, which falls somewhere in the mid-range in terms of size.

I have had excellent experiences with its support team and they have been proactive in responding to my inquiries. I rate their support services a solid ten.  It is robust and efficient, and I currently have no difficulties in this regard.

Previously, we relied on Cisco WAFSA and Cisco AC, but with FortiGate, we have completely revamped our infrastructure and gained full control over security policies.

I set up a lab using Fortinet's FortiGate (FGT) within VMware on my laptop. Creating the lab environment was a challenge, but not overly difficult, so I would say it fell somewhere in between, not too hard and not too easy. I would rate it five out of ten.

When comparing it to other vendors such as Palo Alto and Check Point, it is on the the expensive side. I would rate it four out of ten.

Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

The most valuable features we found are the SD-WAN, FortiGate SD-WAN, and the standard UTM protection, among others.

If someone doesn't have a certified or skilled technician/engineer, certain configurations, like setting up VLANs and SD-WANs, might not be difficult but can be simplified within FortiGate. The areas that might require more expertise are related to setting up VLANs and configuring SD-WANs, among others.

Therefore, the setup process could be made simpler. 

I've been working with FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall for three years. We are currently working with its latest version.

I would rate it as a nine. It is a stable solution.

I would rate the scalability a five out of ten. It is not very scalable because scalability depends on the model. For instance, the FortiEdge, which is the entry-level model (the smallest model), supports up to about 15 users. Then the next model supports up to around 30 to 40 users, and the following one supports a hundred users. The price increases significantly with more users, which can be a concern.

If I make a guesstimate, I'd say about 20 to 30 of our clients, but they all have multiple branches. So, in total, we have about 200 FortiGate firewalls deployed for our customers, spread across 20 to 30 clients.

Most of our clients fall under the medium to enterprise category. We have clients from financial institutions and big corporate organizations. It's not an entry-level solution, as it might be challenging for small businesses to afford.

Based on the support we receive from our supplier, who is a reseller or vendor of FortiGate, I would rate it at about six. Because it takes time to get support from the vendor. So it is not very fast.

Neutral

I rate my experience with the initial setup six on a scale of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy. The initial setup of the solution is not difficult; if you have an engineer with certification and experience on other firewalls. For them, it's relatively easy. However, someone without certification and experience with other firewalls might find it a bit more challenging to grasp the FortiGate format and its platform layout.

FortiGate is primarily deployed on-premises. We also have a cloud option for certain referrals with tier-three engineers. We have it in our own data center in our cloud, and we also provide it to some of our customers. However, most of the ones I sell are for end customers, and they typically choose the hardware for on-site deployment.

The duration of the deployment can vary depending on different factors. The timeline can involve various stages, such as ordering from overseas, ensuring stock availability, and finally, setting it up for a specific project. As such, the duration can differ based on these factors. 

Eventually, once we have the stock, we can set up the firewall within about an hour.

I would rate the pricing in the middle, around five out of ten. It also depends on how you sell it. If you want to sell it as a one-time purchase, then I'd put it at a seven. But if you amortize it, it can go down to a four because some customers prefer to pay it off over thirty-six months, as the licensing is for that duration.

There are additional costs to the standard license. While the standard licensing fees include UTM and a few other features, for additional features like FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, and other PCs that you might need, there are additional costs. For features like FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer, the additional costs do add up. So, while getting the entry-level firewall with basic UTM protection and web filtering is not too bad if you want to add features like analyzer reporting, cloud managers, and FortiManager, the costs can become significantly higher.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Organizations with about 50 to 100 employees use the solution for VPN, ZTNA, and remote connectivity between branch offices and site-to-site VPN. The solution acts as a gateway-level firewall that secures the office infrastructure against threats in mid-size enterprise organizations.

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is a good solution because it has a range of options and a clear ecosystem. It has good availability of solutions that complement the next-generation firewall. For example, it has a good range of switches and access points. The solution also has a good ecosystem where cloud services like FortiMail complement the whole solution. The solution has a better ecosystem for community support.

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall could be made a little less expensive.

I have been working with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) for around three years.

Bugs appear whenever a new firmware or operating system is uploaded into the device for certain modules. These bugs might cause certain services not to work, which has been the case in the past. There have been certain things that were resolved with the new firmware update. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall comes with a six version or a seven version.

The 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 versions would have bugs, but the 6.4 version would be pretty stable and precise without any issues. Hence, I generally prefer to go ahead with the later version of a particular generation. For example, instead of going with the first version of the sixth generation, I would go in for a third or a fourth version. These things are there in most vendors, but I've noticed these, particularly in FortiGate Next Generation Firewall.

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is a pretty scalable solution, and mostly, small and medium companies use the solution.

Although FortiGate Next Generation Firewall's customer support is spontaneous in responding, their actual responses are a little slow. They take time. When I say spontaneous, I mean the case ticket gets logged immediately, but the response from Fortinet doesn't come so fast. You have to follow up and then get things done.

Neutral

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall’s initial setup is straightforward.

The solution’s deployment takes one hour. Two to three engineers are required for the deployment of the solution. One or two people maintain the solution by monitoring and fixing breakdowns, which rarely happens.

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall is an expensive solution. I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall an eight out of ten for pricing. The solution has a yearly license, and you have to pay additionally for the deployment and partner-led services.

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall charges additionally for migration. Suppose you're upgrading from an older appliance to a newer appliance. In that case, the partner has to buy a FortiConverter Service or a FortiConverter tool on a per-incident basis, which is charged. On the other hand, partners can use the tools available in SonicWall. Compared to FortiGate Next Generation Firewall, SonicWall is better in terms of support and pricing.

We work with the latest version of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall.

Overall, I rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall a nine and a half or ten out of ten.

We use Fortinet FortiGate for end-to-end advanced firewall protection.

Fortinet FortiGate is deployed both on-premises and in the AWS and Azure clouds.

Fortinet FortiGate makes it extremely easy to manage the entire security system independently of our enterprise. In our company, we operate multiple networks, each with its own distinct layers of networking. Whether it is a small or large company, each network will consist of various layers, including the first, second, and third layers, as well as Wi-Fi access points. Additionally, we have different access switches, distribution switches, and core switches. FortiGate allows for direct management of all these options, which is one of its core advantages.

FortiGate is highly user-friendly and promptly addresses security threats and vulnerabilities commonly found in the modern technology world. Additionally, Fortinet offers the latest versions to cater to the needs of enterprises. They provide a range of firewalls, suitable for both small-scale businesses and larger enterprises. Overall, we are quite satisfied with their performance, and it has been working well for us so far.

Fortinet should focus on enhancing the capabilities of FortiGate by consolidating its various products, such as FortiGate Cloud, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer. Currently, these multiple products often confuse users and clients. It would be beneficial if Fortinet could offer a comprehensive integrated solution instead of separate products that cause user confusion. By providing an integrated solution, users would have access to all features and functionalities within a single window, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple windows. This approach would greatly improve the user experience.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for three years.

Fortinet FortiGate is extremely stable.

Fortinet FortiGate can easily scale using the cloud firewall option.

The technical support team is exceptional. They are consistently available and prompt in their responses, regardless of the region from which we open the ticket.

Positive

I used Cisco at my previous company and my new company uses FortiGate. FortiGate is better than Cisco. Where Cisco requires a person with great networking or programming knowledge, FortiGate does not. We can manage everything from its user interface. It provides comprehensive security fabric management, including Forti switches and access points. Additionally, FortiGate serves as a gate for our home, allowing us to monitor who enters and exits. Therefore, if we compare it to Cisco, monitoring the entire traffic becomes much easier.

The initial setup is straightforward. Fortinet provides step-by-step instructions in its documentation. The Fortinet engineers and support team are always available to assist, but even for a non-technical person, the deployment is easy.

The pricing depends on the FortiGate model we are using, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000 US dollars. We are using the FortiGate 600E, and its price falls within the midrange. The most expensive part is the renewal of the license subscription.

I give Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

Fortinet FortiGate offers a cloud trial that organizations can use in a test environment to evaluate the solution before making a purchase.

I use Fortinet FortiGate to secure the internal network and perform unified threat management, forward filtering, and application control. This is crucial for the organizations and products I collaborate with on projects. The solution effectively addresses high availability through SD-WAN load balancing. Additionally, we rely on Fortinet FortiGate to resolve remote access issues for our clients.

Fortinet FortiGate has helped improve our reporting analysis, ease of management, and enhance the security of our environment.

Fortinet FortiGate's ease of management is the most valuable feature.

FortiGate offers numerous features that are designed to assist end users in gaining a clear understanding of the activities occurring within their network.

The non-error conserve mode has room for improvement.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for eight years.

I rate the stability of FortiGate an eight out of ten.

I rate the scalability of FortiGate a ten out of ten.

The technical support has improved compared to the last few times I used it.

Positive

I had previously used a different solution but switched to Fortinet FortiGate due to its better price and ease of use.

The initial setup is straightforward. Depending on the customer's requirements and environment, the deployment can take anywhere from one day to a couple of weeks and can be completed by a single person.

We implement the solution in-house.

I achieve approximately a 30 percent return on investment with FortiGate.

Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced. 

I rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

Fortinet FortiGate is primarily utilized by medium to large organizations, although it can also be employed by small ones.

In terms of maintaining the solution, updates are typically performed to address bugs.

I highly recommend Fortinet FortiGate to others.

In our current data center, we use eight Fortinet firewalls. These firewalls serve multiple tiers of the network, including internet users, server farms, and DMZ ports. This gives us multiple approaches to our system and network. As a result, we are able to receive all reports before the analyzer.

In 2011, we were using a Cisco ASA 5540 fixed firewall. We moved to Fortinet because their UTM appliance was a next-generation firewall that offered more than one solution in a single box. This meant that we could handle the network, server, and client parts of our infrastructure with a single device. We also chose Fortinet because of the ease of its GUI and its ease of implementation in multiple locations. Currently, I have three data centers. We are using a consolidated console with a broader view of the network traffic. This is why we moved to Fortinet. We had previously used Juniper and Cisco, but we found that Fortinet offered a better solution for our needs.

We deployed the solution on-premises because, while the private sector in Kuwait has begun to move to the cloud, government entities are not permitted to do so.

I started with the firewall module, and we were using multiple boxes for multiple functions. I was using a Juniper SSL VPN. They came to us with a single-box solution that included SSL VPN, so we moved to that. Then they came up with client endpoint security, and we moved to that as well. They also introduced web filtering in Fortinet, so we moved to that as well. All of the technology that we were using previously on separate consoles is now consolidated into a single console. I can see the beauty of this product in that it has a single console that manages all of the facilities on one web page.

The firewall is top-notch. We are using SSL VPN.

When we first started, Fortinet was using a single appliance with a firewall module in the region. They later came up with many different solutions. I have also used FortiDB, but it has been discontinued. We have since removed it. We are looking forward to Fortinet considering a sandboxing solution. This would allow us to secure our database at that layer. I see the database area as being weaker. I would suggest that Fortinet add sandboxing to their solution.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for 12 years.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable which is why we have stuck with it for almost 12 years.

The scalability is good. In 2016, we scaled our system to ensure that we would have enough capacity for the next five to seven years. We are currently only utilizing 25 percent of the hardware processing.

We have around 900 users on our networks per second with a total active directory of 7,000.

The technical support in our region is excellent. There are three levels of support. I remember one time when my problem was not resolved by level one or level two, so it was escalated to level three which was awesome. The level three technician was able to understand the issue quickly by reviewing the chain of email logs and the available information.

Positive

We previously used Juniper and Cisco firewalls before switching to Fortinet FortiGate. We were drawn to Fortinet because of its superior control and visibility, as well as its high availability, throughput, and durability. Fortinet's FortiGate firewalls are ASIC-based, which makes them more reliable and efficient than other solutions. As a result, we were able to handle more traffic with Fortinet than with any other vendor.

The initial deployment was complex. We started with a low-level design, discussing with the vendor that we had a certain number of firewalls and concurrent sessions available on the network, and that we had remote sites. We began by implementing the boxes in the data center, then the main data center headquarters, and then the campus network, which has its own data center with a firewall module. We later installed it in one of our accessory branches in their data center. The installation was done in phases.

When the high-level design was in place, we began migrating the configuration. We used a migration tool from Cisco and Juniper, which was very smooth because it was intelligent enough to take all the network IDs, policies, and source destinations, forward based. This meant that we had fewer challenges when we started the migration.

However, we did encounter some challenges during the migration. These were not due to Fortinet, but rather to the configuration that had been migrated from the other vendor. We resolved these challenges by manually checking each policy one by one, and the issue was rectified within a couple of days.

A total of four people were involved in the deployment. Two people from our organization, one from the vendor, and one from the partner. We have to go through our partner to access the vendor.

The implementation was completed by the vendor.

Fortinet FortiGate's features and price have provided a return on investment for our organization.

The pricing is a bit more expensive than the others but Fortinet is the best in the region. They have a good hold on the market because they are everywhere.

We pay for support and licensing fees.

I give the pricing a nine out of ten.

We evaluated Palo Alto Networks, but they did not have a presence in our region, so we did not move forward with them. We also evaluated Check Point, but it is not a government-approved solution in our region.

I give Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten. 

Fortinet FortiGate has good regional support. One of the best things about this solution is that Fortinet doesn't disappear after the sale. They keep engaging us with new technologies. For example, they recently engaged us with a SIEM and SOAR solution that allows me to have a single console for all of my security needs. I have a plan to move to this solution and consolidate all of my firewalls into a single FortiManager. This will allow me to have a more secure and efficient network.

Fortinet is not as focused on cybersecurity as some other companies, but they are very strong in network security. They are constantly coming up with new and innovative solutions that help us to protect our networks. I am very happy with Fortinet FortiGate and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a reliable and secure network solution.

We have deployed the solution in multiple locations.

Our partner is involved in maintenance, especially when a new FortiOS is released. We engage the vendor to understand the maintenance requirements, such as stability and any potential risks. We follow the vendor's recommendations and perform maintenance accordingly. We also use FortiAnalyzer to manage our logs. We delete old logs in accordance with government policy, which requires six months of data to be kept. We take care to ensure that maintenance does not affect these logs.

Fortinet FortiGate is one of the best and most affordable solutions with top-notch technology on the market. We get something that is both cheaper and of good quality with Fortinet FortiGate. Fortinet submitted the lowest-priced bid and met all of our technical requirements.

We use FortiGate for our firewall. We have a typical business environment that includes end-user workstations, an ERP, web hosting solutions, etc. It's around 600 endpoints. 

FortiGate improved our security. It's one of the best hardware firewalls. We're secured against various outside threats. It's hard to know how effective a firewall is if you aren't experiencing attacks. We haven't been affected, so we've seen the benefits of the solution from day one. 

FortiGate provides solid protection against viruses, malware, and other threats. 

It would be nice if FortiGate incorporated some built-in endpoint protection features. I would also like a built-in SOC dashboard for managing multiple Fortinet firewalls. 

I have used FortiGate for five years, including my work at my previous company.  

FortiGate is stable. 

FortiGate could be more scalable. 

I've used Cisco firewalls previously. FortiGate is a little better in terms of web protection, but it's more expensive. 

We had professional services deploy FortiGate. For maintenance, we have an annual maintenance contract, and there are periodic firmware upgrades. A network admin is responsible for maintenance. 

We've seen a return in the form of greater security and threat protection. 

FortiGate is a little expensive. In addition to hardware and licensing, there are some implementation and maintenance costs. 

I rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten. I would recommend FortiGate, but Cisco is one of the best. The biggest lesson I've learned from using FortiGate is that it's crucial to install and maintain the solution properly. 

We are using Fortinet for administration over local users that need to connect with our wireless. We have users that come from different domains, and there are certain limits and restrictions that need to be implemented.

There is not much visible improvement, but it's a stable and reliable environment. We did not see anything critical in the production environment.

Reliability is the best feature. We faced some issues when we were setting it up, but the service, portal, and administration are good.

There is some development gap. We had experienced bugs in their operating system. When we were planning to upgrade it, there was no patch available for a bug, and the support team was saying that they need to work on that. That's the part they should work on.

There are some complex administration tasks in their administration portal. That needs to be improved.

It has been around two years since we set it up.

It's stable.

It's scalable. We have 1,500 to 2,000 people across the world. We have multiple regions and multiple sites.

We contacted them for a few cases. I would rate them a seven out of ten. They could be better at finding solutions.

Neutral

This was the first option, but we'll try Cisco as well for our Wi-Fi setup for the next one to two years. 

It was a management call to go for this. They know what is best for their business.

I was not exactly involved in its initial setup, but at a later stage, I had to jump into that. I was more into Cisco setup.

Overall, the setup was easy. There was a portal, and most of the things were similar to other hardware we use, such as Palo Alto. We found some bugs during the setup, and there was not much support available from the Fortinet support team

In terms of maintenance, there are upgrades available roughly every quarter.

It's worth the money.

The price range is quite acceptable and normal.

It's excellent. The services, administration, and reliability are up to the mark. They just need to improve it a bit. 

I would recommend it if you want to set it up for your business. Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten.

We're a manufacturing shop. So we have 500-700 users on FortiGate SWG and various devices on the manufacturing floor and inside the warehouse using it. Our ERP is on-premises in the United States, so traffic from Asia to the US passes through it.

Eventually, it's going to be used throughout the enterprise. So we're using the gateways today. We have purchased two access points for wifi. Fortinet's devices all talk to each other and use the same management platform. We're planning to transition to 100 percent Fortinet gradually.

We adopted Fortigate to go to SD-WAN. When I looked at the market, I found Fortigate offered some of the best SD-WAN capabilities, and they're reasonably priced compared to some of their competitors.

We went to SD-WAN because we're moving to Microsoft Dynamics for finance and operations and putting our telephone system into the cloud. As we shift more and more capabilities into the cloud, we need the ability to manage and monitor everything. If we're putting our ERP into the cloud and have performance issues, I need to understand if it's a problem with the internal network, the cloud connection, or Microsoft. Fortinet can pinpoint the source of the problem, so we can work with the right people to get it resolved.

FortiGate is easy to configure. We configured one of the units and sent it to Indiana to be installed. We asked them to give us a call when they got it, so we could help them through the process, but they called us back to tell us it works great. 

Non-IT people could plug it in, connect it to the fiber, and get it running without  IT help. That was fantastic. Fortinet also offers a single pane of glass that we can use to manage our routers with gateways, so that's convenient. We're running a VPN to our remote location, and the performance is good. We're changing all our VPN connectors on our laptops from Cisco's Anywhere to Fortinet's VPN because the performance is just so much better.

Fortinet needs to continue to improve network traceability. Other than that, we haven't run into anything that would give me any concern. Their support team has been fantastic. One went down, and they immediately sent me a replacement. Everything that they've done has been great.

I've been using FortiGate SWG for about  six months now.

FortiGate is highly stable.

I was pleased with the scalability.  We have a mid-range appliance in our headquarters and entry-level devices in our remote sites. They all perform extremely well. We did never needed to purchase their largest devices to get the performance we need.

I rate Fortinet support eight out of 10.

Positive

We switched from Cisco to Fortinet for a host of reasons, including price. It's also easier to set up and manage.  Cisco requires you to understand how to configure the bare metal, which requires configuration inside the switch, but Fortinet lets you set up profiles and download them. 

I was hoping FortiGate would be more straightforward to set up than it was, but my team has been working with it for around six months. They're getting up to speed and learning to manage it on their own. I have two people on my infrastructure team working on it part-time as one of their many responsibilities.

We're still deploying it and waiting on equipment in Asia. We just got the United States up and running. It took a couple of months because we have six sites. However, we weren't actively doing things for most of that time. We did the headquarters and two other locations in the same city. Next, we set up our remote sites. 

We did have an integrator come in and help us in the original setup, but now my team is managing it. You could do it in-house, but there's a learning curve. If you're a Cisco shop moving to Fortinet, your team needs to learn Fortinet byou can to do it in-house. 

Fortinet has a good training program, and you can become certified just like Cisco. You mainly need to use an outside provider so you don't have to undergo that learning curve before you can be productive. They're also going to know the tricks of the trade to do it best.

When we were using Cisco, we had a hot fiber connection and a backup in case of issues. One reason we wanted to go to SD-WAN is to be live-live. We wanted to ensure sure that we could use all our internet connections at the same time and not have anything sitting in a backup situation. It's moving traffic much better.

FortiGate is priced reasonably. We bought a spare to have in case of issues.  It was only $500 for the raw hardware and around $2,000 more annually year for the support and subscription.

We looked at four or five different vendors with SD-WAN capabilities, including Fortinet, VMware, and Cisco.  We went with FortiGate because of ease of use and price.

I rate FortiGate SWG eight out of 10. It's a solid product that's easy to install. At the end of the day, there's no reason to use a firewall without SD-WAN capabilities. It brings so many more features to the table.

One valuable feature of FortiGate SWG that has significantly enhanced my network security is IPS.

I would rate the technical support of Fortinet a six or seven out of ten. It is not very helpful. I would like to see improvements in their support.

I have used the solution for six to eight months.

Fortinet SWG is a stable solution, and I would rate it eight, indicating it is good.

I think the scalability of FortiGate SWG is okay. It meets the growing demands of my network and goes hand in hand with security.

I find the technical support of Fortinet to be not very helpful.

Neutral

I am working with Fortinet for SASE and am familiar with FortiGate.

I handled the installation myself, and it can be installed by one person.

It is too early to discuss any financial benefits or cost savings from using FortiGate SWG.

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate the pricing for FortiGate AWG as nine, which is perfect.

I am working with Fortinet and another vendor simultaneously.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten.