Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

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.

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.

The firewall system we have implemented in my company serves as the gateway to access the internet. We have different VLANs set up on the firewall for various networks. 

We enforce security measures based on policies. When it comes to security, we have web monitoring, application filtering, and MAC address filtering implemented on the firewall. We also utilize VPN and SD-WAN architecture. Everything is functioning well. 

Additionally, we have two ISPs connected for load balancing. We send the logs, and audit logs to FortiCloud for analytics and statistics. 

Moreover, we have an alerting system for FortiGate, which is also functioning properly. The firewall operates in question mode, using round-robin connections, and handles routing as well.

FortiGate is a very good product. It offers a wide range of features, and its availability is almost everywhere. The support, both local and international, is good. Also, they provide certification programs for the next-generation firewalls, which is beneficial. 

The product speaks for itself and holds a strong position in the market. In our company, we highly recommend FortiGate to our colleagues and other IT professionals. Furthermore, it offers cost advantages compared to other products.

The improvement that I would like to see is in the licensing. The licensing process is a bit high. 

Additionally, there have been several vulnerabilities in the firewall. It is hackable, some of the images are hackable. So, upgrading to the latest patch, but these improvements would be more profitable for companies like ours.

I would like to see improvements in license costs and the handling of vulnerabilities.

I have been working with FortiGate NGFW for ten years. I currently use the FortiGate 101E model at a customer site.

I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. It provides a stable network, and I can connect to remote sites as well. I find it reliable because we use SD-WAN. There are no major issues, except when there is an Internet outage. But overall, no significant problems.

The scalability is very good. I would rate the scalability of the solution a nine out of ten because I have encountered no issues so far with the product. The scalability is excellent, very good.

We have 150 users using this solution. Moreover, we have plans to increase the usage. Maybe next year, I plan to upgrade to a newer version of FortiGate, and we have a plan to increase our user count by ten percent by next year. So I'm considering a more powerful firewall for better performance. That's the plan.

In terms of support, they are very responsive. If you reach out to them, they will contact you within 15 minutes. Managing FortiGate is easy and simple compared to other products. It's not too complex. 

Even if we miss renewing our licenses, FortiGate provides a grace period of 90 days, which is exceptional. Most products only offer 30 days. That's the best part, in my opinion.

The support is excellent. I've had very positive experiences with FortiGate's support team. They are friendly and always available. Their support is available 24/7 via phone, email, or chat. 

They even offer remote access if we need help with configuration or auditing logs. Their support is reliable both locally and internationally.

Positive

The availability of product support and its manageability were important factors for me. I found it easy to manage, not too complex. 

Additionally, the product is readily available in my country. Based on the information I found on the Internet, FortiGate seemed to meet my requirements.

The initial setup is straightforward. The setup is pretty simple. However, it acts as an authentic gateway between my routers and the internal network. All the traffic goes through the firewall in cluster mode. If one firewall goes down, the other one takes over until we have time to replace the faulty one. We typically use the firewall for a period of five years before considering a replacement. 

The device is connected to the server room on-premises. We configure it locally, but we utilize FortiCloud for logging and analytics. We manage the number of assets (FortiGate assets) we have, which is manageable through the cloud. That's all.

I have used Barracuda, Sophos, Palo Alto, and more.

My advice would be to start by conducting a Proof of Concept (POC) and test FortiGate NGFW in your own environment. Go through all the necessary configurations and spend around one or two weeks to become familiar with the solution.

After that, you can proceed with the purchase. But if I were to advise someone instantly, I would simply say, go ahead and give it a try.

Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. 

Our primary use cases for FortiGate are SD-WAN and the next-gen firewall.

Most clients in the Philippines seek a cost-effective solution that can secure their network, and FortiGate is often their first choice. If your network is secure, there's less downtime and threat exposure, increasing overall efficiency. 

Fortinet's secure SD-WAN helps us remedy threats faster. It's user-friendly, and you can see everything on the FortiGate dashboard through a single pane of glass. Secure SD-WAN has reduced our mean time to detect. We haven't had any significant issues so far. 

SD-WAN has reduced our help desk tickets by making us secure. Many of our clients switched from other brands to Fortinet, and they feel that the FortiGate box and the added security FortiGuard provides have exceeded their expectations. 

FortiGate firewalls are user-friendly, and I like the security profiling features. 
FortiGate has always had good interoperability. Their fabric enables you to integrate a lot of products into one vendor. 

The secure SD-WAN gives you a tool for failproof your connections, especially with a branch-to-branch setup. FortiGate also comes with FortiGuard, which is an excellent threat-detection service. They have their own R&D and threat intelligence for FortiGuard.

While FortiGate is cheaper than most other solutions, we're seeing increased license renewal costs. Most of our clients are asking for more significant discounts because the price is going up. 

We have been using the solution for more than two years.

I rate FortiGate an eight and a half out of ten for stability.

I rate FortiGate a nine out of ten for scalability. 

I rate Fortinet support a nine out of ten. 

Positive

We also use Meraki. FortiGate has advantages in terms of usability. Also, if we don't pay for the Meraki license, it becomes useless. 

Deploying FortiGate is straightforward. It typically takes about three days to deploy and configure the solution. One person is usually enough to deploy it. 

Most of our clients are still using the FortiGate D Series, so they have gotten their money's worth. 

Fortinet is much cheaper compared to the other leading platforms. However, most of our customers are asking for bigger discounts on license renewals. 

I rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten. 

We have deployed this firewall for many companies. Our clients are financial and medical companies.

It enabled our clients to reach locations and access their applications easily with no latency. It provided ease of access.

Its threat prevention capabilities are most valuable. 

It's a user-friendly firewall. Most of the tasks are very simple. It's simple to configure and troubleshoot this firewall. 

The improvement is related to logs. Instead of the CLI, we should be able to have more insights into the logs of the firewall in the GUI.

I faced a lot of issues when I was trying to deploy the firewall through FortiManager. The firewall is stable, but FortiManager is too buggy, and it doesn't work properly. It gives too many errors.

There are some issues with Fortinet SD-WAN. It's quite complex.

I've been using this solution for more than four years.

It's a very stable product.

It's scalable. We have plans to increase its usage.

Most of the time, they are helpful, but there are times when they don't resolve an issue right away. They take the log, and then they take their time to give input on the issue. Most of the time, they take one or two days to get back after analyzing the logs. Instead of that, they can just schedule a session to resolve the issue right away because sometimes the issue impacts the production environment, so we need to resolve that issue as soon as possible. Overall, I'd rate them a six out of ten.

Neutral

I have worked with other firewalls. Fortinet FortiGate is better than Palo Alto and Check Point firewalls. It's more user-friendly.

I have deployed it for a bank at a core level. On the perimeter, there was a Palo Alto firewall, and at the core level, we deployed the FortiGate firewall at DC and DR locations. After that, we deployed SD-WAN. We replaced the MPLS switch with the Fortinet SD-WAN device, so the whole branch traffic comes to the SD-WAN box, and from there, it comes to the FortiGate firewall, and then it goes to the Palo Alto firewall for the internet access and resource access. While migrating branches from MPLS to SD-WAN, we did require a maintenance window.

There was no difficulty. It was very user-friendly. I have had many difficulties with the Check Point firewall. I have deployed major projects on the FortiGate firewall. I migrated more than a thousand branches on Fortinet SD-WAN and implemented FortiGate super massive firewalls at DC and DR locations. There were no complexities. Only at one location, I had an issue related to SD-WAN, but my query was resolved by Fortinet's local team.

It's an on-premises firewall for the DC and DR locations. I have never worked on cloud projects, but if there is any opportunity to deploy it on the cloud, I will do it. I have only done on-premises deployment.

I am an implementation engineer. I deployed and configured the whole firewall. I also troubleshot any issues. When I had any queries, they were clarified by Fortinet's engineers.

Its pricing is good. It's average or normal as compared to Palo Alto and Check Point firewalls. 

I didn't evaluate other options.

I'd recommend this firewall to others. Most of the time, when I do PoCs, I recommend Fortinet FortiGate. It's quite easy to manage and deploy.

I'd rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for security purposes and for UTM web profile applications.

There are a variety of features on offer. 

It helps protect endpoints. 

The wireless control is helpful.

It is scalable and extends well.

The solution is stable and reliable.

Technical support is helpful and responsive.

The pricing could always be better. It is very expensive. 

We'd like to see Fortgate include WAF services.

The maintenance of the product can be a bit difficult. 

I've been working with the solution for ten years. 

The solution is pretty stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

This is a scalable product. 

Technical support is very good. They are easy to work with. We've been satisfied with the level of support.

Positive

I've also used Sophos and CyberArk. Sophos has a few more services, such as WAF services.

The initial setup is moderate. It depends on the client's requirements.

We typically can deploy the solution within two or three days. We have a security engineer that handles the initial setup.

It does require some maintenance, and that can be a bit difficult. 

We implement the solution for our clients. 

We have witnessed a bit of an ROI, even though it is an expensive solution. 

The solution is quite pricey.

I am an end-user and work in configuration and support for a partner.

I'm working with the latest version of the solution.

Overall, I would rate the solution ten out of ten. I am very satisfied with the product as a whole. I'd recommend the solution to others. It's easy to start working with it. 

We primarily use the solution for security. I've deployed it for some customers for protection. It is used for firewalls. I have experience with the secure SD-WAN version.

Our customers are happy, and when they are happy, it means they are happy with us. It helps our organization. Many customers are migrating to this solution as it increases efficiency.

The security fabric is excellent. It's great on Fortinet, generally. 

It is easy to deploy.

Our impression of a unified view of NetOps and SecOps is positive. It has a single pane of glass. It's excellent and very effective. We've been quite impressed with the visibility on the devices. We've been happy with it.

The integrated application protection provided by the solution is good. It's worth the investment. However, it does depend on how you apply it. It can help save on costs, depending on the setup. If you have it in a bank environment, each individual bank would have its own devices, and you can optimize everything. You can have some of the connections go direct from one customer to another. You can save a lot of money with a specific setup.

It's helped out operational efficiency. It helps us waste less time. A typical scenario helps us save time. Having a good connection at the head office allows other offices to maintain a good connection as well. It also has normal security features and more to help keep us safe while staying connected. 

We can remediate threats more quickly. We have a single pane of glass that helps simplify the protection and visibility. We can monitor other components, even Macs or data centers. We can address items automatically, no matter where they are located. Visibility really helps. 

It is helped us to reduce the mean time to detect. It can reduce the time to locate and detect effectively. It is remarkably shorter when using Fortinet. It's also reduced the time it takes to resolve problems. 

The solution has helped us reduce Help Desk tickets. 

We have been able to future-proof businesses with branches. We don't have branches in our office. However, we have seen benefits ourselves in terms such as load balancing, et cetera. A fiber connection helps ensure backups are seamless. We can run a backup at less cost, and knowing that we have a backup help with peace of mind. Accessing a secure network ensures this. 

I haven't had a single issue since using Fortinet. 

I've been using the solution since 2018.

The solution is very stable. 

It is a scalable product.

Technical support is always top-notch. I always get good support.

Positive

The initial setup was pretty easy. It was not difficult. 

Everything I did was in one day. If I have to do some fine-tuning, that takes a little bit longer. Typically, one day is enough to deploy. 

The pricing is moderate. You get good value for money. Of course, any solution could be less expensive. For a company like ours, we'd always like to pay less. 

We are partners with Fortinet. We also use the solution ourselves.

Assessing the secure SD-WAN with its interoperability with other systems is hard to say. I've not deployed it with other OEMS as of yet. We haven't consolidated any tools or applications as of yet.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten overall.

I'd recommend the solution to others.  

Our primary use case is for social network blocking and for unusual applications in our network as well as for intrusion prevention. We are a department store. 

This product has made it easier to secure our network. 

The pipe filter application is an outstanding feature. The hardware processors are also very impressive. In general, this is an easy-to-use application, with a user-friendly interface. If you have any issues, Fortinet has a support library where you can search for videos and documentation. If you want to configure anything and you're unsure about it, the solution is in the videos. If a single link fails, it automatically connects to a secondary one and that's saved me a lot of time as I would have previously had to deal with it manually. Fortigate blocks unusual traffic and therefore secures our network. Third-party integrations are good.

The updates Fortinet provides are sometimes unstable. We have to check everything thoroughly before any upgrade.

We've been using this solution for seven years. 

The solution is very scalable. The processor, the microprocessor and the security processors are very intelligent so they can scale significantly and manage that well. 

The initial setup is straightforward and easy to manage. There is no maintenance required. 

We've seen a return on our investment. 

This is a very comprehensive solution but the cost is quite high. 

We evaluated several options before going with Fortinet. 

I think this is the best solution of its kind on the market and I rate it nine out of 10. 

This solution is configured as our primary gateway to the internet in and out of the network.

Fortinet delivers high-performance network security solutions that
protects our network, users, and data from continually evolving threats.

The features I found most valuable are the high availability rollover/fail-over capabilities. The integration with other Fortinet products is worth a look at the lineup.

I have been using this solution for about two years.

I would say that the scalability possibilities of this solution are first-rate.

In the past, we have used Cisco and WatchGuard Firewalls.

Our model of deployment is on-premises. I would say the initial setup process was complex. Integrating the security fabric with multiple firewalls, FortiClient, and FortiMail was slightly more complex than originally anticipated. The results are great.

Our implementation strategy was to hire vendors with expertise.