Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

Fortinet FortiGate serves as my gateway device where I manage all my security. I use Fortinet FortiGate as a gateway for the NATing part for LAN to WAN communication. Along with that, I manage security profiles from the gateway only, and all my switches and Wi-Fi also work with Fortinet FortiGate.

I work on RE VPN and SSL RE VPN on Fortinet FortiGate.

In my opinion, the best features Fortinet FortiGate offers are monitoring and troubleshooting. Along with that, its security services are also a key point for me. For example, I need to manage features including IPS, antivirus, web filtering, and application control via Fortinet FortiGate only.

I appreciate the security feature of Fortinet FortiGate. For example, I can take real-time logs and session monitoring along with VPN, event logs, data usage monitoring, and related features.

I have noticed faster troubleshooting and reduced downtime of around fifty percent. My operational efficiency has improved. For a real example, a client experienced frequent internet drops, and this was resolved more efficiently.

One suggested improvement I would recommend is more simplified troubleshooting. Although logs are powerful, troubleshooting can sometimes be complex for new users. A more guided or AI-based troubleshooting feature would help reduce resolution time. Fortinet FortiGate should incorporate AI-based solutions to improve the troubleshooting experience.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for two years.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable. It demonstrates excellent stability in various terms including network utilization.

Fortinet FortiGate offers strong scalability and can support environments ranging from small businesses to large businesses. There is a wide range of models from entry level to high end levels. Flexible deployment options include physical appliances, virtual, and cloud deployments, which is beneficial.

Customer support needs improvement. I have had to take the direct internal sources, such as sales contacts, and after that I rarely see support response.

I would rate the customer support at a six out of ten.

I have used Sophos before, and several of my criteria were missing with that solution. Fortinet FortiGate achieved the features I was looking for, which is why I shifted to Fortinet FortiGate firewall.

My experience is very positive regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Fortinet FortiGate. The pricing is also competitive compared to other vendors in the market. Along with that, setup is very easy. I implemented it in my network myself. For the licensing part, it is somewhat confusing, but overall it is good.

Fortinet FortiGate has saved me both money and time. It is easy to manage and the troubleshooting part is also very easy, making it more time-saving than money-saving.

In terms of cost savings, it has reduced the need for multiple tools. Fortinet FortiGate combines firewall, VPN, IPS, web filtering, and SD-WAN into a single device, which has given me lower operational overhead.

Before choosing Fortinet FortiGate, I tried various options. I obtained the POC from Palo Alto as well as Check Point. After that, I switched to Fortinet FortiGate because it was the best option for my network.

My advice for others looking into using Fortinet FortiGate is that focusing on proper planning, sizing, and understanding of features before deployment will be a good approach.

Integrating SD-WAN with Fortinet FortiGate has allowed me to create an SLA according to which my ISPs define the traffic and the best path utilized.

I would rate this product a ten out of ten overall.

We use Fortinet FortiGate to help protect and secure mission-critical data. There are policies and rules that we apply, and there is an intrusion prevention system that notifies if there are critical vulnerabilities on some clients.

I assess the security services provided by Fortinet FortiGate, such as URL filtering and DNS filtering, as quite good; they are quite effective. Fortinet FortiGate is rather sustainable; it's a good, stable product that gets faster and uses less power with new versions. 

It helps us remediate threats more quickly because we have specialists who can work with it rather effectively. When there is an alert on the Fortinet FortiGate, they work together with our FortiAnalyzer and can quickly remediate the incidents.

They should do a better job in testing when they put out a new release because when a new software version is released, it is not always stable or does not always have all the previous features working correctly. They should do more testing or launch a new version later when they have tested it more thoroughly. 

They already did a good job in their GUI, but they can make more features available in the GUI that are still only accessible through the command line.

My proper experience is only two or three years, but in the company, they have been using it for over 10 years.

In terms of network and security convergence, they are there, but we are not currently using them because in the office itself, we have other brands of switches and access points. It's now not quite stable in the demo lab environment; we are now on the latest version, but in the production environment, we are not. Production is always on a lower version.

It is scalable.

I would give Fortinet's technical support an eight out of 10; they are responsive and helpful.

Positive

I previously used Sophos before Fortinet FortiGate.

If you first implement Fortinet FortiGate to get it up and running, it takes just a couple of minutes, but to get all the policies configured correctly, it takes a couple of days.

For my company, Exclusive Networks, the whole company had three or four engineers involved.

We have seen a return on investment from using Fortinet FortiGate for integration with the SOC team. The automation part is giving us a cost benefit and speed; we can react faster.

The price-to-performance ratio from using Fortinet FortiGate is very good; I would give it a nine out of 10. It has helped save on costs due to reduced power consumption.

Performance is the reason I switched from Sophos to Fortinet FortiGate. It has good value for money, ease of use, and a higher security level, with better security solutions. It's more expensive, but it offers a really good total cost of ownership and is still considerably cheaper than Palo Alto.

I would suggest to anyone considering purchasing Fortinet FortiGate's data center firewall to get training to understand very thoroughly how FortiOS works, and if you have several Fortinet FortiGates, to go for a FortiManager with the necessary training. 

The users who work with Fortinet FortiGate are only the IT people, around three or four. Locally, we have around 60 end-users for Fortinet FortiGate. The biggest lesson would be that Fortinet FortiGate provides a high level of security at a good total cost of ownership. 

I would give Fortinet FortiGate an overall rating of nine.

Me and my team have been managing site-to-site and remote access VPNs. We have been doing centralized logging through FortiManager and applying security policies, such as web filtering and application control across distributed branch locations. 

I have also handled firmware upgrades, security patching, and integrating the Fortinet FortiGate logs within SIEM tools, such as Splunk, for threat monitoring.

I have integrated SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate by configuring multiple WAN links for dynamic path selection, load balancing, and failover based on performance metrics. I have used application-aware routing to prioritize critical traffic, such as VoIP or business apps, over high-quality links, while sending less critical traffic over backup circuits. We have managed and monitored these through FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer, ensuring visibility and automated alerts if link performance degrades.

The network performance has shown a significant positive impact. By utilizing features such as dynamic path selection and application-aware routing, we've been able to reduce latency for critical applications such as VoIP and video by 20-30% during peak times. Additionally, we’ve minimized downtime through automatic failover between links. This approach has also allowed us to cut costs by routing non-critical traffic over lower-cost circuits while keeping high-priority applications on premium links.

I have used the unified SASE feature a little bit, and it is very effective because it consolidates firewall, IPS, and other features such as sandbox into a single platform. It simplifies the management since we do not have to rely on separate appliances. It also helps with faster threat detection and response, especially when paired with FortiAnalyzer and SIEM tools, such as QRadar. The logs and events are correlated automatically, which makes a significant difference.

Something that stood out for me once I started using Fortinet FortiGate was the centralized management through FortiManager and how easily I could deploy consistent policies across multiple sites. The VPN configuration was also very straightforward compared to some other platforms. The integration with SIEM tools makes monitoring and incident response much smoother, which stood out to me. 

For the future, one improvement area is the complexity of SD-WAN configuration. When managing a large number of sites, the GUI is user-friendly, but when scaling deployments, it sometimes requires more manual fine-tuning or scripting. 

Another concern is reporting. FortiAnalyzer is powerful, but generating customized reports can be cumbersome compared to some other tools. Additionally, seeing deeper automation and API integrations would be beneficial so that policy updates and SD-WAN changes can be pushed faster across large environments.

I have been using FortiGate for about four to five years in various settings. My experience includes working with Fortinet FortiGate and other firewalls and Panorama across multiple roles. I have been involved in designing as well as managing policies. Additionally, I have handled upgrades and migrations.

The performance and stability of Fortinet FortiGate has been strong in both small and large environments. The throughput and latencies are very good, even with multiple security features such as IPS, antivirus, or SSL inspection enabled simultaneously. I have found them to be reliable with minimum downtime. The Fortinet high availability features work effectively to ensure continuous network availability.

Scalability is quite straightforward. They can scale from small branch offices to large enterprise environments. Their model hardware options and virtual firewall instances allow flexible deployment. For larger data centers or higher complex environments, sometimes Palo Alto or Cisco solutions offer more advanced scaling options, but Fortinet FortiGate is definitely competitive for enterprise needs.

I have worked with them a bit, and we usually start by opening a support ticket through the Fortinet support portal. I also remember calling their TAC hotline directly for priority one issues, particularly for major VPN outages or SD-WAN failures.

I typically provide the necessary diagnostics upfront, such as logs, packet captures, and debug outputs, so we can move quickly towards a resolution. Most cases are resolved fairly quickly, but for more complex bugs, they may suggest fixes or recommend firmware updates. In such cases, it just takes a bit more time.

I would rate their support an eight out of ten. They are generally very responsive and knowledgeable, especially regarding firewall and VPN issues. While resolutions can take longer for complex problems or new features, overall, the support team is very helpful and proactive in providing patches and workarounds.

Positive

I have used many alternatives to Fortinet FortiGate, including Palo Alto Networks firewalls and Cisco ASA Firepower. Palo Alto has strong application visibility and threat prevention, while Cisco excels in routing and integration. I have also worked with Juniper, which is great for scalability, and Check Point. I am comfortable adapting to different firewall ecosystems depending on the environment and requirements.

It wasn't that hard. Overall, it was pretty straightforward. For smaller sites or branch offices, the GUI is intuitive and clear. FortiManager helped streamline policy pushes across multiple devices, which made it easy to manage. However, for more complex deployments that involved SD-WAN or advanced features, there was some initial complexity in fine-tuning configurations and integrating with our existing infrastructure. Despite this, it was manageable with good planning and testing. Overall, the process was relatively easy.

Maintenance is definitely a part of my role. I am responsible for applying firmware updates, security patches, and configuration backups on FortiGate devices to ensure stability and security. While Fortinet provides regular updates and technical support, the day-to-day maintenance, monitoring, and troubleshooting are handled internally by our network team.

I haven't looked into that directly, as I am not involved in the purchasing or budgeting aspects. However, I believe Fortinet offers competitive pricing compared to other enterprise firewall vendors. Their licensing model is straightforward, especially regarding security features like anti-filtering, IPS, and web filtering.

The choice really depends on the specific features needed, such as advanced SD-WAN capabilities, which can increase costs. Therefore, it is important for organizations to plan their licensing effectively to optimize value.

I have used FortiClient as part of the Fortinet SASE deployment, primarily for remote users, providing secure access via VPN and ZTNA, along with endpoint protection such as web filtering and threat detection. I have also deployed it to integrate with Fortinet FortiGate and the cloud so users can get consistent policies whether they are on-site or remote. It is useful because it centralizes management and policy enforcement, but I have noticed it can use more system resources on endpoints, so tuning the profiles is important for performance.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten. It offers a great balance of performance, security features, and ease of management. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as scalability for extremely large environments and deeper automation. Nonetheless, it is a solid platform that fits well in most enterprise networks. Therefore, I would give it an eight out of ten.

My main use case for Fortinet FortiGate is controlling our incoming and outgoing traffic as it's installed in our data center. We're managing all the VPNs, IPsec VPNs, over 48 VPNs with our Fortinet FortiGate. We are also controlling network attacks and threats using IPS/IDS, using web filter, and URL filtering. We are bounding users to access the relevant sites only by using the URL.

Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted our organization by providing stronger network security as it's a next-generation firewall. The IPS we have blocks known threats and vulnerabilities in real-time. Application control detects and controls thousands of applications, blocks P2P, and limits social media.

SSL inspection scans encrypted traffic, even TLS 1.3 for hidden threats, advanced web filtering, antivirus, and anti-malware. The result is fewer breaches, blocked attacks, better compliance, and simplified and secure WAN connectivity, intelligent link selection based on latency, load balancing across multiple ISPs, and automated failover.

We can run routing protocols very easily, such as BGP. We are using BGP over IPsec VPN for our multiple branches and different stations. We are using BGP over Fortinet FortiGate so it's automated. If one ISP goes down, it will shift automatically without requiring human or network administration involvement. It improves VPN and remote access, including SSL VPN and IPsec VPN as well.

The best features Fortinet FortiGate offers include the SD-WAN, which really stands out, and the comfortable GUI. The IPsec VPN configuration is very user-friendly. Compared to Huawei firewall, Fortinet FortiGate offers more features and is more user-friendly.

In terms of security features, Fortinet FortiGate has Deep SSL/TLS inspection, which is very limited in Huawei NGFW firewall. The AI-powered features in Fortinet FortiGate are more advanced compared to Huawei's basic filtering. The SD-WAN is built-in and mature, while Huawei's support is less feature-rich.

Application control is very granular with signatures, while Huawei is less extensive. The management and usability of Fortinet FortiGate is clean and user-friendly, compared to Huawei's more complex user interface. FortiOS CLI is popular and well-documented, while Huawei, Cisco, and Juniper differ from standards. Fortinet FortiGate offers centralized management through FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer. The reporting, logs, and firmware updates are excellent and stable in Fortinet FortiGate.

Fortinet FortiGate can be improved, specifically in the user interface and UX enhancement. The GUI, especially in older FortiOS versions, can be cluttered or slow. Improvements could make the UI more modern and responsive with a quick dashboard, real-time visibility, health checks, and improved policy editing with bulk changes and better search filters.

Policy management in a large environment becomes complex when managing dozens or hundreds of policies. This could be improved by introducing better policy grouping and tagging for more intelligent policy optimization suggestions, such as unused rules or shadow rules.

The built-in logging and reporting is limited without FortiAnalyzer. Internal reporting tools should be enhanced with graphs, trends, PDF exports, alert-based thresholds, and real-time traffic summaries without requiring FortiAnalyzer, which requires additional payment.

User identity integration with LDAP, AD, and user-based rules can be tricky or limited. Additionally, SSL users cannot change their passwords themselves, which should be included in the OS functionality.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for six years.

Fortinet FortiGate's scalability is good, and it can handle our organization's growth and needs as it's expanding.

When choosing Fortinet FortiGate, you must know your network size and use case. Choose a FortiGate model that fits your current network and allows for future growth. For small offices and branches, you can use 40, 48, 40F, and 60F series. For medium offices, 80F and 100F are suitable. For large enterprises, you need 200F, 400F, 600F. For data centers, 1000F is recommended.

It's advisable not to buy a model that barely fits; choose one with headroom for future expansion. Always check key specs based on your needs, such as firewall throughput, threat protection throughput, VPN throughput, maximum concurrent sessions, and ports. Check if you need SFP, PoE, or 10G ports.

Consider the features you actually need, such as SD-WAN, SSL VPN, application IPS, AV scanning, Wi-Fi AP support, or central management. If you need central management, you can use FortiManager. Look for FortiOS version compatibility as the F-series offers clear advantages. Make sure your team can operate and manage it with experienced Fortinet engineers.

My review rating for Fortinet FortiGate is three out of ten.

We use Fortinet FortiGate for SD-WAN as well as the switches for renewable plants and energy sector power plants.

All the features needed to protect the digital landscape are available. The enterprise-level support is excellent, and we receive quick assistance from Fortinet FortiGate.

With the SD-WAN network, the connectivity is seamless. The dependency on bandwidth and MPLS connectivity is expensive compared to SD-WAN. Currently, there is seamless connectivity between all plants and corporate offices. The implementation is straightforward and not complex to execute.

The SD-WAN connects all sites, as we have many regional offices in different locations. The Fortinet FortiGate devices are very useful and easy to configure, and we are benefiting from their features.

In the utilities and electrical generation sector, we use various models. In IT security, we have different models, and for sites, we use 40F, 460F, and various others. While my part is limited to India, Fortinet FortiGate is used worldwide across our group.

There should be some open-source training or free training for decision makers, or some webinars should be available. These would help understand the new product line and the existing product line features. 

Additionally, it would be helpful to have comparisons between competitors such as Cisco, Juniper, and others with Fortinet FortiGate.

I have been using the solution for three years.

The system is very stable.

The system is very easy to scale.

We receive quick support from Fortinet FortiGate. When we raise a ticket, we get support via email reply promptly. The experience has been perfect, and we are satisfied with it.

The initial setup is easy. I'd rate it nine out of ten.

This is handled by my team. I am in leadership and do not handle the technical aspects directly.

While we haven't calculated specific ROI numbers, most devices are very stable and seamless. We don't typically consider money since this is an infrastructure requirement. Fortinet FortiGate support is available, annual maintenance contracts are in place, and the devices haven't failed in three years. The product quality is good, eliminating the need to reinvest in the same devices or setup.

Fortinet FortiGate has an excellent portfolio including firewalls, switches, and access points. I would recommend it to anyone. We are using FortiSwitches as part of our implementation.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

Most of our clients are SMB. We have several support contracts, and as a way to standardize all the products and processes, we ask our clients to switch to Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall, and that's how we standardize our process. Most of our clients we support with a support contract have Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall on-premises.

It's easy to manage. The GUI is very simple, and what is very good is that every product, regardless of size, has the same interface. Most features are in every single product irrespective of the size. 

Their support's response time can be better. In the past six months, they took quite a long time to respond to the support tickets. I don't know if they are overwhelmed with too much activity, but for the last six months, the support has not been very good. Previously, it was very good.

I have dealt with Fortinet FortiGate for four or five years.

I would say that Fortinet FortiGate is stable. We have several appliances installed, but we encountered some trouble with the smaller models on three occasions, which somehow limited the inbound traffic. We had to send one in for a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA), and Fortinet sent us a new appliance, which resolved the issue. The only downside is that the replacement process takes about two to three weeks. That has been the only problem we've experienced with the smaller model.

The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is mostly with the bigger appliances. It's not quite flexible once you buy one appliance; to scale up, you have to buy a new appliance, and there's no way to upgrade the appliance. The challenge is that you don't want to oversize the appliance because that is tied to the subscription. The price of the subscription is tied with the size of the appliance, so you have to size it very precisely, considering the future growth of the company.

Their technical support is pretty good. Over the last six months, there has been a delay in response, but previously, it was very good.

Positive

The initial setup for Fortinet FortiGate is pretty straightforward.

My experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Fortinet FortiGate is quite good. I don't have a public site, such as in Azure, where I can see the pricing. I always have to go through the distributor, and that could take some time to get the real price for each appliance. 

When our client has two internet connections, we do Fortinet FortiGate SD-WAN configuration, and it works very well. I can't determine if there is better performance using SD-WAN, but it's much more stable. We did have some trouble with certain types of traffic that doesn't work well with SD-WAN, and we had to implement rules to stick to one of the connections, but those are exceptions. The traffic is much more fluent, but mostly it makes the connection much more stable.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

It is our security gateway that performs website checks and related security functions.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable. I am told that Fortinet FortiGate is one of the best solutions available, and I believe it. We rarely have any issues with it. My only concern is that they charge separately for every option that is available. It has not improved anything; it simply maintains and keeps operations going.

We are not utilizing Fortinet FortiGate to its full capacity because we have to pay for every small feature. It is also something I would replace once it starts to fail. Fortinet FortiGate appears very old, and everything we use requires additional payment.

Fortinet FortiGate has been with us as long as the switches we've had. It was already here when I came on board, and it was implemented when we started up the school facilities about 10 years ago.

I would rate it low because we rarely ever have to call support. When I call in, I do not have any issues to report.

Positive

We used to have a router, but we have since replaced them all.

It has not improved anything; it simply maintains and keeps operations going. Every year we pay close to $2,000 for this security, and we only use it for web filtering.

The unified security gateway would be my first option. I think it does not charge separately for every product we need to use.

We have Cisco products at our site, including Cisco switches deployed among our campus. We have Cisco WSC-3850 24-port switches, SG 300 28-port switches, and some old WSC-2960 48-port switches.

We use a Fortinet FortiGate 300e for our medium-sized organization. We have approximately 600 students, 200 staff, faculty, and office workers, totaling about 1,000 users going through it. It serves one location with three buildings.

We are planning to move away from Cisco switches as they have become quite expensive. Our strategy is to transition to Ubiquiti enterprise solutions.

This review has a rating of 5 out of 10.

My main use case for Fortinet FortiGate is as a UTM to distribute our IP DHCP, to segment our VLAN, and to manage our network infrastructure.

I also use Fortinet FortiGate as a VPN and for site-to-site connection between our multiple sites, such as my head office, our developer office, and data center. It acts as a network security tool where we use an IPS to filter attacks from the outside public to our server.

Regarding my main use cases, I would like to add that it has quite a good GUI and dashboard, making it easy to use. Additionally, we use DNS filtering and application filtering to filter the applications that users can access to the internet.

The best features Fortinet FortiGate offers include reliability and a good user interface and user experience.

The user interface is the most valuable to me because it is easy to use, easy to manage, and quite easy for a newcomer to operate. The features are quite good for filtering applications and for addressing our needs, such as blocking social media or other unwanted content.

Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted our organization by improving our security workflow and network security, as it is quite reliable compared to traditional routers or traditional switch cores from MikroTik or Cisco.

A specific example of how my workflow and network security has improved is that because we have multiple sites, Fortinet FortiGate has a multitude of signature-based features and multiple default policies, so we only have to add that to the profile. It is quite simple and easy to manage.

I think Fortinet FortiGate is quite good for now, though it could improve with the virtual IP, as it occasionally has a bug. They have a lot of CVE and updates to their system, and they need to be more concerned about their security.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for about one year.

In my experience, Fortinet FortiGate is quite stable.

When the RAM or memory reaches 70% or 80%, the firewall is more likely unstable and may struggle to forward traffic. I think that is one of the areas where Fortinet FortiGate has room for improvement.

Fortinet FortiGate's scalability is limited because it is on-premises, so we would have to change the type of Fortinet FortiGate as we grow.

The customer support is really helpful for their principle, but they lack technical competency at layer one, as they tend to only look for logs before promoting issues to layer two for resolution.

Previously, we used Aruba as a firewall and switch core, but it lacked security features, so we had to move to the next-generation firewall.

I am afraid I cannot say that I have seen a return on investment.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that I think the price is quite good besides the leader in Gartner's next-generation firewall.

Before choosing Fortinet FortiGate, we evaluated a lot of competitors at that moment, and we chose Fortinet FortiGate.

My advice to others looking into using Fortinet FortiGate is that you need to think carefully about your usage and calculate your business needs. If you miscalculate, you might end up buying a Fortinet FortiGate that cannot meet your needs, leading to potential downtimes or failures.

I have no additional thoughts about Fortinet FortiGate except that I mentioned the easy user interface and experience for beginners. However, I noted that when the memory reaches up to 80%, the firewall does not function as well. I would rate this product a 9 out of 10.

We are IT MSPs, and we provide solutions for clients based on their requirements and expectations. 

We are a Fortinet FortiGate partner, reselling products such as FortiGate 100F, 60F, and 70F. We are currently exploring newer versions including 70G, 90G, and 120G. I have also worked with Fortinet FortiGate F200. The UI is similar across all these firewalls, with differences mainly in capacity limitations.

The best features of Fortinet FortiGate include its easy configuration and user interface. 

Its firmware is very stable, which is a significant advantage. I have experienced many challenges while configuring Sophos during firmware upgradation, where changes occur and certain features stop working, requiring reconfiguration. However, Fortinet FortiGate has a very stable Linux-based operating system that is easy to use.

One drawback of Fortinet FortiGate is that they provide two types of models: one with a hard disk and another without. The model without a hard disk has very low ROM where you can store very few logs, after which you need to upload it to the cloud or purchase a firewall with SSD. That's the only drawback.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for the last 4 to 5 years.

It is very stable.

Fortinet FortiGate is highly scalable because it is easy to allocate resources. It is very flexible, especially when using a VM base, as you can easily increase any configuration you want to upgrade. Scalability is now a common feature in all firewalls.

I have had positive experiences with both Sophos and Fortinet as service providers. When we face any issues with firmware or other things, we can directly approach them for assistance.

As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.

Positive

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations.

I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet.

Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate is straightforward. It involves step-by-step configuration, setting up rules, configuring network interfaces, WAN, LAN, and creating basic rules.

Most of our clients are using on-premises firewalls. If they have a private cloud, they typically establish a site-to-site tunnel. However, in general, they rely heavily on on-premises firewalls.

Fortinet FortiGate is a premium product. From a cybersecurity perspective, the ROI typically comes within 1.5 to 2 years. When investing in cybersecurity with Fortinet FortiGate 200, which costs more than $10,000, companies that are growing directly can expect ROI within 1.5 to 3 years. This calculation considers future planning and monthly security spending, including license upgrades every 3 years. This refers to new procurement only, as license upgradation is a separate consideration.

If you are looking for a quality product, it will come at a higher price. Expecting them to be significantly cheaper is unrealistic. In terms of pricing, it is a bit costly. However, the functionality and support offered are worth it. 

Regarding SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate, I have configured and merged WAN lines. There are two options: round-robin and session-based, and I typically prefer the session-based connection. With Fortinet Unified SASE, for multiple locations, we configure site-to-site tunnels where all data transmits directly to the Central Office.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten because AI is still in development and constantly evolving. Nothing is perfect, which is why I chose that rating. There is definitely room for improvement.

I have worked on multiple products including Fortinet FortiGate VM, Fortinet FortiGate firewalls of different models, FortiSwitch, FortiAP, FortiADC, FortiWeb, FortiAuthenticator, and some other products as well.

I have been working on Fortinet FortiGate and Fortinet FortiGate VM for around five or six years. I have deployed it as a perimeter firewall, as a data center firewall, and as a campus firewall in many banking sectors, commercial sectors, and oil and gas sectors. Most of my clients have deployed Fortinet FortiGate firewall on-premises to protect their services.

The ease of use and the user-friendly interface are the beauty of this firewall. The UI itself and the documentation are completely available on the internet. The UI is very easy, and you can easily understand the implementation. The product itself has very strong deep features and security features including IPS and malware protection to prevent and save against cyber attacks.

I have very good hands-on experience and very good deployment experience with Fortinet FortiGate SD-WAN. Fortinet FortiGate SD-WAN allows you to use multiple internets and multiple interfaces separately to load balance your internet and to load balance your services between multiple service providers. This is a very good feature in this firewall that you cannot get as a free default feature in other brands.

The network performance after enabling SD-WAN is very smooth and very efficient. I recently deployed this in forty commercial sector sites with stores that previously had MPLS circuits. With the MPLS circuit, they had a very high cost for private connectivity between sites and branches. After deploying SD-WAN, the operational cost was cut down around fifty to sixty percent because of this implementation. All MPLS costing was wiped out from their IT budget and is now dependent on internet circuits, which are normally standard internet connections.

SASE is a very good feature. For example, I recently deployed this for a customer with users in remote locations. The issue was that they wanted users to remain connected and keep monitoring systems after office hours with no malware installed on the laptop while staying protected. The use case of SASE involved implementing the POP itself on the cloud. The users, whether remotely at home or anywhere in the world, are connected to and keep connected with POP. They access the internet securely with secure company policies as defined by IT. They are not allowed to go directly to the internet without IT policies as defined on SASE POP. There is very good integration from SASE to Fortinet FortiGate firewall to access private access.

For improving sectors, they need to focus on technical support and work on the technical part. Although it is good, they need to onboard these things and improve the technical part of the support factor. Although it is good, it needs much more improvement to get more business and a bigger footprint in the market. Second, AI in the market and malware detection exist. Fortinet FortiGate already has these features in the Fortinet FortiGate sandbox features with built-in AI features. I prefer that they work on more features that they can provide in Fortinet FortiGate firewall.

I would rate this product ten out of ten. For example, when comparing it with Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate, I can provide a very good point. In Palo Alto, some features must be purchased separately. In Fortinet FortiGate, it comes with the Wi-Fi controller built-in. Features that you need to buy a separate license for in Palo Alto do not require additional licenses in Fortinet FortiGate as they are built as complimentary features in this firewall.

The network performance after enabling SD-WAN is very smooth and very efficient.

Scalability is the same, and I would rate it ten out of ten.

Technical support can be marked as ten out of eight. There is some lag, but you can find documentation and all things over the internet. They can provide support, and I would rate it eight point five to nine.

Positive

My technical team are all technically expert in deployment of Fortinet FortiGate firewall.

My team has around five or six people who are all technically sound in Fortinet FortiGate firewalls.

If we are talking about Check Point, Cisco, and Palo Alto, these are the top-tier firewalls and top-tier vendors for providing firewalls. Following the Gartner report, Palo Alto and Fortinet are at the top in the Gartner report. Because of that, Fortinet FortiGate firewall itself does not require management centers as required in Cisco and Check Point. Fortinet FortiGate firewall cannot be managed by a management center. In Fortinet FortiGate case, there is no requirement for these prerequisites to configure or implement Fortinet FortiGate firewall without a management center. We can deploy Fortinet FortiGate firewall without any management center. It is a very web-based firewall and you can access the firewall GUI from the website, and we can easily deploy it without any management center. In Check Point or Cisco cases, a management center is required. In Cisco case, the Firepower Management Center is required to get the advanced features. But in Fortinet case, it does not require these things. This is a very beauty of this firewall.

I suggest buying Fortinet instead of buying Palo Alto, Cisco, or Check Point. I will definitely recommend Fortinet.

Fortinet FortiGate has different models of firewalls which are high capacity and high variant firewalls that you can deploy as data center firewalls to protect your data centers, your server farms, and your services which are hosted inside a data center.

Fortinet FortiGate has embedded services, these FortiGuard services which have machine learning-based and artificial intelligence-based malware analysis. These services analyze malwares and next-generation malwares that are not easily identified by signature-based detection. They have the capability to analyze malware by AI-based methods and can identify zero-day attacks. Before they exploit as a zero-day, they prevent this signature and stop this attack to prevent that this is an attack. Those services are hosted in my data centers, web applications, storage, and SaaS. All are protected by those cyber attacks.

Regarding pricing, we cannot compare it right now because pricing matters based on business size and the business deal. We cannot say whether it is high or low. Sometimes we can easily compete with any brand, and in some cases we cannot compete. For example, if we have a big deal, we can get good discounts from Fortinet team. In some cases, the deal is not big, so we cannot get enough good discount. Deployment from FortiSASE to your Fortinet FortiGate firewall over SD-WAN is very easy. Fortinet gives you multiple connections from SASE POP to your Fortinet FortiGate firewall. They have fully redundant connections on SASE POP if you have the same redundant connections with ISP connection on your Fortinet FortiGate firewalls. They have the secure SPX tunnel from FortiSASE to Fortinet FortiGate firewall. You can easily access from Fortinet FortiGate firewall to SASE applications and SASE users who are connected on SASE POP can access local services from SASE POP to Fortinet FortiGate and access the local services.

My overall rating for this product is nine out of ten.