Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

I am using different features of this product but the most valuable are -

• SSL VPN
• Web filter
• Explicit proxy
• IPS
• Application control
• Routing

I replaced my core router with a Fortigate appliance and it is performing inter-VLAN routing. I removed manual proxies and used transparent proxy using Fortigate security profiles, and implemented traffic shaping, web filter, application control, IPS and anti-virus. All the servers are protected by Fortigate security profiles.

• WAN link load balancing
• Reports
• Anti-virus.

I have been using this solution since 2013.

We faced some technical issues on the Fortinet side.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

Customer Service:

6/10.

Technical Support:

6/10.

I didn't use any other solution prior to Fortinet.

It was complex because there was a huge network with VLANs configured and routing protocols enabled.

We implement this through a vendor. I would rate their level of experience 8/10.

I would only say that Fortinet provides business and security returns at a cost substantially lower than the benefits derived.

We evaluated Sophos and Barracuda alongside Fortigate.

Our experience of using Fortigate is excellent and we strongly recommend it.

• GUI
• Flexibility
• Easy to configure
• UTM

• Option to control application = increased productivity
• Data leak prevention = increased security
• Anti-virus & IPS = increased security

I'm happy with the product, however the licensing fees could be lower.

I've used it for six years.

No issues encountered.

There is a specific way of deploying a Fortigate product, and the scalability is related to the new unit deployment so there are no problems here. If you need more power/space, you just have to add a new box.

Customer Service:

It's very good, I've never had any problems with customer service.

Technical Support:

It's very good, I've never had any problems with technical support.

I was using Cisco ASA, and I switched due to a lack of features (e.g. poor SSL VPN support).

It's a very simple setup as everything is well documented online and via the Fortigate channel on YouTube. Also, I posses a large amount of knowledge gained during the years that has helped me to deploy all my solutions. Even from the the beginning, it was easy as Fortigate has a great GUI and good online help,

We did an in-house implementation, with no third party involvement.

The product is deployed as part of, and an add-on to, the MPLS solution for the majority of my customers. There is no ROI as this is not the major expectation, as the ROI is coming from the whole solution, not just this product.

All the costs are for the annual licenses. The cost of the original deployment fell below £5,000, and licenses are priced at around £3,000.

We considered Cisco, however we decided to go with Fortigate as it provides a good set of the features for the price paid,

Enjoy it. The product is easy to implement, easy to manage, and easy to develop and grow.

• High Availability clustering
• SNAT/DNAT
• Policies section view
• Virtual Domains
• Logging and Reporting
• IPS

It has made our daily operations easier, as well as adding security, and stability to them. Adding or removing security policies is simplified through its web interface, or CLI. Additionally, troubleshooting is fast and effective, as everything is organized in a very understandable way.

Its web interface needs to be more stable, and more functional, through the variety of browsers. Additionally a nice add-on would be a “diagnostic sniffer” capability in the web interface.

I've used it for six years.

With different browsers, the web interface crashes. On newer versions of Fortios the problem has been minimized.

Not at all, it is as stable as it should be.

I believe that it is a little complex adding new firewalls in an existing cluster.

Customer Service:

8/10.

Technical Support:

9/10.

We are using different firewall solutions, in parallel with the Fortigate ones.

It was straightforward. Taking control of the device for first time is easy, and the cookbook manual is very helpful.

A vendor team offered five day training but the implementation was in-house.

We evaluated other solutions, but I was not responsible for taking the final decision.

Throughout the last six years we have been using Fortigate firewalls, and the experience we gained is only positive. These devices are easy to manage, operate and troubleshoot any issues that might rise. The use of virtual domains has added more security presence by only having one physical device, and it’s easy to create them. Also, by enabling other security features on the VDoms, the physical performance will not be affected.

• IPS
• Web filtering

We are making use of the VDOM feature to segregate the traffic, and apply policy to control that traffic.

This product can't show the NAT status or NAT logs.

I've been using ForitGate for over two years alongside FortiManager 300D.

I have an issue with NAT only, in that I can't allow traffic from outside to inside using a NAT pool.

There was a bug related to device stability with HA configuration. We face many attacks on the network which causes the CPU usage to become high and, with the older device, we started losing the heartbeat and control messages, causing HA split-brain and lag flapping.This issue has been fixed in the new release.

No issues encountered.

Customer Service:

They're good.

Technical Support:

They're very good.

No previous solution used.

It was complex to setup.

We used a vendor, ALU to help implement it.

• It's version of throughput is good
• It has a strong active cluster, as you can have between three and 32 units to a cluster

Finally there is a UTM Fortinet. It has given me complete oversight of my network in a centralized fashion, so I know what is going on at all times. It provides me with a solution that can automatically take control of situations when they arise, with the most intuitive interface. It stops you needing to be on the phone to tech support, or a local vendor, for days on end.

• Security
• LAN
• WAN

I've used it for three years.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

Customer Service:

8/10.

Technical Support:

8/10.

No previous solution was used.

It was easy to set up.

The most important factor is that you choose a firewall or UTM solution that fits your organizations security requirements. Begin by determining what business problem you are trying to solve, what technical controls you need to implement (Firewall, IPS, NAC, VPN, endpoint, mobility, web filtering, malware detection, etc.). Then, determine what hardware features you need such as (HA clustering, link aggregation or 10Gb, port sensity), and what kind of throughput, and how many concurrent connections.

• Active Directory integration
• QOS
• Balance/Fail-over
• Web filtering and protection with AV engine
• WiFi network for visitors isolated from our corporate WiFi network using only one unit

After the implementation we stopped internet disruptions and abuse by users.

Everything needs to be improved, but they have improvements with each new version.

We've been using Fortinet products since 2009. Alongside FortiGate. we also use FortiAnalyzer 10C and FortiWiFi 40C & 50B.

Yes, a misunderstanding of the environment and misconfiguration of the unit. After reviewing it all, everything has been working fine for years.

It works as defined and expected.

We have the ability to expand our units and there have been no issues so far.

Customer Service:

It's the best I have experienced.

Technical Support:

It's the best I have experienced.

Previously, we used Linux distributions, and we changed due to its limitations and our company expansion.

It's straightforward. You just need to understand the concept, and how to apply it.

We used an external company and they had a good amount of knowledge.

We have never stopped to calculate it, but we cannot describe how good we feel since we no longer face issues with the internet.

The projects' initial costs were high but right now we can do most things, and the only costs now are the annual license fees.

We also looked at BlueCoat.

Feel free to ask me questions about Fortinet.

SSL VPN, Site to Site VPN, UTM features and web override are nice features.

They need to improve a bit the SSL VPN to integrate with Sharepoint single sign on, with form base, Windows claim base and SALM base authentication.

For the last 3 years

Yes but that was resolved.

Yes, sometimes the CPU and memory get to 99% utilization but when this happens no users are working and no updates for windows are configured.

Yes, somewhat.

Customer Service:

The level of customer service is bad because support is very pathetic.

Technical Support:

Support is very pathetic.

No

Straightforward

In house

Yes

The two most valuable features are VPN and firewalling.

Fortigate 300c is a very robust product, unlike Cisco ASA Firewall, you have already the web gui interface inside the device. Although they the same concept. Fortigate 300c has one of the easiest gui configuration compared to ASA Firewall, where you can lose your way.

I have been using the solution for 2 years. It has served as an SSL VPN server.

So far, I haven't encountered any issues and that was the first time I implemented it. I just followed some concepts with Cisco ASA firewall and 2 hours later I finished configuring SSL VPN with 3 different capabilities.

None so far.

None so far, well it depends with license of the vpn. You need to purchase it and discuss it with the vendor.

Before I was to implement ASA for SSL VPN, it was already working. My boss told me that we would be implementing Fortigate instead. He told me that Cisco's license is more expensive than Fortinet so I think that was the tipping point for why we changed to Fortinet.

Yes it was, when you plug-in to the Fortigate Manager there is this wizard that will guide you to making it work basically, and that was it.Afterwards you can add your additional features as your company needs. The initial setup took me just 10 or 15 minutes.

Through a vendor team. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate them 8. The representative from the vendor seems to know the basics of the product but when it comes to troubleshooting he seems to lack information. He had to come back the other day just to provide a solution for a specific issue.

We only evaluated two, Cisco and Fortinet.