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Owner at Gabutto MArket
Real User
Nov 30, 2020
Stable and useful for intrusion prevention, VPN, and anti-malware purposes
Pros and Cons
  • "We are using the FortiGate 100D series. VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features."
  • "We are using the FortiGate 100D series; VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features."
  • "It should have a better pricing plan. It is too expensive. It should also have a more granular view of the attack. I don't have FortiAnalyzer, and it is difficult for me to have a complete view when there is an attack on my server."
  • "It should have a better pricing plan. It is too expensive."

What is most valuable?

We are using the FortiGate 100D series. VPN, firewall, anti-malware, OTM, and intrusion prevention are useful features.

What needs improvement?

It should have a better pricing plan. It is too expensive. 

It should also have a more granular view of the attack. I don't have FortiAnalyzer, and it is difficult for me to have a complete view when there is an attack on my server.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
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How are customer service and support?

I don't have any experience with their technical support. My partner contacts them for me.

How was the initial setup?

Its installation is not easy for me because I handle some other work, but I have two partners. One of them is very skilled at using FortiGate, and it took him a day to deploy it. After that, it took us a week to set all parameters and check all parameters and firewall functions.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is too expensive for us. My organization is very small, and we have a total of ten users. We have three internal users and seven external users. The FortiGate 100D series is too expensive for renewing the licenses.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution if you can afford it. I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1256787 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Nov 28, 2020
Stable with good technical support and very good UI
Pros and Cons
  • "The user interface (UI) is very, very good."
  • "We find the solution to be quite stable; it's very reliable, we don't have to worry about bugs or glitches on the system, and it doesn't crash or freeze."
  • "The search tool needs improvement. It's very difficult to search for policies right now."
  • "The search tool needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for the firewall. We use it for a perimeter firewall or access firewall inside the network to allow some zones to be disabled from one zone to another zone. 

What is most valuable?

The stability of the solution is excellent.

The user interface (UI) is very, very good.

What needs improvement?

The search tool needs improvement. It's very difficult to search for policies right now.

When we need to engage with the endpoint or our customer during an investigation, there should be a way to investigate the issues without the need for the customer to be present. It would make it much easier.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the product for the last few years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We find the solution to be quite stable. It's very reliable. We don't have to worry about bugs or glitches on the system. It doesn't crash or freeze.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have more than 7.000 users on the solution right now.

We do plan to continue to use the solution going forward.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is very good. We're quite satisfied with the level of support we receive. We find them to be knowledgeable and responsive when we have issues. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Before using FortiGate, we used Cisco. However, we found the Cisco solutions to be unstable and we needed to move away from them. We do still have some legacy Cisco solutions, however. We find they work better now, with FortiGate.

How was the initial setup?

We didn't have a problem with the installation. It wasn't complex in any way. We found it to be quite straightforward.

The deployment process was very fast. It took less than a day for us to do everything we needed to do.

In terms of maintenance, we have eight people taking care of the troubleshooting of tickets.

What about the implementation team?

An integrator helped us with the implementation process they were very helpful and extremely knowledgable. We had them in case something we wrong, however, nothing has gone wrong so far.

What other advice do I have?

We're a service provider. We work with clients that use the solution.

We utilize both the 1500 and 3000 series of the product.

I would definitely recommend this solution to other companies to use. We've had a good experience overall.

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

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user1311831 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Services Manager at ProComm technologies
Real User
Nov 23, 2020
Helpful SD-WAN feature for uptime and privatizing applications, but needs better stability and integration
Pros and Cons
  • "The SD-WAN feature is the most valuable. This feature evolved from link load balancing. It has helped us in terms of our uptime and privatizing applications whenever we experience an outage. The SD-WAN feature has been a plus for us. Two-factor authentication has allowed us to add more users in terms of remote working. We have two-factor authentication for remote workers to authenticate them before they get on the network."
  • "The SD-WAN feature is the most valuable; this feature evolved from link load balancing and has helped us in terms of our uptime and prioritizing applications whenever we experience an outage."
  • "It should be more stable. There should be full integration within Fortinet products themselves as well as with other third-party products. Especially when you're not dealing with SIEM and the correlation of the security box, we want Fortinet to be able to share that information with as many other products as it can."
  • "It should be more stable."

What is our primary use case?

We're using it as an edge or a perimeter firewall. We have also used it to segment our LAN in terms of the endpoints and the servers, and we're also using it for remote access using SSL VPN. We have two other sites that we connect through FortiGate by using an IPSec, and we have integrated it with FortiAuthenticator for two-factor authentication and FortiAnalyzer to analyze logs and things like that. We are currently using the FortiGate 1200D series and running the latest software.

What is most valuable?

The SD-WAN feature is the most valuable. This feature evolved from link load balancing. It has helped us in terms of our uptime and privatizing applications whenever we experience an outage. The SD-WAN feature has been a plus for us. 

Two-factor authentication has allowed us to add more users in terms of remote working. We have two-factor authentication for remote workers to authenticate them before they get on the network.

What needs improvement?

It should be more stable. There should be full integration within Fortinet products themselves as well as with other third-party products. Especially when you're not dealing with SIEM and the correlation of the security box, we want Fortinet to be able to share that information with as many other products as it can.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In terms of stability, I would rate it a seven out of ten. It should be more stable. Sometimes when you do firmware upgrades, a feature that was previously working is broken. There are things like that, but I guess that can be taken care of by reading the release notes and seeing what changed in the firmware upgrades.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is highly scalable. A customer had about 500 users.

How was the initial setup?

The installation was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We deployed it ourselves. You just need one engineer for its deployment and maintenance.

What other advice do I have?

We are skilled in Fortinet and Check Point. For customers who specifically want Fortinet, we will continue to provide this solution. Our first preference is Check Point, but if a customer insists on Fortinet, then we can do a lot of integration there and incorporate other products like FortiNAC, FortiWifi, and so on.

I would recommend this solution to others. I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
PeerSpot user
Mark Moloney - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Network Manager at a non-profit with 51-200 employees
Real User
Nov 21, 2020
Easier to configure than other solutions, really reliable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "It is simpler to configure. It is not like Cisco Firepower, where you go crazy trying to follow the Cisco documentation to figure out how to configure one little thing. Unlike Cisco Firepower, where you can't do everything through the web interface and you have got to do some command line stuff, Fortinet FortiGate SWG is simpler. There are four different things in Cisco to get in, which is not the case with Fortinet FortiGate SWG. It is one of my favorite solutions to work with. I would much rather work with it than Cisco Firepower, for example. Even though I've got 20 years of Cisco experience with different firewalls, I would much prefer this solution."
  • "It is one of my favorite solutions to work with, and I would much rather work with it than Cisco Firepower, for example, even though I've got 20 years of Cisco experience with different firewalls, I would much prefer this solution."
  • "Their technical support could be improved a little bit in terms of responsiveness."
  • "Their technical support could be improved a little bit in terms of responsiveness."

What is our primary use case?

Our clients use it to protect their network. They're into public safety. They're police, fire, and EMS, and they're very concerned about security and what gets in and what doesn't get into their networks. We have got another client for whom we're deploying 30 firewalls in HA pairs over a huge network. That, of course, is a Cisco setup, not FortiGate.

Everybody is cranking up on security to find new ways to block and protect not just the inbound but also the outbound traffic. They want to protect what goes out. They also want to protect DMZs and all that kind of stuff.

What is most valuable?

It is simpler to configure. It is not like Cisco Firepower, where you go crazy trying to follow the Cisco documentation to figure out how to configure one little thing. Unlike Cisco Firepower, where you can't do everything through the web interface and you have got to do some command line stuff, Fortinet FortiGate SWG is simpler. There are four different things in Cisco to get in, which is not the case with Fortinet FortiGate SWG.

It is one of my favorite solutions to work with. I would much rather work with it than Cisco Firepower, for example. Even though I've got 20 years of Cisco experience with different firewalls, I would much prefer this solution.

What needs improvement?

Their technical support could be improved a little bit in terms of responsiveness.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for almost three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For me, so far, it is fire and forget. You just set it up, and you really don't have to mess with it. It has been really reliable. It hasn't gone down, and I haven't had any outages.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is okay. It, of course, depends on the kind of contract that you have. I've had better support from Cisco than from Fortinet when I'm having a problem that I can't figure out. Fortinet support is not bad, and they do get to the solution. However, they can be a little bit more responsive. That's the nice thing with Cisco. When you've got a network down issue, and they can get people on the phone immediately, and they stay with you until it is done. I find Fortinet's documentation better than Cisco's documentation.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't have anything before, so this was brand new.

How was the initial setup?

It is fairly straightforward. The only complexity to it is that it has a little bit longer setup than the old generation firewall thing, where you slap an IP address on the outside and the inside interface and turn it on, and you're going to have a basic firewall. You have got to go through several configuration steps to get it to a good base setup.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is less expensive than a Cisco solution.

What other advice do I have?

If you are brand new to this solution, you're going to want to read the documentation and follow it while setting it up because otherwise, you will miss something. To use this solution, you've got to know what you're doing. You can't just take someone who is a decent network guy and expect him to figure out what he has to do. It isn't that simple.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate SWG an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1441512 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy General Manager Information Technology at a media company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Nov 16, 2020
Good filtering, ROI, and technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "We use the filtering feature the most. It has filtering and inbuilt securities. We can create customized rules to define which users can access a particular type of site. We can create policies inside the firewall."
  • "It is not a very costly product if you compare it with other products, and the return on investment is also good."
  • "The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow. Other solutions have better GUI in terms of network visibility."
  • "The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for routing and restricting user access.

What is most valuable?

We use the filtering feature the most. It has filtering and inbuilt securities. We can create customized rules to define which users can access a particular type of site. We can create policies inside the firewall.

What needs improvement?

The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow. Other solutions have better GUI in terms of network visibility.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for maybe five or six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

You can have the availability features. All the traffic goes through this firewall for access to the outside world.

How are customer service and technical support?

Their technical support is good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using some open-source solutions, and then we directly moved to firewalls.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. It was completed in a month or so.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it on our own. We are a small team, so a person with a few other duties also manages this solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is not a very costly product if you compare it with other products. The return on investment is also good. If you compare the return of investment and money that you are spending on this product with Palo Alto, Cisco, Check Point, and other solutions, the investment is very less. We are happy with this solution.

The optional licenses are there, and you can choose which one you want and which one to avoid.

What other advice do I have?

It is a fine solution. We have been using this solution for some years, and we are happy with it. We will continue using it unless the FortiGate solution is running itself in some other ways with new features.

I would recommend this solution. It is working fine for us. 

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Solution Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Reseller
Nov 14, 2020
Easy to configure and manage, supports link load balancing, and it has superior throughput
Pros and Cons
  • "The most important feature, normally for small business customers, is link load balancing."
  • "One of the things I like best is the ease of configuration."
  • "If they had better integration with security products, such as Cisco ISE or Rapid Threat Containment, then it would be an improvement."
  • "However, the problem is that their subscription price is very high."

What is our primary use case?

We are a system integrator and Fortigate is one of the firewalls that we implement for our clients. I am a solution architect.

Our primary use for this firewall is the IPS.

What is most valuable?

One of the things I like best is the ease of configuration.

Management-wise, it is very good.

The most important feature, normally for small business customers, is link load balancing.

The firewall throughput is very good. Most of the customers in this region use FortiGate for their data center firewalls, and the main reason is because of its high throughput.

What needs improvement?

Fortinet is good in terms of security and threat prevention, but they are not leading. For example, the signature database can be improved.

If they had better integration with security products, such as Cisco ISE or Rapid Threat Containment, then it would be an improvement. Customers that have ISE implemented are able to provide inputs based on malicious traffic, and then ISE will automatically block it.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for the past two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, they are good at the job of a data center firewall. For a perimeter firewall, it is for smaller customers, preferably.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability depends on the design and how it was done. You have to think about the next five years. We get lots of new updates on the older versions and if the product is still in support then the new features will be included.

How are customer service and technical support?

The responsiveness of the support depends on the level of support that you have. If you have premium support then you will get immediate access to them. Otherwise, you have to wait for some time, perhaps an hour, before they get back to you.

On the technical details, there are different levels of access. Once you have engineer access then most of the cases are going to get resolved, or otherwise, they will go to their development team.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

In addition to FortiGate, we are using Cisco SFR.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. We have field configuration guides that we follow and you don't need to have much in-depth knowledge to set it up initially. However, performing the fine-tuning requires that you have proper training on the device.

Deploying the firewall for a new customer will be completed within two to three days, or perhaps a week at the most.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Compared to vendors like Cisco and Palo Alto, FortiGate is the cheapest. However, they only have a small segment of the market. Fortinet is trying to appeal to small and medium-sized customers, and I think that their prices should be a little lower for this segment.

On the high-end devices, it is fine. However, the problem is that their subscription price is very high. If you purchase a one-year subscription with the hardware and then you want to renew for the second year, it is very costly. Your whole price ends up being very high.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

As a system integrator, we sell a lot of similar solutions from a variety of vendors. We have found that the Fortinet firewall has a much better throughput than that of the other vendors.

If a large customer is looking for a perimeter firewall then we suggest another vendor, such as Check Point or Palo Alto.

What other advice do I have?

FortiGate is a product that we recommend and we have migrated many customers from other vendors. FortiGate is a better option, although small customers don't care much about security. They only care about basic security. There are only a very few who are really concerned about it and most of them don't have a proper IT group in their company. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Director at MICROLOGIC NETWORKS PRIVATE LIMITED
Reseller
Top 5
Nov 12, 2020
Good pricing with very good threat and content filtering switches
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has very good threat and content filtering switches."
  • "The solution is stable; it doesn't have any issues with bugs and glitches, it doesn't crash or freeze, and it's very reliable."
  • "It's my understanding that more of the current generation features could be brought in. There could be more integration with EDRs, for example."
  • "It's my understanding that more of the current generation features could be brought in. There could be more integration with EDRs, for example."

What is our primary use case?

We have used the solution as a perimeter firewall. We are using it as an anti-ATP solution also.

What is most valuable?

The firewall features are pretty good. 

The solution has very good threat and content filtering switches.

The initial installation is fairly easy.

What needs improvement?

I'm from the sales side and therefore I wouldn't really know if there are features that are lacking.

It's my understanding that more of the current generation features could be brought in. There could be more integration with EDRs, for example.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for two or three years. It hasn't been too long.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. It doesn't have any issues with bugs and glitches. It doesn't crash and freeze. It's very reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Since we are integrators, this product gets sold to people who have a minimum 25 and up to 600 users.

At the moment, we don't plan to increase usage.

How are customer service and technical support?

The technical support is very good. We're satisfied with their level of support. They are quite responsive and knowledgeable.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were previously using Sophos and Watchguard.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not complex. It's pretty much a straightforward implementation. There aren't really any surprises.

The length of deployment differs based on the kind of policies a client would like to implement. If they are very simple policies, then there isn't a lot of work to worry about. However, if there are complex policies or multiple policies, it does take some time to get things up and running.

I didn't handle the installation personally, as I am in sales.

We have three or four people in our organization who handle maintenance.

What about the implementation team?

We have a systems integrator in-house that handles the deployment.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution isn't too expensive.

What other advice do I have?

We're integrators. We help our clients with this solution.

We're using the latest version of the solution.

I'd recommend this solution to other users. 

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

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator.
PeerSpot user
CEO at SAYCOM
Reseller
Nov 4, 2020
Intuitive, easy to install, with good reporting and support
Pros and Cons
  • "It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall."
  • "All in all, it's quite a good product, of course, a very good product."
  • "Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it."
  • "Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it."

What is our primary use case?

We are resellers. We provide products and services to our customers.

It's not just one product. We have been using and installing different kinds of solutions for more than ten years.

What is most valuable?

I do remember that, of course, the interface was good. It's intuitive, and when we installed it together with access points, we could manage them from one place or from the cloud or from FortiGate itself. 

It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall. The fact that we received reports by email, also good. All in all, it's quite a good product, of course, a very good product.

What needs improvement?

If it would integrate everything in one place then it would be an improvement.

I wanted to buy some switches and integrate them into the system, but we couldn't find anyone here in Israel to provide them or to provide support. Also, we could not get a replacement if something needed to be replaced. 

We wanted to use one vendor to do everything from one managed central management point. It may be something they offer now, but I am not sure.  

It would be helpful if we can have one easy place to manage, or from the cloud to all the devices that are at the client's location. This is the backbone, the switches, the access points, FortiGate, everything. 

Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it. 

So, if you could do everything without that, it would be much easier when you do V-LANs.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for a few years.

We are working with several versions because we install them for our customers.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It fits for small and medium-sized companies. Regarding the very big ones, I don't know, I'm not in the enterprise market. But for our clients that are offices or companies that are sized between 20 users and 300 users, it's okay. It's good for them.

How are customer service and technical support?

When I contacted technical support a few times, they were good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we worked with Check Point.

They are both good products that are easy to use and have good support.

They're both good. I use them both, it depends on the customer, and what their requirements are. It also depends on which would give you the best value for the money at the time. I don't know how to say which one is better as a firewall. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's an expensive solution. The price should be lower.

What other advice do I have?

In the beginning, I would be the one who would install them, but later it will be our technicians.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. reseller
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.