Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

For now, I have one running on a corporate network. We make use of the modules that are there such as application filtering, web filtering, IPsec VPN, Network segmentation, advanced threat protection and others.

We extensively use FortiGate's security features to proactively detect and mitigate threat.

Use Web Filtering to control websites accessible to users and block inappropriate or unproductive sites.

Use Application Control feature to limit the use of risky or bandwidth-intensive applications.

We use the network segmentation feature for isolating and limiting potential threats.

Use SD-WAN to optimize the use of our internet links.

IPS functionality detects and blocks malicious network activity.

The core benefit is that a lot is packed into it. There are many features packed and significant flexibility from Fortinet FortiGate in being able to do numerous things. Even features such as SD-WAN provide granularity that I'm happy about. Generally, every aspect of it being a next-generation firewall provides good value.

In terms of pricing, Fortinet needs to do more to compete effectively. We gained a lot of traction from Fortinet in Nigeria, however, the battle is currently intensifying. Companies such as Palo Alto are making a strong impact. Fortinet was able to gain more attraction than Cisco in Nigeria for the past ten years, however, going forward, I'm not sure that trajectory will be maintained if Fortinet doesn't strategize regarding pricing and partnerships.

Regarding maintaining skilled personnel for Fortinet solutions, if they can address the pricing for certification exams, that would help. Sometimes it's a barrier for people here, especially for companies to train people to get certified. We train people in many other solutions we deploy, however, for Fortinet, though we intend to do that, it would be beneficial if there were more incentives for people pursuing certifications.

I have been using my current solution for almost two and a half years. However, I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for up to seven years now, working with Fortinet.

I am satisfied with the performance.

It is sufficiently scalable for my needs.

Their technical support is very good. I'm happy with the technical support. When tickets are logged, the tracking system is excellent, and the response is fast. During the few times I raised tickets, I was satisfied with the support.

Positive

I have experience with Cisco and a little bit of Sophos. I found Fortinet FortiGate better than Cisco in terms of functionality being packed in one device. 

The scalability for Fortinet FortiGate was unparalleled at that time. I saw Fortinet as a company that had strong strategic plans in terms of maintaining market dominance and having long-term plans to survive in the industry. This industry is very dynamic and Fortinet has been doing the right things to compete effectively.

The initial setup is simple. It's far better than my experience with Cisco.

In-house

The return on investment is satisfactory.

The license doesn't currently cover Secure Access Service Edge. Even though our currency in this part of the world is becoming increasingly weak, the pricing is now expensive for us. I have tried pushing Fortinet FortiGate to some customers, however, sometimes the transactions don't conclude due to pricing issues. Fortinet FortiGate may need to give special consideration for countries where currency has depreciated significantly, such as Nigeria. This will help in the competition.

I have previously worked with Cisco and Sophos and might have considered those before choosing Fortinet.

I'm always an advocate of Fortinet FortiGate. It's natural that it's the first OEM I recommend when it comes to networking and network security infrastructure solutions. 

Fortinet is my number one, especially regarding the Fortinet FortiGate. For virtual appliances and cloud security, Fortinet is still performing well. For endpoint security, other solutions appear more popular, so perhaps Fortinet should focus more on the endpoint security aspect. 

I rate Fortinet FortiGate nine out of ten.

We are a systems integrator in Paraguay, and my task is usually to configure Fortinet FortiGate as a perimeter firewall and provide all the security features to our clients.

Some of the best features of Fortinet FortiGate include the next-generation firewall features. Before Fortinet FortiGate, we usually used Juniper, which is very good for routing and switching, but in security, Fortinet FortiGate is far better than Juniper, especially with deep inspection and data leak prevention. We have nearly every financial institution in Paraguay as a client, putting special focus on preventing leaks of credit card numbers.

The field I’m interested in is the courses we provide to our clients. The PDFs available in the learning system are fantastic. The features they implement are exactly what everyone is looking for. To me, Fortinet is very good and useful.

From my perspective, every day is a new opportunity for improvement. I believe that the continual improvement is Fortinet’s best feature. I’m very happy with their ability to consistently improve.

I've been using this solution for about ten years.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable. Based on my experience, whenever we faced an attack, many other brands, including Juniper, often had vulnerabilities. However, Fortinet consistently delivered the best performance and effectively stopped any threats.

Since we are a small country, our clients usually have minimal security requirements due to relatively slow network speeds. The entry-level versions of Fortinet FortiGate are good enough for our top clients.

We work with both enterprise and SMB clients. We are also an Internet provider. We provide the connectivity and the equipment to bring security to the client. We have all kinds of clients.

I would rate Fortinet's customer service or technical support as an eight out of ten. We have many skilled technicians for Fortinet FortiGate configurations. We only require support for a very advanced feature. People representing Fortinet here in Paraguay are very friendly and work well with us.

The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate was easy. The setup is easy because most companies don't have complex requirements and just need a basic firewall to shield against external threats and filter internal connections, making the basic configuration good enough until they ask for advanced features.

I cannot say definitively about the return on investment with Fortinet FortiGate because I have always been in the technical field, but most of our clients are very happy since threats were stopped, generating confidence in the Fortinet brand among our clients.

I do not consider it an expensive solution. It's not cheap, but it's not expensive, especially compared to Cisco, which is the de facto standard here in Paraguay. Cisco suppliers often set high prices, allowing us to enter the security field easily, thanks to our pricing.

Another team handled the SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate. I know that FortiGate can do that. From my knowledge, it is for the balance between two ISPs, but I don't know about performance tests.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

I am using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall and for IDS. We also use FortiSIEM.

The firewall is pretty good if you understand how to use it. It performs at a very high level, and we are loving it. The SASE and ZTNA features are quite good as well. 

It does extensive work for our organization. It provided additional policies we were not aware of and gave us an overview and knowledge about those policies. I have had a good experience. It's not difficult to manage. The software is good.

It is particularly effective when it comes to integration, as it can be integrated with many other vendors.

Since everyone is talking about AI, they should consider having AI embedded or working with developers in terms of AI to improve Fortinet FortiGate. 

The issue lies with features available in GUI versus CLI during configuration. When using GUI, I want to accomplish everything there, but sometimes it requires using CLI to ensure proper configuration.

It has been almost two to three years.

It has its ups and downs but they are minor things. One can work around them with proper knowledge of the system. We never had many incidents with it. I have had a good experience.

The scalability is quite good.

I am very satisfied with their technical support. They are very supportive, though sometimes they can be a bit busy.

I have not used any other solutions. The deciding factors were the price, technology, effectiveness of the solution, and the skill that we had for it.

It was easy to deploy. It took us a week to deploy it.

It is very effective and provides value for money. After a month, we could see from our reporting when the system was up and running that it was very effective.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a seven out of ten.

We are using it for the data center firewall and perimeter firewall facing the Internet, which are my main use cases for Fortinet FortiGate.

The combined license for the network, the next-generation firewall, and the integration with SD-WAN for all branches are what I consider to be the best features. It's effective for multi-branch customers. 

SD-WAN has had a positive impact by reducing the operational costs in terms of headcount and management. It has had an impact on the network performance. It reduced the operational, Internet connection, and MPLS costs. With a combined solution, there is no need to put a specific firewall to secure the connection. It's like a single box.

Performance on the box and technical support are areas where Fortinet FortiGate can be improved. In their datasheet, they put the throughput as huge, but once you enable all the features of the box, the performance is impacted dramatically. In reality, it will be 20% to 30% of what they have mentioned in the datasheet.

I have worked with FortiGate from a design perspective for almost ten years.

It's a stable solution.

It's scalable. They are providing a good number of ports; there's no need to put a switch to connect to the appliance itself.

I would rate technical support from Fortinet a five out of ten. To escalate the case severity from three to one, you need to have the account manager engaged to accelerate and get the technical people involved. It's not like other competitors who have premium support 24/7.

Neutral

We used to perform the same function by placing a router and a firewall to secure the connection. It required multiple vendors and multiple boxes, which was a huge engagement from the operational perspective and investment-wise. Now, a small firewall with SD-WAN features can handle the entire situation, including connection with the branch, encryption, and security.

It's user-friendly deployment because they have an enhanced dashboard to manage and implement, not requiring the CLI or command line interface, which needs deep study. They have a GUI that is user-friendly and attractive.

We are system integrators, and our delivery team implements the project for deployment.

Reducing the operation cost and reducing the internet connection and MPLS cost has been my evaluation of changes in return on investment after implementing Fortinet solutions for SD-WAN and hybrid workforce.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a seven out of ten overall.

The main use cases for Fortinet FortiGate are in the data centers, mainly for web filtering, IPS, and IDS.

The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are UTM, web filtering, and IPS. We have Palo Alto firewalls in place. The ease of integrating SD-WAN capabilities depends on the requirements of the customer.

Fortinet FortiGate is a very light product. It's easy to understand.

Fortinet should improve its software, as we are seeing lots of firmware versions generated for each vulnerability issue. It becomes difficult for us to keep updating the firmware frequently due to bugs. 

We would like to see the SSL VPN feature included again in Fortinet FortiGate since it was removed from version 7.6.3 onwards. 

For DDoS protection, there can be more features in Fortinet FortiGate.

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for about 15 years.

It is stable.

As implementers, we find it easy to scale up.

We have about 100 people, and we are using Fortinet FortiGate 60.

I would rate Fortinet tech support a nine out of ten based on my experience.

Positive

We also work with Palo Alto firewalls. The main difference is in the software. Palo Alto's database is also updated for threat analysis. If you are installing a Palo Alto firewall for the first time, it is a bit complex, but with Fortinet FortiGate, the implementation is easiest, as the tabs are easy to understand.

I would recommend it. It is user-friendly.

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

The typical use case for Fortinet FortiGate is because of the user-friendly interface.

Fortinet FortiGate's best features are the manageability part and centralized management. The community support available for Fortinet FortiGate is also a significant advantage. Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my organization, offering ease of management with no network disruptions; it works seamlessly.

The room for improvement for Fortinet FortiGate is related to prices; the renewal prices have to be aligned with the customer's pockets, as at times they are very aggressive, leading to the possibility of changing vendors.

I have experience of working with Fortinet FortiGate for more than 10 years.

I have faced no trouble with the stability; it works seamlessly, and the support is good, as most of the time customers themselves can resolve issues.

Fortinet FortiGate is not a scalable solution, as they give you a number and each box comes with concurrent connections; if you need to expand, you have to change the box.

I would rate technical support a seven on a scale of one to ten.

Neutral

Before Fortinet FortiGate, we used SonicWALL, Sophos, and GuardShield for our customers.

The initial setup varies from customer to customer, as we are a system integrator, having sold more than 500 plus boxes.

We have expertise in integrating SD-WAN capabilities with FortiGate, but I'm not the right person to comment on it.

The ROI after implementing Fortinet solution means that while it is there, they have now become very expensive; for example, if I buy a product for 10 lakhs INR today, after three years they will ask for 15 lakhs, which is a major concern for customers.

My advice to other organizations considering Fortinet FortiGate is to evaluate the features of other products as well, as Sophos also does a great job, but users may not adopt it due to its presence. 

On a scale from one to ten, I would rate Fortinet FortiGate overall as seven.

We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall.

Fortinet FortiGate has been invaluable. It has helped save costs due to its various features, reliable performance, very good UI, low latency, and stability.

The Threat Intel engine in Fortinet FortiGate is highly rated for its effectiveness in threat prevention. It has a good UI and overall integration, including FortiGate Manager for controlling all firewalls from a single place.

The anti-malware engine could use an upgrade. It should automatically classify and sandbox malicious packets with more granular controls, including providing details like TV numbers.

Initially, we faced some issues with updates due to network factors needing to be white-listed in the proxy. These problems have since been resolved, and we are not facing any issues now.

While I don't have a clear picture of scalability, we scale up in different regions based on the number of users and the amount of load. This is typically handled by architecture teams.

Customer support is very responsive, addressing queries in a timely manner. I would rate the customer support ten out of ten.

Positive

We have also used Palo Alto Firewalls and Fortinet FortiGate. Fortinet FortiGate has a better UI and overall integration, including FortiGate Manager for single-place control over all firewalls.

The initial setup was straightforward and easy, thanks to the support provided. I would rate the ease of setup ten out of ten.

We had the help of the end-of-support team for the setup, which made the process quite straightforward and easy.

The price is reasonable for our company. The finance team handles the specifics regarding the license costs.

We evaluated Palo Alto NG Firewalls before settling on Fortinet FortiGate.

Fortinet FortiGate is used just to manage our network because our network is managed by another company. I work in a small to medium-sized industry.

Fortinet FortiGate is used to prevent security failures. Since implementing the solution, we have seen improvements in security and in the distribution of our network.

In my opinion, Fortinet FortiGate could be improved by making the appliance smaller than what we have here, as it is pretty big.

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for three or four years.

Fortinet FortiGate is better for large enterprise networking compared to MikroTik because we have about 100 people using our network, and we have had few problems compared to the time we were using MikroTik, which didn't work for us as well as the Fortinet FortiGate 200D does.

We never have any issue or problem that hasn't been solved in two or three hours. The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with. Fortinet FortiGate does not require a lot of maintenance.

Positive

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for three or four years, and before that, we used MikroTik. We switched to Fortinet FortiGate because the company that provides service for us started to work with Fortinet FortiGate as a partner, and they showed it to us. We liked it, and we started to use the Fortinet FortiGate solution.

The initial setup for Fortinet FortiGate was pretty easy, and they completed it in one hour and a half.

Two people worked to support us on Fortinet FortiGate. One of their job roles was manager, and I don't know the other role.

My advice for people thinking about using Fortinet FortiGate is that you have to try to understand your necessities first. Make a comparison with other players in the market and have a good company to manage the equipment if you don't have the competence to do it yourself, preferably a third company that does this for you. 

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.