Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

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.

We are using Fortinet FortiGate for the SD-WAN solution between our branches. We also started using Fortinet's access points, wireless solution, and full fabric with switching. We are using many products from Fortinet.

We don't use Fortinet FortiGate for data center solutions; we just use Fortinet FortiGate for perimeter firewalls and wireless and switching.

The main benefits that Fortinet FortiGate provides is the security of the network.

Fortinet FortiGate has many functions, and it is one of the best next-generation firewalls with an affordable cost than other vendors. 

Fortinet FortiGate is useful for network performance, and it helps to optimize the links between branches and the applications that are used from the data center to other branches. 

The integration between SD-WAN and FortiGate is easy. It accommodates our needs.

They can add automation for monitoring and policy optimization on the firewall. I think using AI to do some optimization on the policies would be beneficial, such as providing alerts about policies that haven't been used for a long time or identifying overlapping policies.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for at least six to seven years.

I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate as eight out of ten.

I would rate the scalability of Fortinet FortiGate as eight out of ten.

I would rate technical support from Fortinet as seven out of ten. While there are no issues, there is improvement needed for fast response and clear response from Fortinet's technical support.

Positive

The initial setup for Fortinet FortiGate is very simple.

Palo Alto is the main competitor in the market. Fortinet FortiGate provides a simple solution. It is less expensive than Palo Alto and meets our requirements. 

We do the exercise from designing and planning with Fortinet FortiGate, and then we purchase through a partner.

My overall rating for Fortinet FortiGate is eight out of ten.

My main use case for this product is a firewall.

I appreciate the ease of use, ease of setup, and the different abilities it has. I have been very pleased with it over SonicWall. The interface of Fortinet FortiGate is a lot easier to use and more robust, plus their VPN option is much better; SonicWall is ridiculously slow. I have been very happy with the effectiveness of the unified SASE for providing consistent security policies across multiple locations. It has positively impacted my organization by freeing me up regarding administration; I spend a lot less time on administration. It probably saves me about 30 to 45 minutes a week.

They could continuously focus their improvements on network perimeter security, as that's what they're best at.

I have had four years of experience with Fortinet FortiGate, going on four, possibly five. I cannot remember if we switched over to them in 2020 or 2021, but I think it was 2020.

Fortinet FortiGate is very stable. I don't have any issues with Fortinet FortiGate freezing up or needing frequent restarts. The firmware updates are automatic, and I have just been really happy.

While we're a single office with a single server, I can say that it can definitely be scaled up.

I had a little help from Fortinet FortiGate support, but other than that, it was just me deploying it. I would rate their support a 10; they're fantastic. Their knowledge makes them fantastic; if they had to research something and get back to me, it was very quick, and usually I get an answer right away.

The unit itself is probably comparable in price, maybe a little more expensive than SonicWall; however, the yearly maintenance is quite a bit more, but it is more robust and worth it.

For a firewall, the initial setup was pretty straightforward for us.

I had a little help from Fortinet FortiGate support, but other than that, it was just me deploying it.

I believe all use cases could work for this solution. For us, Fortinet FortiGate is deployed on-premises. We purchased Fortinet FortiGate through a Fortinet reseller. Their knowledge makes them fantastic; if they had to research something and get back to me, it was very quick, and usually I get an answer right away.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an 8 or a 9 overall; everything always has room for improvement, but I'm pretty pleased with it.