We are using FortiGate as a perimeter firewall.
Network Technical Lead/Manager at WadiDegla
Works very well as a perimeter firewall, comes with many useful features, and is easy to manage
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to manage, and it doesn't need much knowledge from the team. It is a stable device, and there are many features that are included out of the box."
- "There are some tiny bugs that sometimes affect the operations. In the past revision of it, there was a bug. Because of the bug, we had to downgrade the version. It happened only with the last revision."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
It is our perimeter firewall. URL filtering, IPS, and antivirus features are most valuable.
It is easy to manage, and it doesn't need much knowledge from the team. It is a stable device, and there are many features that are included out of the box.
What needs improvement?
Their support can be improved in terms of the response time and the quality of support.
There are some tiny bugs that sometimes affect the operations. In the past revision of it, there was a bug. Because of the bug, we had to downgrade the version. It happened only with the last revision.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for two years.
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
September 2023

Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2023.
734,678 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has been very stable over the past two years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I have no problem with scalability. When I need to add any device, I just find and add it to the network. I have no issue with the count of devices. I can buy a license and add whatever devices I need to add. Currently, I have no issue with the scalability of this firewall, but if I reach the maximum limit, I need to exchange the box or just add licenses. We currently have about 1,000 users.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted them many times. My experience with them was good, but their support can be improved overall. I would rate them a three out of five.
How was the initial setup?
It was very simple.
What about the implementation team?
There was a partner supporting us. Our experience with them was very good. I would rate its setup experience a four out of five.
For maintenance, we currently have a team of two people, but it may be extended to three or four.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It has been two years. I don't remember the actual price, but it was affordable.
We buy the boxes and then use the license for three years.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this product. It is a very good product to be used as a perimeter firewall.
I would rate it an eight out of 10.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Network Security Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Helps secure the internal network and perform unified threat management, forward filtering, and application control
Pros and Cons
- "Fortinet FortiGate's ease of management is the most valuable feature."
- "The non-error conserve mode has room for improvement."
What is our primary use case?
I use Fortinet FortiGate to secure the internal network and perform unified threat management, forward filtering, and application control. This is crucial for the organizations and products I collaborate with on projects. The solution effectively addresses high availability through SD-WAN load balancing. Additionally, we rely on Fortinet FortiGate to resolve remote access issues for our clients.
How has it helped my organization?
Fortinet FortiGate has helped improve our reporting analysis, ease of management, and enhance the security of our environment.
What is most valuable?
Fortinet FortiGate's ease of management is the most valuable feature.
FortiGate offers numerous features that are designed to assist end users in gaining a clear understanding of the activities occurring within their network.
What needs improvement?
The non-error conserve mode has room for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the stability of FortiGate an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the scalability of FortiGate a ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support has improved compared to the last few times I used it.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I had previously used a different solution but switched to Fortinet FortiGate due to its better price and ease of use.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. Depending on the customer's requirements and environment, the deployment can take anywhere from one day to a couple of weeks and can be completed by a single person.
What about the implementation team?
We implement the solution in-house.
What was our ROI?
I achieve approximately a 30 percent return on investment with FortiGate.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Fortinet FortiGate is reasonably priced.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.
Fortinet FortiGate is primarily utilized by medium to large organizations, although it can also be employed by small ones.
In terms of maintaining the solution, updates are typically performed to address bugs.
I highly recommend Fortinet FortiGate to others.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Last updated: Jun 27, 2023
Flag as inappropriateBuyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
September 2023

Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2023.
734,678 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Useful resources, low price, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system."
- "The platform's interface could improve."
What is our primary use case?
We use both newer and older models of Fortinet FortiGate.
Fortinet FortiGate is used for protecting the perimeter network. Our customers require a solution that secures the network traffic or the communication with the central site.
The communication between the remote site and the central site is with the VPN and we need to analyze the traffic to assure security. Additionally, we use antivirus and IPS for protection. We can see the traffic when applying these objects with security.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system.
What needs improvement?
The platform's interface could improve.
The client and the Fortinet FortiGate have good integration, but there are times it doesn't work as it should. The union with the two technologies, endpoint, and firewall, doesn't work well. There are some things that do not work.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a good solution for new clients.
I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
There are times Fortinet FortiGate can not be scalable.
We have 20 people using the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good. However, there are some problems with the new technology for the new version of the operating system that the support does not know much about.
We have had two or three cases when we had a problem and the support was very good and responsive. We had an immediate response.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation of Fortinet FortiGate is very easy. The equipment is simple to deploy.
What about the implementation team?
There is little maintenance required, and what needs to be maintained is easy to do.
Most projects required one engineer. If the project requires several branches, with simultaneous deployments, we can need more than three engineers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Fortinet FortiGate is the lowest in the market.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Network Engineer at Ahad
Easy to manage with reasonable pricing and good monitoring
Pros and Cons
- "The reporting and monitoring are very good."
- "We'd like more management across other integrations."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for security purposes. We use it as a firewall for protection.
How has it helped my organization?
It helps protect our users, and we are able to initiate our own policies. It also provided good visibility and reporting.
What is most valuable?
The management is very easy.
It offers very good security features.
The reporting and monitoring are very good.
We can integrate the solution very well with other Fortigate solutions.
It's stable and reliable.
The solution can scale.
Pricing is reasonable.
What needs improvement?
We do not need any other features.
We'd like more management across other integrations. It would be ideal if it could centralize the management, and we could therefore manage all solutions under Fortinet instead of managing everything individually.
In some cases, depending on the module and the age, performance could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 800 end users, approximately.
The solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has been fine. However, we haven't really dealt with them too much. We haven't had any critical issues.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also use other Fortinet products, including the NFGW.
We also work with Cisco devices and solutions.
We have worked with Palo Alto in the past. It has a pretty good performance.
In the end, we moved to Fortinet as the cost was very good.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is very simple. The process is easy to understand. It's not complex at all.
I helped deploy the solution. We had to integrate it with internal and external firewalls.
We had the full functionality in place within five days. We had five people managing the deployment process.
What about the implementation team?
I integrated the solution myself without outside help.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost of the solution is reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
I'm an end-user.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Apr 11, 2023
Flag as inappropriateInformation Technology Manager at Petra
Reliable with lots of features and good security
Pros and Cons
- "The wireless control is helpful."
- "The pricing could always be better."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for security purposes and for UTM web profile applications.
What is most valuable?
There are a variety of features on offer.
It helps protect endpoints.
The wireless control is helpful.
It is scalable and extends well.
The solution is stable and reliable.
Technical support is helpful and responsive.
What needs improvement?
The pricing could always be better. It is very expensive.
We'd like to see Fortgate include WAF services.
The maintenance of the product can be a bit difficult.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been working with the solution for ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is pretty stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This is a scalable product.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is very good. They are easy to work with. We've been satisfied with the level of support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've also used Sophos and CyberArk. Sophos has a few more services, such as WAF services.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is moderate. It depends on the client's requirements.
We typically can deploy the solution within two or three days. We have a security engineer that handles the initial setup.
It does require some maintenance, and that can be a bit difficult.
What about the implementation team?
We implement the solution for our clients.
What was our ROI?
We have witnessed a bit of an ROI, even though it is an expensive solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is quite pricey.
What other advice do I have?
I am an end-user and work in configuration and support for a partner.
I'm working with the latest version of the solution.
Overall, I would rate the solution ten out of ten. I am very satisfied with the product as a whole. I'd recommend the solution to others. It's easy to start working with it.
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
Last updated: Apr 17, 2023
Flag as inappropriateHead Of Technology at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Secure, good integration, and responsive technical support
Pros and Cons
- "FortiGate has a very strong unified threat management system."
- "If they could extend their fabric towards other vendor environments for integration, that would be great."
What is our primary use case?
We are a system integrator and Fortinet FortiGate is one of the products that we have implemented for our clients.
It is primarily used for VPN and remote access. More recently, we have been using it for SD-WAN.
How has it helped my organization?
This is a versatile solution and with it, we can offer our customers multiple functionalities. The Fortinet fabric goes across the entire enterprise.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the security and the integration with the entire Fortinet product line, from access points to switching.
FortiGate has a very strong unified threat management system.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see integration into other systems. That would be really great for me. The fabric works well only if you're using other Fortinet devices, but they're not exactly the best in terms of switching or access points. If they could extend their fabric towards other vendor environments for integration, that would be great.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for the past few years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a very stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiGate is very scalable.
We have implemented it for 13 or 14 customers.
How are customer service and support?
I am familiar with technical support and they're very responsible. I haven't had any issues with them so far.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. The length of time required for deployment depends on the customer's environment and use cases.
What about the implementation team?
We handle the deployment and maintenance of this product for our customers. We use the Fortinet tools, such as FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer to maintain it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Licensing is usually on a three-year period.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, this is a very good solution and in fact, a good starting point for a broader cyber security approach for the business.
I would rate this 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
Founder at Digivalue
Fits the customer requirements very well, comes with good support, and is very stable
Pros and Cons
- "It is useful for protecting and segregating the internal networks from the internet. Most of our customers also use the FortiGate client to connect to their offices by using the VPN client, and of course, they usually activate the antivirus, deep inspection, and intrusion prevention services. They are also using it for web filtering and implementing various policies dealing with forwardings, NAT, etc."
- "A sandbox would be good in order to be able to inspect the emails containing spam and be able to validate the emails that contain malware, prior to delivering to the customer."
What is our primary use case?
We manage FortiGate firewalls for our customers. We are working with 100F, 100D, and 60D.
All our FortiGates are installed on-premises, but we can manage our customers' firewalls remotely.
What is most valuable?
It is useful for protecting and segregating the internal networks from the internet. Most of our customers also use the FortiGate client to connect to their offices by using the VPN client, and of course, they usually activate the antivirus, deep inspection, and intrusion prevention services. They are also using it for web filtering and implementing various policies dealing with forwardings, NAT, etc.
What needs improvement?
A sandbox would be good in order to be able to inspect the emails containing spam and be able to validate the emails that contain malware, prior to delivering to the customer.
Its initial setup could be simpler.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Its stability is great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have not had the necessary size to experience extendability.
How are customer service and support?
They supported us in many of our projects when we needed the expertise to configure the devices properly according to the customer's specifications.
How was the initial setup?
It could be simpler. Sometimes, it is very difficult. Policies tend to mix up sometimes, and it can be difficult to have clear policies for one particular thing.
What other advice do I have?
We recommend this product to customers with up to 200 or 250 people. This size is considered large by Greek standards. If a customer is located in one single building or two or three buildings, and they do not have a complicated architectural infrastructure, this product is ideal for them. It is not recommended for customers with a complex infrastructure and a lot of buildings.
I would rate it a nine out of 10. It is a fantastic product. It fits the customer requirements very well, and the vendor is great. We are very pleased with it.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Manager Technical Support at Rubik Infotech Pvt. Ltd
Easy to set up and configure with good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "It's very easy to configure."
- "It would be ideal if they had some sort of GUI interface for troubleshooting and diagnostics."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily sell FortiGate to clients. We have customers such as pharmaceutical companies and hospitals that require the security on offer. It is a great firewall.
What is most valuable?
With many companies dealing with users now working from home, definitely a great feature is the SSL VPN. With that, a user can control everything from their own devices and get connected to the servers even if they are off-site.
The initial setup is easy. It's not overly difficult.
The solution offers very good security.
It's a good firewall. It's very easy to configure.
What needs improvement?
We require troubleshooting and those kinds of things. We have to worry about debugging. It would be ideal if they had some sort of GUI interface for troubleshooting and diagnostics. That would be much better. FortiGate has only CLI-based diagnostic capabilities. Sometimes it's become very difficult to do all this troubleshooting.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been handling security solutions lie FortiGate for ten to 15 years at this point. It's been a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There are some bugs you have to deal with. There's some troubleshooting that needs to be done.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution isn't scalable per se as it is hardware. However, you can always buy more hardware to expand it if you need to.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is good. You get very good support from this product overall. We're quite satisfied with their level of service.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation process is not complex. It's an easy solution. It's not complex setting everything up.
What other advice do I have?
We are resellers of security products.
New users should be aware that this solution offers very good security. The different level of security we have in Fortinet, in general, is good. They can use various security products to help protect their organizations.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer

Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: September 2023
Popular Comparisons
Sophos XG
Cisco Secure Firewall
Netgate pfSense
Meraki MX
Check Point NGFW
WatchGuard Firebox
Cisco SD-WAN
SonicWall TZ
Fortinet FortiOS
Juniper SRX Series Firewall
Fortinet FortiGate-VM
OPNsense
Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls
Sophos UTM
SonicWall NSa
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- Comparison of Barracuda F800, SonicWall 5600 and Fortinet
- Sophos XG 210 vs Fortigate FG 100E
- Looking Into Implementing a Web Security Solution.
- Cyberoam or Fortinet?
- Fortinet, Palo Alto or Check Point?
- What Is The Biggest Difference Between Cisco ASA And Fortinet FortiGate?
- Cisco Firepower vs. FortiGate
- We're trying to choose between Fortinet or Checkpoint UTM firewalls. Can you help?
- What Is The Biggest Difference Between Fortinet FortiGate and Meraki MX Firewalls?
- What Is The Biggest Difference Between Fortinet FortiGate and WatchGuard XTM?