Sophos XG Reviews

I'm the CTO of our company and we are customers of Sophos. 

I've found that the valuable features are the interface and the security, both are really great. 

The security of the solution could be improved by making it more intuitive and it should have a background reputation service for classification of websites for content filtering. It's a service which defines the type of websites enabling me to do my content filtering in a much more effective and efficient way.

They really need to include some kind of a client app for mobiles so that firewalls and all the metrics can be accessed directly on the phone; some kind of administrative application on the phone, maybe on an iOS or Android.

I've been using this solution for over four years. 

This is a stable solution, it's a nice robust firewall. We love using it. 

The solution is scalable, we have around 700 end users and 10 technical people on staff. 

We are satisfied with the technical support but having said that, we didn't need much support because the menus and all the online documentation is self-explanatory. There was no failure so we didn't have to actually log a call with Sophos. 

We didn't previously use another solution before implementing Sophos. We chose it by specification and the reputation it has in the market.

The initial setup was a little complex because of the kind of configuration that we were looking at, the way the firewall had to be configured was slightly complex. We carried out the implementation ourselves and it took a maximum two days. 

I would recommend this solution but would suggest that before buying any firewall, it's important to assess your expectations and then match it with the specification. You will not be disappointed if you do this.

I would rate this solution a nine out of 10. 

The primary use case of this solution is as the main company firewall.

The most valuable feature of this solution is the flexibility of it, it's pretty versatile.

Also, the firewall aspect in terms of setting up rules. They worked pretty well.

The UI needs improvement because it can be a little weird at times.

I have used Sophos XG in the last twelve months.

This solution is stable. We haven't had any real issues.

I don't know if this solution is scalable. We haven't explored this area yet.

As we grow, we plan to increase usage.

Technical support is good.

Initially, the setup was a bit complex.

It was complex because we were coming off of a different setup. It was just getting used to the software, but it's not too bad.

We require one and a half staff members for the deployment and the maintenance. They seem to do a pretty good job of updating it and keeping it current.

We implemented ourselves. We did not use a vendor or integrator.

We're military contractors, and the cybersecurity compliance aspect of it has been the most helpful.

We know how the networks operate from our end, even though we are relatively green. We don't what we are comparing it to.

We prepaid in advance to get the max discount.

I would rate Sophos XG an eight out of ten.

We were able to integrate the solution using existing infrastructure installed, such as different firewalls and security software. We have integrated the solution in multiple sectors, for example, the education and banking sectors. 

UTM appliances have generally improved organization networks and given away to multiple link management, identity management, and easy firewall options. SOPHOS has a better GUI and dashboard which can be easily understood and managed in an organization.

The solution was able to be integrated well with exciting hardware and software and in multiple business sectors.

With the proliferation of fiber connectivity becoming available at our homes, consumers should not have to go and buy another module for fiber to ethernet converters or another device to get the fiber options. I understand all UTM models should have direct SFP ports available so that FFTH is directly terminated to UTM for better management and uptime. 

I have been using the solution for the past five years.

I have found it to be a stable product.

I can say it is more stable rather than scalable. I do not think they have the ability for scalability with the options currently included esp in SMB segment. However, if they did have better options then I believe the product would have better scalability.

Some of our clients have been enterprise and SMB customers. Overall the range of our clients has been between medium and enterprise clients.

The customer support is not that good. We found the support to be extremely slow in response.

I rate Sophos XG support a three out of ten.

We have used other products as well and we understand those products work well which has better and local support. In addition, it depends on the company's focus. SOPHOS has focused on small to enterprise customers but support needs improvement to be in the market. SOPHOS channel partnership program needs also improvement and commitment so that System Integrators and partners are able to pitch the products well in the market. 

Setup is good and the integration is very easy. The technology creates several good products.

We do the deployment and implementation of the solutions.

They should include fiber SFP ports on smaller product models as well and the tools should be improved for scalability.

I can definitely recommend the product because it is good. There is no doubt.

I rate Sophos XG a 6 out of 10.

We use it for monitoring our web access, providing authentication and for security purposes.

We get good usage out of the VPN features and its capability; it is a great feature.

In terms of improvement, one of the features we are having a hard time getting a hang of is MAC addressing, like when we assign IP addresses to a specific MAC address. That is something that can be improved. For the next release, I think, it should have better feature integration.

I have been using Sophos XG for seven years. 

It is a stable solution.

The solution is scalable. We use the product for around 70 to 100 users.

The support that we used was great.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. The setup took around one to two weeks. 

We did all of the deployment by ourselves and we use one person for maintenance.

I think, for the XG, I think the MAC addressing. We were having a very hard time assigning MAC addresses with specific IP.

We haven't chosen any other product, besides Sophos.

I would rate Sophos XG an eight out of ten. 

I use it for one of our universities in Palestine. It's an Arabic university and there were about more than 10,000 students. So, our user base ranges from 1 to 10,000. I use it as the main firewall. I use it for High Availability (HA). That's the main use case why we use Sophos XG. We do intend to keep using it.

As a security solution, it's a very good security solution.

Some features are not available on the graphical interface. So you need to return to the command line to solve some issues that are faced by the customer. I used it for enterprise networks, I decided that it is not very good for enterprise networks. There is some issue with its hardware. I have faced two problems and that were resolved by Sophos earlier. They changed the appliance. In other products, I have not seen such problems in the hardware. So I think that the hardware is not heavy duty. You can say it's not heavy duty like other vendors. The performance is not as it says on the datasheet. They should improve the hardware. If they can do that, it would be a very good product.

I am using the appliance from XG 110. We use versions 105 TO 370. I use more than one product for small to medium size businesses. We also use Intercept X firewalls. We deploy Sophos XG on-premise. 

It is scalable for some things. It can have an extendable host. The appliance can be customized for more than one connection point. You can put it in the same fibre and DSL connection.

They have proper support in the technical point of view, and their English language is not clear. You know that they are not native English speakers. That's one of the things that I faced. But they have very good knowledge.

The installation of Sophos is very easy and straightforward. 

It's not very expensive. 

I recommend it for small to medium businesses, not for enterprise businesses. I'll rate it 8 out of 10.

Our primary use case is as a firewall, failover management of the internet lines. We have over 50 people using the product on 200 devices and we use it on a daily basis. I'm an IT support executive and we're a customer of Sophos. 

We are using sophos XG as the firewall for our offices, so any connections going outside of the office go through it. We are also using VPN clients and especially during the lockdown, it was very helpful.

I like the simplicity of the solution and the timely updates. It works well. 

The interface could be improved by simplifying it and making it much smarter. I would also like to see an improvement in the diagnostic system graphs. They could be modified to provide individual graphs. The present page has all graphs in a single page and it slows things down and takes more time to refresh and load. 

Additional features they could consider including in any update would be symbols and tools. They could also include URL groups and all Office updates, the regular things that people do on a daily basis. 

I've been using this solution for the past year and a half. 

This is a stable solution. 

We haven't yet tried scaling, that will take another six months. I'll be in a better position to answer then. 

The technical support is fine overall.

I've now configured three times and although it gets easier, deployment is a little complex. We had some issues with the company, unrelated to the product, more to do with the licensing procedures in India which could be simplified. Deployment only took about half an hour and the solution doesn't require any maintenance. 

Licensing costs are generally set for three years. 

PaloAlto, FirtiGate

Before installing this product it's worth taking some lessons from the website which also provides some support. It's almost better than the technical support which is offline. If you have a good vendor with hands-on experience that's also helpful for first time deployment. After you've implemented once, it's easier the second time. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of 10. 

It is very user friendly and easy to manage from the administrative point of view. It is good, reliable, and easy to implement.

It is a very basic and entry-level firewall. It doesn't give very granular control over the traffic. It should have more granular control over the traffic. This feature should be there similar to Palo Alto and Cisco. It should have such advanced features.

I have been using Sophos XG for the last two years. We are using the latest version.

Its stability and reliability are fine.

If you want to have multiple firewall rules, it has this type of scalability. When I compare it with some other products, such as Palo Alto, I can't find similar scalability in Sophos XG. In Palo Alto, we can have rules based on applications or app IDs, and we can create multiple rules for a single ID. We can create a single user or single IP, but such options are not there in Sophos XG. Granular level scalability should be there in Sophos, and they should do better.

I appreciate their support. Their support is good.

I also use Palo Alto. Palo Alto provides application IDs, which is a very powerful feature. Sophos XG is a very normal next-generation firewall with URL filtering, application filtering, and all such features. It is not something extraordinary. It is a very normal next-generation firewall. 

The initial setup is straightforward. It is a single day task to do the initial configuration and move the traffic over there. The firewall hardening, of course, will take some time depending upon the traffic, but the initial setup is a single day task.

It is a normal firewall. All the basic features are there. However, it is not as advanced as some of the other solutions, such as Palo Alto. As we have more security threats, we need more granular control, but these features are not available in Sophos XG.

I would rate Sophos XG a five out of ten.

Right now, we are using this product as a perimeter firewall just to deal with emails and to protect servers, as well as other equipment that is on the network.

What we found valuable is the way they deal with emails, as well as the way the bandwidth usage is shown. I find this information to be very interesting.

We are having challenges with social media because ever since this issue of COVID-19 came into existence, the idea of using online discussions has become relevant. Before this, they were not made the priority because they were not considered to be important. Now, we've discovered that we need to use a lot of these online applications.

We are having challenges when using Zoom with Sophos XG deployed. Our wireless network is not stable through the connection. More work needs to be done there, since the FW is doubling up as a wireless controller.

I would like to see improvements made to the display and visibility. I'm also using Sophos XG firewall as our wireless controller, but as it is now, I can't see my access points on the firewall. My wish is to see the Wireless network and reports also on this firewall cum- controller. 

We have been using Sophos XG for almost three years.

Sophos XG is stable and we have no problems with it.

I think there is a limitation on the issue of scalability, and it is related to the interfaces that we bought. Right now, all of the employees are using it. The traffic that passes through it covers close to 2,000 users.

For us, our bandwidth is growing so we may have to scale further, in terms of the hardware networking components.

We are constantly in touch with the distributor in Zimbabwe and they are excellent.

Prior to Sophos XG, we were using Cyberoam for our firewall. We switched because Cyberoam was acquired by Sophos.

The initial setup is very simple. It takes perhaps an hour to complete, which included importing rules from Cyberoam.

We completed some certifications for using this product, but for the implementation, we were assisted by IDSS. In some instances, we are doing the maintenance on our own. When we have a challenge, on a case-by-case basis, we might contact the vendor and may require them to come in and assist.

The issue of a recurring license is a hassle because every year, we have to subscribe. It causes us problems in our organization.

We are expanding and setting up a new data center, and I want to put a new firewall in. We have an interest in diversifying, in terms of vendors, so that we do not create a single point of failure in case one product fails. Ideally, we want to have different products.

This is a product that I can recommend for anybody who is looking for a firewall.

I would rate this solution a eight point six out of ten.