FortiNet FortiGate is a firewall option with high integrability. It offers a variety of deployment options and next-gen firewall capabilities, including integration with IaaS cloud platforms and public cloud environments.
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SonicWall TZ
Score 7.2 out of 10
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SonicWall TZ is an entry to mid-tier NGFW for small to mid-sized companies. It is a Unified Threat Management solution, with additional native decryption and deep-packet inspection capabilities.
Some of them are great products, but overall Fortinet gives more for less. Also it is really easy to manage for almost everyone. As you should have at least a double layer, with different manufacturers, this is a great choice
We choose Fortinet FortiGate because it provides AI-powered security services and offers more advanced threat protection and response capabilities than Sonicwall TZ
We migrate from Cisco ASA solution to Fortinet FortiGate solution. The technical feactures and easy operation were the most driver of our evaluation. Finally the high level of Cost over Benefit was very relevant in the project evaluation.
The Fortinet products have been chosen because of our previous experience with them. The FortiClient is always used with our roaming users together theRedHAt authentications services and the IPS and Web Filtering addons are used, together the WAF, to strengthen our network …
One of the biggest advantages over competitors that Fortinet FortiGate leverages well is its remote virtual private networks options. Licensing is included with Fortinet FortiGate units at no extra cost. We find that the telemetry is easier to compile and most importantly …
Money is the sinews of war but clearly Fortinet FortiGate and other product like fortimanager for extend and adminstrate remotes sites with dedicated or template of configuration is perfect, same thing with the wortianalyzer as you can find quickly any log from trafic log to …
The FortiGate is a next generation firewall and has more features and more flexibility compared to the Sophos UTM devices and the older SonicWall devices. Technical support from Fortinet is far superior to SonicWall and Sophos.
Integrated security features multiple security in one platform, cost effective, centralized management, saclability like its models are availble from small to large enterprise for provide proper throughput according to size we can select model.documentation of all features are …
Fortinet FortiGate is an all-round Network Security solution with advanced Next Generation Firewall features. The purpose built hardware provides unparalleled performance when compared to other similar solutions. The licensing model is very flexible and accommodates networks …
An excellent ratio of functionality and cost of the solution, the UTM subscription and a wide partner network determined our choice of the Fortinet FortiGate. The solution met all the defined requirements, including personal data protection. Local vendors like UserGate were …
As mentioned in the previous sections, Fortigate is best suited for our use cases of SDWAN, load balancing, SSL VPN, IPSec Tunnels, Bandwidth allocation (per IP, per user based ). Comparing with Palo Alto NGFW and Cisco ASA, the SD WAN and link load balancing based on the …
I
stick with this program because of many reasons like it is extremely robust and
scalable, as well as simple to set up. Protecting an organization's data is one
[Fortinet] FortiGate is not only cost effective but it gives the comprehensive security against the APT attacks and gives the complete traffic visibility and granular control. You can easily create the VDOMs (Virtual firewall) within a Fortigate firewall and customize the …
Cisco ASA is [a] good product but you can't say this is providing the security from every points. Lots of features are missing in Cisco ASA but Fortinet [FortiGate] is fully loaded and all the advanced features are available for secure your company.
We are previously using cisco ASA in our environment & always concerned regarding security because ransomware attacks are increasing day by day. After implementing Fortinet FortiGate we are getting a bucket of security features at almost the same cost with the best technical …
We have both devices Fortinet FortiGate and ASA with firepower services, but [the] main difference is price. The price is [less for] Fortinet FortiGate and we are getting the all features. Email filtering and DLP is extra features and very advanced which we will get only in …
Sonic wall as a firewall also gives us its main function as the Fortinet FortiGate. Sonic Wall is best suited when you want to use it to connect your cloud environment to your private on-premise network. But on reputation most vendors prefer or recommend Fortinet Fortigate if …
Fortinet code configuration is a little bit cleaner, it has sub-modules for different components. One of the nice things about Juniper and pitfalls is that you drop out to the FreeBSD command line if there are any issues. Fortinet and Cisco do not have that capability. …
We found SonicWall TZ licencing to be far simpler than barracuda options for the use cases we needed. We have run several other barracuda products andover time have swithced away fro other offerings - mostly due to the ease of use of the GUI. We also had much better support …
SonicWall TZ is good at some things but overall I would pick Fortinet and UDM-Pro appliances most of the time and their VPN solution does not require paid license. Interface more modern and intuitive. Overall, better bang for your buck.
SonicWall TZ was a no brainer to choose over Fortigate or pfSense. We had used Fortigate units in the past and, in our experience, the interface is terrible, both on the device and the cloud side. There are constant updates that require you to jump through hoops to upgrade and …
We were using the cisco asa but there are lots of security features that are missing in these devices. SonicWall is a combination in advanced security and advanced routing. You can easy to use this firewall.
We chose the Sonicwall TZ250 because it has reliability in the Dell Sonicwall brand. It is a reliable product, with excellent support and warranty with face-to-face service should the need arise. It is cheaper than the competition, does not take up rack space, does not heat up, …
We like it is a small, portable, and has many features. I have confidence in the brand a long time. Support was also a differential to make the decision.
Pretty much similar functionality. SonicWall TZ400 compared to ASA 5506 has better hardware performance. SonicWall licenses cost less money which makes it better for the same needs and functionality. However, the Cisco ASA Internet unity and knowledge base are bigger then …
Our previous firewall, from Xyzell, couldn't handle the bandwidth that video files needed within the internal LAN, so we looked at alternatives. SonicWall came recommend by a different IT professional for its solid performance and good documentation. We further researched the …
SonicWall and WatchGuard are both fine appliances, but I am accustomed to the Barracuda NG. The Barracuda Control Center is so powerful and useful that it beats out the other two. SonicWall does a great job of dividing up firewall rules and NAT policies, but this is a …
Costs, features and ease of use were the determining factors. The UI alone outweighs the CLI from the ASA and SRX, features were easier to understand and licenses were more easily obtained.
FortiGate, from Fortinet, and SonicWall TZ are next-gen firewalls (NGFWs). They are competing solutions, however SonicWall TZ aims more at smaller companies as an entry level NGFW, while FortiGate customers include large enterprises. Both vendors are network security specialists and provide related products and services besides their firewalls; see the respective SonicWall and Fortinet vendor pages. Fortinet will tend to be deployed at larger companies and enterprise vis-a-vis SonicWall, with a correspondingly higher price tag.
Features
Both FortiGate and SonicWall TZ present certain advantages that might make them the correct solution for some networks.
FortiGate is an established vendor and the product receives frequent feedback and across the board high ratings. For a few standout features, FortiGate users say its VPN is high performing, its GUI and administrative setup are fluid and easy to understand. Users will get great results when the firewalls are properly configured, which most users say is not hard to do with proper training. Additionally, and unusually for many appliances that can be deployed in enterprise environments, users praise FortiGate for clear and straightforward pricing.
SonicWall TZ is just as highly rated for its market. Reviewers single out its excellent traffic inspection and geolocation based traffic filtering, and highly configurable network access rules controlling who and cannot access network resources. Its antivirus is also highly praised, and users point out that the SonicWall TZ appliance cost is low.
Limitations
Though these are high rated next-gen firewalls, there are a few considerations that buyers should keep in mind before deploying either solution.
A number of users say the FortiGate GUI, while excellent, takes time getting used to. Training should help get new users up to speed and may be a necessity for many users. Also, firmware upgrades for FortiGate seem to produce an unusually high number of annoying bugs. Opposite SonicWall TZ, FortiGate users find its traffic shaping rules and setup to be less intuitive. This appears to be users’ least favorite feature.
SonicWall TZ’s weak spot appears to be its logs, alerts, and reporting. Particularly the reporting is said to be lacking in detail. And while the appliances are not terribly expensive, users find the subscription cost to be surprisingly complex. Specifically, they complain that the association of the firewall’s various potential functions to separate licenses means licenses can proliferate. The end result is that costs balloon surprisingly as each and every thing the user wants is gated behind its own little recurring fee. This a la carte approach may keep overall cost down, however. SonicWall TZ is also not liked for its interface and admin controls, which are comparatively basic.
Pricing
SonicWall’s TZ series appliances are available from the company’s former parent company Dell Technologies, among other third-party vendors. The series starts with the lower end TZ350 (available now for around $400) and rise to the TZ600 series for about $1600. To load the firewall with SonicWall Antivirus and Intrusion Prevention comes in at about $300 per year. Advanced Gateway Security, a subscription-based combo of services that adds application control & intelligence as well as content filtering among other features comes in at about $1500 yearly. Its SSL VPN license costs $375 to add.
Lower level Fortinet FortiGate firewalls come in at a meager $280 – $500 per appliance approximately, while the top of the line rack-mountable, unified threat management solution FortiGate 6500F can come in at about 250k to 1mil depending on service bundle features and duration (1-3 years). The Fortigate 2000 – 3400 series of appliances range from about 150k to half a million fully featured, with services bundled.
Features
Fortinet FortiGate
SonicWall TZ
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Fortinet FortiGate
8.9
Ratings
3% above category average
SonicWall TZ
5.6
Ratings
43% below category average
Identification Technologies
8.60 Ratings
7.00 Ratings
Visualization Tools
8.50 Ratings
7.00 Ratings
Content Inspection
9.40 Ratings
6.00 Ratings
Policy-based Controls
9.00 Ratings
4.50 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP
9.00 Ratings
5.50 Ratings
Firewall Management Console
8.60 Ratings
5.00 Ratings
Reporting and Logging
7.50 Ratings
5.50 Ratings
VPN
8.60 Ratings
5.50 Ratings
High Availability
9.50 Ratings
5.00 Ratings
Stateful Inspection
9.50 Ratings
6.00 Ratings
Proxy Server
10.00 Ratings
5.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Fortinet FortiGate
SonicWall TZ
Small Businesses
pfSense
Score 9.9 out of 10
pfSense
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.6 out of 10
Quantum Firewalls and Security Gateways
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
Score 10.0 out of 10
Palo Alto Networks Virtualized Next-Generation Firewalls - VM Series
We reviewed many different vendors product offerings, we found the Fortinet FortiGate to best fit our needs. We upgraded from a previous firewall, the migration was a fairly easy process. We were also able to consolidate multiple firewalls into one unit using vdoms. It's been helpful to have one pain of glass, one support contract and easy to work with support. These firewalls are feature rich which is great, but the support contracts are expensive.
Good price for scope of functionality Challenge for those that are not highly technical Many options within Firewall Setting that need to understood to maximize use of the device. Would be nice to see some sort of configuration wizard to assist in configuring unit.
When we switched to Fortinet Fortigate, it took some time getting used to and become familiar with the new interface. Being used to strictly command-line interfaces, a full GUI-based firewall was something brand new. Careful planning had to be done when creating rules to ensure we didn't miss anything. However, once we got used to the new GUI interface, going from one Fortinet product to another was simple, as Fortinet used the same interface for all of its devices.
management is confusing has many items that could be improved to facilitate the work to the network administrator
in the diagnostic tool I would improve the response times, that is, if a ping test is required, it should be quick, since in cases of failures it is sought to minimize the impact as much as possible.
each function has a different license item, I would place a single license package for all team functions
Fortinet's products have kept improving with new software releases and they continue to deliver great value. Their support is also very good. I believe that as a small enterprise, their products have given us competitive advantage delivering features and functionality that enable us to innovate and do things better. They also continue to be a leader in the markets they serve.
The user interface shared among many simultaneous users is very easy to get around. With shared favorites among users, most tasks are easily bookmarked and can quickly be found and edited. Their strategy for web filter integration is easy to understand and manage as well. With some general direction, setup and maintenance were easy to do and easy to teach others in the organization to do as well.
Overall the new interface is very logical and easy to navigate. We did struggle at first coming from the older interface and finding our way around the new. But our new users found it very simple to find what they were looking for. One negative we do all struggle with is packet cpature not always being clear how its set/what is being monitored. this could do with more information on teh intial page instead of having to look for it
We live in Turkey. Fortinet's Turkey office [dealt] constantly with us in our every problem or our experience. In addition, global support teams also supported every ticket we opened in every problem we encountered. They support innovative approaches and evaluate and offer solutions. In this context, they were very supportive of the problems we encountered in previous versions.
Once you get to a competent technician the support experience is better. But I have found that the lower tiers of support are very slow to respond (like 1 email per day) and you typically have to re-explain yourself a couple times before they get it. I have not used Phone support, and that may be a better experience.
One of the biggest advantages over competitors that Fortinet FortiGate leverages well is its remote virtual private networks options. Licensing is included with Fortinet FortiGate units at no extra cost. We find that the telemetry is easier to compile and most importantly communicate with non technical members of staff. The Fortinet FortiGate unit is also extremely stable for long periods of time without showing signs of needing a reboot.
SonicWall and WatchGuard are both fine appliances, but I am accustomed to the Barracuda NG. The Barracuda Control Center is so powerful and useful that it beats out the other two. SonicWall does a great job of dividing up firewall rules and NAT policies, but this is a preference among engineers.
SD-WAN : Can't stress it further that we are very happy with this functionality and outcomes in the org. We have multiple WAN and MPLS links and traffic switching becomes an important in order to utilize the best performing line.
QoS : We use QoS for almost all internet traffic, be it Web browsing by users, IOT segment, Application based traffic policy and VIP and normal user based bandwidth allocation.
SSL and IPSec VPN, both features are fully used to it absolute capacity. IPSec tunnels with multiple sister companies across globe.