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Astound Managed SD-WAN vs Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 15, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Astound Managed SD-WAN
Ranking in Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP)
25th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Managed SD-WAN Services (1st)
Check Point Cloud Firewall ...
Ranking in Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
170
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (8th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (3rd), Cloud and Data Center Security (5th), WAN Edge (3rd), Unified Threat Management (UTM) (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) category, the mindshare of Astound Managed SD-WAN is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is 1.4%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security)1.4%
Astound Managed SD-WAN1.4%
Other97.2%
Managed Security Services Providers (MSSP)
 

Featured Reviews

JP
Executive Pastor at Grace Community Fellowship
Helps us increase network performance, provides speed for streaming audio and video, and gives us room to grow
I told Astound and Mark III about our needs and desires. We needed a Meraki firewall and speed on the fiber optic side. Based on our needs, Astound set up our desired solution and designed a system that gives us room to grow. We have no limitations based on what Astound or Mark III have provided. The setup was straightforward. Astound was very thorough about what would occur and what we needed to provide. On the day of installation, a Mark III representative and Astound made sure that everything we needed was taken care of. The initial setup took two hours. On the network side, it took two or three days just to define IP addresses and get through the firewall. Astound connected us with Cisco immediately to work on the Meraki unit. That was resolved that day. The router and equipment came from Astound. Then Mark III came in, designed it, laid it out, connected it, and configured it. When the network was installed, they worked with the sound team to make sure that our office, audio, and video needs were being met. Our primary need is WiFi because we need to meet the needs of our members and teams in various ministries on Sunday mornings. We have met that goal. We pay a company to manage our network, so we haven't had any issues. Everything is done remotely. We don't have an IT person in-house.
reviewer2875401 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Unified security policies have protected our hybrid network with deep, user-based controls
The main limitations of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) are not in Check Point itself but in the cloud platforms on which it is deployed. Because not all clouds have L2 infrastructure, you cannot build a unified clustering system everywhere. As a result, the problem usually is not with Check Point, but with the cloud. The main problem with Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is that it uses a separate thick client instead of a browser. A browser-based SmartConsole exists, but it still has a number of limitations, while the thick client, the so-called SmartConsole, often works unstably, freezes, and has to be restarted. I do not recommend using Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) as a VPN hub for site-to-site VPN because it is inconvenient to monitor the state of its tunnels, especially visually. It does not have a convenient snap-in and everything can be checked only via the console, which is very inconvenient. Check Point is not the most universal solution as a device that provides routing and administration capabilities in addition to security. It is an excellent firewall, but it has a number of limitations in terms of routing and in creating VPN sessions, especially in terms of displaying their states.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It's just a huge improvement compared to where we came from. I can get in, configure, identify, and reconfigure, and I don't have to troubleshoot anything. It's all very easy and flows really well."
"Astound is adequate, sufficient, and gives us room to grow."
"The solution is easy to use; I haven't had any troubleshooting issues, and we're getting exactly what we paid for, if not more."
"The tool's most valuable features are inspecting internet traffic and IPS. We can manage the firewall using shared policies from a single management server."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its scalability. You will only have to pay less for scaling up. Its notable benefit is deployment complexity. Regional deployment is simpler compared to on-premise setup."
"We were able to seamlessly extend our on-premise protection to Cloud and didn't require any effort."
"I like the tool's ability to manage cloud traffic locally without routing it through our data centers."
"One of the most valuable features is the automated threat prevention, which helps us detect and block potential cyberattacks in real-time, minimizing data breaches."
"The automation and unified security management have helped me significantly; it saves me eighty percent of the time and reduces errors."
"The solution's most valuable feature is scalability. We can increase the number of CPUs, memory, and firewall throughput easily. Using CloudGuard Network Security for managing cloud firewall rules is considered easier than using the normal security groups provided by Azure or AWS."
"The solution is reliable."
 

Cons

"As a church, we don't employ a typical IT person, so it would help if they could set up a more user-friendly layman's type of profile and settings, where everything is simplified into layman's terms. For example, it could say, "Turn internet speed up for guest use," or "Turn it down," or "Turn it off," or "Reset it.""
"As a new customer opening our first worship center, I would have liked for Astound to provide examples of products other churches use."
"I would like to see more focus on east-west traffic inspection and AWS."
"They are coming out with more SD-WAN express route support from a firewall perspective. That would be great."
"The initial setup was a bit complex."
"If you compare the GUI with the Palo Alto and Cisco, they're very easy. Check Point, due to its design, is a little bit complex."
"We have done a lot of automation with the firewall, but sometimes, there are some failures because of some bugs. The fixes for them are still not available. We have daily or weekly communication with the Check Point people giving support in the India region, but we have not seen much improvement or response to our requests for some additional features."
"Our biggest complaint concerns the high resource usage for IDS/IPS, as we cannot turn on all of the features even with a recent hardware upgrade."
"The product needs to offer multi-tenancy."
"The core security features of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security work really well, but a few usability areas hold it back: the policy propagation speed and parts of the interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Financially, it was a big jump. We went from just shy of a couple of hundred bucks a month to close to $1,200. It's an expense that, although it's significantly higher than what we were paying, is worth it."
"I do not have too much to compare to, but if I compare it with Azure Firewall, Scale Set is quite good. It has quite a good price."
"It is more expensive than other solutions and would be more competetive in the market if it came down in price."
"Handling costs is not my department. Licensing has been quite acceptable. It is a bit easier now, but when I began working with CloudGuard, it was a bit too technical."
"On average, it is normally on the lower end, being less expensive than Palo Alto or Cisco."
"Although I don't have specifics for pricing, based on my overall experience, I can conclude that Check Point provides the best pricing when comparing to other vendors."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable."
"The pricing is pretty high, not just for your capital, for what you have to pay upfront, but for what you pay for your annual software renewals as well, compared to a lot of other vendors. Check Point is near the top, as far as how much it's going to cost you."
"Licensing is available on a monthly or yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Construction Company
17%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business73
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise81
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
Since we use a unified standard for using policies and modules in Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security), we can clearly plan which modules we need to activate on a parti...
What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
The main limitations of Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) are not in Check Point itself but in the cloud platforms on which it is deployed. Because not all clouds ha...
What is your primary use case for Check Point CloudGuard Network Security?
Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) is the main manager that provides network security in different forms in my organization. The primary task that Check Point solves ...
 

Also Known As

RCN Business Managed Security
CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point vSEC, CloudGuard IaaS, Check Point Virtual Systems, Check Point CloudGuard Network Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Physicians Choice Laboratory Services, Helvetica Insurance
Find out what your peers are saying about Astound Managed SD-WAN vs. Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.