Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway comparison

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

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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

Fortinet FortiGate

Featured Reviews

Vasu Gala

Manager, Information Technology Operation/Presales at TechMonarch

A stable solution with an intuitive interface and quick customer service

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations. I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet. Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

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Karel Ondracek

Network Administrator at THK Co Ltd

Faced hardware limitations and setup challenges but have improved network protection over time

I spent much time finding exact firmware on Aruba which was working with these guns, but it is not optimal because it is not the latest version, so there could be potential security problems. We decided to replace those access points with another one. I personally have trouble because I don't know the exact life cycle of Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes. I don't know if the life of boxes is five years or something else; we moved from our previous company, which sold us to other companies. Before 10 years, we had a special department that took care of core networks, including firewalls. After that, this responsibility fell to me and my colleague. It is not easy to set up these Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes properly because we didn't have previous experience with this kind of solution. At first, we set up only a few rules that were not secure enough, and over a couple of years, we improved the settings and security of these Fortinet FortiGate-VM boxes. Currently, I have one Fortinet FortiGate-VM that needs to be replaced next year, and this box is not so powerful, so I need to redirect some traffic to another Fortinet FortiGate-VM. It is stable, but because the CPU processor of this box is not powerful, I need to redirect some traffic to another box. In the future, I need to choose a higher-level box to prevent potential troubles with the power of this box.

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reviewer2399337

Sales and technical consultant at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

User has benefited from stable performance and effective completion of security tasks

I use it mostly for VPN and for some firewall solutions When considering my main use case with VPN, I can say that I got the Zyxel Unified Security Gateway, and it works fine. However, we are thinking about using a different solution based on open source because Zyxel Unified Security Gateway…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall."

"The security features are about the best that I've seen anywhere."

"The response from the technical support team has always been excellent."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable solution."

"The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate was straightforward."

"Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my organization by allowing us to replace all the firewalls in other locations, as around 90% of our company operates on Fortinet."

"The IPS and the application control feature are the most valuable."

"Fortinet FortiGate is a simple solution, and the integration with other solutions in the Fortinet portfolio, such as the Security Fabric integration, is competitive."

More Fortinet FortiGate pros

"The ease of access and user-friendly setup is a valuable feature. Fortinet proves to be particularly straightforward to configure, offering simplicity without complexity. Moreover, visibility is easily attainable due to certain factors. Price, implementation, and budget considerations play a role. When it comes to Cisco implementation, the process tends to be more intricate, which many customers find unfavourable for their business needs."

"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate-VM are the ease of use, IPS system, application filter, web filtering, and email security. Additionally, there is a migration tool that other vendors do not provide. We only need to upload the configuration file to the tool, and it converts everything, except the passwords, and gives us the new configuration, which we can directly upload on the firewall. This migration process takes a maximum of 15 minutes."

"The most valuable feature is the UTM, which gives them an advantage over other firewalls."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is easy to operate."

"In terms of specific features, I like FortiGate's load balancing, interface, and priority on the network."

"Since then, we have been working with Fortinet FortiGate as our primary solution for firewalls."

"It is highly scalable because it has a mesh architecture that allows consistent policies."

"The best part about FortiGate-VM is its strong security."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pros

"The Zyxel Unified Security Gateway solution is stable and does its job effectively."

"The most valuable features of the solution stem from web filtering, malware protection, and antivirus."

"This is a capable appliance and the standard features work well for us."

"The solution can scale well."

Cons

"They should make the product user-friendly and enhance the security features."

"I would suggest that Fortinet add sandboxing to their solution."

"I would like to see the licensing aspect improved because there is a feature we were yearning to use, the bandwidth monitoring feature, but it's licensed separately."

"The search tool needs improvement. It's very difficult to search for policies right now."

"The platform's compatibility with Wi-Fi equipment needs improvement."

"Maybe they could make some features more accessible, such as a way to translate directions between two networks that share the same subnets."

"The solution's stability should be improved because it is extremely unstable."

"The setup is pretty complex and not easy to implement."

More Fortinet FortiGate cons

"SD-WAN could be enhanced to provide a clear division between control and data planes, utilizing controllers to manage tasks within the network."

"The tool does not have a good name in the market, consisting of enterprise-class businesses, making it an area where the product lacks and needs to improve."

"Regarding the effectiveness of Fortinet FortiGate-VM in providing high-level security for high-level customers, we have some visibility issues, so it doesn't seem high level; there's definitely room for enhancement."

"VM should be more optimized."

"The technical support is not very responsive and is an area that needs to be improved."

"At this moment, we believe that Fortinet FortiGate should be improved by injecting more AI because the kind of threats we are seeing are more ransomware threats. Fortinet FortiGate is able to ensure these threats do not enter, but we would prefer to see more proactive alerting mechanisms come out."

"Regarding the solutions, more features need to be introduced."

"New versions are complicated with a big configuration."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM cons

"Although manageable, the user interface is a little bit slow and could be improved."

"Sometimes it reboots when you least expect it, and that's the main issue."

"The product has some scalability and data management issues where improvements are required."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is fair compared to the other competitors."

"The price is high compared to some of the other solutions."

"The licensing scheme of Fortinet is better than Cisco. It is more logical."

"I would rate pricing to be about four or five out of ten, it is reasonable."

"The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition."

"Fortinet FortiGate has different licensing models, depending on what you're going to do. Services included would depend on the license model. Licenses can be renewed annually."

"Fortinet FortiGate is cheaper than Palo Alto. It is about 20% cheaper."

"The beauty is the price performance ratio is great with FortiGate. It provides all the features we needed and the price is comparable with others' firewalls. The price is quite competitive with the firewalls with similar features."

More Fortinet FortiGate pricing and cost advice

"It is a medium-priced product."

"I would rate the product's pricing as four out of five."

"Our license is yearly, but we're thinking of going monthly. I think it's somewhere around 100,000 for VM04. Nowadays, everyone wants to be a hacker, so we believe in security. That's why we also have third-party people that we involve to make sure that we're secure. I don't think the costs are too bad. You still want to get advice from people who worked in security for many years, so you add a third party. The third party also said they would give their share like 100K, or 200K or something like that, so I don't think it's too expensive for security. I think it just adds more trust."

"On a scale of one to ten, where ten is very expensive, I rate the solution around two or three. I think the solution's prices are okay, considering the services and features they offer."

"The price of the solution is competitive. Fortinet FortiGate-VM had a lot of advantages when it came to pricing. However, the competition has also geared up to a larger extent and it has become comparable now to the other solutions."

"The price of the solution could be less expensive. There are some features that have to be purchased separately that have their own license."

"The cost of this product is too high."

"It is an expensive solution if you are migrating from an open source solution."

More Fortinet FortiGate-VM pricing and cost advice

"The price of Zyxel Unified Security Gateway is good compared to other similar products in the market."

"This gateway is pretty cheap."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Media Company

Comms Service Provider

21%

Computer Software Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

Non Profit

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	357
Midsize Enterprise	133
Large Enterprise	189

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	72
Midsize Enterprise	34
Large Enterprise	38

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Questions from the Community

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As a solution, Sophos UTM offers a lot of functionality, it scales well, and the stability and performance are quite ...

Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls

In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it...

Which would you recommend - FortiGate VM or Azure Firewall?

Both of these solutions are excellent options that provide flexible scalability and solid security. Fortinet Fortigat...

What do you like most about Fortinet FortiGate-VM?

An enhanced security solution for any kind of alert that we have configured.

What do you like most about Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?

The most valuable features of the solution stem from web filtering, malware protection, and antivirus.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?

I cannot definitively comment on whether Zyxel Unified Security Gateway is an affordable product as I haven't done co...

What needs improvement with Zyxel Unified Security Gateway?

The integration capability is quite challenging. The system is very complicated, and many features are hidden. I'm lo...

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate

Comparisons

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Azure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

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Palo Alto Networks VM-Series vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 9% of the time

Cisco Secure Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Compared 4% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

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Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs Fortinet FortiGate-VM

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Netgate pfSense vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Compared 12% of the time

Sophos Firewall vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Compared 11% of the time

OPNsense vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Compared 10% of the time

WatchGuard Firebox vs Zyxel Unified Security Gateway

Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Fortinet FortiGate

Download Fortinet FortiGate product report

Fortinet FortiGate-VM

Download Fortinet FortiGate-VM product report

Unified Threat Management (UTM)

Download Zyxel Unified Security Gateway product report

Also Known As

Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall

FortiGate Virtual Appliance, FortiGate-VM

No data available

Overview

Fortinet FortiGate is a versatile network security tool offering features like VPN, firewall, web filtering, intrusion prevention, and scalability. It is known for its performance and integration with other Fortinet products, making it a preferred choice for robust cybersecurity.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out as a comprehensive cybersecurity solution with strong performance and ease of configuration. It delivers unified threat management, integrating features such as dynamic routing, SD-WAN support, and centralized management. Despite its strengths, improvements in the web interface's stability, pricing structures, and reporting capabilities are needed. Users seek better integration with third-party tools and automation advancements to enhance the experience further. These enhancements, alongside improvements in bandwidth management and the reduction of licensing costs, are points of interest for users looking to capitalize on FortiGate's extensive capabilities.

What are Fortinet FortiGate's key features?

VPN: Ensures secure remote connections.
Firewall: Protects against unauthorized access.
Web Filtering: Blocks malicious sites and content.
Application Control: Manages and controls applications.
Intrusion Prevention: Detects and prevents vulnerabilities.
SSL Inspection: Enhances security by inspecting encrypted traffic.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Fortinet FortiGate?

Affordability: Offers cost-effective security solutions.
Reliability: Known for consistent and stable performance.
Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Fortinet products.
Comprehensive Protection: Provides broad threat protection capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is widely implemented across industries as a primary firewall system for securing internet gateways and safeguarding data centers. It supports businesses in achieving SD-WAN integration and enhances cybersecurity by providing essential features like antivirus, web filtering, and application control. Enterprises utilize FortiGate for securing remote connections and ensuring compliance with security standards, making it adaptable for different network sizes and industries.

Fortinet

FortiGate Virtual Appliances allow you to mitigate blind spots by implementing critical security controls within your virtual infrastructure. They also allow you to rapidly provision security infrastructure whenever and wherever it is needed. FortiGate virtual appliances feature all of the security and networking services common to traditional hardware-based FortiGate appliances. With the addition of virtual appliances from Fortinet, you can deploy a mix of hardware and virtual appliances, operating together and managed from a common centralized management platform.

Fortinet

ZyWALL USG Series delivers high-access quality to help businesses satisfy the demand for always-online communications. For internal deployments, the ZyWALL USG Series provides active-passive High-Availability (HA) service to support device or connection failover.

With Device HA Pro service, the ZyWALL USG Series also supports instant failover, so connections are always maintained when a failover event occurs. For external deployments, the ZyWALL USG Series features multi- WAN load balancing/failover and a comprehensive mobile broadband USB modem support list for WAN backup operations. The ZyWALL USG Series also supports IPSec load balancing and failover, providing additional resilience for mission-critical VPN failover with VTI Interface deployments.

ZyWALL USG110/210/310 thoroughly protects networks with industry-leading firewall, Anti-Malware/ Virus, Anti-Spam, Content Filtering, IDP, and Application Patrol functionality. Regulate unauthorized use of Web applications over your network, such as Facebook, Google apps, and Netflix, among others. Zyxel security measures are enhanced with SSL Inspection, blocking threats hidden in SSL-encrypted connections while facilitating deeper policy enforcement. Furthermore, newly improved Content Filtering 2.0 enhances HTTPS Domain Filter, Browser SafeSearch, and Geo IP Blocking for an array of security enhancements to ensure clean Web connections.

Zyxel

Sample Customers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Oracle, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, BT Group, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, NTT Communications, Tata Communications, SoftBank, China Mobile, Singtel, Telus, Rogers Communications, Bell Canada, Telkom Indonesia, Telkom South Africa, Telmex, Telia Company, Telkom Kenya

Security7 Networks, COOPENAE

Information Not Available

Fortinet FortiGate-VM vs. Zyxel Unified Security Gateway