I use Fortinet FortiClient across various scenarios to enhance security.
Senior Network Specialist & Project Manager at Elmec Informatica Spa
Offers excellent scalability and flexible licensing options
Pros and Cons
- "What I find valuable in FortiClient is its patch management capabilities, allowing remote updates efficiently."
- "One area for improvement in FortiClient is the speed of connectivity."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
What I find valuable in FortiClient is its patch management capabilities, allowing remote updates efficiently. Additionally, the integration with FortiNAC and FortiGate servers is advantageous for a holistic security approach. The suite's ability to log and report information is user-friendly and effective.
What needs improvement?
One area for improvement in FortiClient is the speed of connectivity.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiClient for ten years.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiClient is highly scalable. It can easily handle a significant increase in users, and the scalability is practically seamless. In my company, we currently have around 10,000 users.
How was the initial setup?
Setting up Fortinet FortiClient is straightforward and user-friendly. The app is easily accessible online, and configuring it is a breeze. For enterprise use, FortiManager streamlines infrastructure management with intuitive blade screens. Deployment involves parallel migration, allowing testing of functionalities before a full transition. The process is efficient, and even for firewall installations, it is manageable with minimal disruption.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Fortinet FortiClient offers a free version, especially if you only need the VPN service. However, licenses are required for additional features. If you want to use endpoint services for network perimeter control or implement OTP, there are specific licenses for those. The free solution covers basic needs, while licenses are needed for advanced functionalities.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Lead Engineer - Work Modernization at Searce Inc
Provides a stable and secure VPN connection for remote access
Pros and Cons
- "From my perspective as an end user, it's consistently stable, and I would rate the stability as a nine out of ten."
- "More integration would be beneficial."
What is our primary use case?
Our main use case is when I need to work from home. For instance, if I'm not going to the office today and I need to access files hosted on our local servers, I use FortiClient to connect to the network. This also helps me avoid using virtual machines that are located on-premises. So, my primary use case is accessing the network remotely via VPN to work with VMs. However, I'm not responsible for the overall management; that's handled by our IT team.
What is most valuable?
Almost every VPN solution offers similar features. You input your credentials, log in, and gain access to a virtual IT environment assigned to you. This is the core functionality of a VPN, and we have that with FortiClient. Personally, it's fine for me.
What needs improvement?
While it's been excellent, I suppose even faster connectivity would be great.
More integration would be beneficial. Faster connectivity is always welcome.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for three years. We use the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
From my perspective as an end user, it's consistently stable, and I would rate the stability as a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's not designed for scalability; it's a VPN solution meant for individual users.
How was the initial setup?
FortiClient was pre-installed on my machine. It is deployed both on-premises and cloud environments.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten because it has been very stable for me.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Principal Software Engineer at Infopulse
Unstable, with lots of false positives and poor filtering
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to configure and manage."
- "It has a horrible performance. It is one of the most unstable VPNs I have ever used."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use of Fortinet FortiClient is to protect endpoint devices against various types of cyber threats, such as viruses, trojans, spyware, and phishing attacks. It also helps to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data and networks and can be used to control access to specific applications and websites.
In addition to endpoint protection, FortiClient can also be used to create secure VPN connections to enable remote access to company resources like Jira, code repositories, corporate Wiki, etc.
How has it helped my organization?
It has a horrible performance. It is one of the most unstable VPNs I have ever used.
Since the project was pushed to use, many employees complained about its instability.
Sure, it has some advanced features, and it is not fair to evaluate it as a VPN only. Unfortunately, the company policies bring most of the resources through protection, and without the VPN, you will be simply blocked.
Therefore, we are paying so much attention to it. With a slow or unstable internet connection, Fortinet becomes a nightmare. I personally numerous times printed tasks from Jira to PDF for other employees due to VPN issues.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to configure and manage.
It is designed to bring additional safety to the machine (it is hard to uninstall by an ordinal user, and it has an in-built web filter). However, implementation is far behind industry standards.
For instance, the Web filter is a component that provides protection against web-based threats by blocking access to malicious or inappropriate websites. It might bring additional safety. However, in the real world, it constantly produces:
- False Positives, which can result in legitimate websites being blocked. This can be frustrating for end-users and potentially impact their productivity.
- FortiClient's Web filter may also over-block certain websites, even if they are not malicious or inappropriate. This could result in users being unable to access legitimate websites that are important for their work, causing delays or disruptions.
What needs improvement?
The solution needs network stability, especially when the internet connection is not stable.
Forticlient should provide proper polling functionality to try to keep the session alive by all possible means. We have seen certain improvements over the past year. However, it is simply not enough to be treated as a good yet even acceptable tool to use. It is currently producing more issues than adds value.
The web filter quite often blocks random sites, including online dictionaries, governmental sites, etc. Review of the wrong block reports simply doesn't work.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for around a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is not stable enough.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution offers a weak performance.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
After the merger, our project was forced to use Forticlient.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I know nothing about pricing.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We had no options to choose from.
What other advice do I have?
If your employees might have a weak internet connection (for instance, mobile) think twice before choosing this configuration. If you decide to have FortiClient, never use the WebFilter component. Even Microsoft analog works better (if you really need it).
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager at Inspira Enterprise
Easy to install with useful security features
Pros and Cons
- "FortiClient's most valuable features are that it's easy to install and connect and has OTP on email IDs and two-factor authentication."
- "FortiClient's most valuable features are that it's easy to install and connect and has OTP on email IDs and two-factor authentication."
- "FortiClient's encryption key could be stronger so that it's not broken too easily."
- "FortiClient's encryption key could be stronger so that it's not broken too easily."
What is our primary use case?
I mainly use FortiClient to connect my laptop to my data centers.
What is most valuable?
FortiClient's most valuable features are that it's easy to install and connect and has OTP on email IDs and two-factor authentication.
What needs improvement?
FortiClient's encryption key could be stronger so that it's not broken too easily.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using FortiClient for about three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FortiClient is stable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate FortiClient nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Diretor Técnico at TND Brasil
An endpoint security solution with VPN and web filtering capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "The integration of VPN services with endpoint security is valuable."
- "The integration of VPN services with endpoint security is valuable."
- "The features for application control and device control must be improved."
- "The features for application control and device control must be improved."
What is most valuable?
The integration of VPN services with endpoint security is valuable. Web filtering and application control are also valuable.
What needs improvement?
The features for application control and device control must be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
We are a reseller, and we have been working with this solution for three years.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate it an eight 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. Reseller
Senior Engeneer
High performance, reliable, and simple deployment
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiClient is its performance."
- "I would recommend this solution to others because it is very good."
- "Fortinet FortiClient could improve the compatibility with mobile applications that are allowed and sometimes they do not respond. However, Microsoft Windows applications are very good."
- "Fortinet FortiClient could improve the compatibility with mobile applications that are allowed and sometimes they do not respond."
What is our primary use case?
I'm using Fortinet FortiClient to connect to servers on my company while working remotely from home. Additionally, I use it to connect to cloud applications and cloud servers. It's my company's gateway.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiClient is its performance.
What needs improvement?
Fortinet FortiClient could improve the compatibility with mobile applications that are allowed and sometimes they do not respond. However, Microsoft Windows applications are very good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Fortinet FortiClient for approximately four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Fortinet FortiClient is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have approximately 4,000 technology employees using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
Our internal network team does the support for Fortinet FortiClient. I have not contacted Fortinet FortiClient support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not used another solution other than Fortinet FortiClient.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Fortinet FortiClient is very easy.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others because it is very good.
I rate Fortinet FortiClient an eight out of ten.
I would rate the solution higher if the solution has better compatibility with the mobile application.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Junior Network Administrator at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Reliable with good documentation and the ability to integrate well with other Fortinet solutions
Pros and Cons
- "There is a lot of documentation available online."
- "It works well with the Fortigate Firewall."
- "We've got one client where it was blocking the smartphones, and there's a way to set it up on Fortigate that's supposed to do that. However, it didn't work with them since they had a 2FA multi-factor."
- "We've got one client where it was blocking the smartphones, and there's a way to set it up on Fortigate that's supposed to do that. However, it didn't work with them since they had a 2FA multi-factor."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use it for the SSL VPN. That's what we use it for pretty much exclusively.
What is most valuable?
It works well with the Fortigate Firewall. It works like a VPN for our customers.
We haven't really integrated it with much else other than Fortigate. However, it does integrate well with other Fortinet solutions.
There is a lot of documentation available online.
It's reliable and stable.
The solution can scale.
What needs improvement?
I don't use it enough to be able to say what could be improved.
We've got one client where it was blocking the smartphones, and there's a way to set it up on Fortigate that's supposed to do that. However, it didn't work with them since they had a 2FA multi-factor. It was integrated with a Microsoft NPS server, and it does not work with that. It just blocks everything. Therefore, it doesn't integrate well. If they like to update the Fortigate so that you can VPN in, it’s fine. However, not from smartphones. That doesn't work at all. For somebody with the NPS server, it just screwed everything up. We're still trying to fix that.
For how long have I used the solution?
I’ve used the solution for a couple of years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. It’s reliable. The performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn’t crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable.
From the customer side, I don't know how many users there are per client. I don't know how many clients they all have. We've got a bunch of clients that use it. I don't know how many actual people are using it. They create groups, and people get added to groups, and the groups have access. We're not involved in all that. It's probably more like hundreds, or less than 100. Probably most of our clients would've less than 100 people.
How are customer service and support?
I’ve dealt with support. It's okay. It depends on who you get on the other side. Some of them are very knowledgeable, and others seem to miss the mark. It can be hit and miss.
How was the initial setup?
The solution does not require a lot of maintenance. You might just need an administrator to handle it. Occasionally when things stop working, we have them check what version they have as sometimes they need to upgrade it to the latest. However, in most cases, It's pretty maintenance-free.
What about the implementation team?
We’re integrators. We can handle the setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
They've got a free version that most of our clients have. I'm not sure of the costs beyond that. When you get into the licenses with the EMS and all that, I don't know how much it costs. I'm not on the sales side.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Without really having much in the way of experience with others, it's hard for me to compare it to others.
What other advice do I have?
We’re integrators and resellers.
I don't have the full version, though, as we don't run EMS. However, one of our clients does.
There's a lot of good documentation. Just Google it. You can find what you need about the solution.
I’d rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
Business Development Manager at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Simple to use, simple to download, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "It is very simple to use. I've used some of the others in the past, such as Cisco AnyConnect, which was a nightmare. I've used a couple of others, but FortiClient is very simple to use."
- "It is a good solution, and we don't have any plans to switch to another solution."
- "With the lower-end licenses, it tends to kick you out after eight hours. There is a function where it automatically kicks you out after eight hours. They could improve that and not kick you out after eight hours. Other than that, it is already pretty good."
- "With the lower-end licenses, it tends to kick you out after eight hours. There is a function where it automatically kicks you out after eight hours."
What is our primary use case?
We use Fortinet FortiClient as our VPN client. We have about 50 users.
What is most valuable?
It is very simple to use. I've used some of the others in the past, such as Cisco AnyConnect, which was a nightmare. I've used a couple of others, but FortiClient is very simple to use.
What needs improvement?
With the lower-end licenses, it tends to kick you out after eight hours. There is a function where it automatically kicks you out after eight hours. They could improve that and not kick you out after eight hours. Other than that, it is already pretty good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is reliable.
How are customer service and support?
Their support is very good.
How was the initial setup?
It is easy to set up. You just download the client, and then you put your details in, and it takes you in.
What other advice do I have?
It is a good solution, and we don't have any plans to switch to another solution. It is simple to use, simple to download, and reliable. It is the best VPN client I've used.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner, Reseller
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