Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

We are using Fortinet FortiGate for enterprises. We are a partner of Fortinet.

Its features are very good for the price. Their support is also very good. A lot of expertise is available in the market in terms of engineers. 

The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are its simplicity, ease of installation, and ease of functionality. It is very easy to learn and implement, and everything is clear. The deployment of Fortinet FortiGate is very straightforward. 

I would like to see improvements in Fortinet FortiGate regarding the active-active scenario. The active-active scenario is supported but not recommended, whereas other vendors are implementing active-active without issues. Perhaps in the future, we could effectively use both firewalls to increase the throughput. If there are two boxes, they both should be able to work.

Other than that, I don't have anything. I'm very happy with the features.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate regularly for a few months only, though I have previously encountered one or two installations.

Fortinet FortiGate is very stable.

There are multiple options available for small, mid-sized, and large-scale deployments.

My experience with the technical support for Fortinet FortiGate is very good. I only had one bad experience. I would rate them a nine out of ten.

It is very straightforward to deploy.

In terms of maintenance, many features are automated, including antivirus updates that happen regularly without intervention. Simply connecting the firewall to the internet enables automatic downloads of everything.

It was recently implemented, so it is too early for that assessment.

It is very cost-effective. You get features similar to other firewalls, such as Palo Alto, but at a lower price.

I have not worked extensively with Palo Alto, but from various comparisons, Fortinet FortiGate is understood to be a cost-effective version of Palo Alto. While Palo Alto has more features, Fortinet FortiGate offers similar functionality.

Currently, we are not using SD-WAN, but we will implement it as it is a very impressive built-in feature. We will implement it for one of our customers in the near future.

Fortinet FortiGate is a very good next-generation firewall. It is not very expensive and offers plenty of models to suit various needs. The licensing options are extensive. The day-zero protection is very good. FortiCloud is also excellent. The geo-protection is effective and serves its purpose. 

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

On-premises

The main use cases for Fortinet FortiGate are for small, medium to large enterprises, and they also have products for SOHO (small office/home office). That is where they stand out.

The main benefits that Fortinet FortiGate brings to the table include the ease of configuration, stability of the product, and excellent support. When a customer is using Fortinet FortiGate, they will not look at any other products for expansion or upgrades. In terms of price and performance, it gives a very good, balanced product.

One of Fortinet FortiGate's best features is in terms of the configuration; it is one of the easiest to configure. It is very easy and based on ASICs. In terms of performance under scalability and stability, I would rate it amongst the best. I have not come across a product that I have had to replace or generate an R&D for to date.

There has not been any impact in terms of performance for customers because Fortinet FortiGate is dependent on the architecture, which is totally different. They have security processors, network processors, and they work on a different architecture compared to other products. To be very frank, we have not had any performance issues when deploying SD-WAN and a next-generation firewall together.

Regarding improvements for Fortinet FortiGate, there is always room for improvement in any product. In information technology, things fade away quickly, and new technologies come in. It is how quickly each of these companies adapts to that and brings in more value to the customer.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for over fifteen years.

For scaling Fortinet FortiGate, I am not sure about scaling down as we have not had any instances, but scaling up has presented no challenges.

I would rate the Fortinet FortiGate technical support as extremely good so far. I have not had any issues, and I would rate it the same as Cisco.

Positive

One pro for the Fortinet FortiGate compared to Palo Alto, Cisco products, and WatchGuard is that the architecture is different because they use specific processors to handle different types of traffic, both security traffic and routing traffic. They keep enhancing the processors as they improve the capabilities of the product. As for cons, I do not see anything at this point in time.

The initial setup for Fortinet FortiGate is extremely simple. It takes about five minutes to get it up and running. It is that easy. Nothing beyond that.

The deployment process for Fortinet FortiGate is generally very simple. We give the prerequisites to the customer in terms of a number of man links they want to connect and what the LAN subnet and number of subnets are. These initial details are gathered from the customer. Once the appliances are in place, we begin with the contribution to the content management interface. Most of the time, we start with the LAN configuration and the LAN network configuration. Then we move to firewall policies based on the organization's requirements, licensing the product on the cloud, and subscription licenses. In some cases, we configure VPNs and site-to-site VPNs. That is about it, and there are certain features that need to be enabled, which we will enable.

One thing I would definitely state about Fortinet FortiGate is that, in terms of performance, if compared with a product of the same price point, Fortinet FortiGate will outperform it. This way, the customer has a better ROI because they do not have to look at changing it or looking at an upgrade frequently.

I find the pricing setup cost and licensing for Fortinet FortiGate reasonable.

I work with Fortinet FortiGate SD-WAN extensively. My experience in integrating SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate in the network is that it is very easy.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate as a highly mature product. I have been working with them for quite a long time and have multiple implementations across India. I have not come across any instance where I had to replace the product.

My advice for others looking into implementing Fortinet FortiGate is to plan the capacity properly and right-size the product for the specific customer, which is most important. When choosing the wrong model, some run into issues where it is not supporting that procedure, the system going under load, and similar issues. It is primarily important to spend more time on the design and finalize what is required in terms of the appliances.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate this solution 10 out of 10.

Fortinet FortiGate is a perimeter firewall which we are using for protecting our network and for defining policies so that only restricted access is given from outside to serve this purpose.

Fortinet FortiGate serves as our perimeter firewall which we utilize for protecting our network and defining policies to ensure only restricted access is given from outside.

A disadvantage exists when we are collecting the logs, as it sometimes becomes very difficult to interpret the logs that are generated from the firewall. The main challenge is finding out which IP is generating what kind of traffic.

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for more than 10 years. We started with FGT 60, then moved on to 100, then 300, and currently we are using 501E.

It went smoothly and we have found it very useful because we have a redundant internet lease line. It takes care of all our requirements.

We have been informed by Fortinet FortiGate that it has already reached the end of service. It will be supported until next year, so we might procure a new solution. It cannot be scaled, so we will have to replace the box itself.

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for quite a long time. As mentioned, we have used the last four series, and we found the product to be very stable. We regularly update it when updates are available, and the support has been good so far.

Positive

We are not using any previous solutions.

The system integrator performed the installation and it went smoothly. My team mentioned it is very easy to do the setup. Since it is software-based rather than hardware-based, and our people are very familiar with the software, the implementation proceeded smoothly.

The system integrator performed the installation.

We have received a very good ROI. It has provided significant time savings of almost 20-25%.

The solution is affordable.

My team has indicated that Fortinet FortiGate is more simple and secure compared to alternatives.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

On-premises

Other

The main use cases for the product revolve around perimeter security, and it depends on LAN to WAN traffic, especially in work-from-home scenarios wherein the customer wants to access the local infrastructure remotely. It is also sometimes used in data centers, but many times Palo Alto is used.

Fortinet FortiGate serves as the first line of defense. It is robust and easy to configure, and I haven't seen any breaches happening when configured properly based on best practices. In the Indian market, clients have a lot of trust in this product.

The most useful functions of Fortinet FortiGate are SD-WAN, which is very easy to configure. Its user interface is also very good, making it easy for any engineer to explain configuration changes over the phone without needing to take remote access. Integration of SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate is simple to integrate.

They are already making improvements with the integration of AI and machine learning (ML). While I haven't personally used these features yet, I see that the focus is primarily on AI operations that fall under the umbrella of AI and ML. Additionally, they offer FortiManager with a signal dashboard that allows for the monitoring and configuration of multiple FortiGate firewalls, which is quite impressive. Moreover, they now provide a SaaS offering for FortiManager, which I believe is a good development overall.

If they can come up with a feature that allows scalability within the firewall itself, such as 'scale as you grow,' that would be a valuable improvement. Fortinet is already implementing AI and ML, although I haven't used it personally. AI ops are covered under it, and they also have FortiManager, which allows for monitoring and configuring multiple Fortinet FortiGate firewalls through a single dashboard.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for more than 10 years.

When it comes to stability, I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten, as I haven't seen any downtime wherever I proposed it.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate's scalability as an eight out of ten.

I would rate the support from Fortinet a nine out of ten.

We also work with Palo Alto solutions. Palo Alto has a distinct advantage because it offers some great features that are already available, such as DNS security, which we have a lot of experience with. Palo Alto is unmatched in a data center environment. This is why many people tend to trust Palo Alto firewalls more compared to FortiGate. As for perimeter security, FortiGate excels in that area.

In most small and medium enterprises and SMBs, we usually propose SonicWall, and for enterprises, we work with Palo Alto or Fortinet FortiGate, depending on the requirement. It makes sense to propose the Fortinet FortiGate firewall, especially if the customer is already using the SD-WAN feature.

The initial setup for Fortinet FortiGate is simple.

The only challenge with Fortinet FortiGate is the pricing model.

Currently, we are considering Fortinet FortiGate solely for perimeter security, and for SASE and other approaches, we go with other solutions. I have not used AI and ML FortiGuard services with Fortinet FortiGate yet.

Overall, I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

We usually use Fortinet FortiGate for a perimeter firewall, but also for our outbound traffic as well as for the tunnels, with around 40 to 50 tunnels on our firewall.

We are using it in our data center; we have the 2,000 series HA firewalls.

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.

We enable the SD-WAN zone to handle multiple ISPs, allowing it to automatically switch over the WAN link if any latency hits the threshold value, eliminating the need for manual failover. The impact of SD-WAN on our network performance provides great stability with zero downtime; it immediately switches over without any delay, not even a fraction of a second.

Fortinet addresses many vulnerabilities with respect to SSL VPN on their devices; quarterly patch upgrades are released, and the Fortinet team is retiring remote VPN services in favor of whole encrypted IPsec remote VPN to enhance security against hackers.

I have found Fortinet FortiGate's user-friendly design to be the most valuable feature so far. Anyone can easily understand how exactly it works, unlike Palo Alto and Check Point which are complex to understand. 

I believe one area that could be improved in Fortinet FortiGate is posturing, specifically for remote VPN users, as there are OS-based limitations I encountered with only Windows; adding domain restrictions for VPN access would make it more competitive and useful.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for almost five years.

Overall, my impression of the stability of Fortinet FortiGate is very good, as I haven't seen any issues in the five years I've been using it, and there is no degradation of services on the firewall. However, I have observed some issues with FortiAPs, which is a different platform.

Based on my experience, Fortinet FortiGate is very scalable. Earlier it was suitable for mid-infra, but now we can use the firewalls for enterprise-level needs.

Whenever I am stuck or need help, Fortinet support is available 24/7, regardless of the time zone I'm in, and they immediately jump in to assist, provided it is licensed.

Positive

Before implementing Fortinet FortiGate, we were using SonicWall and ASA firewalls, which have now been replaced. The reason the previous firewalls were not suitable for our company anymore is that they were not competitive; they lacked UTM features, had limited VPN capabilities, and were outdated, which led us to select Fortinet over Cisco FTD for future needs.

It's not so complex. It's user friendly. I have implemented more than hundred devices from scratch.

As partners with Fortinet, we are end-users of this tool for our customers.

I am not exactly aware of the pricing of Fortinet FortiGate, but I would say it is considerably cheaper compared to other firewalls.

I evaluated other options, particularly Palo Alto. Fortinet FortiGate is user-friendly and as competitive as Palo Alto, Check Point, and FTD. It has the same features as other vendors but at a lower cost.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

On-premises

We have a Fortinet FortiGate 900 series that is a big UTM. We also have 10 Gig switches, all fiber, for distribution of the service provider's connections.

The key features include SD-WAN, firewall use, intrusion prevention, intrusion detection, and application control. 

I have tested 90% of the features that Fortinet FortiGate offers. This type of solution helps us integrate all communications of our company. They guarantee operational continuity of our company and reduce risks by eliminating and detecting threats. This solution gives us agility.

The area that Fortinet may improve is customer support. When you have an incident, situation, or open a case, the support is not as good as Cisco or other platforms I have tested. There are many opportunities for improvement.

I've been using the solution for eight years.

Currently, we are experiencing a general outage of one of the main internet service providers of the Dominican Republic, and we have not been impacted in our operations because with SD-WAN, we have another internet service provider and we are working with the second WAN connection without any disruption.

The area that Fortinet may improve is customer support. When you have an incident, situation, or open a case, the support is not as good as Cisco or other platforms I have tested.

Before Fortinet FortiGate, we had Cisco.

It was not easy. While it might be easier now than eight years ago, you have to be careful and ensure you use a great partner that helps you implement this solution as easily as possible.

The experience is good when you use a quality partner or integrator. We use an integrator, located in the Dominican Republic. They have great support here and extensive knowledge.

The return on investment is great. Previously, we were using a dedicated point-to-point connection from the service provider that cost approximately $3,000 a month. When we implemented Fortinet FortiGate, we changed to two internet high-speed dedicated connections, costing approximately $2,000 in total, resulting in significant cost savings.

The cost efficiency is notable because it is an overall product with a mid-range price point, and you receive more value for the price.

Before Fortinet FortiGate, we had Cisco.

The only product that I have not integrated yet is the Unified SASE. This gives my team agility because as the Chief Information Security Officer, I do not have frequent contact with the platform, but my team has this interaction. 

On a scale of one to ten, I rate this solution a nine.

On-premises

Other

I use Fortinet FortiGate to secure our infrastructure, user data, data encryption, and to prevent DDoS attacks. 

I also have experience with FortiManager and FortiCloud. I have experience in integrating SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate because I am using SD-WAN with multiple ISP lines, using it as a load balancer and for specific route traffic.

Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted our organization by preventing hackers from accessing our network.

The performance of hardware-assisted DDoS protection in Fortinet FortiGate when managing data center traffic is very good.

One of the best features of Fortinet FortiGate is VLAN. Dynamic Segmentation and SD-WAN are also very good. 

It is stable and easy to use. There are a lot of good resources available on the web.

Fortinet FortiGate could be improved in terms of user friendliness at the policy level and assigning URL based and keyword based features.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for around three years.

Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution and the best solution.

The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good.

I would rate technical support from Fortinet a ten out of ten.

Positive

Before choosing Fortinet FortiGate, I was using Sophos Cyberoam, which is outdated. I switched from Sophos to Fortinet FortiGate because the Sophos device was outdated, not providing the same SD-WAN features at the same cost and central level.

We got our ROI in the second year due to its stability.

The licensing cost is at the intermediate level.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten. 

On-premises

I am reselling FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) or handling the administration of this product for various customers such as universities and those in the hospitality industry.

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is more realistic in application, allowing for more specific, customized security policies without the extensive work involved with static rules. This feature is what I desire from the next-generation product. Its segmentation capabilities allow me to apply rules based on team needs or social networks, automatically updating for new networks. This removes worry about what happens when a new social network appears.

It would be better if there was more transparency regarding what the automatic rules do. When a site is blocked, it is necessary for me to consult the logs to understand what the Next Generation Firewall policy has blocked. There is usually no information about what is included or not included in these automatic rules.

I have had about five years of experience with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW).

The support is not good because I generally search for solutions online. When I open a case, they usually identify it as a bug they are working on. I must study the best version to install to avoid previously found bugs.

Neutral

The initial setup of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is pretty straightforward and easy.

For one implementation, only one person is needed for configuration. However, for tasks like interconnecting, putting the device in a rack, and other physical requirements, more people are required.

The licenses are expensive, and whenever a customer needs to renew the license, it becomes a significant expense. However, the hardware itself is relatively inexpensive compared to the license costs.

Netgate pfSense and FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) differ significantly in terms of pricing and features, with FortiGate offering many more features.

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) a seven.

My customers use Fortinet FortiGate for various purposes. The security services provided by Fortinet FortiGate are quite strong. 

I have had use cases where FortiGate helped to protect the mission-critical data for my customers. 

FortiGate is effective at protecting the data at the edge.

What I appreciate about Fortinet FortiGate is its effectiveness. The feature that I find the most effective is threat prevention. 

The mean time to respond and the remediation process is sped up. FortiGate has also helped to consolidate tools and applications for my customers.

The firewall has indeed helped customers to consolidate tools and applications. Once everything is set and done, maintaining FortiGate can have its challenges.

Fortinet FortiGate brings numerous benefits to my company.

The good things aside, there are improvements needed in the Fortinet FortiGate. My customers requested specific features to be included in the Fortinet FortiGate.

My experience with the Fortinet FortiGate is recent, as I worked with it less than a year ago.

My impression of the stability of FortiGate is that it is quite stable.

When it comes to scalability, I find it scalable.

I have escalated questions to Fortinet's tech support.

Positive

We need to compare different firewalls, including Fortinet FortiGate and Hillstone, and then suggest the better one to our clients.

The initial implementation part is straightforward, but it has some complexities. My implementation strategy involves several steps that I take when deploying it.

I do have hands-on experience working with the products, and I do the POCs and implementation part.

When it comes to the ROI, the return on investment of FortiGate can be a bit hard to estimate, but based on my experience, I find it to be quite favorable. Overall, Fortinet FortiGate has indeed helped to reduce the total cost of ownership for my customers.

My impression of the firewall's ability to provide network and security coverage is positive. 

When it comes to sustainability, my impressions of the firewall are favorable.

The size of the environment with Fortinet FortiGate was significant, including many endpoints and users, and it involved enterprise-level business.

Based on my experience, I would say to someone considering purchasing Fortinet FortiGate's data center firewall is that it's a good choice. I would give Fortinet a solid score.

The SD-WAN feature of Fortinet FortiGate has been most impactful in maintaining our network's integrity.

Fortinet FortiGate's threat detection capabilities are good for our use because it's an internal firewall; however, we haven't enabled some of the features that are there. We've enabled IPS and antivirus generally.

They could improve the response time and quality of support.

I'm not sure what additional features they need to have in the future to make it better. For the purpose that we use it, it is doing the job, but I haven't explored some of the features.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for seven years.

I haven't had any issues with the stability or performance of the actual firewall. It has been fine with no bugs.

We didn't have to think about upgrading or anything; it does what we bought it for. If it wasn't for the end of support and the end of sale, we would not think about changing it. We are considering similar products for upgrading, maybe newer or bigger hardware.

The product is scalable. Currently, 120 people are using Fortinet FortiGate in my company.

I would rate their technical support about six out of ten; I'm not fully satisfied. They could improve the response time and quality of support.

Neutral

Fortinet FortiGate has delivered financial and operational ROI to my organization. It took about two to three years to realize ROI with Fortinet FortiGate.

At the time we bought them, I was satisfied with their pricing; I don't know how the new pricing will be.

We have to pay additionally for maintenance or support; it is not all included.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a seven out of ten.

On-premises