Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

I am working as a presales engineer or system engineer, designing solutions for other clients.

The clients use this solution for their data centers and perimeter security.

The main reason customers prefer Fortinet FortiGate is that it's security-centric, allowing them to implement security features such as a next-generation firewall and translate this to the WAN or SD-WAN architectures, or as a base if they want to grow in more security features or other verticals such as ZTNA and SASE. It's a little baseline for the rest of the verticals or features that can be exploited.

Fortinet FortiGate compares favorably to others in terms of the technology. Second, it's about the relationship they build with their customers. I'm in Colombia, and I can say they have an excellent sales and engineering team that provides a great experience for their clients. They are very attentive and engaged. This company has a rich history; they grow alongside their clients. They take the time to show clients all the benefits and features of the technology they offer. It’s a much more personal experience for everyone involved.

Fortinet Unified SASE is strong for providing consistent security policies across multiple locations. Working with Fortinet in the SASE aspect has been easy. Customers appreciate the features we can offer with Fortinet SASE and ZTNA solutions. They particularly appreciate how they can integrate everything with the baseline of Fortinet FortiGate, and how they can easily apply all the features they need to secure access to different applications from a single console. Some clients use the Fortinet FortiGate data center solution for their data centers as a hub and the perimeter security service.

My experience integrating SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate is in the middle ground. Fortinet FortiGate, as a security-centric fabric, can implement an SD-WAN solution. It can be somewhat manual in some cases, but using other tools that Fortinet has, such as FortiManager, makes implementing an SD-WAN network easier with less effort.

The implementation depends more on the engineer's skill when integrating SD-WAN with Fortinet FortiGate. If you don't have extensive skills in implementing Fortinet FortiGate, it can be difficult, but with more experience, it becomes easier.

In the presales team, I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for about five years, and as a customer, I worked with it for about two years between 2016 and 2018.

Fortinet FortiGate is very stable and secure for customers.

It's easy with Fortinet FortiGate as they have a very good solution for scalability. If we need to grow in branches or licenses, we can easily do it. The most important aspect of growing this solution is their strong enterprise-level account managers, who always help customers find the best solution and an easy path to grow their architecture with Fortinet.

I would rate their customer service around eight because not everything is perfect, but they have very good customer experience and relationship management.

It depends on the size of the company or the solution they want to implement with Fortinet FortiGate. Most companies could have another vendor or baseline products, so we need to depend on the scenario.

It is very straightforward to set up initially. The duration depends on the size of the company and the solution they want to implement. They might already have another vendor or a different baseline of products, which makes things more complex.

As for deployment models, we typically offer both on-premises and cloud options. We have been working with AWS, and it has been a very positive experience. They provide readily available machines, and everything is easy to find in the marketplace.

I believe it's a fair price for the kind of technology they offer their customers. Sometimes, I think they could apply more discounts to engage customers further. This approach would be beneficial, as it helps us expand the solutions available to clients. As for discounts, they do engage clients with them, particularly in strategic business situations, such as with large accounts in sectors like banking and big retail.

When comparing Fortinet to other vendors, Fortinet generally tends to offer better discounts. However, this does not imply that their solutions are of lower quality; rather, they demonstrate expertise in meeting customer needs.

Some users utilize AI and machine learning enhanced features, such as the FortiGuard services, though not all do as the AI features are relatively new. However, we have successfully positioned some features, particularly in areas such as AI. For example, the threat detection capabilities and the AI assistant available in the FortiAnalyzer service are noteworthy. Fortinet offers a license that can be utilized for AI features, especially in FortiManager. Users appreciate this feature because it helps them achieve better network configuration. If they encounter any issues within the network, they can easily leverage AI to find solutions to those problems.

Overall, I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten because while not everything is perfect, they're really doing their best and demonstrating it through their technology.

Majorly, I use Fortinet FortiGate for establishing SD-WAN in different remote locations. I also use it for segmenting wireless from LAN and implementing basic policy routing for departments. The next-gen features on Fortinet FortiGate permit proxy access, where URLs can be specified for specific users or departments to access.

Fortinet FortiGate has several valuable features. The configuration and policy setup are easy to implement. There are embedded features in Fortinet FortiGate, including DLP features, WAF presence in the firewall, and proxy capabilities. It has security profiles that can be set for various functions. In terms of security, it is particularly strong.

SD-WAN offers better reach, good reachability, and enhanced performance for network optimization. People implement SD-WAN today because of reachability and network optimization capabilities.

Fortinet FortiGate is effective in protecting against malicious access. It has a robust security architecture, which is something I truly like about FortiGate.

The SD-WAN integration is very simple. I appreciate the simplicity of the FortiGate system. It's one of the things I like most about it. With FortiAI, it's very easy to input your queries, and the system helps you set it up. If you prefer to do it manually, there is excellent documentation and step-by-step guides available to assist you. For me, the experience has been seamless and straightforward.

I cannot think of many improvements needed for Fortinet FortiGate. However, the pricing compared to competitors is quite high, though you get value for what you pay with Fortinet FortiGate.

With FortiSIEM, I have experienced some challenges. It has been suspended and is not available for utilization now. They should work on improving FortiSIEM.

I have worked with both virtual appliances and physical devices, primarily with hardware devices, for over five years. The models I have used include 60, 100, and 201 series.

Fortinet FortiGate is one of the best firewalls available. There are no crashes or performance issues. It is very stable and reliable.

The solution is scalable.

I have worked with Sophos and Check Point firewalls. Fortinet FortiGate leads compared to other solutions. Based on customer requests, we provide different options. I recommend people should consider Fortinet or Sophos, depending on their needs. Fortinet FortiGate performs well against other firewalls in the market.

The hardware is easy to set up. I have only had issues with the activation of the evaluation license. 

There has definitely been a return on investment with Fortinet FortiGate.

The pricing depends on the capacity required. There are 100 series, 200 series, and 500 series options. The prices are moderate and reasonable for each series.

For organizations using Fortinet FortiGate, it is important to utilize the security profiles properly. Make sure anti-spoofing is set up and networks are well-segmented on the Fortinet. Ensure proxy configuration is based on URL access stability.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We use Fortinet FortiGate for the firewall as well as for the VPN. Any of the users outside the organization use the VPN. Any staff members working outside the office headquarters or our office location use the VPN.

The main aspect that I deal with is URL blocking and web access. I don't work with other aspects of this firewall.

It has upscaled our security posture, especially regarding external connectivity, because any access or connection from the company has to go through the Fortinet FortiGate firewall. It's doing a pretty good job. We do not have any complaints there.

Anything that we don't want to allow is not coming in. Anything we want to allow is not being blocked. We always have the granular control where we can block malicious IPs or subnets if needed.

Geofencing allows us to limit the countries from which we allow IP connections. There are many features that I may not even know or haven't explored, but in general, Fortinet FortiGate is doing a pretty good job for us. 

The web controls are what I appreciate about Fortinet FortiGate. We have extensive controls over areas where we could block external-facing IPs, external URLs. We can do geo-fencing with the firewalls, which is a good feature. 

There are too many updates coming for VPN, and the VPN keeps disconnecting frequently, which I find problematic. It does what it's supposed to do, but I practically face reconnection issues with the VPN. 

Regarding the Fortinet FortiGate firewall, I don't have any input. My scope is limited.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for around three years.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable. We haven't seen any latency issues related to it, though we do experience latency from ISPs.

I would rate the scalability as eight out of ten based purely on my exposure to security controls relating to URL blocking and website access. 

I haven't had a chance to work with Fortinet FortiGate technical support, but from my colleagues' experience, they say the Fortinet FortiGate people are easy to reach but hard to schedule time with. It's not as easy as having the Fortinet FortiGate engineer on the call and getting other teams involved; it requires careful arrangements to join in with the Fortinet team. I would give their support a neutral score of maybe five.

Neutral

I don't know why we switched to Fortinet FortiGate from Juniper; it's a management decision.

I was not involved in the deployment. I think it's not that difficult; there's no complexity involved as long as we are clear on what we want to do.

We have it on both cloud and on-premises.

I was not part of the team that implemented it. I don't know how much they invested, but it would be worth the investment.

My overall experience with Fortinet FortiGate rates as eight out of ten. 

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.

I have experience working with Cisco, Catalyst SD-WAN, Fortinet FortiGate, and Juniper technologies. We have a multi-range of vendors including Cisco, Juniper, VMware, and Palo Alto. We use Palo Alto firewall and Fortinet FortiGate firewall for wireless security and network security, including proxy and next-generation capabilities.

Most vendors are providing almost the same functionalities in terms of firewalls. Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Juniper are all offering similar capabilities, but they have a wide range of services or products such as SD-WAN and SASE. Currently, we are a big enterprise and one of our products is Fortinet FortiGate.

Fortinet FortiGate has reasonable pricing and is easy to operate. It is efficient and represents the future for security, including cloud security and branch-to-cloud security.

We have threat intelligence detection, response, and action capabilities. Fortinet FortiGate products are stable, and they offer a wide range of security capabilities.

We did not use Fortinet SASE, and I do not remember if our data center team utilizes it. Currently, I think Fortinet should enable more cloud, virtual, or unified solutions. One point against them is that their solution lacks a unified approach. Sometimes the licensing is not clear, and when you purchase a product, you find that you need certain licenses or additional products. There is not one comprehensive solution.

Three years.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable. We have been using it for three years and did not face any stability issues.

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for three years and did not face any scalability issues.

I do not have good visibility about Fortinet FortiGate's tech support because it is similar to other vendors. There is tech support available, and if there is an operational issue, the operations team opens a ticket with tech support.

We work with local companies and local partners. Both the vendor and official channels work with local partners for implementation.

I do not remember there being challenges or complexity in the deployment of Fortinet FortiGate.

We work with local companies and local partners. Both the vendor and official channels coordinate with local partners.

Fortinet FortiGate's price is reasonable compared with other vendors.

Fortinet FortiGate is in a good position. In Gartner, they are leaders, but they may come after Palo Alto and are better than Cisco in the firewall field.

We are deploying micro-segmentation technology and methodology in our cloud and private cloud deployment. I can assess that Fortinet FortiGate is good overall. My review rating for this product is eight out of ten.

Fortinet FortiGate is mainly used for next-generation firewall features.

Most of our customers primarily use FortiGate as a general-purpose firewall and for remote work. During COVID, they needed to enable the SSL VPN licenses, which was a straightforward process, and they benefited greatly from that. However, apart from this, I don’t see a significant differentiator between FortiGate and other firewalls.

Most of our implementations are standalone. We have a few integrations as well with Active Directory and other things. It is pretty straightforward, and we have not had any issues.

The main value comes from the simplicity of the product in terms of configuring and managing. 

Their user interface could be improved from a configuration perspective.

I have personally used it for about five years, but the organization has been using Fortinet FortiGate for the organization and customers for about 10 years.

Stability is excellent. We have not had issues from the product itself.

We have deployed Fortinet FortiGate from 50 user locations to 100-200 user locations. We have not had any issues with any of those models.

I would rate their support an eight out of ten. There's always room for improvement. 

Positive

We are a small system integrator and an authorized partner for Fortinet FortiGate, Cisco, Cisco Meraki, Palo Alto, Sophos, and Check Point. We cater to the SMB and upper SMB market and some enterprise customers. Most customers do not require fully fledged integrated solutions.

In Sri Lanka, there is about 40% market penetration for Fortinet. They have partnerships with two telcos, so most corporates with MPLS links who wanted to move out with the operator are offered managed SD-WAN solutions using Fortinet FortiGate.

We have Cisco customers as well, including local customers and global customers whom we support using Cisco firewalls. Comparing Cisco and Fortinet firewalls is challenging. You cannot compare a Ferrari with a normal Nissan sedan from a product and feature perspective. The SMB market segment and the upper SMB market segment are very price-conscious. Cisco does not offer firewalls that are competitively priced for this market segment, especially compared to Fortinet's offerings. They only recently released the 200 series, which can compete with the FortiGate 50 models that we sell.

Fortinet FortiGate is pretty straightforward compared to Cisco.

It is mostly on-prem. One or two clients are using it on the cloud.

Our customers get their ROIs on the price points that we sell in this market.

For the market and the segment that we cater to, the FortiGate pricing structure is sufficient.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

My typical use case for Fortinet FortiGate involves it being one of the best solutions for next-generation firewall. In terms of simplified control and in-built SD-WAN solution, there are no licenses for VPN. From a commercial perspective, it is beneficial. Technically, it has successfully stopped attacks, which is the reason the customer was using Fortinet FortiGate.

The dynamic segmentation feature in Fortinet FortiGate has an in-built switch and wireless access point controller. Fortinet FortiGate has a feature called VDOMs, virtual domains, where you can create multiple virtual firewalls within a single hardware, which is one of the fantastic features.

In terms of effectiveness, Fortinet Unified SASE covers all three use cases: Secure Internet Access, Secure Private Access, and Secure SaaS access. For any security implementation, networking is essential, and Fortinet FortiGate provisions that through FortiGate's SD-WAN. The integration with FortiSASE and Fortinet Forti-SD-WAN is very simple and straightforward.

In terms of improvement for Fortinet FortiGate, I don't find any needed improvements regarding hardware because it is very good. The operating system has most of the features. 

At this moment, I'm not finding any other improvements in this case. They are advanced in this segment. Fortinet FortiGate has in-built automation features and cyber risk assessment.

One suggestion might be to increase the storage size in the hardware for local reporting.

I have nine years of experience working with Fortinet FortiGate.

Fortinet FortiGate is a very stable solution.

In terms of scalability, Fortinet FortiGate provides more throughput compared to other OEMs, so the value for money is very high. If it is a VM, it can be scalable. In terms of hardware, it's all about scalability, throughput, and managing the number of sessions based on the hardware sizing. If the team sizing the firewall does it properly, then the solution is easily scalable.

I would evaluate customer support from Fortinet FortiGate as seven or eight out of ten. The reason I do not give 10 out of 10 for customer support is that while they follow the SLA and there is no issue with that, for them it might be P3, but for us, it might be P1 or P2 case. Remote assistance requirement should support them.

After implementing Fortinet solutions, I evaluate the return on investment as providing more throughput performance. The performance is very high in terms of packet inspection and handling the traffic. It is one of the best solutions in that case. The total cost of ownership will be low because there is no extra additional license for SD-WAN, VPN, or the VDOM feature. Considering all those things, it is a very cost-effective solution.

My advice to others looking into Fortinet FortiGate is that they can consider the return on investment or total cost of ownership. Fortinet FortiGate is definitely a good solution, not less than a better solution. It's very good compared to Palo Alto or Check Point. Those using the Fortinet FortiGate firewall should start using the features part of the solution, either it can be a WAF solution or a security rating or automation features. They can directly integrate with the cloud firewall. Operation technology is doing very well because there are many features where the network and security administrators should start enabling and making use of it. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate this solution nine or ten.

We are using Fortinet FortiGate to block or deny malware and to administrate the network to control the traffic inside and outside.

It has significantly contributed to the effective control and monitoring of the network infrastructure. We could see its benefits immediately after the implementation.

It is complemented by other equipment, such as the Fortinet switch, and it is integrated with other tools that help to prevent cyberattacks, including a web filter, IPS, and application control. 

The user interface of the Fortinet FortiGate management console could be more intuitive and user-friendly, and the log analysis and reporting features could be enhanced to provide more flexibility and customizable insights.

I have had experience with Fortinet FortiGate for one year so far.

Fortinet FortiGate is very stable. I would rate its stability a ten out of ten.

It is scalable. I would rate the scalability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

We are a medium-sized organization.

I would rate Fortinet's customer service as very good. They are good because they provide solutions to problems that we encounter and help us make new changes or meet requirements, and they have the ability to work with us to make the changes that we want.

Positive

We previously used Sophos for web filtering. We now use Fortinet FortiGate for web filtering as well. We switched from Sophos to Fortinet FortiGate because we chose to adopt a Fortinet ecosystem to achieve better centralized control. We wanted to streamline security management while integrating firewalls, switches, endpoint protections, and wireless. 

We used Sophos only for web filtering control applications, but when we switched to Fortinet FortiGate, we achieved better integration with other devices in the security management.

I was involved with the initial setup and deployment of Fortinet FortiGate. It was of medium complexity. It was easy because the tools we were integrating were well-documented, but somewhat difficult due to the learning curve and the need to adapt our legacy system to the new environment.

It took four technical people to deploy Fortinet FortiGate. 

Only two people maintain it; for implementation, we used four people, but to maintain it, it is just two. 

It doesn't require a lot of maintenance. The job roles of those who maintain it include making changes, adjusting web filter configurations, and switching ports. The people who maintain it are network administrators.

I would advise people considering using Fortinet FortiGate to carefully plan the network structure and train the team; Fortinet is powerful, but its full potential comes with understanding the platform. I would recommend starting small, documenting everything, and using its centralized tools to stay secure and efficient.

Overall, I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.