Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

Mostly firewalls.

The best features of Fortinet FortiGate include everything about networking, such as routing and VPNs. Fortinet FortiGate is specifically user-friendly with an easy guide. It is easy to follow and learn about and work with. It has resources available all over the internet with an extensive database. It is very popular, so every community discusses Fortinet FortiGate. Every problem has been solved at some point.

Without a license, it becomes difficult to implement static DNS. The FortiDDNS.com functionality is particularly challenging to access without a license.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for approximately a year and a half.

Fortinet FortiGate is quite stable. The main problem occurs when customers do not update their Fortinet FortiGate properly and regularly. Most issues stem from firewalls not being updated. I have not encountered any problems with Fortinet FortiGate devices.

I have not opened many cases due to lack of need. When we do open cases, we receive fast and friendly replies. The support has been good, though I have not experienced significant issues to fully evaluate this aspect.

I have worked with other firewalls including Palo Alto, specifically their Prisma Access SASE solution. I have also briefly worked with Cisco systems.

I am not in that field, but it is quite expensive, especially for personal or home use.

We recommend it primarily because we have more knowledge in the Fortinet FortiGate field. Customers ultimately choose what they prefer. We work better with Fortinet FortiGate due to our extensive experience with it.

I have not used FortiGuard extensively as it is not in my field. The only SASE solution I have used is Prisma Access from Palo Alto, not the Fortinet FortiGate SASE. The interface is very user-friendly and easy to use, though knowledge of networking aspects, VPNs, and protocols is necessary. Fortinet FortiGate offers great compatibility with other Fortinet FortiGate functions such as IDS, antivirus, and sandbox features.

All problems we have encountered have had straightforward solutions. Throughout my year and a half working with Fortinet FortiGate, I have not found myself needing additional features.

I rate this solution 8 out of 10.

On-premises

The typical use case for the Fortinet FortiGate firewall for my clients is its ease of use. My clients are using Fortinet FortiGate as SD-WAN.

The effectiveness of Fortinet's unified SASE in providing consistent security policies is notable because there is one security profile from either the head office or the branch office, allowing your profile to move seamlessly with you wherever you go. You have end-to-end visibility, and you can look at the analytics. To me, that moves towards SASE.

My clients appreciate it for its features. It is easy to install and manage, and it offers all-around protection, including web filtering, content filtering, IPS, and IDS.

My clients find the next-generation firewall feature of Fortinet FortiGate to be particularly valuable. It provides internet security, network security, cloud security, ZTNA, and SD-WAN security. There is a unified agent for FortiClient. There is centralized management.

Areas of improvement for Fortinet FortiGate include the need for more training and certification, especially when dealing with distributors globally, which presents challenges in product availability and delivery timelines.

There should also be more training and certification.

I have about 10 years of experience with Fortinet FortiGate.

I find Fortinet FortiGate to be a stable solution.

Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable solution, as you can start small, maybe with FortiGate 40F, and then move to FortiGate 60F or FortiGate 80F, depending on your needs.

It depends on who your distributor is. 

Neutral

It is not straightforward, but the implementation is pretty good overall. Every site is different for me. There is no standard site. We have a few different issues here and there, but overall, it's pretty good and straightforward to install. Its integration is not difficult.

It is a matter of learning and understanding the reasons why people need Fortinet FortiGate.

Fortinet FortiGate positively provides my clients' organizations with a high return on investment. There is visibility into network operations, allowing us to identify network issues. It has advanced security features. You can achieve about 200% ROI over three years, while enhancing IT teams' productivity by about 50%. It simplifies security across branches and enhances hybrid and cloud security. There is even a feature where you can predict the application performance.

It's very competitive.

Many users nowadays prefer agentless installations over installing agents on their devices, which presents challenges for endpoint security, especially concerning ZTNA, VPN, and endpoint protection.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

On-premises

In our organization, FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) serves as the main security system for our firewall needs. I have utilized it to manage the firewalls and some other security appliances, such as VPNs. Currently, my usage focuses primarily on firewall management. I set up rules, search for logs, and consult logs when issues arise. This approach covers most of our security management tasks.

One of the most valuable features of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is the ease of usability it offers. It is quite easy for me to learn to use. Additionally, FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) has improved our efficiency in setting up security and provided us with more visibility over some issues and incidents we previously faced.

FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) could be improved by including more templates for setting rules or regular jobs. I do not recall if the software includes any AI features.

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

When deploying FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW), it required one week for the initial setup and just two hours for effective deployment. There were no significant issues during this process.

In my experience, there are usually no significant stability issues with FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW). However, updating the software during issues can be quite convoluted, especially if there is an unexpected attack, such as on a Saturday.

Customer service with Fortinet for FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) has been quite good. We experienced a major issue during one of the upgrades, and it took about an hour to reach support and rectify the problem.

Positive

Before using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW), we used Cisco for our firewall needs. Cisco presented a lot of usability challenges. Setting up firewalls and rules with Cisco was difficult and required extensive knowledge of their system, which led us to switch to FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW).

The initial setup of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) was relatively smooth. It took about one week for the complete setup and two hours for the actual deployment.

The deployment involved two people from my side, and we also had assistance from a vendor during the setup.

In terms of return on investment, FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) has been straightforward. It has notably improved our efficiency and visibility.

The pricing of FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is reasonably affordable. It is suitable for mid-level and high-level companies, though it might not be cheap for small companies.

I would recommend FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) to others. Despite some issues with upgrades and vulnerabilities, Fortinet quickly addresses concerns. Overall, on a scale of one to ten, I would rate FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) as an eight.

I handle solutions architecture for security and systems design. I have customers who use Fortinet FortiGate. 

All the features of Fortinet FortiGate are good. When customers have issues, it's very easy to talk them through the interface, and when they've got any support issues and they want to figure them out themselves, it's very easy for them to contact the FortiGate support. All the knowledge bases have various information and knowledge articles to assist them in getting solutions as quickly as possible.

We use SASE, and it's a great product; I wish FortiGate had come out with it sooner because it helps significantly.

Fortinet FortiGate stands out due to its functionality and longevity. It's stable once you've completed the setup.

In Fortinet FortiGate, they've already improved many areas and built in new features. When considering what can be improved in Fortinet FortiGate, more competitive pricing is needed more than anything else. Fortinet FortiGate is a very good product, but when we look at the South African market, they just need to relook at the pricing because it's a bit pricey for some of the local government organizations.

I've been using Fortinet FortiGate for the last 15 years.

The stability of Fortinet FortiGate rates as a nine out of ten.

It is scalable. I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.

Our clients range from across the board.

It's easy for customers to get assistance with the product.

I would rate their support a nine out of ten. I don't have any problems with the vendors.

Positive

It's mostly on prem. I'm going to do data center solutions and cloud deployment.

It's very easy to do the implementations. Even training the customers on how to do their own rules and whitelists is very easy. On average, it takes me about two and a half hours with all the customization for the clients.

Fortinet FortiGate does not require any maintenance. Once it's done, the only times we do maintenance is if the customer wants something or there are updates.

I've shown them how it works with FortiSIEM, so now I can get them to actually do inspections on their infrastructures every six months, do penetration testing, and see that their environments are secure.

When you look at certain sectors of the market, the pricing is a little high. 

We are implementing FortiGate's data center solution now because I'm starting to let local government sites work through one data center. 

With FortiGate SD-WAN, the impact has been very little on the network performance because we've done certain things at night and certain things during the day, so the impact on the network is very low. In my organization, there are about three Fortinet specialists focusing on FortiGate.

I'd recommend Fortinet FortiGate to other users. Overall, I'd give Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten, with pricing being the main factor preventing a higher score.

On-premises

It is a next-generation firewall used to create policies to allow and deny any traffic. I have used Fortinet FortiGate in the finance sector previously, and we are now using it in the manufacturing side.

In my opinion, some of the best features of Fortinet FortiGate include its ability to block specific applications. For example, if I want to block someone from using Facebook videos, I can disable or use its application control features to block access. Facebook has many components such as video features, chat features, and VoIP calling features, and I can block any of these features to be more granular.

SD-WAN is an excellent feature where you can route the traffic to other WAN links without manual interruption. Technically, you cannot put two default routes on any firewall, but SD-WAN is a feature we can use to divert our traffic from one ISP to another. The impact of SD-WAN on the network performance has been significant. Previously, when we didn't have Fortinet FortiGate, we had Cisco routers where we used manual routing, and if one of the primary links was down, we had to do manual routing. With Fortinet FortiGate, it's much easier as we don't have to do anything; it's already configured, and if something happens, our configuration automatically changes the link and diverts the traffic when one of the links is down.

Fortinet FortiGate can be improved by being more stable because when we look for logs or open a case, we always find a bug and then we have to upgrade it. However, since it's a cost-effective solution, we are satisfied.

I have more than 10 years of experience with Fortinet FortiGate.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable, but it has some bugs, so you have to upgrade it. I would not say it has all the capabilities, but it's good for a manufacturing site.

Fortinet FortiGate is pretty scalable.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate's support at a seven out of ten because whenever I open a case with their support, I have to explain everything and clarify the background. They take some time—at least a day—to see what's happening with the firewall. The agents aren't much experienced in providing solutions, but it's better than Palo Alto's support, which is the worst.

Previously, we had Palo Alto firewalls which were expensive—the contracts were particularly expensive. Fortinet FortiGate is not that expensive and is more affordable when comparing pricing. Nowadays, firms usually look for cheaper models and solutions, so Fortinet FortiGates are good, but for financial sectors, Palo Alto is better.

The main differences between Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are that Palo Alto has more features and functionality compared to Fortinet FortiGate. Palo Alto can be slow, but Fortinet FortiGate is fast. With Palo Alto, we have to commit and it takes five minutes for the configuration to push, which isn't the case with Fortinet FortiGate.

The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate is straightforward. The upgrade process is also straightforward.

It's cost-effective.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten. If you are looking for a cost effective solution and want to avoid the risk, go with the Fortinet FortiGate.

On-premises

We are using Fortinet FortiGate firewall as a data center firewall.

Two aspects I'm happy with regarding Fortinet FortiGate firewall are the easy user interface and its resilience during power interruptions. We experienced two power interruptions where the firewall got disconnected from electricity, but it resumed working normally without any issues. 

The firewall provides enhanced security for our network, and as administrators, we are satisfied with the friendly interface. We are particularly pleased with the Fortinet FortiGate firewall's ability to provide network and security convergence.

We have been using it for three years.

It is scalable.

We did not use any solution before Fortinet FortiGate.

The price-to-performance ratio that we get from using Fortinet FortiGate firewall is very good.

The pricing is affordable. We are satisfied with the Fortinet FortiGate firewall.

I would highly recommend Fortinet FortiGate firewall. We feel more secure after implementing it. We are securing the whole network with the Fortinet FortiGate firewall, not specifically the data. 

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

On-premises

My customers use Fortinet FortiGate for SD-WAN, network security, branch-to-branch communication, site-to-site channel communication, multi-layer protection, authentication, and antivirus solutions. They span various industries, including IT setups, chip-level designing, VLSI companies, software development, SAP implementation, manufacturing, and production groups.

The strengths of Fortinet FortiGate include network security, VPN, site-to-site tunnels, client VPN solutions, two-factor authentication for VPN clients, and SD-WAN for branch level. We have implemented these solutions for various customers.

Regarding challenges, customers initially faced issues like internet dropping, but after firmware upgrades, everything worked well.

I believe Fortinet should offer short and frequent training sessions, preferably in video format, whenever they introduce new features. These sessions should be around five to ten minutes long, allowing users and partners to quickly grasp the information without disrupting their daily tasks.

Long training sessions spanning one or two full days can lead to distractions and reduced focus due to continuous support calls. Therefore, providing brief and focused training snippets would be more beneficial for users.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for six to seven years.

Our customers are satisfied with the stability of Fortinet FortiGate. I would rate it as a ten out of ten for stability.

Fortinet FortiGate is quite flexible and scalable, allowing us to scale up from sixty to a hundred units. However, there are limitations for extremely high production levels. I would rate its scalability an eight out of ten.

Setting up Fortinet FortiGate is straightforward and easy. I would rate it a ten out of ten for ease of setup. The deployment typically takes around two to three hours.

Operational costs for Fortinet FortiGate are pretty low because once it's configured, no changes are needed. In terms of ROI, clients have seen benefits. After switching from other brands to

Fortinet, they experienced fewer support calls. Initially, there were some support calls in the first one to two months, but after that, there were none. Clients are now comfortable and not wasting productive hours on IT support.

The cost of Fortinet FortiGate is competitive and not expensive compared to other enterprise- grade solutions. On average, the license cost per year is around seventy percent of the firewall's purchase price.

Regarding AI elements, I believe Fortinet has the capability to implement machine learning snippets for improved security and advanced configurations, but this should be integrated as part of their overall strategy.

I will advise to focus on configuring the admin tools and monitoring users and serial numbers effectively. 

As for rating the solution, I would give it a ten out of ten for being a very good solution.

There are various use cases for Fortinet FortiGate, including firewall protection for internet access, data centers, branches, and SD-WAN. We use the firewall in multiple locations throughout our network, taking advantage of its many features, such as the promising CDR feature and security profiles like the WAF filter and application DNS security. We deploy these features in different parts of the network. Additionally, some customers use Fortinet FortiGate in the cloud to safeguard their cloud servers within platforms like Microsoft tenants.

Our customers are using Secure SD-WAN for connecting different branches. For example, oil and gas companies have different branches all over Egypt, which are not in the main city, so they need a secure connection and stability for certain protocols, such as voice and things like that. They also need visibility. They need to understand which applications are consuming SD-WAN. 

Some of the customers are also using SD-WAN for load balancing. For SD-WAN, you need at least two internet connections, so some of the customers are using it as a load-balancing technique. Overall, there are a lot of features for which customers are using SD-WAN.

For our customers, Secure SD-WAN is very useful for giving the right priority to the applications and controlling the proper use of the application.

Secure SD-WAN's interoperability with other systems and applications in the environment is very good. The integrated application protection provided by Secure SD-WAN is also good. There is a very good integration with all the applications and portfolios. We don't integrate the firewall with the application itself, but it does what is needed to control and reroute the traffic.

Secure SD-WAN has a lot of benefits. There is a calculator on Fortinet's website. When you feed the right information to that calculator, it tells you how much money you will save by acquiring SD-WAN. The first benefit is that you're going to save money. Instead of buying multiple ISP connections, MPLS, and other such things, you can use the normal internet and apply SD-WAN on it, so you can save a lot of money. You also don't need to increase the bandwidth. SD-WAN helps with the routing of your traffic and the optimum use of your links. It's efficient and secure, and it saves you a lot of money, and of course, there is the security of the firewall that's applied on SD-WAN. If we're comparing it with other vendors like Cisco, you are not getting the firewall features.

It's very efficient. There is a lot of visibility. It reduces the number of incidents. If there is any problem, you can immediately log in to the firewall, and you will know if there is a notification about bandwidth consumption or any other issue, or if there is any drop in connectivity. It makes the operation very easy. It makes it easy for the teams to respond to incidents and manage issues. SD-WAN helps to remediate threats more quickly and efficiently because, with SD-WAN, there are a lot of applications going through different links, so if you can know which link an application is using and what's on the link, you can make the right decision in a very fast way to fix it. It provides both visibility and efficiency.

It reduces your mean time to detect (MTTD). In the new version, which is version 7.x, of the FortiGate firewall, through the main dashboard, you can know what is going on. If you've done the dashboard and you're putting these statistics in front of you on a screen, once you look at it, you'll know what's going on and what's the problem. It, of course, will give you the tools and the right information to reduce the time to solve.

It's hard to say whether it has reduced help desk tickets because it's more on the operational side, but it helps them a lot. The operations team is not handling the firewall. It's either the network team or the network security team. Generally, once it's up and running, it just works. It's different from having an antivirus or something else that can be changed from day-to-day activities. With this one, once you turn it on, the service will be stable unless you have a problem with your internet. It doesn't cause a lot of problems.

In terms of helping to future-proof business, from a partner perspective, it gives you a lot of flexibility to enhance the customer network. It opens a lot of doors for sales, for a new business, and for new potential. That's from the partner side. From the customer side, you can save money and solve a lot of problems. If you need to connect with a few branches all over the country, it's efficient. You don't need to travel for five to ten hours to reach the second branch. If you have proper SD-WAN technology and it's connected in a good way with good vendors, you can save a lot of time, effort, and money. You can have proper connectivity between branches as if the guy you are talking to is next door. So, SD-WAN gives a lot of benefits at the vendor level, partner level, and customer level.

Fortinet FortiGate is user-friendly and affordable.

When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, ease of use is valuable. The visibility and reporting are also valuable. A cool thing is that SD-WAN is free of charge with the Fortinet firewall. You can just use it just by using the Fortinet appliances that you already have in the branches. You cannot have appliances from different vendors. Fortinet customers can use the feature in a very easy way. It takes one click to integrate with the firewalls. It's very very easy to deploy. You don't need to build anything.

In the past, NSS Labs was utilized to test files and verify the numbers and datasheets. It would be beneficial to have an organization or testing lab that can verify the numbers in our datasheets since changes are frequently made, which can be inconvenient for review. For instance, when comparing different competitors such as Forcepoint, Palo Alto, and Check Point, the throughput or numbers in the datasheet may be lower than the actual numbers. Conversely, Fortinet typically reports very high numbers, but they cannot be replicated in the real world. Therefore, it would be advantageous for them to partner with a neutral testing organization such as NSS Labs to validate these numbers, thus providing more credibility and comfort to everyone regarding the accuracy of the datasheets.

For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial. This tool shows a lot of promise and is very good. Making it free would help many companies deliver their products in a more efficient and integrated way. It would also be more valuable to include the tool with the firewall package or license instead of having to pay extra for it. Paying extra puts more pressure on small companies to deliver the firewall and complete the configuration, especially if they have hundreds or thousands of policies. It's very painful to move through these policies line by line.

The stability has room for improvement.

When it comes to Secure SD-WAN, everything is fine. They are going the right way. SD-WAN is very promising. They can provide the SD-WAN solution separately, but they will not take this approach because even the smallest firewall can support the features, so there is no need to have a separate service or appliance. They are following the right steps, and there is nothing to be improved. Feature-wise, I'm really satisfied with the new release, and the features they have added. For now, it's fine.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for seven years, and I have been using Secure SD-WAN for two years.

Secure SD-WAN is stable, but when it comes to the firewall, sometimes there are issues with the throughput and related factors. Improper handling of these can lead to a memory surge, a well-known bug that can cause the entire system to freeze. When this happens, the system appears to be running but no traffic is processed, causing disruptions to applications, users, and overall internet connectivity. This can be confusing because the firewall appears to be functioning correctly. Typically, the solution is to restart the firewall. However, when we contact support, they require logs before restarting, which can be challenging in urgent situations. As a result, we prioritize quick resolution over troubleshooting. This is a common drawback of the operating system.

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

While the technical support offered online and on-site is generally effective, there may be occasions when we need to escalate an issue to a higher level due to its complexity. 

I initially sought assistance from level-one support, but they were unable to resolve my issue. Eventually, they informed me that the problem would be addressed in a future patch. However, within a day or two, a level three engineer intervened and provided me with an update to resolve the issue. He explained that it required a command line configuration, as it couldn't be done through the graphical user interface. I was impressed with the level-three engineer's expertise and problem-solving skills. It taught me that if we persist and communicate our needs, we can achieve our desired outcomes.

Positive

The initial setup is straightforward. We need to determine whether the firewall will be positioned in an active-standby or active-active configuration. Based on this decision, we will choose the appropriate license. If the firewall is intended for use with the Internet, we will need to include features such as a full DNS filter. However, if it's being used in a data center, these features may not be necessary. Additionally, we need to consider the speed of the interface, 1G or 10G, and the expected amount of network traffic to properly size the firewall model and ensure proper throughput. This is the initial phase of the process. Once the firewall has been deployed, it's a matter of connecting it and configuring policies. 

When it comes to the deployment model of SD-WAN, my customers usually buy the appliance. They already have FortiGates, so we're just connecting firewalls to each other. In Kuwait and Egypt, there are mostly on-prem deployments. It's rare to have someone deploying a firewall on the cloud, and if it's deployed on the cloud, it's for a certain reason. It's not for SD-WAN because you're not loading balancing or you don't need SD-WAN for cloud access. In the countries where I was responsible for its implementation, there was only on-prem deployment.

There is one single challenge with the deployment of SD-WAN, but it's not from the FortiGate side. It's from the customer side. You need to understand your traffic so you can get the best out of SD-WAN. For some organizations, it's huge because they don't know which application is doing what and which is more important than the other. Especially during the COVID years, a lot of applications popped up. Companies used to release an application every few weeks. To do a proper implementation, you need to understand your network, understand your application, and set your priorities. Once you do this, the implementation will be a piece of cake. If you have all the information, it will take a day or two days.

We implement the solution for our clients. One person can easily deploy multiple Fortinet products through the firewall including FortiAnalyzer for the logs, FortiManager, and FortiMail.

For SD-WAN also, one senior security engineer can do everything for a customer. The maintenance is easy. We haven't faced any critical problems with it.

We have experienced a positive return on investment by utilizing Fortinet's products. For instance, their website features a calculator for SDR, which enables us to measure the actual ROI in dollar amounts. We input our current expenses, the products we intend to purchase, and our connectivity plans, along with a few other details. At the end of the process, we receive data that indicates the amount of money we will save, such as two hundred thousand, for example. This provides us with clear and precise figures on our savings, making it an excellent tool.

Our customers have seen time to value with Secure SD-WAN. Its time to value is seen within weeks of implementation.

The price for the Fortinet FortiGate is reasonable. Secure SD-WAN is free of charge. If you have their firewall, it's free of charge. It's very tempting. Other vendors, such as Palo Alto, will charge you to have an SD-WAN license, whereas, with Fortinet, it's free of charge.

When purchasing a firewall, stability is non-negotiable. For small to medium businesses, Fortinet's affordability and ease of deployment make it a suitable option. However, for enterprise-level businesses, Palo Alto or Check Point would be preferred for their robust clients and immediate updates, despite the higher cost.

When comparing the pros and cons of Secure SD-WAN with other solutions, the challenge is not with SD-WAN. It's with the appliance that's offering SD-WAN, which is the firewall. So, the first comparison would be between the FortiGate firewall and other firewalls, and if the other firewalls are already offering the same service, the comparison will be between different levels, not just SD-WAN. There could be other firewalls that are more efficient or lower in cost or even more familiar to customers than Fortinet. So, the challenge is not with SD-WAN. The main reason I use SD-WAN on FortiGate is to get the benefit of the security profiles or security features of the firewall on top of the SD-WAN. Otherwise, I can use my internet router, the basic load balancing protocols, and the basic IP tunneling, and send some traffic here and some traffic there, and I'll save the cost. 

I'd rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

On-premises