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Presales Manager at Rayat Group
Reseller
Makes it easy to create policies and integrates with Active Directory
Pros and Cons
  • "The integration with Active Directory is one of the good features. Most of the customers are now looking for the Single Sign-on feature. So, being able to integrate Active Directory with the firewall is useful. It is also easy."
  • "Its reporting and pricing need improvement."

What is most valuable?

I like its interface. It is a simple solution. As compared to Sophos, its interface is easier. It is easy to create a policy, and you can easily understand it. 

The integration with Active Directory is one of the good features. Most of the customers are now looking for the Single Sign-on feature. So, being able to integrate Active Directory with the firewall is useful. It is also easy.

What needs improvement?

Its reporting and pricing need improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Its stability is good. It has 90% stability.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
April 2025
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Its scalability is good.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is more expensive than Sophos. Fortinet is overall more expensive than Sophos. The small range of Fortinet, such as 60F and 80F, is more expensive than the small range of Sophos. Sophos is cheaper. In addition, if you jump from 80F Series to 100F Series, the price doubles.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it a nine out of 10.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1729623 - PeerSpot reviewer
Corporate Marketing Executive at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 5
Offers diverse features for threat detection and operational efficiency
Pros and Cons
  • "Fortinet FortiGate has SD-WAN, FortiView, antivirus, sandbox, and IPS, which are generally well-known features."
  • "Fortinet FortiGate has a threat detection capacity compared to other vendors."
  • "Fortinet technical support is lacking, as OEM support is slightly better."
  • "Fortinet technical support is lacking, as OEM support is slightly better. Improvement in their technical support could include response time as well as having more technically sound people in tech support."

What is our primary use case?

Generally, government and PSU, diamond companies, textile companies, and chemical companies are using Fortinet FortiGate in the Gujarat segment. We are also working with the Fortinet FortiSwitch and Fortinet AP. 

What is most valuable?

Fortinet FortiGate has SD-WAN, FortiView, antivirus, sandbox, and IPS, which are generally well-known features. Fortinet FortiGate has a threat detection capacity compared to other vendors.

What needs improvement?

Fortinet technical support is lacking, as OEM support is slightly better. Improvement in their technical support could include response time as well as having more technically sound people in tech support.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have more than 12 years of experience with Fortinet FortiGate.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This product is very scalable because Fortinet offers models ranging from thirty gigs to six thousand series and also offers solutions as VMs, making it highly scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Their support could be better.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are working with both Fortinet and Check Point. Fortinet FortiGate is better compared to Check Point because I have worked with the Check Point model CP15,500.

What was our ROI?

Financial and operational ROI from Fortinet FortiGate is very fine compared to other products.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is no challenge in Fortinet FortiGate pricing. There is a little bit of extra cost for FortiManager and logging and reporting solutions. Fortinet can offer solutions such as FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager for free for SMB customers.

What other advice do I have?

We are not working with AI features in Fortinet FortiGate, but from my knowledge, FortiGuard is using AI tools for threat intelligence and protection. 

We recommend Fortinet FortiGate to other businesses with similar security needs. 

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
April 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
847,625 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2497986 - PeerSpot reviewer
Computer Networks and Systems Support Engineer at a real estate/law firm with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 5
Provides good threat intelligence feeds, but the advanced models are expensive
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution provides good threat intelligence feeds."
  • "The advanced models are expensive."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution on the perimeter. We are a government entity. We have other organizations monitoring our network. We also have our own firewall to separate the DMZ and different things on our external servers.

What is most valuable?

The solution provides good threat intelligence feeds.

What needs improvement?

The advanced models are expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for five to six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The tool’s stability is good. I rate the stability a seven or eight out of ten. The stability could be improved.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The tool is very scalable. It connects to its own wireless access points. The firewall is supported by other technologies. We can add more products and extend the features and the network.

How was the initial setup?

Fortinet has a tool that migrates all the policies from the previous firewall to the new one.

What about the implementation team?

The vendor helped us with the setup. It was quick. We connected the new firewall first. Then, we exported the policies from the live firewall to the new one. On a weekend, we deployed the new firewall.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

If we buy licenses for a longer duration, we get discounts.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Fortinet has better models, but we are using the one within our budget. It's a good product. Besides Fortinet, we're using Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Defender, as well as the safety features that come with these products. There are many products in the market. The monitoring team is using Palo Alto. Palo Alto is better than Fortinet, but it's more expensive.

What other advice do I have?

We use Fortinet for VPN, too. We have not faced any major issues with the tool. It has a lot of capabilities that enable us to customize tunnels and allow traffic from certain countries or regions. The vendor provides cloud-based models, but we do not use them because they are subscription-based models that are not within our budget.

The vendor has a lot of free and paid training courses. It is the best way to learn about the product. It is similar to Palo Alto. All the good companies have a lot of training materials and training courses to understand the product. The initial versions are free of cost. The certifications will help people understand the process and make administration easier. The cloud version has AI features.

Overall, I rate the product a seven or eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Technical Specialist at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Good threat prevention capabilities, good price, and very easy to deploy and manage
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a user-friendly firewall. Most of the tasks are very simple. It's simple to configure and troubleshoot this firewall."
  • "The improvement is related to logs. Instead of the CLI, we should be able to have more insights into the logs of the firewall in the GUI."

What is our primary use case?

We have deployed this firewall for many companies. Our clients are financial and medical companies.

How has it helped my organization?

It enabled our clients to reach locations and access their applications easily with no latency. It provided ease of access.

What is most valuable?

Its threat prevention capabilities are most valuable. 

It's a user-friendly firewall. Most of the tasks are very simple. It's simple to configure and troubleshoot this firewall. 

What needs improvement?

The improvement is related to logs. Instead of the CLI, we should be able to have more insights into the logs of the firewall in the GUI.

I faced a lot of issues when I was trying to deploy the firewall through FortiManager. The firewall is stable, but FortiManager is too buggy, and it doesn't work properly. It gives too many errors.

There are some issues with Fortinet SD-WAN. It's quite complex.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for more than four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a very stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable. We have plans to increase its usage.

How are customer service and support?

Most of the time, they are helpful, but there are times when they don't resolve an issue right away. They take the log, and then they take their time to give input on the issue. Most of the time, they take one or two days to get back after analyzing the logs. Instead of that, they can just schedule a session to resolve the issue right away because sometimes the issue impacts the production environment, so we need to resolve that issue as soon as possible. Overall, I'd rate them a six out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have worked with other firewalls. Fortinet FortiGate is better than Palo Alto and Check Point firewalls. It's more user-friendly.

How was the initial setup?

I have deployed it for a bank at a core level. On the perimeter, there was a Palo Alto firewall, and at the core level, we deployed the FortiGate firewall at DC and DR locations. After that, we deployed SD-WAN. We replaced the MPLS switch with the Fortinet SD-WAN device, so the whole branch traffic comes to the SD-WAN box, and from there, it comes to the FortiGate firewall, and then it goes to the Palo Alto firewall for the internet access and resource access. While migrating branches from MPLS to SD-WAN, we did require a maintenance window.

There was no difficulty. It was very user-friendly. I have had many difficulties with the Check Point firewall. I have deployed major projects on the FortiGate firewall. I migrated more than a thousand branches on Fortinet SD-WAN and implemented FortiGate super massive firewalls at DC and DR locations. There were no complexities. Only at one location, I had an issue related to SD-WAN, but my query was resolved by Fortinet's local team.

It's an on-premises firewall for the DC and DR locations. I have never worked on cloud projects, but if there is any opportunity to deploy it on the cloud, I will do it. I have only done on-premises deployment.

What about the implementation team?

I am an implementation engineer. I deployed and configured the whole firewall. I also troubleshot any issues. When I had any queries, they were clarified by Fortinet's engineers.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its pricing is good. It's average or normal as compared to Palo Alto and Check Point firewalls. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I didn't evaluate other options.

What other advice do I have?

I'd recommend this firewall to others. Most of the time, when I do PoCs, I recommend Fortinet FortiGate. It's quite easy to manage and deploy.

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

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Charbel Hajj - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Supervisor at MEPEQ
Real User
Robust, easy to use, and has excellent technical support that is quite responsive
Pros and Cons
  • "The performance is good."
  • "I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation."

What is our primary use case?

Fortinet FortiGate is a firewall that protects all network data. We use it as our primary firewall in the office.

What is most valuable?

The performance is good.

It is easy to use.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable product.

In our company, it is the main gateway for the internet, and we have less than 100 users.

Deployment is faster per user. Each one has a laptop or a PC, as well as a mobile phone, so we have less than 100 devices per user, but with mobile phones and Internet access, that number can rise to more than 100.

How are customer service and support?

I have contacted technical support many times, they are very important and they are very good. They follow up on all of the cases that we have opened.

The response time is great.

They also always have an updated version of the firmware.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I now have UniFi Switches for our WiFi access point. We began using UniFi to replace Cisco Linksys Ethernet switches.

I am also working with QNAPS for network connections.

For virtual meetings, we use Google Meet. Some of our customers use Webex but we mainly work with Google Meet.

In our company, we have Kaspersky, as well as Fortinet.

How was the initial setup?

It's not straightforward. You must have at least the knowledge and the settings. It's not that simple.

The length of time it takes to install is determined by the configuration you have inside. It could take anywhere from 30 minutes to three hours.

In our company, I am responsible for the solution's maintenance and deployment.

What about the implementation team?

We had the assistance of a consultant at first.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis.

It would be better if it could be made a little less expensive. 

It will be more expensive for the first year, then it will gradually decrease by a certain amount per year or something along those lines.

We have the full license that included all of the features and support.

Aside from the licensing fees, there are no other costs.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Assistant Manager - Network & Security at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Simple initial setup, mature features, and responsive support
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are it is one of the most mature firewalls in the UTM bundle."
  • "Fortinet FortiGate could improve by adding enhancements to FortiMail, FortiSOAR, and FortiDeceptor."

What is our primary use case?

Fortinet FortiGate is used to secure internet gateways.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are it is one of the most mature firewalls in the UTM bundle.

What needs improvement?

Fortinet FortiGate could improve by adding enhancements to FortiMail, FortiSOAR, and FortiDeceptor. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solutions. Other solutions, such as Palo Alto, Cisco, and Forcepoint are less stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

For scalability, you must define your needs before implementing Fortinet FortiGate. You must know specifications, such as throughput, the number of sessions, and the SSL. Overall it is not scalable.

How are customer service and support?

We had some simple questions for the support and they were able to respond within a few hours. I was satisfied.

I rate the support from Fortinet FortiGate a four out of five.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is extremely simple. Customers that have never used it can manage it with ease after a few days.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Fortinet FortiGate gives you most of the features in one license.

The activation of the license and support could improve. When I order Fortinet products, I have one year to activate my license and support. If this year passed without activating this license and support, I will lose it. If I ordered three years, I will lose all of the years. I must reorder them again, which is not reasonable.  For example, if I have to activate my license in six months but didn't activate it during the six months, they should activate automatically. They should not remove the license. They should activate automatically after the grace period.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
CEO at SAYCOM
Reseller
Intuitive, easy to install, with good reporting and support
Pros and Cons
  • "It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall."
  • "Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it."

What is our primary use case?

We are resellers. We provide products and services to our customers.

It's not just one product. We have been using and installing different kinds of solutions for more than ten years.

What is most valuable?

I do remember that, of course, the interface was good. It's intuitive, and when we installed it together with access points, we could manage them from one place or from the cloud or from FortiGate itself. 

It's quite comfortable to handle the FortiGate firewall. The fact that we received reports by email, also good. All in all, it's quite a good product, of course, a very good product.

What needs improvement?

If it would integrate everything in one place then it would be an improvement.

I wanted to buy some switches and integrate them into the system, but we couldn't find anyone here in Israel to provide them or to provide support. Also, we could not get a replacement if something needed to be replaced. 

We wanted to use one vendor to do everything from one managed central management point. It may be something they offer now, but I am not sure.  

It would be helpful if we can have one easy place to manage, or from the cloud to all the devices that are at the client's location. This is the backbone, the switches, the access points, FortiGate, everything. 

Sometimes you do need to know some CLI commands, so it's a bit harder for technicians or new people that don't know it. 

So, if you could do everything without that, it would be much easier when you do V-LANs.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for a few years.

We are working with several versions because we install them for our customers.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It fits for small and medium-sized companies. Regarding the very big ones, I don't know, I'm not in the enterprise market. But for our clients that are offices or companies that are sized between 20 users and 300 users, it's okay. It's good for them.

How are customer service and technical support?

When I contacted technical support a few times, they were good.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we worked with Check Point.

They are both good products that are easy to use and have good support.

They're both good. I use them both, it depends on the customer, and what their requirements are. It also depends on which would give you the best value for the money at the time. I don't know how to say which one is better as a firewall. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's an expensive solution. The price should be lower.

What other advice do I have?

In the beginning, I would be the one who would install them, but later it will be our technicians.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: reseller
PeerSpot user
Security Solutions Architect at Verizon Communications
Real User
Good VPN and DDoS capabilities with a low total cost of ownership
Pros and Cons
  • "Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable."
  • "To the best of my knowledge, Fortinet does not have a CASB solution and Fortinet does not have a Zero trust solution."

What is our primary use case?

We are currently using manual router failover that can be configured on the Fortinet security appliance’s second network interface to provide network edge redundancy if the primary managed router fails. If the edge router fails, traffic can be moved to the security appliance with a simple cable swap.

We are looking for a fully redundant solution with automatic failover between both Fortinet Security appliances. I am currently looking at battle card information between Fortinet and Zscaler. I have to do a competitive analysis.

How has it helped my organization?

The low cost of ownership was a benefit with all of the features we wanted.    

Preconfigured images have been developed for quick deployment. However, if we need a custom policy or have to include an existing policy then that can be accommodated as well. 

What is most valuable?

Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable.

We found the Firewall, VPN, Application Control, IPS, Fortiguard Web filtering, anti-botnet, FortiGuard, Anti Spam Wireless LAN controller, WAN optimization, vulnerability assessment, and endpoint control all to be valuable.

Fortinet certifications include NSS Labs for NGFW, firewall, IPS, SSL, antivirus, and antispam.

Fortinet provides a consolidated security platform for the market place and certifications with NSS labs prove their security assurance.

What needs improvement?

To the best of my knowledge, Fortinet does not have a CASB solution and Fortinet does not have a Zero trust solution. Fortinet claims to do everything Zscaler is capable of and I'm looking for a comparison between the supported features.

Fortinet VPN and DDoS capabilities are great, yet we need to provide a solution that enables CASB and integration to the cloud.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using FortiGate for three years.

How was the initial setup?

Fortinet is very easy to service and set up.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Fortinet is the least expensive solution.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are comparing the features of Zscaler vs. Fortinet. We are trying to determine what features Zscaler has over Fortinet and vice versa.

What other advice do I have?

Fortinet was initially scoped as 25 rules for small, 50 for medium, and 100 for large. We need to incorporate more rules but there would be additional professional services or staging services. We are looking to incorporate the cloud access with the Fortinet UTM solution.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Verizon is a reseller of both Zscaler and Fortinet.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.