Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

We are IT MSPs, and we provide solutions for clients based on their requirements and expectations. 

We are a Fortinet FortiGate partner, reselling products such as FortiGate 100F, 60F, and 70F. We are currently exploring newer versions including 70G, 90G, and 120G. I have also worked with Fortinet FortiGate F200. The UI is similar across all these firewalls, with differences mainly in capacity limitations.

The best features of Fortinet FortiGate include its easy configuration and user interface. 

Its firmware is very stable, which is a significant advantage. I have experienced many challenges while configuring Sophos during firmware upgradation, where changes occur and certain features stop working, requiring reconfiguration. However, Fortinet FortiGate has a very stable Linux-based operating system that is easy to use.

One drawback of Fortinet FortiGate is that they provide two types of models: one with a hard disk and another without. The model without a hard disk has very low ROM where you can store very few logs, after which you need to upload it to the cloud or purchase a firewall with SSD. That's the only drawback.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate for the last 4 to 5 years.

It is very stable.

Fortinet FortiGate is highly scalable because it is easy to allocate resources. It is very flexible, especially when using a VM base, as you can easily increase any configuration you want to upgrade. Scalability is now a common feature in all firewalls.

I have had positive experiences with both Sophos and Fortinet as service providers. When we face any issues with firmware or other things, we can directly approach them for assistance.

As a solution provider, when I encounter problems, I connect directly with Fortinet support, and they provide solutions within a very short time.

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate, WatchGuard, Sophos, and SonicWall. I'm not as comfortable with SonicWall because of their UI and limitations.

I prefer Fortinet above all other options. When it comes to configuration, I am confident in my ability to handle various tasks, including creating policies such as firewall rules, web policies, and application policies. Additionally, I can configure VPNs and implement load balancing, among other tasks. Overall, I feel much more comfortable working with Fortinet.

Fortinet has made significant improvements by integrating AI with firewalls for threat analysis and prevention. In the past 2-3 years, they have launched FortiSASE and SIEM, and they also provide SOC services. Both Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate are excellent. While Fortinet FortiGate comes at higher prices, the functionality and support justify the cost. They promptly resolve firmware issues and inform all support providers about configuration changes.

The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate is straightforward. It involves step-by-step configuration, setting up rules, configuring network interfaces, WAN, LAN, and creating basic rules.

Most of our clients are using on-premises firewalls. If they have a private cloud, they typically establish a site-to-site tunnel. However, in general, they rely heavily on on-premises firewalls.

Fortinet FortiGate is a premium product. From a cybersecurity perspective, the ROI typically comes within 1.5 to 2 years. When investing in cybersecurity with Fortinet FortiGate 200, which costs more than $10,000, companies that are growing directly can expect ROI within 1.5 to 3 years. This calculation considers future planning and monthly security spending, including license upgrades every 3 years. This refers to new procurement only, as license upgradation is a separate consideration.

If you are looking for a quality product, it will come at a higher price. Expecting them to be significantly cheaper is unrealistic. In terms of pricing, it is a bit costly. However, the functionality and support offered are worth it. 

Regarding SD-WAN capabilities with Fortinet FortiGate, I have configured and merged WAN lines. There are two options: round-robin and session-based, and I typically prefer the session-based connection. With Fortinet Unified SASE, for multiple locations, we configure site-to-site tunnels where all data transmits directly to the Central Office.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten because AI is still in development and constantly evolving. Nothing is perfect, which is why I chose that rating. There is definitely room for improvement.

On-premises

Fortinet FortiGate is my primary firewall solution for firewall security, site-to-site and remote access VPNs, and SD-WAN. I use it to secure network traffic, manage connectivity between branch offices, enforce security policy, and optimize WAN performance across customer networks. I have not worked extensively with another platform.

My experience with Fortinet FortiGate has been very positive. In addition to firewall security, VPNs, and SD-WAN, I regularly perform firmware upgrades, troubleshoot network issues, implement high availability configuration, and manage security policy. Fortinet FortiGate provides multiple security and networking features within a single platform, which makes it easier to manage and maintain customer environments efficiently.

The best features of Fortinet FortiGate are SD-WAN, VPN capability, high availability, and integrated security features. I particularly appreciate the SD-WAN functionality because it provides intelligent traffic routing and better link utilization.

What stands out most about Fortinet FortiGate's SD-WAN functionality is its ability to intelligently use multiple internet links and automatically steer traffic based on link performance. In one deployment, I configured two ISP links in an SD-WAN setup. When one link experienced high latency or packet loss, traffic was automatically shifted to the healthier link without manual intervention.

The VPN and high availability features of Fortinet FortiGate make it easy to deploy and manage both site-to-site IPsec VPN and remote access VPN. The HA functionality provides redundancy and minimizes downtime during failure or maintenance activity. I also appreciate the integrated security approach where firewalling, VPN, application control, web filtering, and intrusion prevention are available on a single platform, which simplifies management and improves overall security.

Fortinet FortiGate has had a positive impact by improving network security, reliability, and operational efficiency. Features such as SD-WAN and VPNs have helped ensure stability and connectivity across sites, while high availability has reduced downtime during maintenance or unexpected failures. From an administrative perspective, the centralized management and integrated security features have simplified troubleshooting and reduced the time required to manage and secure the network.

We have seen reduced downtime through HA and SD-WAN deployment as traffic automatically switches to the healthy ISP link during outages. Fortinet FortiGate has also improved troubleshooting by providing centralized visibility into network traffic, VPN, and link performance, helping us resolve issues faster and manage the network more efficiently.

Fortinet FortiGate is moving in the right direction with its AI-driven security features. I appreciate how it helps with threat detection, security analysis, and identifying suspicious activity more quickly. From a governance and security perspective, it provides better visibility and helps security teams respond faster to potential threats.

Fortinet FortiGate is a strong solution overall, but I believe the reporting and analysis features could be improved to provide more detailed insights without relying on additional products. Additionally, some advanced configurations can have a learning curve for a new administrator. Simplifying certain workflows and enhancing troubleshooting visibility would make the platform even more user-friendly.

More detailed reporting often requires additional products such as FortiAnalyzer. The documentation for some advanced features could be more straightforward, especially for new users. While support is generally good, faster resolution for complex technical issues would be beneficial. Overall, these are minor improvements and the platform remains reliable and easy to manage.

Recently, I used Fortinet FortiGate to implement SD-WAN for a customer with two ISP links. I configured SD-WAN load balancing, created firewall policy, and monitored link performance to ensure stable internet connectivity. This helped improve network availability and automatically distribute traffic across both links, reducing downtime and providing a better user experience.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable in my experience, providing very much faster troubleshooting.

Fortinet FortiGate is highly scalable. I have worked with different Fortinet FortiGate models across various customer environments.

I have worked with Fortinet FortiGate support on a few troubleshooting and upgrade-related cases. My experience has generally been positive and the support team is knowledgeable and helpful.

I have seen a positive return on investment, mainly through time saving and improved operational efficiency. Features such as centralized management, SD-WAN, and integrated security have reduced the time spent on troubleshooting and network management.

My advice would be to clearly understand your network and security requirements before deploying Fortinet FortiGate's integrated features such as SD-WAN, VPN, and security profiles. Start with best practice configuration, keep the firmware up to date, and invest time in learning the platform. I would rate this product an 8 out of 10.

On-premises

I have worked on multiple products including Fortinet FortiGate VM, Fortinet FortiGate firewalls of different models, FortiSwitch, FortiAP, FortiADC, FortiWeb, FortiAuthenticator, and some other products as well.

I have been working on Fortinet FortiGate and Fortinet FortiGate VM for around five or six years. I have deployed it as a perimeter firewall, as a data center firewall, and as a campus firewall in many banking sectors, commercial sectors, and oil and gas sectors. Most of my clients have deployed Fortinet FortiGate firewall on-premises to protect their services.

The ease of use and the user-friendly interface are the beauty of this firewall. The UI itself and the documentation are completely available on the internet. The UI is very easy, and you can easily understand the implementation. The product itself has very strong deep features and security features including IPS and malware protection to prevent and save against cyber attacks.

I have very good hands-on experience and very good deployment experience with Fortinet FortiGate SD-WAN. Fortinet FortiGate SD-WAN allows you to use multiple internets and multiple interfaces separately to load balance your internet and to load balance your services between multiple service providers. This is a very good feature in this firewall that you cannot get as a free default feature in other brands.

The network performance after enabling SD-WAN is very smooth and very efficient. I recently deployed this in forty commercial sector sites with stores that previously had MPLS circuits. With the MPLS circuit, they had a very high cost for private connectivity between sites and branches. After deploying SD-WAN, the operational cost was cut down around fifty to sixty percent because of this implementation. All MPLS costing was wiped out from their IT budget and is now dependent on internet circuits, which are normally standard internet connections.

SASE is a very good feature. For example, I recently deployed this for a customer with users in remote locations. The issue was that they wanted users to remain connected and keep monitoring systems after office hours with no malware installed on the laptop while staying protected. The use case of SASE involved implementing the POP itself on the cloud. The users, whether remotely at home or anywhere in the world, are connected to and keep connected with POP. They access the internet securely with secure company policies as defined by IT. They are not allowed to go directly to the internet without IT policies as defined on SASE POP. There is very good integration from SASE to Fortinet FortiGate firewall to access private access.

For improving sectors, they need to focus on technical support and work on the technical part. Although it is good, they need to onboard these things and improve the technical part of the support factor. Although it is good, it needs much more improvement to get more business and a bigger footprint in the market. Second, AI in the market and malware detection exist. Fortinet FortiGate already has these features in the Fortinet FortiGate sandbox features with built-in AI features. I prefer that they work on more features that they can provide in Fortinet FortiGate firewall.

I would rate this product ten out of ten. For example, when comparing it with Palo Alto and Fortinet FortiGate, I can provide a very good point. In Palo Alto, some features must be purchased separately. In Fortinet FortiGate, it comes with the Wi-Fi controller built-in. Features that you need to buy a separate license for in Palo Alto do not require additional licenses in Fortinet FortiGate as they are built as complimentary features in this firewall.

The network performance after enabling SD-WAN is very smooth and very efficient.

Scalability is the same, and I would rate it ten out of ten.

Technical support can be marked as ten out of eight. There is some lag, but you can find documentation and all things over the internet. They can provide support, and I would rate it eight point five to nine.

Positive

My technical team are all technically expert in deployment of Fortinet FortiGate firewall.

My team has around five or six people who are all technically sound in Fortinet FortiGate firewalls.

If we are talking about Check Point, Cisco, and Palo Alto, these are the top-tier firewalls and top-tier vendors for providing firewalls. Following the Gartner report, Palo Alto and Fortinet are at the top in the Gartner report. Because of that, Fortinet FortiGate firewall itself does not require management centers as required in Cisco and Check Point. Fortinet FortiGate firewall cannot be managed by a management center. In Fortinet FortiGate case, there is no requirement for these prerequisites to configure or implement Fortinet FortiGate firewall without a management center. We can deploy Fortinet FortiGate firewall without any management center. It is a very web-based firewall and you can access the firewall GUI from the website, and we can easily deploy it without any management center. In Check Point or Cisco cases, a management center is required. In Cisco case, the Firepower Management Center is required to get the advanced features. But in Fortinet case, it does not require these things. This is a very beauty of this firewall.

I suggest buying Fortinet instead of buying Palo Alto, Cisco, or Check Point. I will definitely recommend Fortinet.

Fortinet FortiGate has different models of firewalls which are high capacity and high variant firewalls that you can deploy as data center firewalls to protect your data centers, your server farms, and your services which are hosted inside a data center.

Fortinet FortiGate has embedded services, these FortiGuard services which have machine learning-based and artificial intelligence-based malware analysis. These services analyze malwares and next-generation malwares that are not easily identified by signature-based detection. They have the capability to analyze malware by AI-based methods and can identify zero-day attacks. Before they exploit as a zero-day, they prevent this signature and stop this attack to prevent that this is an attack. Those services are hosted in my data centers, web applications, storage, and SaaS. All are protected by those cyber attacks.

Regarding pricing, we cannot compare it right now because pricing matters based on business size and the business deal. We cannot say whether it is high or low. Sometimes we can easily compete with any brand, and in some cases we cannot compete. For example, if we have a big deal, we can get good discounts from Fortinet team. In some cases, the deal is not big, so we cannot get enough good discount. Deployment from FortiSASE to your Fortinet FortiGate firewall over SD-WAN is very easy. Fortinet gives you multiple connections from SASE POP to your Fortinet FortiGate firewall. They have fully redundant connections on SASE POP if you have the same redundant connections with ISP connection on your Fortinet FortiGate firewalls. They have the secure SPX tunnel from FortiSASE to Fortinet FortiGate firewall. You can easily access from Fortinet FortiGate firewall to SASE applications and SASE users who are connected on SASE POP can access local services from SASE POP to Fortinet FortiGate and access the local services.

My overall rating for this product is nine out of ten.

My customers use Fortinet FortiGate for their branches and campuses; we have provided it for small retail and industrial networks. 

Chennai is totally based on MND and BFSI for the factories, and since Fortinet FortiGate provides OT Security, they have numerous features. In the same single firewall, they can use SD-WAN as well as OT signatures to have visibility for partners.

The best features of Fortinet FortiGate include selling a perpetual license as a primary benefit, and the license cost is not much compared to Cisco, Meraki, or HP. 

Feature-wise, I can rate Meraki over Fortinet FortiGate a seven or eight since they have micro-segmentation and application routing. They can detect real-time threats with FortiGuard, which is similar to Palo Alto. Now they are implementing AI features, and I recently went through the demo, which is amazing.

The main benefits that Fortinet FortiGate brings to customers include that if you're going for a single fabric with core switches, access switches, and APs, compared to legacy Cisco or Aruba, te Fortinet FortiGate does not require a controller for the access points. Fortinet FortiGate itself acts as a controller.

Similarly, they have FortiLink, which connects all appliances in a single stack, allowing maintenance with FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer. In comparison, Cisco requires a separate controller for SD-WAN and Nexus ACI controller, and other things require a Cisco DNA controller. However, with Fortinet FortiGate, it's simple to maintain using FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer, thus being very much easier and cost-efficient.

In terms of improvements for Fortinet FortiGate, they could offer evaluation licenses, as compared to Meraki, which provides a 90-day evaluation. In Fortinet FortiGate, they do not provide standard evaluation licenses; instead, we need to request them from the OEM through the account manager for POCs. If we want to conduct a demo, we need to work with real hardware. 

In comparison to Cisco, we have DCloud, which helps with providing demos to customers, but in Meraki, I need to reach out to them, book a lab, and they need to provide all the hardware. I need remote access and L3 engineers to program it; only then can I offer a real-time demo to the customer.

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

My impression of FortiGate's performance is that it performs quite well; when performance issues arise, it's not the box, it's the users, traffic, and bandwidth overloading. Apart from that, whatever the capacity of the hardware is, it is performing quite well.

Regarding the scalability of the Fortinet FortiGate, if it is a VM, it is easy. However, if we're talking about hardware, in the designing phase, we need to consider being about 30% or 20% higher to make scaling easy. Otherwise, they need to change the entire hardware. That's why we are pushing managed services, so the ISP and MSSP partner will take care of scalability. Still, in terms of scalability, it is quite difficult; if they are expanding, they need to change the hardware for the new hardware.

I would rate the technical support of Fortinet FortiGate as a five because it is not as strong as Cisco. Additionally, the turnaround time is very high compared to Cisco.

Positive

My impressions of the setup costs are that they are reasonable; definitely, they are reasonable.

The change in return on investment after implementing Fortinet FortiGate solutions for the SD-WAN for hybrid workforces is evident; we did it five years ago for one customer, and now the end of support and end of sale life has come. I can see a 10% to 20% infrastructure change. We received 2% to 3% higher than the original sales, and we have also done the renewals. They are also increasing branches, and overall, the RMS has increased by 50% to 60%.

My impressions of the setup costs are that they are reasonable.

For users who would like to start working with Fortinet FortiGate, my recommendation is that it will not create a problem, but once it has been programmed correctly, and all the use cases are rightly fitted, you can forget the issues. The only thing that needs updating is the threat intelligence and network configurations. Apart from that, maintaining FortiGate is easy.

I work with the dynamic segmentation feature in the Fortinet FortiGate. The dynamic segmentation feature plays a significant role in preventing the lateral spread of different threats within the data center environments; for example, for web hosting, there are multiple OEMs who have different warehousing solutions, and they don't want to mix the data between their OEMs. In this case, dynamic segmentation comes into the picture, allowing me to create multiple VRs for the data center within a single tunnel for data segregation.

I work with some customers who are going to integrate the unified SASE capabilities in Fortinet FortiGate, and we are working actively on that, but up until now, I've not taken any deployment on the SASE part. We are working with multiple customers, but they are not suggesting it yet. As of now, I just went through the demo for the AI regarding the SD-WAN part, and I didn't go for the data center things. If you ask me about the SD-WAN front for deployment or integrating the SASE along with that, it is comparatively easy. Within minutes, I can see it in real-time; they can deploy five branches or 10 branches within 10 minutes or 20 minutes. I haven't worked with the hardware-assisted DDoS protection in the Fortinet FortiGate; instead, I have worked with Radware or Arbor for DDoS solutions.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine.

My main use case for Fortinet FortiGate is for VPN and its appliances and for securing all of our remote locations.

A specific example of how I use Fortinet FortiGate to secure my remote locations is that we set rules on each of our locations about what traffic can and cannot go in, so we can allow certain connections for our partners such as Frontiers.

The best features Fortinet FortiGate offers are the built-in security functions, which I think are very nice.

We find the built-in security functions most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate, particularly web filtering, as it is all hands-on. Web filtering is our standout feature, and I don't want to add anything else about the features.

Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my organization by centralizing the way to access all of our network firewalls.

I wish Fortinet FortiGate's UI updates would be done in a more simplified way to improve it.

I choose nine for my rating because I think there's always room for improvement, and I think some of the things in the UI need to be adjusted so they're a little bit more simplified and not overcomplicated.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for at least three and a half, maybe four years now.

In my experience, Fortinet FortiGate is very stable, and it has been quite consistent during times of downtime.

Fortinet FortiGate's scalability has been keeping up well with my organization's growth or changes, as each location gets larger and we feel the need to put a Fortinet FortiGate in each one.

We have had to reach out multiple times to Fortinet engineers for customer support, and it has been great every time; they always seem to get to the bottom of it within one to two calls.

We did use a different solution before Fortinet FortiGate, but it has been so long that I cannot remember who it was; it may have been Palo Alto.

I believe we have seen a return on investment in terms of fewer employees needed, but otherwise, it is outside of my scope.

I was not directly involved in the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Fortinet FortiGate.

We did consider other options before choosing Fortinet FortiGate, but it was a straightforward decision, and I am not quite sure what the other options were.

I do not have anything that is unique to us about how we use Fortinet FortiGate in our setup.

We do not utilize Fortinet FortiGate's data center solution, and we do not feel the need to consider AI and ML enhanced FortiGuard services within Fortinet FortiGate.

I would advise others looking into using Fortinet FortiGate to make sure that they get their configurations right from the start, as that means they have less of a need to get support involved. I would rate this product a nine out of ten.

Hybrid Cloud

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

We use Fortinet FortiGate for gateway security, specifically for VPN access, security control, and filtering of traffic. For net monitoring, it has the capability to put the network traffic over to the analyzer. We use FortiAnalyzer to look at the traffic and to see what's happening, what's hitting our gateway, and what our users are doing. We use filtering rules on top of that.

Fortinet FortiGate is pretty robust. The updates and firmware releases are pretty timely. They have a good product revision and review system, so they are constantly reviewing their configuration and the different mechanisms that are used on Fortinet FortiGate. They review that periodically and provide new definitions and updates. We have quarterly fixes, updates, and releases, and there are constant new CVEs coming out. They are always keeping ahead of the threat monitoring system that notifies us of the latest landscape, what's new in the phishing landscape, botnets, rootkits, and all of those different malicious tools that are out there. We appreciate the filtering capabilities as well.

It integrates well with the SD-WAN capabilities. It works easily, and the transition was quite simple with literally no downtime.

It is very customizable. We have multiple different subnets going into that FortiGate controller. We have used various models and various designs. We can diversify the number of links coming in either the WAN gateways or the local LANs. We can separate various subnets across the LAN segment. It's quite diverse.

We haven't tapped into most of the functionalities that Fortinet FortiGate offers because we're using it just for gateway security. One of the things that I would prefer is a more expansive use of their analyzer. They could do more work on FortiAnalyzer in terms of the data and the information coming from it. I'm not sure if it is because the team managing our analyzer isn't giving us all the information that's required. It could be something based on our own usage of the platform. As we continue to use the appliance, we may learn more about the utility and functionalities that are offered.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for about seven years.

Fortinet FortiGate is pretty stable, especially the enterprise version. 

The reliability of Fortinet FortiGate is through the roof. We're experiencing 99.999% availability consistently. Fortinet FortiGate only goes offline for maintenance. I have seen it running for two years nonstop without doing a reboot. They're pretty stable and energy-efficient, and I make a lot of headroom for growth, specifying my units at least 40% greater than what I need. They are working within the requirements of their provision, and usually, the published specifications for the units are within the range of their operational usage.

Scalability is all based on our design. Based on our network design, we can select or pick a product from the product listing that can scale with the growth potential of the organization within a specific time period. We tend to do our planning within time spans, such as the next 10 years, 5 years, or whatever the growth prospect is for that period. We put the units in place that can grow along with that growth development timeline.

I would rate Fortinet's support a solid eight because I'm hard on my support. They're responsive to a greater extent. There are lots of things that I want to get done that aren't done on time. However, the local support that we use for Fortinet FortiGate is pretty technically competent and capable of managing the unit and delivering the functionality we need from the device.

Positive

We outsource the management and configuration of Fortinet FortiGate to a third-party SOC center in Ireland. We don't do that ourselves, but we do manage it and go out to the third party to tell them what we want. They will recommend different methodologies, capabilities, or new features that we can implement, such as SD-WAN, and go ahead with it. We don't manage and do the configuration ourselves. My team's role is pretty much just to operate and utilize the service.

They handle the initial setup in the background. I just give them the requirements, and the engineers respond.

We interacted with two engineers, but I'm not sure what the backend team is like.

It's very hard to measure return on investment with security because security is so dynamic. Based on our plan, the ROI has been pretty good. Whatever we expected and planned for, as far as usage goes, I can extend and push my Fortinet FortiGate up to maybe three or four quarters past its end of life. It has performed as expected in that concern, giving us good ROI for what we planned.

It was pretty affordable. We did go a little bit above MSRP, but the service pack that was included was quite worth the additional costs.

It is competitively priced compared to other major players in the market. It is significantly cheaper than Check Point, which is a primary competitor. Additionally, its pricing is comparable to that of Cisco's ASA and a few other vendors.

Besides the pricing, we chose Fortinet FortiGate because of the service providers that are here locally and the support for the unit and the product.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

On-premises

My main use case for Fortinet FortiGate is content filtering, and content filtering is the primary function. I am also doing East and West traffic filtering.

I use content filtering and East-West traffic filtering by creating groups based on separate projects in Active Directory, and on the firewall side, I create policies, web application profiles, and category-based profiles tailored to each project's requirements.

We have separate projects, and I isolate those subnets from one subnet to another so that both subnets do not communicate directly and only communicate via Fortinet FortiGate itself, with policies created to manage the East and West traffic.

Some of the best features of Fortinet FortiGate are its ease of use compared to other vendors, and from a troubleshooting point of view, it is also very useful and easy to troubleshoot. It stands out as easy to use and troubleshoot because I do not need to create separate NAT policies; with Fortinet FortiGate, I align my NAT policies and content filtering within a single policy, making management straightforward, and the logs are clearly visible, making troubleshooting much easier.

Compared to other firewalls, Fortinet FortiGate offers easily manageable features such as vulnerability profiles and threat profiles, which I believe is one of its main advantages.

Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my organization with its cost-effectiveness because it provides features that are very similar to others, but at a much lower cost, and everything my organization needs is available with Fortinet FortiGate.

Being cost-effective has allowed us to save a lot of money, which is particularly useful since I was exploring firewalls to secure my internal labs, and finding Fortinet FortiGate was a revelation as I could achieve my requirements without the additional costs of other firewalls.

I wish Fortinet would explore SASE solutions more, as it has become very popular and people are increasingly using it.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for around the last seven years.

Fortinet FortiGate is stable, and I have never experienced issues similar to those from the ASA.

Fortinet FortiGate's scalability is very good, and I believe there are no issues.

I have faced challenges related to support, as I have encountered issues where support engineers are not aligned within the time frame, and sometimes they request multiple logs unnecessarily, causing delays and leaving a bad impression on my end users.

I have had a bad experience with customer support many times.

I previously used a Cisco ASA but switched due to certain performance-related issues.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing went smoothly, with no issues related to licensing or installation, and the overall cost is definitely cheaper than other prominent firewalls along with phenomenal features.

I do not have a business relationship with the vendor other than being a customer, but I do have partners to buy network equipment such as firewalls and switches.

I cannot share exact numbers for ROI, but I saved a lot of money, which made management very happy, especially knowing that I achieved my functional goals with Fortinet FortiGate that might have incurred more costs with other firewalls.

Fortinet FortiGate has positively impacted my organization with its cost-effectiveness because it provides features that are very similar to others, but at a much lower cost, and everything my organization needs is available with Fortinet FortiGate.

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing went smoothly, with no issues related to licensing or installation, and the overall cost is definitely cheaper than other prominent firewalls along with phenomenal features.

I evaluated options including Palo Alto, Cisco, and other products before choosing Fortinet FortiGate.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine overall, as I only deduct one point for the support issues I have experienced.

I selected nine because, feature-wise, the product is excellent and cost-effective compared to others, but I deducted a point due to the disappointing support from Fortinet.

I advise others looking into using Fortinet FortiGate to check their requirements first, as it provides all kinds of services other firewalls do and is very cost-effective.

People looking for a firewall should definitely evaluate Fortinet FortiGate, as it is very cost-effective and offers all the features they are likely looking for. I gave this review a rating of nine out of ten.

On-premises

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for the past six years.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate to provide security for network and perimeter networks and gateways, and I rely on Fortinet FortiGate to protect my applications from various Layer 4 and Layer 7 attacks and traffic from malicious IPs while blocking traffic from unwanted IPs.

Fortinet FortiGate is also mainly used to establish IPsec tunnel connectivity with other networks, and users from outside the office network can connect to resources via IPsec VPN as well as site-to-site and client-to-site VPN, which leverages access and resource availability across various networks and simplifies resource accessibility worldwide.

One of the main features that I use in real time with Fortinet FortiGate is web filtering and App IDs based on application control. Previously, I allowed application access policies based on ports, but it could not prevent traffic based on the same application port with different use cases. For example, port 443 can be used for various purposes, but it could not restrict access for some specific applications. The App ID based control is useful for me to restrict traffic based on application usage and user access, which is the primary purpose of Fortinet FortiGate in real time.

Fortinet FortiGate offers next-generation firewall features and security features that restrict access for malicious traffic, URLs, and IPs, which is a major feature that Fortinet FortiGate offers.

The next-generation firewall capabilities including deep packet inspection and application controls via App IDs, Intrusion Prevention Systems, web filtering, URL filtering, and anti-malware protections are essential features that are present in Fortinet FortiGate to prevent various cyber attacks and threats in the network.

Fortinet FortiGate is also mainly used to establish IPsec tunnel connectivity with other networks, and users from outside the office network can connect to resources via IPsec VPN as well as site-to-site and client-to-site VPN, which leverages access and resource availability across various networks and simplifies resource accessibility worldwide.

The security features could have been more similar to those in the Palo Alto firewall with major data protections and WildFire, and deeper inspection capabilities, which Fortinet FortiGate lacks. Additionally, I notice that Fortinet FortiGate often experiences resource utilization problems where memory is heavily occupied regularly, necessitating cleanup tasks.

During firmware upgrades, the process is not smooth; one of the VMs often goes out of sync and exits the HA cluster. Therefore, I separate the HA between the firewalls and perform upgrade activities one by one manually. The graphical dashboard representation of the data is frequently inaccurate, leading me to rely on syslogs for more dependable information. The log retention period on the device seems too short despite having ample memory and disk capacity, which is a major issue.

I have been working in my current field for the past seven years.

The scalability experience indicates that if I need additional features or security capabilities, such as sandbox features, I can add them by opting for separate licenses, making it convenient for me.

Fortinet FortiGate customer support appears somewhat good, but for complex cases or major incidents, I often do not receive prompt support from the OEM, resulting in multiple follow-ups to get the necessary assistance.

Previously, I used to have a Cisco ASA firewall, which had fewer security features for protecting the network from day-to-day attacks and threats. Fortinet FortiGate firewall has next-generation capabilities with various security features including deep inspections, filters, URL filters, URL categories, and IPS protections while controlling application access based on application IDs, along with anti-malware protections to safeguard applications from malicious threats and attacks. By using Fortinet FortiGate, I significantly reduced major attacks that could exploit my network.

I would advise others considering Fortinet FortiGate, particularly those concerned about budget and pricing with decent performance and support, to proceed with Fortinet FortiGate, as compared to other next-generation firewall products, Fortinet FortiGate has lower license support costs, which is a significant advantage. Moreover, from my experience, it performs its job effectively with no major issues related to performance or functionalities including policy control, VPN, and security features. I would rate this product a 7 out of 10.

Hybrid Cloud

Other

I use Fortinet FortiGate for security as a firewall.

Fortinet FortiGate helps improve my organization since it's quick and easy to install, and we don't have to call support frequently.

It's very similar to a Cisco firewall, yet they are less expensive. It has all the features the competitors have, including VPN.

Fortinet FortiGate is easy to install and deploy quickly. There's a user-friendly GUI or if you like, CLI, for those who prefer it over CLI you can use that. 

From a support perspective, I had more issues that I didn't think the person on my case handled the way I was expecting. We called them for a geolocation issue and we didn't get any proper assistance.

I've used the solution for about seven years. 

It is pretty stable. We once had an issue and we had a workaround from Fortinet FortiGate before they deployed a patch.

Fortinet FortiGate is scalable. On a scale of one to ten for scalability, I would rate it as seven out of ten.

I don't call them frequently, which is a good sign. However, we called them for a geolocation issue and we didn't get any proper assistance. If I had to rate them on a scale, I would rate them eight out of ten.

Positive

I used Checkpoint and used to love them. However, they are expensive and can be complex. I love Palo Alto. That said, they are not that flexible for me. I also used Cisco.

It was easy to set it up, for the most part. The deployment of Fortinet FortiGate is straightforward. On a scale from one to ten, I'd rate ease of deployment at an eight.

We did switch from a competitor and were able to set it up very quickly.

It takes only two people to deploy.

The price is very interesting and it ends up being a very cost-effective solution. 

The price is the first main difference compared to others. Its prices are very interesting. At the company I work for, people tend to go with Fortinet FortiGate, and it's used especially in my country, as it's a cost-effective solution.

I evaluated and compared Palo Alto and Cisco with Fortinet FortiGate after Checkpoint.

I will recommend Fortinet FortiGate to others, depending on the organization's requirements, needs, and budget. 

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate as a seven out of ten simply due to the fact that I'm more of a Cisco person. I prefer Cisco since I've been working with it for a long time.

On-premises

I use Fortinet FortiGate for SD-WAN, specifically for branches, and for firewall purposes. 

Fortinet FortiGate is sold to everyone, including banks, mining companies, and oil companies, as it's one of the most popular SD-WAN products that we sell. These are mainly medium-sized businesses or enterprise businesses because we only sell business-to-business, B2B, and we don't sell to normal clients, only businesses.

We usually do not have any problems. It's a very easy-to-use product. We also have a SOC or service operations center. They are certified in Fortinet FortiGate.

From the point of view of a reseller, Fortinet FortiGate improves our business because it is one of the products that we sell the most. We also use it on our backend because the devices have many slots and support substantial bandwidth.

The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are its SD-WAN capabilities, such as dynamic routing, and other features, including security options such as antivirus, IPS, and IDS—all integrated into one device. 

Another beneficial aspect of using Fortinet FortiGate is that if you have a LAN network, you can integrate it with FortiSwitch. You can manage everything from Fortinet FortiGate. It is easy to manage and integrate with other Fortinet devices.

Fortinet FortiGate is a very good device overall, though it can be improved in certain areas regarding the licenses, particularly the big one called unified threat management, which has many capabilities. The big license options have web filtering, IDS, and a lot of other things, but it's not like they are all good. That's the only thing I would change because the rest is very good.

I have about 4 or 5 years of experience with Fortinet FortiGate.

I find Fortinet FortiGate to be quite stable, as I have never heard of any issues where they broke or malfunctioned; they are always working. I would rate the stability of Fortinet FortiGate a ten out of ten.

I would rate the scalability for Fortinet FortiGate as an eight out of ten

We don't usually use that service. We only engage with Fortinet support when a device is broken and needs RMA, so I am not familiar with their operational teams.

Neutral

We used to use Cisco firewalls and devices, which are also quite good. However, Cisco is more expensive, approximately twice their prices, but they are similar in functionality. With Fortinet, we are partner experts, which is a big advantage, whereas with Cisco, we are premium partners, which is not the biggest status, so if we are going to resell to our clients, we don't have the best discount or prices.

I am not part of the initial setup or deployment process since I work in presales. The setup or deployment is quite easy, as you can do a one-touch deployment that automatically connects to the FortiManager cloud when you connect it to a broadband or dynamic IP, allowing you to start the configuration from that point.

We usually sell it for on-premises setups.  It's on the cloud only when the client has virtual machines or their own service. Sometimes they have a service on the cloud like AWS, but it's more difficult to sell now because AWS has an e-commerce option where you can buy FortiGate directly. The only thing you need is someone to manage and configure.

For deployments at one site, it usually requires only one person, and if we are talking about 1 to 50 sites, it still only takes one person because the same template is used for all sites.

In Argentina, we service about 100 locations. There are about 200 companies in Colombia and Brazil. 

We service about 100 locations with Fortinet FortiGate in Argentina, but if we account for all the company's clients, it can be around 2,000 across Colombia and Brazil, since we have clients in all of these countries.

Fortinet prices are around $600 for the small 40F model, and for licenses, the simplest option is about $300 for a year. They sell licenses that can last for 1, 2, 3, or 5 years.

Before using Fortinet, we evaluated other options such as Versa and Meraki, but Meraki is also from Cisco. Fortinet is better than Versa. One of the main differences between them is that we don't have many partners or distributors for Versa here in Argentina, making it difficult to sell something that you cannot pay for locally. It has been easier in the past to handle payments, but Versa doesn't have many providers or distributors in Latin America, making it a less viable option. Fortinet offers more products that are easier to integrate into our clients' networks, such as firewalls and access points, so that was one of the main reasons we didn't use Versa.

My advice to other businesses or people considering using Fortinet FortiGate is that it is the starting product from Fortinet, and when you start using Fortinet FortiGate, you can then move on to the next products they offer, which are numerous. 

We sell the 40F, 60F, 80F, 100F, and 200F models. There are the ones we sell readily from the bottom to the top. Sometimes, we sell bigger ones such as the 300 model.

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

On-premises