Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

We have a Cisco ASA firewall. We have it at the border of the network in front of the internet. With FortiGate, we put it in the middle, then it works behind our server farm to protect our server farm from attacks, from viruses.

It is a strong firewall. 

The product offers many features. 

There has been no attack on our servers after we configured the FortiGate IPS. No more attacks are coming. We are very secure.

The initial setup is very easy.

I have found the solution to be stable. 

It's possible to scale the solution. 

So far, everything has been good for us. We haven't had any issues. 

While the security is good, we'd always prefer if it was even better to ensure protection.

I have three years of experience with the solution. 

It is a very stable product. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable.

The solution can scale well. 

We have five engineers using the solution. 

A lot of medium and even small companies use the solution in our country.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

If we run into issues, we can contact support. They are helpful and responsive. 

Positive

We used Cisco ASA IPS as our old IPS. It was old, and we needed a newer product. We also liked the FortiGate support of the UTM feature. It allows for the inspection of Layer 7 in a more effective way than Cisco ASA. It is advanced. FortiGate is very, very advanced.

The initial setup is very simple and straightforward. It is not a complex process. 

The deployment is quick. It only takes a couple of minutes.

We have two people that can handle any maintenance tasks. 

We search for details and watch videos and are able to handle the process by ourselves. It's a solution that's easy to learn.

We bought the solution three years ago, and it came with five days of training from the local company. It cost us around $73,000 for three years. 

It's expensive, however, compared to Cisco, it's not too expensive. 

I'm an end-user.

We are using the latest version of the solution. 

I'd recommend the product to others. 

Our company uses the solution to prevent traffic that is not supposed to be traveling through our firewalls. When we find log issues, we easily fine tune the IPS to block that traffic so it cannot penetrate our environment. 

We have 300 users in a hospital-to-hospital environment where traffic is transmitted through the firewall and intercepted by the IPS for monitoring. 

The solution effectively blocks unwanted traffic. 

It would be helpful to have a better tool for migrating all policy rules using an automatic script. The current tool does not place entire configurations in their desired locations. It takes time to manually configure for compatibility across different platforms or vendors. 

I have been using the solution for five years. 

The solution is very stable. 

I have not needed technical support. 

We migrated from Cisco to the solution. 

The setup is simple and straightforward. Knowledge-based documents are available and useful for setups. 

We implemented the solution in-house. We migrated from Cisco to the solution so it was more of a deployment situation. 

We had some deployment challenges but managed to overcome them. It took an entire day to get the environment running because we could not use the scripting tool for naturals so had to do them manually. 

There is no ongoing maintenance because the solution is not a device, but rather  a software blade provided as a checkpoint within FortiGate. 

The pricing is based on a licensing model for each IPS in your environment. The solution is included as part of the IPS license and automatically updates to the latest version when firewalls are updated. We are currently on a three-year licensing model. 

The solution is a good tool to have in place. Most vendors provide a software blade with their firewalls but it is disabled because it uses too much CP or memory. It is important to enable the tool every time to prevent environments from being intruded by attackers or threats. 

I rate the solution an eight out of ten.  

Fortinet FortiGate is used as an inline intrusion prevention tool to detect and scan ongoing connections and data. It will take action, either by blocking or intimating in real-time.

Fortinet FortiGate's most valuable features are the UTM package which provides internet blocking restrictions and load balancing. Additionally, the solution is easy to use and the security reporting is good. The security fabric which they have launched Fortinet FortiGate IPS, it's very good in terms of giving details.

Fortinet FortiGate can improve performance. There was a huge challenge in terms of CPU and memory where the IPS engine would keep triggering. There were random spikes of overutilization in the CPU and memory resources. They have to work on CPU and memory stability considering these IPS engines. A few versions were very unstable.

The current Fortinet FortiGate IPS package has only standard options. If they could work around optimizing those packages for different needs it would be better. There might be a media company, or banking organization, which needs a different set of signatures and different bundles on priority. If they could segregate that in terms of organization and needs, or at least institutional-wise segregation, that could be great. 

I have used Fortinet FortiGate within the past 12 months.

Fortinet FortiGate could improve the stability, we used different versions and they were unstable over time which caused an overall device error.

The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is a challenge. However, the cloud version is easy.

I have had to use the support a number of times when we had overutilization of resources.

I rate the support from Fortinet FortiGate a six out of ten.

Neutral

The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate was easy. This is a common feature across Fortinet devices.

There is a license required to use Fortinet FortiGate with all the features. It has to be updated with the threats on an ongoing basis for the signatures to prevent threats and a license is needed to receive those security updates.

The price of the solution is worth it for the features.

My advice to others would be to have Fortinet FortiGate optimized. It is a good tool to be switched on and used in a live production environment. It is important to optimize rather than directly use the pro package, the full IPS package provided by the vendor. 

Fine-tuning the solution according to the organization's needs will help in optimizing the utilization of CPU and memory because the whole bundle has too many features which might not be needed for the organization. Enabling the solutions and running it on the first default mode and then optimizing it using the customized package, would help a lot in stabilizing the device.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

We manage a university and we're dependent on Fortigate to monitor everything including our research activities. All our network related services are logged by Fortigate. I'm a network administrator and we are customers of Fortinet. 

Fortigate has been helpful in mitigating ransomware attacks and we receive notification of threats from the cloud services. 

We've found the most valuable feature to be the very user-friendly interface. The solution doesn't require any prior knowledge and that's not the case with other firewalls. Fortigate can mitigate all attacks, it can handle a lot. It has a good set of UTM features, a good bandwidth shaping mechanism, and other features. It has efficient algorithms and it competes well with Palo Alto and TechPoint. In terms of VPNs, it has an unlimited count, better than other solutions and it's included in the package. 

We sometimes have issues when carrying out inspections because the system slows down and our clients complain about it. The only other drawback is that we have to manually insert certificates for our clients. Most social networking sites have dependencies and to completely block them requires a deep inspection profile. For protection, we need to put the certificates in for all of our clients. It's a major drawback not having it embedded in the system. I would very much like to see Forticlient's new TNA technology included with the original license for Fortigate. It currently requires an additional license which is quite costly for us as a middle-size organization. We could include it with VPN for our clients. 

I've been using this solution for 10 years. 

This is a really stable product and one of the main reasons we've stayed with it for the past eight years. 

The solution is completely scalable, we have over 8,000 users. Almost half of those are students and the rest are teaching staff and researchers. We also have 500 people involved as part of the system support team, IT engineers, and software engineers. The solution requires maintenance and regular upgrades and we have a 9-person team for that.

I'm happy with the technical support although we don't require it much. 

The initial deployment took us around one month back when it was a software-based solution. We had to completely migrate all existing policies to Fortigate. We didn't use any third parties for the implementation. 

We purchase a license annually and it's a little expensive. We pay extra for SA. You need a decent budget for Fortigate but once you have that, it's completely scalable. 

We previously used Palo Alto and had a ransomware attack they did not detect so we switched to Fortinet. Aside from that, we preferred Fortigate because it's so user-friendly. Admin can configure all the policies easily using the graphic interface in Fortigate. Palo Alto requires a specific application for all admin aspects and some of them can only be done with command line tools. It's really tough for normal admins to do day-to-day configuration.

We also tried Salesforce but felt that we were unable to depend on it for the entire system. We've implemented it for 2,000 people but it's not as user-friendly as Fortigate and without any expertise it's difficult to use. It's mainly command-line technology. It's time-consuming and budget-wise it can't compete with Fortinet. 

I recommend this solution for a mid-level or enterprise organization and rate it nine out of 10. 

Our infrastructure includes both FortiGate (81E series) and Cisco Meraki appliances, and we have fully integrated FortiGate IPS with these devices. Essentially, whenever I secure the WAN and LAN and enhance them with security profiles, I will use the IPS's Web Filtering and Application Control features.

The most useful feature of FortiGate IPS for me is Application Control.

FortGate's IPS reporting could be made better by giving more details regarding the source and destination of network traffic when it comes to the overview section. This would allow me to more easily follow the flow of traffic based on IP addresses, without having to integrate the IPS with other products that perform more sophisticated traffic analysis.

Another improvement, that may only tangentially relate to the IPS, would be to include more functionality and details regarding SD-WAN (such as the ISDB), in order to make it more secure.

I've been using Fortinet FortiGate IPS for about seven years. 

The stability is fine, but it would be even better if we were to deploy another appliance for higher availability of access, such that there is no downtime at all.

The scalability of the IPS fits my current needs well. If we were to take on more users, however, we would likely have to change both our appliance and the license.

The support is good because, although the response time for tickets may occasionally take some time, at the end of the day they have always solved the issue at hand. What is also nice is that they can connect with you remotely and help support you at any point.

Positive

The setup was easy for me because I deploy appliances off all kinds and sizes, large and small. I would give the setup a 4/5 in terms of ease.

I pay €1,200 per year for the license along with Fortinet's 81E firewall appliance. I would rate this pricing as 3/5 stars, and I believe the price is reasonably similar to its competitors in the market, being somewhere in the middle.

Given my experience and the fact that FortiGate are a leader in the market, I would rate FortiGate IPS a nine out of ten.

I rent spaces for the company. I provide the services for the internet for that company, something like coworking. I need to create policies to prevent intrusions on my clients. I create the policies for each client, and I select the company and create the policy with the specific needs. After that, I apply it for the WLAN for that client. That way, I prevent intrusions on the network.

It meets my needs.

The product is very user-friendly.

It is quite scalable. 

I love the interface.

The power is great.

I have a limited embedded team in IT. I have one man on the team for 1,000 users. And this person can manage all the infrastructure due to the fact that the console is very easy, and the people are very happy with the results pertaining to that interface. 

Also, I have created VPNs for all my users to work from their homes. 

It is very complex. 

There are a variety of improvements that can be made. 

The reporting was limited. I had to use FortiAnalyzer to obtain a complete solution. The reports are very limited with the solution, basically. Once you implement FortiAnalyzer, you can create very, very detailed reports for all the networks.

I've been using the solution for two years now. 

The solution scales well. It's not an issue at all if you need to expand. 

Technical support is good. I have additional support from my provider. My provider is a Platinum partner, and half of the technicians have Level 7 or 8 in Fortinet certifications. 

In the past, I was working with Cisco and Aruba, however, this was more power and the cost was great.

The setup is a bit complex. However, I only need three weeks to create the machines' settings.

For two firewalls with IPS and two access points, FortiAnalyzer, with maybe ten switches, we pay maybe $4,000 a year.

We don't pay any additional costs.

I use a lot of Fortinet devices. 

I'm a customer and end-user. 

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten. 

Everything is good. The support is very, very expert. When you need help, all the people are ready to assist - and that is great. Only I recommended new users to take maybe the certification basics, NSE 1, NSE 2. It's free in the academy for Fortinet. Most problems you can fix with that information and that education, so it's very helpful to be knowledgable.

We are using Fortinet FortiGate as a central firewall for our ministry, but nowadays we are preparing to join every site we have to our main data center. Fortinet FortiGate firewall will not satisfy our needs.

Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve the protection, it did not prevent us from being attacked. Additionally, Fortinet FortiGate could provide more features for WAF devices. I should not have to purchase two solutions, it would be a benefit to combine these features into one solution.

The main challenge to IT is hacking, and damaging the network software. Anything that can make a threat to our servers,  accounts, VC, from an email or internet connection. We need all companies to make investments to improve the facilities of these devices in order to provide a one-package solution to protect our servers, and systems from any hacking, ransomware, virus, any command, or any other threats. They need to improve all the security features.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately two years.

Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution. The main risk was the devices and systems that the end-users are using, whether inside or outside the network. The VC was not secure enough. This causes some threats to our headquarters servers.

Fortinet FortiGate has limited scalability capabilities. You can't expand these devices. For example, if I was to go from 150 users to approximately 5,000, the CBU capability of the device would not suffice.

The Fortinet FortiGate local partners were good. I did not have direct contact with Fortinet support.

The initial setup of Fortinet FortiGate was very complex because our connection to other sites that were using different network topology and ISP providers. We have faced a very complex situation. The company takes approximately three to four months in order to make our system stable. Nowadays, we are going to make our provider and network with one subnet to make it easier to maintain, manage, and monitor any attack and threats from any device anywhere. This will allow us to access devices, ports, and switches to be able to take the right action.

Our network was very complicated and we are using different operating systems, databases, applications, and video.

We used Fortinet's local partners that helped maintain our financial and management systems.

We have one to two people that do the maintenance of Fortinet FortiGate.

I have not seen a return on investment using Fortinet FortiGate.

We have the full version of Fortinet FortiGate and we are on a three-year contract with a commitment of five years.

We will be replacing two of our Fortinet FortiGate devices and will move to a solution with better specifications.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate a seven out of ten.

It controls the inflow and outflow of all the communication between different sites and so on. 

We are using its latest version.

We were looking for the VPN feature and controlling the inflow and outflow of all the traffic within the site and across the sites. We are also using it for the VPN and VLANs.

It can be a little bit more user-friendly in terms of policy definition and implementation. It seems a little bit complicated, and it could be simplified.

When there is a change in the IP address from the ISP, there is some disruption in the service. So, we try to do it when we have the least number of people working, which means very late at night. So, for the time being, it is working fine.

We have been using this solution for nearly a year.

Apart from the disruption in the service because of the IP address change, it has been quite stable.

We are implementing it phase by phase. Initially, we had one VLAN, and then we added more. So, it is quite scalable, and we haven't had issues with it so far. It has been recommended by the vendor that the model that we have would meet our requirements for the time being. In two or three years, depending on how we expand and how many more resources are required, we might have to look at another version of the device.

It was the vendor who did the initial setup. It was done within the time range that was allocated for the setup. My guess is that it was straightforward.

We are still in the process of implementing the solution. The commissioning has not yet been done. What we had previously is now changed to a new solution and a new way of doing things, and this is still in the implementation phase. Our implementation is being done phase-wise. We do things and tune it until we are happy with it, and then we go to the next phase. So far, it's working fine. 

We have a relationship with the vendor. We discussed what we wanted to do and finally, we selected the product, and after that, it was installed and configured on our premises. 

We have a small team of three or four people for deployment and maintenance.

Its pricing is fine. It is on a yearly basis. Other than the licensing fee, there is no extra fee.

I would rate it an eight out of ten.