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reviewer1282434 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Operations Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Reseller
Stable with an easy initial setup and good documentation
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution can scale well."
  • "The support costs and licensing are sometimes so expensive."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for edge protection as well as the VPN and SD-WAN.

What is most valuable?

The solution has many valuable features. We tend to use all of them.

The initials setup is pretty easy.

The solution offers very good documentation.

The solution can scale well.

We've been happy with the technical support we receive.

The product is reliable and stable.

What needs improvement?

The support costs and licensing are sometimes so expensive. They should work on their pricing model.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution since 2018. It's been a few years at this point.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
October 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
869,095 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is very good. We don't deal with bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is very good. If you need to scale it as an organization, you can do so.

We have 100 users. They are largely network engineers, however, we have technicians and active users.

We do plan to increase usage in the near future. We have more projects coming up.

How are customer service and support?

We've used technical support in the past and we've had pretty good experiences. We're satisfied with the level of support we've received.

Their documentation is always good too. We've accessed cloud documentation via the portal and have found it to be helpful. The articles are very complete.

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

We previously used Juniper. We switched due to the host and the usability of Fortinet.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup isn't complex at all. We found it to be quite easy. It's straightforward.

The deployment took us about three to four weeks or so.

We use two people for deployment and maintenance.

What about the implementation team?

I handled the implementation myself. I didn't need the help of a reseller, integrator, or consultant.

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

The solution is pretty expensive. That said, we see the value of the solution as it provides great value to our organization.

We pay to license the product on a yearly basis.

I'm not sure of the exact amount we pay, however, as it is not an aspect of the solution I handle directly.

What other advice do I have?

We are customers and resellers of Fortinet products.

We work with both on-premises and cloud deployment models.

I definitely recommend this solution to other organizations. We've had a positive experience.

In general, I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten. If the pricing were better, I would rate it higher.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
PeerSpot user
IT Specialist at Divante
Real User
Intuitive and simple administrative panel and useful for filtering everything on our network and protecting our devices
Pros and Cons
  • "Its administrative panel is very intuitive and simple. It is simpler than the other solutions that we had. As an administrator, we are always looking for the easiest solution to manage network policies. We are able to filter everything on our network and also use the VPN feature, which is important these days when people are working remotely during COVID."
  • "They can do more tests before they release new versions because I would like to be more assured. We had some experiences where they release something new and great, but some of the old features are disabled or they don't work well, which impacts the product satisfaction. The manufacturer should be able to prove that everything works or not only that it might work. This is applicable to most of the other services, software, and hardware companies. They all should work on this. We cannot trust every new release, such as a beta release, on the first day. We wait for some comments on the forums and from other companies that we know. We always wait a few weeks before we use the updated version. They should also extend the VPN client application, especially for Linux versions. Currently, it has an application for Linux devices, but it doesn't work the way we want to connect to the VPN. They use only the old connection, not the new one. They have VPN client applications for Windows and Mac, but they can add more useful features to better manage the devices and monitor the current health of each device. Such features would be helpful for our company."

What is our primary use case?

IPS is the main use case because we want to protect our devices, users, and data from external dangers. 

We most probably are using the model of the last year. If the services connected to the hardware are possible on the cloud, we always prefer the cloud. The hardware must be placed on-premises. 

What is most valuable?

Its administrative panel is very intuitive and simple. It is simpler than the other solutions that we had. As an administrator, we are always looking for the easiest solution to manage network policies.

We are able to filter everything on our network and also use the VPN feature, which is important these days when people are working remotely during COVID. 

What needs improvement?

They can do more tests before they release new versions because I would like to be more assured. We had some experiences where they release something new and great, but some of the old features are disabled or they don't work well, which impacts the product satisfaction. The manufacturer should be able to prove that everything works or not only that it might work. This is applicable to most of the other services, software, and hardware companies. They all should work on this. We cannot trust every new release, such as a beta release, on the first day. We wait for some comments on the forums and from other companies that we know. We always wait a few weeks before we use the updated version. 

They should also extend the VPN client application, especially for Linux versions. Currently, it has an application for Linux devices, but it doesn't work the way we want to connect to the VPN. They use only the old connection, not the new one. They have VPN client applications for Windows and Mac, but they can add more useful features to better manage the devices and monitor the current health of each device. Such features would be helpful for our company. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for the last two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable, and I don't see any cons of this. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Currently, everyone who is connected with the company is using this solution. We have up to 240 people.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have interacted with them but only through emails. There were separate tickets and stories, and I don't remember right now how it was.

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

It was just a product for home-usage. It was a Cisco device from the small business series. It was less advanced than the similar devices available in the market currently. It was a huge step forward for us to switch to FortiGate.

How was the initial setup?

It was a huge jump for us on the administrative side to implement this kind of hardware because we previously used just a simple product for home-usage. 

What about the implementation team?

We hired a consultant to do this for us and to explain how the system works. After a few weeks, we did new certifications and training for this, and now, it works well for us.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution. We plan to keep using this solution.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
October 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
869,095 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Consultant at Resolve Technology Limited
Consultant
Good next-generation firewall features with good pricing and stability
Pros and Cons
  • "We've found the solution to be pretty stable."
  • "The product does need better support in the cloud environment. It's not exactly cloud-native right now."

What is our primary use case?

We mostly use the solution for our internet-facing firewall.

What is most valuable?

The next-generation firewall features are the solution's most valuable aspect.

The implementation and deployment are pretty simple.

The pricing is very good.

We've found the solution to be pretty stable.

What needs improvement?

The solution isn't really lacking features per se.

The product does need better support in the cloud environment. It's not exactly cloud-native right now.

The solution needs to do more on the deployment in the multi-cloud. For example, clients have GCP and AWS. How do we deploy FortiGate in a cloud environment? Right now, there's no solution for that.

We're worried that the scalability isn't as good as it could be.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for about two years or so. It hasn't been an extremely long time, however, it's been a while.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability, in our experience, is quite good. It doesn't run a lot of unexpected downtimes or anything of that nature. We haven't encountered any serious problems. There have been a few minor items here and there, however, by and large, it's quite good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution isn't exactly scalable, especially when it comes to the public cloud environment. We'll need to scale up, so we will have to figure out how to do it effectively.

We primarily work with medium and large enterprises.

How was the initial setup?

We find the solution to be pretty straightforward to set up and deploy. We didn't have any difficulties with implementation. 

The deployment takes less than a week. It's a pretty quick process.

We provide maintenance services for our clients.

What about the implementation team?

We actually provide deployment services to our customers that need it. We can handle this aspect for customers.

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

The solution is on the cheaper side. There are other products that are competitors that are much more expensive.

That said, the pricing isn't just based on licensing costs. There are add-on costs as well a company will need to consider.

What other advice do I have?

We are more of a solution integrator. We are not a straight reseller. We are partners, however. We recommend people to use products. That said, we don't actually resell the actual boxes.

We use different versions and deployments of the solution. It really is dependant on the client and their needs.

We mostly work with Fortinet. It's the main solution we recommend and use.

I'd recommend the solution to other organizations. We've had a pretty good experience.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
PeerSpot user
Deputy Manager Of Information Technology at Nitco Limited
Real User
High-performing SSL VPN functionality keeps our users secure while they work from home
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the SSL VPN, as it allows us to connect and it separates this product from other firewalls."
  • "Some of the web policy reports could be improved."

How has it helped my organization?

We use the FortiGate firewall for our centralized management services. We have SAP and there are multiple work-from-home users that connect using the VPN to access it. Also, we have some applications that are hosted on the server and we have assigned a public IP through the firewall for them.

For our server, we have specific some UTM policies, and we have designed access so that it is sectioned by zone.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the SSL VPN, as it allows us to connect and it separates this product from other firewalls.

The VPN performance with multiple users is very good.

We are able to generate a report where we can see details on exactly what the users are accessing. We can set limits as well as easily analyze what they are uploading and downloading.

What needs improvement?

The only challenge that we are facing is that a good internet connection is required for VPN stability.

Some of the web policy reports could be improved. There are reports generated that show exactly which user is using how much bandwidth, and which sites they have been browsing. We should have a way to show that on a single screen. As it is now, when I click on a user, the information shows on another tab.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using FortiGate for more than seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There is no downtime with this solution. The last time the users could not connect to the VPN was an issue with the internet.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not tried to scale FortiGate.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have been in contact with Fortinet several times and the technical support that we have received is absolutely fine.

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

In addition to FortiGate, we are using a Sophos firewall.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment took approximately four months.

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

The licensing costs are very low.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Previously, we were using Turbo VPN to connect using mobile devices. The problem was that the users would be disconnected when the mobile was in a roaming area, and the connectivity is not as stable.

We moved to a cloud service and assigned a public IP address for that application, and we have cut out the VPN for it. That was a rare issue that we were facing with FortiGate.

What other advice do I have?

This is a good firewall and I have recommended it to some of my colleagues in other organizations, and they have implemented it.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
CEO at Acme Technologies
Reseller
Good application control, web filtering, and anti-spam features, affordable price, and good support
Pros and Cons
  • "Customers are more inclined towards FortiGate because of application control, web filtering, and anti-spam features. The support from the FortiGate team is good, and price-wise, it is affordable."
  • "They are doing good, but they can improve the distributor assignment. The availability of the product and the timeline of delivery are the main things. The distribution should be swift, and the distributor should not reach out to end customers directly. They should work as a distributor. There should also be one more local distributor. Currently, there is only one distributor in Pakistan, and the rest of them are in UAE. It is difficult to work with only one distributor. Sometimes, you don't get along with the same distributor, and that's why they should have one more distributor. Their licensing should also be improved. The activation or renewal of the product should be done from the date of renewal, not from the date on which the license expired."

What is our primary use case?

We are selling FortiGate 60E and 200E. I mostly look after imports and finance, and my sales team and my corporate manager look after the business. Currently, we are buying renewals for our customers from a local distributor.

What is most valuable?

Customers are more inclined towards FortiGate because of application control, web filtering, and anti-spam features. The support from the FortiGate team is good, and price-wise, it is affordable.

What needs improvement?

They are doing good, but they can improve the distributor assignment. The availability of the product and the timeline of delivery are the main things. The distribution should be swift, and the distributor should not reach out to end customers directly. They should work as a distributor. There should also be one more local distributor. Currently, there is only one distributor in Pakistan, and the rest of them are in UAE. It is difficult to work with only one distributor. Sometimes, you don't get along with the same distributor, and that's why they should have one more distributor. 

Their licensing should also be improved. The activation or renewal of the product should be done from the date of renewal, not from the date on which the license expired.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for almost two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is 100% stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. We have more than a thousand users. 

How are customer service and technical support?

The support from the FortiGate team is good. My engineers never complained that they are facing any problem with Fortinet in terms of support.

How was the initial setup?

It is very easy to install. It is way easier than Cisco.

The deployment duration varies from customer to customer. It depends on what features they want to utilize, what is their scenario for IP addressing, and what security level they want to implement. It also depends on the policy and the planning of the technical teams. My engineers and the customer's engineers sit together, and they plan the activity and take care of everything. After that, they decide what to implement and how long it will take. Sometimes there are physical, logical, or IP addressing problems, so it all depends on the customer and our implementation planning. I have three guys for deployment. 

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

Its price is affordable and lesser than Cisco. Cisco is expensive.

In terms of licensing, there is only one issue. If a customer's license has expired a month ago and they do the renewal after one month, Fortinet renews the license from the start of the previous month. The activation of the product is done from the previous month, not from the date of renewal. The customers usually shout and complain that because they are paying today, the renewal should start from today. The support contract renewals or licensing should be renewed from the date of renewal, but Fortinet starts from the day it had expired. It is a loss for customers. They might have had some problems because of which they did not take the license one month before. Fortinet should work on this. Cisco doesn't do this. Cisco always starts from the day they apply for the license.

What other advice do I have?

We plan to keep selling this solution. Fortinet has launched new partnership levels. They have removed the silver partnership. We were a silver partner previously, and we have now become a premier partner or something like that. So, we have to improve our partnership on new levels.

I would definitely recommend this solution. We always support customers and recommend buying Fortinet. It is a better, more stable, and relatively cheaper product than Cisco. We supply Cisco only when a customer forces us to go for Cisco.

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
PeerSpot user
reviewer1448721 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deputy Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Good stability and fair pricing with an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The customization potential is quite impressive."
  • "The ease of use could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for the firewall for the most part. It's to help us with security on our network.

What is most valuable?

The solution has a very good set of rules.

The customization potential is quite impressive. It can be customized based on our licensing contracts.

The initial setup was pretty simple. We didn't find it to be overly difficult to execute on.

Technical support is rather helpful.

We find the stability to be pretty good.

We didn't have any trouble setting up the solution.

We find the pricing to be fairly good.

What needs improvement?

The ease of use could be improved. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for about five years. We have been continuously working with FortiGate itself throughout that time. It's been a while.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

So far, the stability has been pretty good for us. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. I'd describe the stability as reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I can't really speak to the scalability of the solution, as it isn't as aspect I handle. I've never tried to do it, so I'm not sure how it works.

We have about 50 users on the solution. About one third have access to it.

How are customer service and technical support?

We only really had one issue in the past where we had to deal with technical support. We needed some restoration of some data. It wasn't a bad experience. We were satisfied with their level of service. They seem to be knowledgeable and responsive.

How was the initial setup?

In terms of the initial setup, the process was not complex at all. We found it to be very straightforward and easy. We didn't run into any issues setting everything up.

We have one engineer that handles ongoing maintenance for us when we need it.

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

The pricing is fair. I don't feel that it is too expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I've been good with using Fortinet. It's a fine tool. 

Overall, I would recommend the solution to other organizations.

I would rate it a nine on a scale from one to ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Michael-Sugg - PeerSpot reviewer
President at Sovereign Managed Services
Real User
Very complete with good capabilities and very good stability
Pros and Cons
  • "The main reason why I purchased the particular unit was that it had good reviews and what other people were saying as far as its completeness and its leading capabilities in terms of endpoint security was very good."
  • "To some degree, it's almost a question as to why some of this stuff isn't simpler. For example, for an AP deployment, while it's integrated, the number of steps that you have to go through in order to get the AP up, seems like a lot."

What is our primary use case?

The purpose of this solution is to provide intrusion protection and more robust endpoint security for small offices. We are providing an enterprise solution for a small business by adding endpoint protection coupled with Intrusion Detection and Protection.  For small offices needing HIPAA compliance, we need to make sure we are providing robust protection instead of the default modem gateway provided by the ISP.

How has it helped my organization?

The Fortinet product provides enterprise capabilities in a small footprint at a price point that is more attainable for a small business. The product meets the IPS/IDS/Endpoint protection that small organizations need for their HIPAA and PCI compliance.  While the end user may not understand the true capabilities, the managed service provider can more easily deploy and maintain this small footprint product.

What is most valuable?

The main reason why I purchased the particular unit was based on other reviews and leadership in this space. Being able to have a VPN solution as well as integrated access points is a plus. For me, it's all about simplicity. When you look at my particular model for a managed service provider, it's basically to help simplify, protect, and remain compliant. When you're trying to implement something, it's about making sure it is simplified. This seems to fit the bill.

What needs improvement?

The product has enterprise capabilities, which means there are a ton of configurations possible.  What I'd like to see in the product is more of a branch in the box wizard deployment for those that are not as well versed in firewall and routing.  For a small business, the firewall should be able to self-configure for a Unified Threat Management configuration with 2 SSIDs for protected wireless network for internal gear and a guest wireless network for employee cell phones and guests.  I'd like to open the box, plug in the router behind the cable modem, and check a few boxes, and the rest is done automatically.  I don't want to have to build a configure VLANs, SSIDs, security protocols for each port, and try to figure out and understand all the layers in an effort to deploy a solution.  It's great to have those capabilities in case you need them, but for most of the offices I am trying to deploy these into--it should be a branch in a box.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've only been using the solution for a few weeks. It's very new for us.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability has been fine. I've had no questions about the stability of it. It seems so far it is staying up. I haven't had any issues to speak of.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I haven't really pushed this product from a scalability perspective. Certainly, if you look at the performance metrics, the F series appears to have really expanded the capacity and capabilities beyond past models. If you look at 40E versus 40F, there's a fairly substantial difference. For a small office, it's going to be just fine.

How are customer service and technical support?

I haven't reached out to technical support and therefore can't speak to their level of responsiveness.

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

N/A

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is complex for me due to my lack of experience with the Fortinet FortiGate product. The complexity can be a good thing, however, as there's a lot of really good features associated with it. Where it could be simplified is in having that easy deployment option, and then you can start going down and trying to get into the nitty-gritty and figure out when do you need the extra features.

Right now, I'm just in a test environment getting all the firmware up and tested. Then, once I have it tested, I'll take it to the client location and yank out their WiFi mechanism, their WiFi router, and put this in.

What about the implementation team?

I'm currently handling the implementation for a client.

What was our ROI?

ROI is somewhat difficult to measure when you are mostly talking about deploying a product for endpoint security.  If your environment stays protected, then it was a good return on investment.

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

When you look at these endpoint security systems and firewalls, these products a few years were way too expensive for a small business. Now we have enterprise level security in a footprint that is less than $1,000.  For offices that have 10-25 computers needing protection, this is a better solution.

What other advice do I have?

The good news is that Fortinet does have a good support network as well as their education academy to help someone get up to speed on their product.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1238928 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Engineer - Sênior at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Good web filtering, nice GUI, and an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is straightforward."
  • "Technical support could be better. You don't always get the level of help you need right away."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution just for internal segmentation and connection of some ranges using IPSec.

How has it helped my organization?

Currently, the solution is saving costs for us and blocks applications effectively using layer seven.

What is most valuable?

The solution's most valuable aspect is the IPS for potential mitigation from the cloud inside our network. 

The VPN SSL is important for us. 

The web filter is very good. 

The GUI is okay.

The initial setup is straightforward.

The documentation provided is okay, I find that sometimes, with other startups, it's hard to find a good amount of documentation in order to assist you with the product. In this case, the solution offers a good amount of detail.

The solution offers good analyzing capabilities.

What needs improvement?

I'm not sure if the solution is really lacking anything major. For us, it works okay.

They seem to have made a lot of improvements since the last release.

Technical support could be better. You don't always get the level of help you need right away.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for about ten years at this point. As it's been about a decade, I'd say we have quite a bit of experience with it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For the most part, the memory and the CPU are good. It's generally stable. We don't face any issues with this aspect of the solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is fine. If a company needs to expand it, they should be able to do so without any issues.

We only have about 40 users on the product currently. It's not a big company.

For now, the product is good as it is and we don't have plans to increase usage in the future.

How are customer service and technical support?

By and large, technical support is good. It's okay. It's not bad. It could be better, however, they do answer our questions when we have them. We're mostly satisfied with the level of service they provide. Of course, it could always be a bit better.

Sometimes the first contact is useful, and sometimes you don't get the kind of help you need right away. It would be nice if it was more consistent.

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

We also use Sophos. We use both solutions at the same time.

How was the initial setup?

We didn't face any complexity when handling the initial implementation. The process is quite straightforward.

The implementation itself can sometimes take less than a week. On average, you should expect it to be about a week in total.

What about the implementation team?

I didn't need the assistance of a reseller or integrator. I handled the implementation myself.

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

We're charged a licensing fee on a yearly basis. I'm unsure of the exact cost to the company, however. I'm not sure if there are other costs over and above the standard licensing fee.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We also looked at Juniper when we evaluated FortiGate. FortiGate is much easier to use in comparison which is why we chose it. The documentation was also better. That, and there was no integration for SSL in Juniper.

What other advice do I have?

We're just a customer. We don't have a business relationship with the company.

Overall, I would recommend the product. It comes with a very good set of features.

I would rate the solution ten out of ten. We've been quite happy with it.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: October 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.