Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Pravin Mandlik - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 5
FortiOS and solid security features make it very effective
Pros and Cons
  • "FortiOS is quite good in my experience with Fortinet FortiGate, and it works very effectively and is stable for companies. The customers have given feedback that FortiOS has been very stable for a long time."
  • "The price-to-performance ratio for using Fortinet FortiGate is always better compared to any other competitor, so they are rated better than the likes of Check Point or Palo Alto."
  • "With the standard support subscription, if the device goes down, the customer has to first ship the box, and then Fortinet sends the replacement. With the higher support, the customer has to ship the device after they have the replacement. It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription."
  • "Their support can be better, and there should be better policies for immediate replacement in critical situations."

What is our primary use case?

The typical use case for Fortinet FortiGate is perimeter security, which is why our clients use this solution.

We are an implementer of Fortinet solutions.

How has it helped my organization?

It works well to protect the edge. For protecting the edge, Fortinet FortiGate secures any data traversing the network back to the cloud or data center through encryption. I have found it easy to configure, which results in no problems.

The security services provided by Fortinet FortiGate firewall are among the best. They have been in Gartner's quadrant for a very long time, which always helps.

Fortinet FortiGate has been able to secure mission-critical data effectively. It secures our customer's network properly, so that's always beneficial.

The ability of Fortinet FortiGate to provide network and security convergence is impressive, as they have stable features including application control. They also have advanced routing policies that set themselves apart in network security. Their solutions gel effectively with a single console for management, which is a significant advantage.

What is most valuable?

FortiOS is quite good in my experience with Fortinet FortiGate, and it works very effectively and is stable for companies. The customers have given feedback that FortiOS has been very stable for a long time. 

From a feature standpoint, it's easy to set up if people want to try and set up VPNs and other configurations. Policy control is quite nice, and we have a lot of experience with this solution, which helps us a lot.

What needs improvement?

Their support can be better, and there should be better policies for immediate replacement in critical situations. Their replacement policy varies depending on the type of support subscription. With the standard support subscription, if the device goes down, the customer has to first ship the box, and then Fortinet sends the replacement. With the higher support, the customer has to ship the device after they have the replacement. It would be better for customers to get immediate replacements even with a standard subscription.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
April 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

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

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. I would rate it a ten out of ten for stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

If you size the solution correctly based on the customer's network, number of users, and throughput required, there is no problem regarding scalability, so I would rate it a nine out of ten for scalability.

We have small, medium, and large customers who have opted for Fortinet FortiGate.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate technical support from Fortinet an eight out of ten. Their technical support can be improved slightly as we sometimes experience delays in support for urgent customer needs.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The typical deployment model for Fortinet FortiGate is mostly on-premises. However, there is a virtual appliance available for cloud setups, but in India, most of the sales are for on-premises appliances.

What was our ROI?

Fortinet FortiGate definitely reduces the total cost of ownership because it offers better management capabilities through a single platform. Its widespread use makes skill sets more available, making it much more cost-effective for customers than other products which may require higher resource costs.

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

It is more affordable than Check Point and Palo Alto. Another thing is that all the features and the OS remain the same irrespective of the size of the device.

Pricing-wise, Fortinet typically provides one-year support with the firewall appliance. There is also an option for three years which is how their licensing works. They also offer add-ons for features to keep more logs or data, which is standard across their competitors as well.

The price-to-performance ratio for using Fortinet FortiGate is always better compared to any other competitor, so they are rated better than the likes of Check Point or Palo Alto.

What other advice do I have?

The network availability improves when implementing a Fortinet solution; it's definitely much better for a customer compared to having no solutions in place. They are affordable overall.

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: Implementer
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Khushru_Mistry - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at GM Modular
Real User
Top 10
Simple to use and does a wonderful job in protecting enterprises
Pros and Cons
  • "The features I find most useful in Fortinet FortiGate are its simplicity of utilization, which is very important, and its provision of interfaces to see the alerts and other things."
  • "Fortinet FortiGate has impacted our cost savings and security efficiency positively."
  • "At this moment, we believe that Fortinet FortiGate should be improved by injecting more AI because the kind of threats we are seeing are more ransomware threats. Fortinet FortiGate is able to ensure these threats do not enter, but we would prefer to see more proactive alerting mechanisms come out."
  • "At this moment, we believe that Fortinet FortiGate should be improved by injecting more AI because the kind of threats we are seeing are more ransomware threats."

What is our primary use case?

Our main use cases for Fortinet FortiGate include using it as a perimeter firewall. Fortinet FortiGate manages all our policies and other things.

How has it helped my organization?

Fortinet FortiGate has impacted our cost savings and security efficiency positively.

Fortinet FortiGate's VPN capabilities are very effective for us. We utilize the VPN facilities of Fortinet FortiGate all the time, so anybody who accesses our SAP systems utilizes the VPN of Fortinet FortiGate.

It has been quite seamless in terms of integration. We find it very useful for us.

What is most valuable?

The features I find most useful in Fortinet FortiGate are its simplicity of utilization, which is very important, and its provision of interfaces to see the alerts and other things. It is very useful. We use it to understand who our top users of the internet are, what they are using, and when they are using it. It gives us many glimpses into the inner workings of the organization.

What needs improvement?

At this moment, we believe that Fortinet FortiGate should be improved by injecting more AI because the kind of threats we are seeing are more ransomware threats. Fortinet FortiGate is able to ensure these threats do not enter, but we would prefer to see more proactive alerting mechanisms come out.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Fortinet FortiGate in this company for about a year or over a year now, and in my previous company, I used it for almost four years, totaling five years of experience.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

For stability, I have no complaints; we are satisfied customers.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is scalable enough for our environment. We are using Fortinet FortiGate in the consumer durables industry for electrical products. We currently have a little over 2,000 users working with Fortinet FortiGate in our environment.

We plan to increase the usage of Fortinet FortiGate in the future, shortly upgrading and increasing the number of users.

How are customer service and support?

For technical support of Fortinet FortiGate, we utilize a channel partner and we are very happy with them. They support us almost instantly. They have backend support from Fortinet FortiGate, which they utilize. I would rate the support an eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The setup of Fortinet FortiGate is very simple, worthy of a nine out of ten rating.

The deployment part of Fortinet FortiGate takes a couple of hours. We decided to go for Fortinet FortiGate because it was simple to implement, it was simple to get the policies implemented, and the interfaces were quite simple. Simplicity was the main reason. The product is very good.

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

I find it quite reasonable.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Before working with Fortinet FortiGate, we evaluated Check Point, Palo Alto, and Blue Coat solutions. The reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was basically because of security and simplicity of use.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Fortinet FortiGate to those who are looking into using it because if they look at the manner in which it protects their enterprise, it does a wonderful job of that. 

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

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

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
April 2025
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer2667480 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cewa Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
A cost-effective solution with excellent security and easy policy configuration
Pros and Cons
  • "I find the ease of configuring specific policies to be the most valuable feature of the Fortinet FortiGate firewall."
  • "Fortinet FortiGate is good for helping you secure and protect mission-critical data."
  • "The solution could be improved by addressing limited local reporting. It requires obtaining the FortiAnalyzer for proper visibility because you can't do much from a reporting perspective with just the firewall alone."
  • "The solution could be improved by addressing limited local reporting. It requires obtaining the FortiAnalyzer for proper visibility because you can't do much from a reporting perspective with just the firewall alone."

How has it helped my organization?

I see several benefits of using Fortinet FortiGate. When it comes to deploying the solution, it is easy. It allows customers to quickly get up to speed with their day-to-day tasks, minimizing mundane requests. Additionally, the support regarding upgrades and hardware failures has been above par.

Fortinet FortiGate helps to remediate threats more quickly. 

Fortinet FortiGate helps to reduce the mean time to respond when it is properly integrated with proper tools. For example, with email and other automation capabilities, it has reduced to under an hour for me. 

Fortinet FortiGate helps to consolidate tools and applications by offering web control, email protection, routing, firewalling, and extending to switching and wireless on the same management platform.

Fortinet FortiGate is good for helping you secure and protect mission-critical data. It is also good for protecting your edge.

When it comes to security, Fortinet is excellent in terms of how updates are done when there is an incident globally or there's a new variant of any IOCs. It is quite up-to-date.

What is most valuable?

I find application control, logging and reporting, and ease of use valuable. I find the ease of configuring specific policies to be the most valuable feature of the Fortinet FortiGate firewall.

What needs improvement?

The solution could be improved by addressing limited local reporting. It requires obtaining the FortiAnalyzer for proper visibility because you can't do much from a reporting perspective with just the firewall alone.

In terms of convergence, it is a good solution, but it can be better. FortiGate has the capability to support their switching and wireless platforms. They are quite excellent on their wireless side, but I found a couple of gaps in terms of how FortiGate integrates with their own switching platform. There are some gaps there.

For how long have I used the solution?

My experience of working with Fortinet FortiGate is approximately 10 years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It caters to all with different units, such as from five users to a model that supports telcos or huge enterprises. Depending on the size of your organization, you end up getting the correct fit of the model, and they have the same capabilities. The variation comes in terms of the interfaces and throughputs, but from a security perspective, you get the same benefit, irrespective of whether you have an entry-level unit or an enterprise.

How are customer service and support?

Their support is quite effective. I would rate technical support from Fortinet a nine out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

I've had a chance to do a couple of deployments on the cloud. I've done deployments on private and public clouds. I've deployed it on-prem as an edge firewall or as a data center firewall. 

In terms of maintenance, like all firewalls, there is an aspect of upgrading based on new features and getting the latest updates from the signatures and IPS uploads that come along with it. That happens effectively in an automated way. Software upgrades are catered to during the support window.

What was our ROI?

The FortiGate firewall has helped to reduce the total cost of ownership.

It provides value for money and is quite competitive compared to other vendors, allowing you to achieve the proper ROI from investments.

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

The pricing or licensing of Fortinet FortiGate is quite effective as it offers different bundles that aggregate most required features, while also allowing clients the option to select specific components alone.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The typical use case for Fortinet FortiGate as a firewall is because of the commercial aspects. It is competitive from a pricing perspective. There is ease of use compared to other vendors and effective vendor support for any issues.

What other advice do I have?

Anyone considering purchasing FortiGate's data center firewall should go for it because data centers require stability and proper performance, which the platform provides. I would recommend getting the latest unit for a longer shelf life as clients often buy nearly end-of-sale products, limiting their usability.

Overall, I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Improves security and network distribution
Pros and Cons
  • "Fortinet FortiGate is used to prevent security failures. Since implementing the solution, we have seen improvements in security and in the distribution of our network."
  • "The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with."
  • "In my opinion, Fortinet FortiGate could be improved by making the appliance smaller than what we have here, as it is pretty big."
  • "In my opinion, Fortinet FortiGate could be improved by making the appliance smaller than what we have here, as it is pretty big."

What is our primary use case?

Fortinet FortiGate is used just to manage our network because our network is managed by another company. I work in a small to medium-sized industry.

What is most valuable?

Fortinet FortiGate is used to prevent security failures. Since implementing the solution, we have seen improvements in security and in the distribution of our network.

What needs improvement?

In my opinion, Fortinet FortiGate could be improved by making the appliance smaller than what we have here, as it is pretty big.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for three or four years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is better for large enterprise networking compared to MikroTik because we have about 100 people using our network, and we have had few problems compared to the time we were using MikroTik, which didn't work for us as well as the Fortinet FortiGate 200D does.

How are customer service and support?

We never have any issue or problem that hasn't been solved in two or three hours. The quick resolution of issues with Fortinet FortiGate is due to the support of the company and the fact that the equipment is easy to work with. Fortinet FortiGate does not require a lot of maintenance.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

We have been using Fortinet FortiGate for three or four years, and before that, we used MikroTik. We switched to Fortinet FortiGate because the company that provides service for us started to work with Fortinet FortiGate as a partner, and they showed it to us. We liked it, and we started to use the Fortinet FortiGate solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for Fortinet FortiGate was pretty easy, and they completed it in one hour and a half.

What about the implementation team?

Two people worked to support us on Fortinet FortiGate. One of their job roles was manager, and I don't know the other role.

What other advice do I have?

My advice for people thinking about using Fortinet FortiGate is that you have to try to understand your necessities first. Make a comparison with other players in the market and have a good company to manage the equipment if you don't have the competence to do it yourself, preferably a third company that does this for you. 

I would rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.