Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Raphael Haroun  Ikyagh - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Administrator at Letshego
Real User
Feb 23, 2022
Security solution that protects our internal network, but it could be more secure
Pros and Cons
  • "Initial setup is straightforward. There weren't too many issues with setting it up. It takes one hour or so."
  • "The solution could be more secure and stable."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for security and to protect our internal network from the internet.

This solution is deployed on-premise.

My company has 300 people at HQ. We have about 60 users in practice and 10-15 users per branch.

What is most valuable?

I am satisfied with the solution for now.

What needs improvement?

The solution could be more secure and stable.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet for over four years.

Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability could be improved.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable. It's an SD-WAN application, so on every site we have a FortiGate firewall there.

How are customer service and support?

I think there is a third-party vendor that is helping with technical support.

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

I have not been exposed to working with any other firewall except the FortiGate. At one point, our network was strictly on Cisco routers and switches. At that time, I was not exposed to having access to the security aspect of that, so I couldn't say which devices would be used for protection.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup is straightforward. There weren't too many issues with setting it up. It takes one hour or so.

What about the implementation team?

We used a consultant.

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

You need to pay a license for this solution. Our licensing is now done in our subsidiary.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 7 out of 10.

Compared to Cisco, I think the Cisco routers are actually more stable.

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
Rehan Rauf - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at Nayatel Pvt. Ltd
Real User
Feb 22, 2022
Great URL filtering with a next-generation firewall that can do internet routing
Pros and Cons
  • "Offers good security and filtering."
  • "Lacks training for new features."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for mid to large enterprise companies with around 500,000 users. We are resellers of this solution based in Pakistan and we have a partnership with Fortinet. 

What is most valuable?

I like the security that Fortigate offers; it has great URL filtering with a next-generation firewall that can do internet routing, plus give us advanced layer seven application control. It offers good features. 

What needs improvement?

I'd like to see training provided for new features and upgrades, it's not currently available. They really need to work on their support. There's a huge market for enterprise business right now and Pakistan is focusing on network security. Fortinet lacks local premium support.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using this solution for six months. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a good, stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable for enterprise companies. 

How was the initial setup?

We have two or three local engineers that help us with deployment. 

What other advice do I have?

My one piece of advice would be to spend time planning, rather than just purchasing a product and proceeding to deployment. It's important to research the features, read their community postings regarding bugs because it's something that might hit them in the future. 

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Fortinet FortiGate
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about Fortinet FortiGate. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Solution Architect at TNS Networking Solution Pvt. Ltd
Real User
Feb 20, 2022
Easy to configure but customers are looking for a more complete solution, and more public training should be available
Pros and Cons
  • "Initial setup is easy to configure."
  • "The feature which gives us a lot of pain is ASIC architecture."

What is our primary use case?

We are partners with Fortinet, so we are system integrators. We are the bridge between Fortinet and the customer.

What needs improvement?

I'm satisfied with the product more or less. If we are presenting Fortinet and proposing Palo Alto also, Fortinet is not able to develop the kinds of features available right now in the market. Even with the sandboxing feature, which is an advanced synchronized security, right now most customers are asking for a complete solution like EDR, XTR, or a kind of firewall. It should get synced, and there should be a type of URL filtering application that filters all kinds of visibility.

The feature which gives us a lot of pain is ASIC architecture. The firewall architecture is a kind of an operating system in the chip. We have our kind of base operating system in raw mode, so nobody is able to hack it out. The problem is that every time your base operating system gets an upgrade, customers need to upgrade the firewall. It means you have to replace the older firewall. That's a pain area. It should not be that kind of ASIC base. It should be based like Check Point and Palo Alto so if there is a major update coming in, they can be updated on the same firewalls.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with Fortinet for about five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable. Normally we are selling Fortinet for customers who have 100 or 150 users, not more than that. Over time, there is a lot of worry about insecurity. For big accounts, we are not able to satisfy the customer with the Fortinet firewall because they ask for a lot of features. Even in PLC, we have some challenges in that.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is okay.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup is easy to configure.

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

The price is fine. We were expecting that Fortinet would give competition to Palo Alto, but the market that we are covering with Fortinet is kind of SMB. They are compatible with Sophos, so we are not dealing with the big boxes because then there will be a requirement of big boxes. If there are more than 2,000, 5,000, or 15,000 users, we are selling for Palo Alto, but not lower than that.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 6 out of 10. 

The people who are working right now as system engineers are doing a kind of formal activity with the configuration. That means they are doing the basic activation. They are not doing a lot of experiments on them, so they should go with that because Fortinet is also having sensors, which can be highlighted to the customers. 

Training should be available to the partner. The people who really implement the Fortinet firewall or Check Point or Palo Alto don't have enough knowledge about that because there is no public document or public training available.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Michael Vlahakis - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder at Digivalue
Real User
Feb 20, 2022
Fits the customer requirements very well, comes with good support, and is very stable
Pros and Cons
  • "It is useful for protecting and segregating the internal networks from the internet. Most of our customers also use the FortiGate client to connect to their offices by using the VPN client, and of course, they usually activate the antivirus, deep inspection, and intrusion prevention services. They are also using it for web filtering and implementing various policies dealing with forwardings, NAT, etc."
  • "A sandbox would be good in order to be able to inspect the emails containing spam and be able to validate the emails that contain malware, prior to delivering to the customer."

What is our primary use case?

We manage FortiGate firewalls for our customers. We are working with 100F, 100D, and 60D.

All our FortiGates are installed on-premises, but we can manage our customers' firewalls remotely.

What is most valuable?

It is useful for protecting and segregating the internal networks from the internet. Most of our customers also use the FortiGate client to connect to their offices by using the VPN client, and of course, they usually activate the antivirus, deep inspection, and intrusion prevention services. They are also using it for web filtering and implementing various policies dealing with forwardings, NAT, etc.

What needs improvement?

A sandbox would be good in order to be able to inspect the emails containing spam and be able to validate the emails that contain malware, prior to delivering to the customer.

Its initial setup could be simpler.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Its stability is great. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not had the necessary size to experience extendability.

How are customer service and support?

They supported us in many of our projects when we needed the expertise to configure the devices properly according to the customer's specifications.

How was the initial setup?

It could be simpler. Sometimes, it is very difficult. Policies tend to mix up sometimes, and it can be difficult to have clear policies for one particular thing.

What other advice do I have?

We recommend this product to customers with up to 200 or 250 people. This size is considered large by Greek standards. If a customer is located in one single building or two or three buildings, and they do not have a complicated architectural infrastructure, this product is ideal for them. It is not recommended for customers with a complex infrastructure and a lot of buildings.

I would rate it a nine out of 10. It is a fantastic product. It fits the customer requirements very well, and the vendor is great. We are very pleased 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
Hamada Elewa - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer - Security Presales at Raya Integration
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Feb 18, 2022
Reliable, good support, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be scalable."
  • "Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve to be on par with its competitors, such as Palo Alto and Sophos. They are the market leaders. Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve its capabilities. However, we are happy with Fortinet FortiGate."

What is our primary use case?

We use Fortinet FortiGate as a transparent firewall, it is covering the LAN. Whereas, I have a Cisco firewall, which is covering the internet outside. We have two layers of security. FortiGate focuses on the LAN traffic, which is outgoing from the servers in the LAN.

What needs improvement?

Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve to be on par with its competitors, such as Palo Alto and Sophos. They are the market leaders. Fortinet FortiGate needs to improve its capabilities. However, we are happy with Fortinet FortiGate.

Fortinet FortiGate should provide firewall certifications training for NSE 1, 2, and 3. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be scalable.

How are customer service and support?

We were satisfied with the technical support from Fortinet FortiGate.

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

The main reason we chose Fortinet FortiGate was that the price was better than the competition.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated many other firewall vendors, such as Juniper, Sophos, Palo Alto. and SonicWall.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend to everyone that wants to implement Fortinet FortiGate to always have a support contract.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

I do not give a score of ten to any vendor because there is always room for improvement.

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. Integrator
PeerSpot user
Security Engineer at Eguardian lanka
Reseller
Feb 15, 2022
Initial implementation straightforward, helpful support, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good."
  • "The reporting in Fortinet FortiGate could improve. Customers are having to purchase additional reporting components. When I have used the Sophos solution it is a complete solution, in Fortinet FortiGate you have to use additional tools to have the features needed."

What is our primary use case?

We use Fortinet FortiGate as a network firewall.

What needs improvement?

The reporting in Fortinet FortiGate could improve. Customers are having to purchase additional reporting components. in  Fortinet FortiGate you have to use additional tools to have the features needed.

We need to use FortiAuthenticator to have additional bandwidth. Fortinet should include more features in the solution instead of having separate tools.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate for approximately three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution from my experience.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of Fortinet FortiGate is good.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support from Fortinet FortiGate is 24 hours a day seven days a week, and 365 days a year. The support is good from Fortinet, and local distributor partner support has been helpful, we highly recommend them.

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

I have previously used pfSense, Sophos Firewall, and other endpoint solutions.

How was the initial setup?

The initial implementation of Fortinet FortiGate is not complex because the GUI environment is easy to use. We can do a lot of things in the GUI. If the configurations engineer, network administrator, or network engineer has knowledge about firewalls, the process will not be complex. It can easily be managed.

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

The price of Fortinet FortiGate when compared to other solutions is high. However, my knowledge of the price is from third parties and I am not sure how accurate it is. I typically work in the technical area of my organization.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Fortinet FortiGate a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer940329 - PeerSpot reviewer
ICT Systems Administrator at a philanthropy with 11-50 employees
Real User
Feb 15, 2022
Stable security solution with easy integration, ease of use, and good product support
Pros and Cons
  • "Security management tool that's easy to integrate and easy to work with. No issues found with its stability and scalability."
  • "Bandwidth usage in reporting could be improved for Fortinet FortiGate."

What is our primary use case?

Our use case for Fortinet FortiGate is that it's a firewall for managing our security.

What is most valuable?

What I found most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate is its easy integration.

It's also able to individually manage users.

I also like the VPN aspect of this solution.

It's a product that's easy to work with, especially when you work from home, e.g. you're able to integrate it easily with the users.

What needs improvement?

Bandwidth usage in reporting could be improved. There's an aspect in reporting that I'm trying, but what I noticed is if you logged into the VPN, there's an effect on the reporting in terms of bandwidth, that needs improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've dealt with Fortinet FortiGate for the last four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We didn't have any issues with the stability of Fortinet FortiGate.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We find Fortinet FortiGate scalable, because currently, we have 150 users of it, and it could handle up to 1,000 users. It's good for growth.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support for this solution is really good.

The first time we were using it, we called support and reported an issue, and saw that support was really good. There's nothing I can complain about regarding technical support for Fortinet FortiGate.

How was the initial setup?

The setup for Fortinet FortiGate was easy, because we had it done by another company. It was a construction company that we had this set up for, but I can't remember their name.

What about the implementation team?

Another company implemented this solution for us, and they also took us through the training and it was okay.

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

If you compare Fortinet FortiGate with Sophos and other firewall products available in the market, this solution is affordable. If you really want to use Fortinet FortiGate, you'll find that it's affordable.

What other advice do I have?

Fortinet FortiGate works well for me. I have not encountered any issues that required me to recommend an action or request if this solution could be improved. It suited the needs of the organization I'm using it in, so I didn't really find an area that needs to be improved, because this solution works very well for us.

My advice to others looking into implementing Fortinet FortiGate is that they need to do their research. They need to find out exactly why they need to use this product and for what purposes, because there are so many options for users. They really need to know what they want for their organization before they implement Fortinet FortiGate. They also need to think about the type of files they require, how many users will use this product, and what they intend to do with it.

If I could give Fortinet FortiGate a score of 11 out of 10, I would. It's very good. It's a ten out of ten for me. It's a really good solution.

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. partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1232469 - PeerSpot reviewer
Responsabile ced at a manufacturing company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 10
Feb 13, 2022
Secure, priced well, and the interface makes it simple to manage
Pros and Cons
  • "FortiGate is very simple to manage and easy to use."
  • "FortiGate should have a better way of detecting and managing the system memory because otherwise if the memory is too low, a system restart is required."

What is our primary use case?

We use FortiGate to protect our company network. We have a wireless plan (WLAN) environment.

What is most valuable?

The user interface is very good.

FortiGate is very simple to manage and easy to use.

This is a secure solution.

What needs improvement?

FortiGate should have a better way of detecting and managing the system memory because otherwise if the memory is too low, a system restart is required.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using FortiGate and other products in the Fortinet suite for approximately two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is used on a daily basis and in general, stability is okay.

There were two instances where the memory was full and the WLAN was blocked. The system had to be restarted. This may not have been a problem directly related to FortiGate. It may be that I didn't have enough to support the product. Perhaps a larger model would solve this issue.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have approximately 80 employees that are protected by FortiGate. We have approximately 20 that work in the office, with a total of about 50 PCs.

It has not been necessary to scale beyond that.

How are customer service and support?

I have never been in touch with technical support.

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

Prior to FortiGate, we were using Cisco for our firewall and our switches were from HP. Every five or six years, we upgrade our devices. The last time, we decided to buy Fortinet products because of a suggestion from our vendor.

Our vendor suggested Fortinet because the security is good, it's simple to use, and the price is good.

What about the implementation team?

I have an external technician that manages FortiGate for the company. This person was responsible for the initial setup.

I do simpler network changes myself, such as altering ports on the firewall or the switch.

What was our ROI?

I am very satisfied with this investment. It's a good device and works very well to protect us.

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

This is not a cheap solution but it isn't expensive, either. It's a good solution for the right price.

What other advice do I have?

FortiGate is regularly updated and my last update was within the past couple of months.

In our company, we have not needed to use any special features, so it is difficult to consider what new features I might want to see in the future.

Overall, this is a very good solution and I personally haven't had any problems with it. I would recommend that my colleagues buy Fortinet devices because they are good.

I would rate this solution an eight 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
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Fortinet FortiGate Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.