SonicWall NSa Reviews

We have two SonicWalls in the High Availability setup with failover configuration.

We use it for the firewalling, for IPS protection and for VPN clients.

With SonicWall we have more insight in the applications that users are using and what they are doing on the internet, so we can monitor better. It gives us better monitoring.

We now have more insight and information; what protocols and what websites users are trying to reach and what is blocked and what is not blocked, so we can better follow the tracks of the users.

The features that I have found most valuable are the firewalling, which is very good and the GUI which is very intuitive. It is easy to use and provides great security.

Overall, I'm quite happy about the product. The configuration and the interface are very good. Maybe the pricing and licensing could be improved.

It is not scalable. If your enterprise is growing hard then you have to buy another, bigger product. Maybe if you use it virtually it is more scalable.

We have been using SonicWall NSa for maybe eight to 10 years.

I work for several companies, and we use the NSa with one of them.

It is very stable.

Scalability is an issue. If you need to scale for more performance you will need another product in a higher range. You cannot scale the product itself. That's not possible.

It is not scalable at all.

We have about 350 users. I do the maintenance on my own.

We use it daily.

We do not have plans to increase at the moment.

Their technical support is very good.

The initial setup is not complex, it is very easy.

In terms of my implementation strategy - at first I write down the case we need. I investigate all the uses we have to implement with the SonicWall, and then I install and configurate it. I think the primary configuration was maybe three or four hours.

It was all done by myself.

You can buy the license for one or three years, and we mostly choose the three year. That's a little bit cheaper.

We looked at the Cisco and we looked at the Palo Alto, but the SonicWall was the most valuable for the pricing, the best product for us. The main difference is the pricing.

SonicWall NSa is a very good product with a very nice price, and it is low-level to use.

It is easy to manage and easy to implement.

On a scale of one to ten, I would give SonicWall NSa a nine because of the stability and the easy-to-use GUI. It's a very nice product.

Our primary use case of NSa is for security. We are customers of SonicWall and I'm an IT administrator. 

The solution is user-friendly with good security and application control which is very important these days. 

The support is severely lacking with very slow response times. There are latency issues with this solution. I'd like to see improved performance and an updated dashboard.

I've been using this product for seven years. 

The stability is fine although there are some security and latency issues. 

The scalability is fine. 

Customer support requires additional engineers because their long response times are problematic. 

Neutral

The initial setup is relatively straightforward. We have several hundred users, predominantly IT specialists, engineers and developers. I'm the maintenance person for this product. 

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Licensing costs are reasonable. 

In general, this is a good solution and I rate it eight out of 10.  

We use this solution for network security in our branch office.

One of the main features is the built-in storage capacity. 

The logging, reporting, and storage capacity size could improve in a future release.

I have been using this solution within the last 12 months.

The stability is good in this solution. 

The solution is scalable. There are 200 people using this solution in my companies branch office.

The technical support was very responsive.

I have used SonicWall TZ previously.

The installation was straightforward.

We are on a three-year license for the solution. The price is inexpensive compared to other solutions.

We have evaluated Sophos and Fortinet, SonicWall NSa we found to be much better.

I would recommend this solution to those who have between 150 to 500 users.

I rate SonicWall NSa a seven out of ten.

Our network has 150 users. We have two internet connections, an IPsec VPN, a DHCP server, a DMZ, WiFi, access controls and a load balancer, and two appliances with HA.

It is a good product, but very modular and with native resources which are much lower than its competitors. 

• Web filter
• DHCP
• Monitoring capabilities
• IPsec VPN and other security controls
  
• Integration with the active directory and other security controls (IPS and IDS).

• Load balance algorithms
• Resource usage graphs (throughput, connections, external accesses, and the possibility to export the content of the address object).

Additional resources are too expensive.

This solution is used as an IPsec tunnel and DDT.

SonicWall NSa has user-friendly firmware.

In terms of improvement, features like App Control do not work properly.

I have been using SonicWall NSa for eight years.

SonicWall NSa is stable.

It is scalable.

SonicWall NSa has excellent support.

I would recommend SonicWall to anyone.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We are a managed service provider and SonicWall is our primary firewall. We offer this solution to customers as part of a rental program, as well as sell them outright.

The most valuable feature is the Global Management System. This is the driving force behind why we continue to use it.

Having to deal with too many lower-level people in technical support means that it takes longer to resolve issues, so escalating support tickets should be faster.

I have bee using SonicWall at this company for nine years, although it was SonicWall TZ prior to SonicWall NSA. This company has been using it for longer than that. I also have experience with SonicWall that predates my time here.

SonicWall is very stable.

I don't think that scalability is a pertinent criterion for firewalls because they're hard-coded by the ASICs that go into them. When we rent a firewall to a customer instead of selling one, that customer has an upgrade path available. In this regard, it is scalable because we can switch them to a larger model if they outgrow it. Otherwise, it's limited by the ASIC.

The technical support from SonicWall is good. However, if it were easier to access where you were not stuck in a queue of people and forced to escalate problems it would be a bonus. 

The initial setup is straightforward.

Overall, this is a good solution and it's doing the job we need it to do. By in large, we don't have any complaints. There are always things that can be easier, but it's doing the job.

My advice for anybody who is implementing SonicWall NSA is that you can't be an expert on every brand. This means that you should pick a model, learn it very well, and build relationships with the support people at the vendor.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We have been using the SonicWall NSA firewall to keep our network safe.

The most valuable features are that it is reasonably-priced and works well.

Over time, this solution is becoming more complicated, and when I need support it often is not available. I would like U.S.-based technical support.

VPN functionality needs to be improved. As it is now, I need to combine another SSL VPN with my firewall. I want it to be done very easily. 

I have been using SonicWall for fifteen years.

The stability of SonicWall is fine.

I have had SonicWall for a really long time and I have had people help me to set it up, although I have always understood what has been done. As it has been updated, it has become more involved and more complicated, and things have moved around so I have to spend time finding where things are in the newer versions.

I have been looking at Fortinet and am learning toward it to replace our SonicWall. The main reason that I am switching is that we need something with a built-in VPN.

From what I have learned to so, Fortinet is more expensive but easier to manage.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

• SSL VPN & Application Control
• SSL VPN is important since several people are mobile and need files to access the server in the office. This is convenient, since they don’t need to go back to the office just use the SSL VPN.
• Application control is important to limit the users in the office from consuming bandwidth such as downloads by torrent and games. This also protects us from malicious applications such as anonymous proxy.

• Creating site to site VPN for HQ
• Branch via satellite connection for the branch

Access management port: This needs improving by SonicWall firmware.

We have been using the solution for three years.

We did not encounter any issues with stability.

We had a scalability issue.

Level-3 technical support is good.

We switched because of stability issues when turning on the UTM feature.

The initial setup was simple.

Pricing and licensing are competitive for this product.

We evaluated Sophos, Fortigate, and Stonesoft.

If you looking for a simple site-to-site VPN, stable UTM feature, and easy SSL VPN setup, then this solution is OK.