Sophos Firewall Reviews

I use Sophos XG for security products and have two lower sites. One is for production, and one is for security. I use it for security. For our management team, I will use it for production in the future. We focus on network security, and for threat protection, customers also use other products like Bitdefender and Kaspersky on their workstations and servers.

For network security, I use Sophos XG for entire network protection. The AI-enhanced security features are important to me, as they provide enhanced features for business reporting and automation. Our customers are also happy because of its AI capabilities, which satisfy them in terms of security features. Sophos XG focuses on network security, a crucial aspect for me.

The main improvement needed is in the pricing. It is a little higher when compared to competitors like Huawei. There are many Chinese products in Myanmar, and their prices are more competitive. Sometimes, for budgets with limitations, I offer Chinese products like Huawei. Additionally, Sophos XG's response time is sometimes delayed due to time zone differences in customer support.

I have been using Sophos XG for one year.

I rate the stability of Sophos XG as eight out of ten because there are sometimes delays in response, likely due to time zone differences.

I have tried Sophos's technical support, and it's okay. If I rate it, I would give it an eight out of ten.

It's not difficult for me and my team to install, but technicians need experience.

Three to five engineers usually take part from our side in maintenance.

The pricing is a little higher compared to Chinese products like Huawei. For those on a limited budget, I sometimes prefer Huawei. However, if the customer focuses on security features and reliability, I don't use Chinese products.

Comparisons were made with competitors like Huawei, Fortinet, and other Chinese products.

I recommend Sophos XG to other customers. For overall reliability, network security, threat protection, and everything, I rate it nine out of ten. The AI-enhanced security features are significant and satisfying. Reporting and automation features are valuable. Sometimes, there are delays in customer support responses due to time zone differences. Overall, I rate the solution nine out of ten.

On-premises

My main use case for the Sophos XGS is as a perimeter firewall, and it has a WAF, web filtering, IDS, and email protection.

The most useful features in Sophos XGS are the web filter and IDS, along with email protection; those are the features that I use mostly.

Email protection is the IDS, and there's also the Web Application Filter that I find useful.

Regarding the synchronized security in Sophos XGS, the feature is automatically enabled if you have Sophos Endpoint, allowing them to synchronize through the cloud to communicate together. I find the feature useful and effective.

Sophos XGS helps to identify threats effectively, but it relies on the rules set in the IPS and IDS policies. In Sophos, we rely on the reports to see categorized attacks in progress, and we can then observe what has happened.

To improve Sophos XGS for the next release, I recommend enhancing visibility as it's the biggest challenge. There should be more details on visibility.

I have been working with Sophos XGS Firewall since 2018.

I haven't faced any challenges; they usually provide support whenever an issue arises and work on it until it's resolved.

I haven't faced any stability issues; it's perfect. I'm satisfied with its performance.

For scalability, you purchase it according to the number of users and traffic; scaling means you would have to buy another product if you exhaust resources, but what we are using is enough to support our load.

So far, we are monitoring to see if we'll increase, but we are below the capacity of the device.

The support is great, and it's sufficient to help me. I would rate the support a perfect 10.

Positive

Before working with Sophos XGS, I evaluated other firewalls including Fortinet, using a smaller version of it, along with Untangle and Cisco Firepower.

The main driver to moving to Sophos was the price and value evaluation; the price was reasonable, and they provided enough features that we needed, as the previous firewalls were limited in traffic and number of users.

It's easy to set up, and they provide support to help through the process.

We were working with the provider and implementing it in parallel with what we had before, ensuring everything was moved before switching.

I find the cost of the firewall to be moderate; it's reasonable.

With Sophos XGS, there are no limitations on the number of users, and the setup is easy.

I would recommend that those planning to use Sophos XGS find it easy to use and deploy, and it works well, but they may need another tool for better visibility.

Sophos XGS helps to identify threats effectively, but it relies on the rules set in the IPS and IDS policies.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate Sophos XGS an eight.

On-premises

I use Sophos XGS as a firewall in the company, for web filtering and spam filtering, mail filtering, and education filtering. It serves as a firewall that handles concurrent users' needs of around 23,000 to 32,000 connections.

Mail filtering and web filtering are the most effective features. I have been using the tool as a firewall in the company, for web filtering and spam filtering, mail filtering, and education filtering, just a firewall that serves the concurrent users' needs. I find it much easier than others, like FortiGate, which is complicated in its installation, but Sophos XGS is really easy.

The reporting system is very poor. I cannot trace any traffic to our site if it feels some threats. It just tells me that there is something during a certain time but does not provide information about the type of threats or how to get rid of them. This needs improvement.

I have been using Sophos XGS since 2010, starting from the XG 110 and upgrading to XG 2100. I have been using Sophos starting from 2005 or 2004. It changed from Secure Computing to Sophos.

The deployment took only two to three hours, which is not too much.

Sophos XGS is stable now, and I would rate its stability as a ten out of ten.

The scalability is great. I can change what I want easily without interfering with other services or routines.

I contacted Sophos support for a few questions, and they were very helpful. I would rate the support a nine.

Positive

I tested FortiGate, SonicWall, and Sophos. I decided to go for Sophos due to its easy deployment and troubleshooting, although it lacks in the reporting system.

The initial setup of Sophos XGS was easy and much simpler compared to other solutions like FortiGate.

The costs have increased with Sophos XGS in the last few years, with license prices going up by 30%, doubling from $2,500 to about $5,000, which is a big challenge for us.

Sophos XGS was reasonably priced initially, but the license cost has significantly increased in the last few years.

I tested FortiGate and SonicWall before opting for Sophos.

I recommend Sophos XGS as it is easy, reliable, has good support, and is flexible and stable. If the reporting system and license price are improved, it would be great. It's a good firewall. I would rate the overall solution a ten out of ten.

On-premises

We have an ERP that's in-house, and we use Sophos XG to generate a VPN client file, import it, and utilize the connectivity with low latency. This allows us to access our office systems remotely using the Sophos XG connection.

Sophos XG has allowed us to implement all kinds of firewall rules and manage bandwidth efficiently. By prioritizing bandwidth for our ERP hosted in Amazon Cloud and de-prioritizing non-essential sites, it has greatly improved our network management. The user interface is easy to navigate, making administration tasks straightforward. In terms of backup, reinstallation, and DHCP configuration, Sophos XG is very straightforward compared to other solutions.

The knowledge base needs improvement, particularly in terms of community support and training videos on platforms like YouTube. Compared to other firewalls, Sophos XG documentation is somewhat confusing and can be difficult to use. The licensing model could also be improved to cater to smaller offices, as the current minimum purchase is for 50 users, which can be expensive. Incorporating AI technology for enhanced learning and easier configurations would make the solution more robust.

I have been using Sophos XG since they took over Cyberoam, and I switched from Cyberoam to Sophos XG.

Sophos XG is very stable, even when serving as a DHCP server. Unlike some other firewalls, it does not overheat when certain features are enabled.

Our experience with customer service is excellent. We are supported by the guys who resell Sophos XG, and their technical team is well-trained and knowledgeable.

Positive

I have worked with FortiGate and Palo Alto. However, we switched to Sophos XG because FortiGate was expensive.

The setup process for Sophos XG is very straightforward, especially when compared to other firewalls.

We were supported by our reseller's technical team, who were well-trained and knowledgeable.

The Sophos XG costs about $1,300 annually for a license for up to 50 people. Comparatively, FortiGate offers similar features and IPsec for $1,600 annually.

I evaluated FortiGate and Palo Alto before choosing Sophos XG.

I rate Sophos XG a seven out of ten. Incorporating AI technology for enhanced configurations would improve its overall value.

I am working with Sophos XG, and it's one of Sophos products we are selling.

I mostly work with the on-premises version of Sophos XG.

I have used Sophos XG's Security Heartbeat feature, and our customers prefer this functionality as one of the key functions.

I have utilized Sophos XG's Sandstorm technology, and from customer feedback, it's considered a strong and good technology, but I cannot explain it thoroughly because I am a salesman.

From my perspective, the best features of Sophos XG are that it's a complex solution and its integration with endpoint and XDR, EDR systems of Sophos is quite appealing to customers.

Regarding scalability, I think it's nine. Sophos XG is really focused on small and mid-market customers. It's designed for easy implementation and easy setup. If you try to implement it into the enterprise, it's absolutely impossible because there are no functionalities required by the enterprise, and it's a nightmare. However, for the small and mid-segment, it's absolutely the best.

I cannot remember anything specific about Sophos XG that could be improved at the moment.

I have been working with Sophos for many years, perhaps around ten years, but I'm not certain.

I cannot rate the technical support of Sophos on a scale from one to ten because I am a salesman and have no practical skill with the technical support of Sophos. I cannot compare it, and it feels nonsensical.

Negative

In my opinion, it's not difficult to deploy Sophos XG. I have feedback that it's quite easy.

I don't do installation for my customers or deployment. I am a salesman, and our partners handle that.

Regarding pricing, from my perspective, Sophos XG has good pricing because we still grow with the selling of Sophos firewalls and products every year by five to ten percent. From that point, I think it's good pricing, but you can always meet some customers who are not satisfied.

I am working not only with Sophos but also with other vendors like Barracuda. I don't have another product like the firewall, just Sophos and Barracuda as firewalls, the real firewalls.

On a scale from one to ten, I can say that Sophos XG is a nine.

I am not able to compare the impact of Sophos XG's Deep Packet Inspection on network security because I'm a salesman.

I would rate this review an eight overall.

On-premises

Other

We have experience with Sophos XG, which is the older version as well. It has been around three or four years that I have been working with Sophos XG.

We are the partners of Sophos XG, and we are in the partners platform.

For Sophos XG, we are not using it in our on-premise environment, so we pitch it to customers based on their requirements.

In some scenarios, we offer maintenance for the firewalls, especially in high availability situations.

The interface of Sophos XG is basic, and we can manage it easily compared to other firewalls; for example, it is much easier for configurations than Palo Alto.

Regarding the security level in Sophos XG, we need to see the Gartner reports because there are competitors such as SonicWall that we have to consider.

As for valuable features in Sophos XG, I am not able to recall many at this moment, but it has good integrations with Active Directory Protocol and others.

I do not have any specific ideas on what disadvantages Sophos XG could improve upon.

Everything has been good; I have not encountered any major challenges or problems.

AI could be one of the area for improvements.

It has been around three or four years that I have been working with Sophos XG.

We have found that Sophos XG is stable; I would say it is stable overall.

I am not sure how scalable Sophos XG is.

We have not reached any enterprise customers pitching for Sophos XG, so I have no clarity on its effectiveness for them.

The technical support from Sophos XG is good, and the response times are also good.

Positive

The installation of Sophos XG is quite easy, and we have not found any difficulties in the process.

That is the older version of Sophos XG.

Generally, Sophos XG is used in an on-premise environment.

Adding AI features would be practical, especially given the current trend of integrations across products.

Clients would use AI in the product for addressing configuration issues or simply to query the AI when they face problems.

Regarding disadvantages, only the potential for AI in configuration seems to be the area for improvements; I cannot clarify any more disadvantages.

I give Sophos XG an overall experience rating of nine out of ten.

On-premises

We use Sophos XG in our organization for security purposes, managing around three hundred fifty computers and eighty servers.

The threat detection engine is good, with features like heartbeating between the endpoint and firewall, which provides synchronized security. The anti-ransomware functionality is effective, and the recent addition of Deep Learning, EDR, and XDR works fine. Having an appliance that combines the analyzer and firewall saves costs. Sophos Central is a good idea, although it could be easier to use.

Sophos XG is not easy to navigate and to use, and the integration capabilities are lacking. It cannot integrate properly with solutions like Darktrace. The VPN client on mobiles, especially Android phones, has issues. It is resource-greedy, causing performance problems even on new computers. Improvements are needed in resource management and integration with other security solutions.

I have been a Sophos customer since 2016.

Sophos XG is resource-greedy, affecting performance even on newer computers. It requires more resources due to recent updates, leading to performance issues on computers like Core i5, 13th Gen.

I have not encountered any scalability issues.

The technical support from Sophos is good. They usually respond on time, and the support technicians are experienced. I've had around four or five big cases over seven years, and they provided effective assistance.

Neutral

Before Sophos, we used Bitdefender and Kaspersky. Sophos offered a cloud-based solution which connected frequently to Sophos Labs for analysis. It provided better features in some aspects compared to Bitdefender.

The initial setup of Sophos XG was smooth. The support was good at that time, and the installation process was straightforward because I installed everything in a clean environment while setting up the network from scratch.

Sophos supported us during the initial setup.

Pricing-wise, Sophos offers high value compared to other solutions. However, I discovered that SentinelOne is thirty percent cheaper, likely due to aggressive discounts.

I evaluated SentinelOne, which offers competitive pricing.

I would recommend Sophos XG due to its good value for money, despite its integration issues. I rate the overall solution between 7.5 and 8 out of 10.

Public Cloud

We use the product for traffic and security control. 

We currently have multiple clients, and many users are working remotely. We need antivirus protection to guard against malware introduced from public networks. One of the most beneficial features of Sophos XG is its integration with Sophos Central. If any file is detected as malicious on any endpoint or firewall, Sophos Central immediately identifies the threat and publishes the information across all endpoints and firewalls. If a single system gets infected, the threat is communicated and addressed across the entire network, including all sites and remote users.

One drawback I've noticed with Sophos XG is that sometimes, the platform can become unresponsive. I've observed that it occasionally hangs, causing traffic to get stuck. During these times, users cannot access the internet or any services routed through the Sophos Firewall. This issue happens randomly and isn't something we've encountered with other firewalls like FortiGate, which we used in the past.

Dealing with licensing has been a big challenge for us. Despite our efforts to resolve issues through our sales contact, we've faced limitations. After confirming our purchase orders, we had to escalate the issue. We were ready to extend our licenses for two or three months.

I have been working with the product for a year. 

We haven't seen any major issues with customer support from Sophos. We have faced some problems, but we understand that the support team can sometimes be unresponsive.

Positive

When comparing FortiGate to Sophos XG, I would say that if I'm working on large-scale asset monitoring and security purposes, especially if I have a data center that requires firewall security, then FortiGate would be my choice. It's faster and more responsive than Sophos XG support. 

The tool's deployment takes two to three hours to complete. It doesn't require any maintenance. You would need one engineer to handle one application. 

I can say there has been some return on investment. It's good, but I would still say it's higher by about 10-15 percent compared to other market products with similar configurations.

The tool's pricing and licensing are very complex. As a developing company, we need approvals from management to make a purchase, which can take time. We asked Sophos XG to renew our current firewall license for one or two months while we plan to accommodate our increasing IT assets.

I rate the overall product an eight out of ten.