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reviewer1483797 - PeerSpot reviewer
Service Delivery Engineer - Network Security Lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Reseller
Jan 25, 2021
Simple to use, simple to manage, and simple to administer
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the Intercept X. It is the advanced features that are used for malware detection, and antivirus."
  • "They just need something that is simple to use, simple to manage, and simple to administer, but effective at the same time."
  • "Sophos can definitely improve with the interoperability between solutions."

What is our primary use case?

This firewall is part of the security solution that is implemented in medium-sized enterprises.

We are using it for endpoint and user security for laptops and mobile phones.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the Intercept X. It is the advanced features that are used for malware detection and antivirus. It's similar to antivirus on steroids.

It's simple to use and has a simple interface. It's generally straightforward and configuration-wise, it's not complex. 

It's a very simple product to use and that's why you find it is used mostly in small to medium-sized enterprises. They don't have the manpower that a large organization can have, in terms of the skilled workforce when it comes to cybersecurity. They just need something that is simple to use, simple to manage, and simple to administer, but effective at the same time. That's the main selling point for Sophos.

What needs improvement?

I have not used their SD-WAN product or the SD-WAN feature, so I don't know how scalable the SD-WAN is. But, I hope just that the SD-WAN is up to par with FortiGate.

The integration is an area that can improve a bit. One of the other solutions that I have used that is highly interoperable is Fortinet. It's easy to integrate with other products. 

Sophos can definitely improve with the interoperability between solutions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Sophos XG for a year and a half.

We are using the latest version.

Buyer's Guide
Sophos Firewall
May 2026
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. I've not had any issues with it.

In terms of bugs, I've not had any bugs, or I've not encountered any bugs when deploying Sophos or administering Sophos products. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, it's very scalable because they have different sized firewalls for different requirements or different specifications. 

It is also able to do high availability, so it's very scalable.

Currently, in our organization, we have coverage with Sophos Intercept X Endpoint Protection. We have 49 employees. We plan to continue to use this solution.

We are currently subscribed to a three-year product and will be using it for a duration of three years.

How are customer service and support?

I have not had any cases where I had to log technical support, but I believe it would be fast enough in case I needed to reach out to them.

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

We are also using Fortinet FortiGate Firewall. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple.

For a normal deployment with basic configuration in a  medium-sized enterprise, it can take a day and a half.

If it's a complex network design then it might be three to four days.

It only requires one person to deploy and maintain this solution.

What about the implementation team?

We used an implementor and an integrator, but usually, I do it by myself.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The features in Sophos XG are the same features you would find in Palo Alto or Fortinet.

What other advice do I have?

I just like it the way it is. I wouldn't recommend any changes to it, because what they have is working and it's working very well. It is a product that I definitely recommend to others.

I would rate this solution 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. Partner
PeerSpot user
ICT Manager at toril community cooperative
Real User
Jan 25, 2021
A fast, agile, and stable solution that is easy to deploy and manage
Pros and Cons
  • "Orchestration of the firewall is the most valuable feature. It is a fast and agile solution. It is good with protection. It is also very easy to deploy and manage, and its user interface is easy to use."
  • "Orchestration of the firewall is the most valuable feature."
  • "They can lower its price. It is very expensive. We are looking for a less expensive solution depending on our budget. They can also improve it in terms of firewall protection."
  • "They can lower its price. It is very expensive."

What is most valuable?

Orchestration of the firewall is the most valuable feature. It is a fast and agile solution. It is good with protection. It is also very easy to deploy and manage, and its user interface is easy to use.

What needs improvement?

They can lower its price. It is very expensive. We are looking for a less expensive solution depending on our budget. They can also improve it in terms of firewall protection.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very agile.

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

We didn't have any other similar solution previously.

How was the initial setup?

It is very easy to deploy.

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

It is very expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Sophos XG a nine 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
Sophos Firewall
May 2026
Learn what your peers think about Sophos Firewall. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Support Executive at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Jan 24, 2021
A stable and economical solution but there's room for a more customizable graphical interface
Pros and Cons
  • "I recommend the solution due to its ease of use and pricing."
  • "An area of improvement would be the reporting as diagnostic graphs take a long time to load and refresh. If there could be an option to show only select graphs, it may speed up the graphics."

What is our primary use case?

Our main use case of this solution is to support internal clients with virus scanning on laptops and on critical processors.


What needs improvement?

An area of improvement would be the reporting as diagnostic graphs take a long time to load and refresh. If there could be an option to show only select graphs, it may speed up the graphics.

Most of the time we don't use the disk usage, memory or CPU graphs. The main graph we watch is the bandwidth usage.

Additionally, their previous update contained many bugs. They need to ensure that, before releasing a new version, there are not so many bugs.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

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

We previously used Caveo Systems, but that was about 10 years ago.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy. The licensing and setting up of firewall rules takes some time, but the full deployment took about an hour.


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

The pricing is economical.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend the solution due to its ease of use and pricing.

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
reviewer1199082 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior IT Manager at a agriculture with 11-50 employees
Real User
Jan 13, 2021
A stable, flexible, and easy-to-use solution that works well and comes with a web management portal that can be accessed from anywhere
Pros and Cons
  • "It is stable, flexible, and easy to use, and it has got a web management portal that can be accessed from anywhere."
  • "I would like to have more artificial intelligence in the web monitoring service that comes with it. It should alert us when particular events happen. It has already got some of that. I know that it is more of a service, and Sophos is already looking at it. It is called SIEM."

What is our primary use case?

It can be used as a firewall, SD-WAN enabler, and secure web gateway. You can also use it for unified threat management, email detection, mobile device management, and wireless management. I use it in the cloud and on-premises, and I have its latest version.

What is most valuable?

It is stable, flexible, and easy to use. It has got a web management portal that can be accessed from anywhere.

What needs improvement?

I would like to have more artificial intelligence in the web monitoring service that comes with it. It should alert us when particular events happen. It has already got some of that. I know that it is more of a service, and Sophos is already looking at it. It is called SIEM.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for a few years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have roughly 700 users who use this firewall.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have interacted with them a few times. I am very satisfied with their technical support.

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

We were using FortiGate.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to install. I have done the installation in less than a day.

What about the implementation team?

We did it ourselves. We have two people for its deployment. We have one engineer and one admin.

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

It is not that expensive compared to the other solutions. It is about the same price range as Fortigate, which we used previously. Licensing is on a yearly basis.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution. We're very happy with the product. It works very well, and we don't have too many issues.

I would rate Sophos XG a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1477533 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Security Manager at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
MSP
Jan 7, 2021
Ability to be managed by all users; unfortunately there is no tracking
Pros and Cons
  • "Each user has the ability to manage the solution."
  • "The price is good, it's not an expensive product."
  • "Inability to investigate incidents, there is no tracking."
  • "It's a problem that we are not able to investigate incidents, there is no tracking. Security is also lacking in this product."

What is our primary use case?

We are customers of Sophos and I'm the company IT security manager. 

What is most valuable?

I like that each user has the ability to manage the solution. 

What needs improvement?

It's a problem that we are not able to investigate incidents, there is no tracking. Security is also lacking in this product. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is good, no problems. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is fine. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support could be improved, it's not great. 

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

The price is good, it's not an expensive product.

What other advice do I have?

I would not recommend this firewall to others. 

I would rate this product a seven out of 10.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
IT Engineer at FormatPC
Reseller
Dec 31, 2020
User-friendly and helpful interface with good support that responds quickly
Pros and Cons
  • "The VPN access for users is also a great thing, especially nowadays when working from home."
  • "The user interface is very user-friendly and very helpful."
  • "Having a web portal where you could make requests for the categorization of non-categorized items, would be beneficial."
  • "Categorization or uncategorized websites is an area that needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

For the primary use cases, we use SSL VPN access for rolling remote access. We use web filtering and we use the intrusion prevention that comes with network protection.

What is most valuable?

The user interface is very user-friendly and very helpful. 

The VPN access for users is also a great thing, especially nowadays when working from home. 

What needs improvement?

Categorization or uncategorized websites is an area that needs improvement.  

Having a web portal where you could make requests for the categorization of non-categorized items, would be beneficial.

The DLP rules don't cover countries such as Serbia. You cannot make custom rules. That could be added so that we could detect content that is not supposed to leave the company via email, and so that the rules could be customized by the clients.

We only have predefined rules and most of them are not for Serbia or countries from the Region.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Sophos from the time they acquired Astaro, before that it was UTM, then they released the XG firewall.

We are using the latest version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable solution. We have not experienced any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable product. In the office, we have four users in our organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

Our experience with technical support has been positive.

We have support from the local distributor. We have rarely had the need to contact technical support but when we have, we have had quick responses from them.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward and the implementation takes a relatively short amount of time. The fine-tuning takes a little bit more time but in general, it can be deployed and implemented quickly. 

Also, the upgrades, backups, and recovery are very easy.

What about the implementation team?

We are Sophos partners, we sell them and implement them ourselves.

We only need one engineer to deploy and maintain this solution. If you have a bigger deployment then you need two engineers.

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

Licensing fees are on a yearly basis.

What other advice do I have?

I can recommend this solution to others who are interested in using 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 has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1439775 - PeerSpot reviewer
VP of Operations at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Dec 14, 2020
Stable, easy to setup the rules, versatile, and good support
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of this solution is the flexibility of it, it's pretty versatile."
  • "The UI needs improvement because it can be a little weird at times."

What is our primary use case?

The primary use case of this solution is as the main company firewall.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of this solution is the flexibility of it, it's pretty versatile.

Also, the firewall aspect in terms of setting up rules. They worked pretty well.

What needs improvement?

The UI needs improvement because it can be a little weird at times.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Sophos XG in the last twelve months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This solution is stable. We haven't had any real issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I don't know if this solution is scalable. We haven't explored this area yet.

As we grow, we plan to increase usage.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good.

How was the initial setup?

Initially, the setup was a bit complex.

It was complex because we were coming off of a different setup. It was just getting used to the software, but it's not too bad.

We require one and a half staff members for the deployment and the maintenance. They seem to do a pretty good job of updating it and keeping it current.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented ourselves. We did not use a vendor or integrator.

What was our ROI?

We're military contractors, and the cybersecurity compliance aspect of it has been the most helpful.

We know how the networks operate from our end, even though we are relatively green. We don't what we are comparing it to.

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

We prepaid in advance to get the max discount.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Sophos XG 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
Technical Department Manager at Direcbusiness Technologies, Inc.
Real User
Dec 9, 2020
Has good VPN features and capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "We get good usage out of the features. It has enabled us to gain popularity. It has great features."
  • "We get good usage out of the VPN features and its capability; it is a great feature."
  • "We had a difficult time assigning IP addresses to specific MAC addresses."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for monitoring our web access, providing authentication and for security purposes.

What is most valuable?

We get good usage out of the VPN features and its capability; it is a great feature.

What needs improvement?

In terms of improvement, one of the features we are having a hard time getting a hang of is MAC addressing, like when we assign IP addresses to a specific MAC address. That is something that can be improved. For the next release, I think, it should have better feature integration.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Sophos XG for seven years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. We use the product for around 70 to 100 users.

How are customer service and technical support?

The support that we used was great.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. The setup took around one to two weeks. 

What about the implementation team?

We did all of the deployment by ourselves and we use one person for maintenance.

What was our ROI?

I think, for the XG, I think the MAC addressing. We were having a very hard time assigning MAC addresses with specific IP.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We haven't chosen any other product, besides Sophos.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Sophos XG 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
reviewer1463193 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Dec 5, 2020
User authentication rules are helpful, but the URL filtering is not good, and it suffers from instability
Pros and Cons
  • "The user authentication rules are very useful."
  • "Sophos needs improvements made to the console, such as host entry or defining rules directly from it."
  • "This is not a product that I can recommend to anybody who wants to implement a firewall."

What is our primary use case?

We use the Sophos XG firewall as part of our network security solution.

What is most valuable?

The user authentication rules are very useful.

What needs improvement?

Sophos needs improvements made to the console, such as host entry or defining rules directly from it.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Sophos XG for the past five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I do not feel that this is a stable product. URL filtering is not good.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not had any experience with technical support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. It took a week to deploy.

What other advice do I have?

This is not a product that I can recommend to anybody who wants to implement a firewall.

I would rate this solution a four out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Network & System Administrator at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Nov 12, 2020
Easy to set up, monitor, and block traffic, but the stability could be better
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are the central management, the user VPN, and communications."
  • "I need to open the email to see what it contains and the value of it before I know whether to access it or not."
  • "Stability needs improvements."

What is our primary use case?

We are using this product to monitor traffic, payments, and VPN access to our branches. Some are using VPN with hooks, Sophos XG 210, and the main one they are using in the data center is Sophos XG 310.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the central management, the user VPN, and communications.

You can monitor and block traffic.

What needs improvement?

In regards to email as an example, if you experience any malware, it is contained in the container but doesn't give you any information about the email, or what is contained in the email. You only have the option to reject it or to release it.

I need to open the email to see what it contains and the value of it before I know whether to access it or not.

Stability needs improvements.

For how long have I used the solution?

We started with Sophos SG UTM 9, then we upgraded to XG. We have been using the latest version of XG for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability could be better.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable and good for small businesses.

We have approximately 120 users.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have contacted technical support three to five times per year.

It's good, but I don't have many questions to ask.

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

Previously, I was using Sophos SG. We were not using any other software from any other vendor. We have only dealt with Sophos.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was simple. It was not complicated.

If you are familiar with the technology, the implementation will not be difficult.

It also depends on the business needs.

From testing and switching from SG to XG, it took approximately one week to deploy.

What about the implementation team?

We had help from the vendor. The maintenance and the VPN connection is done in-house.

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

It is not expensive, it's a reasonable price.

There are some additional fees for additional tools.

What other advice do I have?

I can recommend Sophos XG to others who are interested in using this solution.

I would rate this solution a seven 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
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Download our free Sophos Firewall Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2026
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Sophos Firewall Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.