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reviewer1420764 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at a real estate/law firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Easy to manage but five-factor authentication needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "It is easy to manage."
  • "The five-factor authentication needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for email security, malware protection, IPS, and filtering.

What is most valuable?

It is easy to manage. 

What needs improvement?

The five-factor authentication needs improvement. 

It needs central management. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Sophos UTM for a few years. 

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Sophos UTM
June 2025
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have around 400 users. 

How are customer service and support?

We offer certified support. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. We had a problem with the multi-factor authentication.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Sophos, it is easy besides for the five-factor authentication. It is good for my needs. 

I would rate it 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
System Administrator Server and Networks at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Provides all of the network security you need in a single modular appliance
Pros and Cons
  • "I would recommend UTM over XG because it's easier to manage."
  • "It's stable, but the reaction time of the GUI is terrible."

What is our primary use case?

We mainly use it for web filtration — we have a number of small websites. It's also a VPN — that's filtering, firewalling, and IPS.

Within our organization, there are roughly 250 people using Sophos UTM. Also, we have around 15 XG users.

We plan on using XG for the next few years, but we are going to stop using UTM on our main site.

What needs improvement?

I think the behavior with the zones was a little bit tricky to understand at the beginning of this project. It can be hard to manage at first, but overall, we don't have many problems with this solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for one and a half years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable, but the reaction time of the GUI is terrible; however, in my opinion, UTM is more stable than XG.

How are customer service and technical support?

Sometimes, It can be quite a time-consuming process to book a session with Sophos' support.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was not straightforward because we had experience with UTM, but not with XG. It's a completely different system. 

We had it up and running within one week.

What about the implementation team?

We installed it on our own.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend UTM over XG because it's easier to manage.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give XG a rating of 6. Conversely, I would give UTM a rating of nine.

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
Sophos UTM
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Sophos UTM. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
860,632 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1223154 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Architect at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Real User
Feature rich and provides good security for SMB
Pros and Cons
  • "We find all of the features valuable because together they fit the needs of our customers."
  • "We would like to have unique viewable IDs for rules and in the packet filter logfile, for easier debugging of old log files."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use this solution for:

  • VLAN separated network
  • Proxy / SSL-Interception
  • VPN (IPsec and SSL)
  • Reverse Proxy / Webserver Security
  • Email Security / Mail gateway
  • HA (Hot-Standby)
  • IPS / ATP

How has it helped my organization?

This is a very good security solution for SMB, so this solution is a good fit for many of our customers.

What is most valuable?

We find all of the features valuable because together they fit the needs of our customers.

What needs improvement?

We would be happy with fewer new features over the same time, but with more stable updates!

We would like to have unique viewable IDs for rules and in the packet filter logfile, for easier debugging of old log files.

Sophos UTM shouldn't die.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for fifteen years.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Network & Hardware Administrator at Nile Projects & Trading Co.
Real User
Top 20
Creates secure IPsec and SSL VPN high availability connections between head office and branches
Pros and Cons
  • "It allows me to easily connect with more than forty-five remote sites and more than fifty remote users between IPsec and SSL VPN, applying the web filter and application filter to ensure a secure connection."
  • "I would like to see the SD-WAN feature improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for IPsec & site-to-site SSL VPN.

My environment involves connecting all of our branches with the head office through one Sophos XG 210 device. This is done using IPsec and SSL VPN, after which we apply a web filter, as well as an application filter to ensure that we are getting a secure connection.

How has it helped my organization?

It allows me to easily connect with more than forty-five remote sites and more than fifty remote users between IPsec and SSL VPN, applying the web filter and application filter to ensure a secure connection.

This solution also gives me varieties of VPN policies for good data encryption.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of this solution are:

  • High Availability between IPsec site tunnels provides a valid continuous connection and ensures we have no downtime affecting our business.
  • Log Viewer allows me to monitor all incoming and outgoing traffic, as well as view and block vulnerabilities.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see the SD-WAN feature improved. I want to manage many lines and load-balance them, getting high availability by making SLA tests according to:

  1. Check interval.
  2. Failures before inactive.
  3. Restore link after.
  4. SD-WAN Rules to control bandwidth, download and upload stream.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for more than four years.

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

I switched to Sophos as it is more reliable.

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

This solution is less expensive than FortiGate. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did not evaluate other solutions prior to choosing this one.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Sophos XG
PeerSpot user
it_user1104651 - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at Robert Obrinsky Industries, LLC
Real User
A powerful and flexible user interface makes remote client support easy
Pros and Cons
  • "Configuration troubleshooting is eased by the use of the color-coded, live firewall log."
  • "Support for IKEv2 is needed in this solution."

What is our primary use case?

I use this solution in both the home and office, and I am also a reseller of the product. It is used for Unified Threat Management for SMB to Mid-Size companies. It provides VPN solutions for our clients, and it has the absolute best UI in the industry.

How has it helped my organization?

This solution makes remote support of clients extremely easy and flexible. Modifications can be made in minutes. New definitions of network objects, users, groups, etc. can be made from anywhere in the UI.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the user interface, which is flexible, powerful, and easy to understand. Configuration troubleshooting is eased by the use of the color-coded, live firewall log. Live logs for most features are also available.

What needs improvement?

Support for IKEv2 is needed in this solution. But, the handwriting is on the wall that Sophos will probably stop development in favor of their XG Firewall. No timeframe on that yet though.

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

We have been using this solution since it was the Astaro Security Gateway (/products/sophos-utm-reviews ).

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. I am a reseller of this product, and I also use it in my home and office. It is by far the best firewall/UTM solution I have tested or worked with in my career.
PeerSpot user
Real User
Offers secure and Scalable Firewall Security
Pros and Cons
  • "The features that I've known to be most valuable are both the web security features as well as the web firewall capabilities. As a partner of Sophos firewall, we have some clients and they are using Sophos firewall UTM and we are using it as well."
  • "The only time we face a problem or issues is when we place a ticket. We have found that response is very slow."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for communication endpoint, encryption, and network security. We are focused on providing security software to the small to mid-market enterprises; the essence of our delivery is internet security.

What is most valuable?

The features that I've known to be the most valuable are both the web security features as well as the web firewall capabilities. As a partner of Sophos firewall, we have some clients that are using Sophos firewall UTM and we use it as well.

What needs improvement?

One additional feature that should be included in the next release is
synchronized security, which would enable all the security to work together as a system. Another suggestion is to add advanced threat protection (ATP) to defend against sophisticated Malware. Seeing these additional improvements would be a great thing going forward.  

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable. It's a product that our clients are able to use and enjoy. We haven't had many complaints about the product at all. Internally we haven't experienced any problems. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is also fine. Currently, we have 20 employees using the product to date and only one employee needed to maintain the product. At the moment we don't have any plans to increase usage in the company. Not now, next year maybe.

How are customer service and technical support?

We train our employee's on technical support. I don't need any outside technical support.

The only time we faced a problem or issue is when we place a ticket. We have found that the response is very slow. That seems to be our biggest problem.

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

We previously used Cyberoam but Sophos acquired Cyberoam. That's why we migrated to Sophos.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was done with our engineers, they also set up that server firewall. The setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment took one month. We're a support base reseller. Our in-house team took care of it. We don't use anyone from the outside, we can deploy the product on our own.

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

Everything involving pricing and licensing is maintained by our Bangladesh Sophos country managers. The pricing is okay and the licensing is also included in the price.

What other advice do I have?

Sophos UTM is a good product for security purposes and maybe if Sophos provided another company option to implement their products then I would say that Sophos UTM is great.

On a scale of one to ten with 10 being the best, I would give this solution a nine out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Bob Alfson - PeerSpot reviewer
Bob AlfsonSophos Certified UTM Architect, Sophos Certified XG Engineer at MediaSoft, Inc.
User

A few observations on an otherwise-accurate review...

The quickest way to get Sophos Support is by submitting a case via MyUTM, SophServ or at secure2.sophos.com Calling is the slowest way to open a case.

I wonder if Mr. Khan's review doesn't apply to the XG Firewall which is a new Sophos product based on the GUI that Cyberoam developed.

Cheers - Bob

Owner at Technologies International
Real User
Application layer filtering is a vital feature

What is our primary use case?

SMB firewall.

How has it helped my organization?

Protected it against malware and allowed us to serve our servers safely.

What is most valuable?

Application layer filtering.

What needs improvement?

Setup: Getting an exchange server to work behind Sophos is incredibly difficult with rules invoked that are simple numbers (e.g. 9054).

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
IT Specialist at Arnett Carbis Toothman LLP
Real User
Sophos SUM allows us to manage over 50 devices from a central management console

What is our primary use case?

  • Network border protection for clients and internal company
  • It is used for small to medium-sized businesses and networks.

How has it helped my organization?

Sophos SG has provided us with the tools to protect our networks, detect malicious activity, and customize security to our clients' needs.

What is most valuable?

  • Sophos UTM Manager (SUM): It allows us to manage over 50 Sophos UTM devices from a central management console. 
  • Creating rules, exceptions, and managing most features from SUM, and pushing to all or a section of devices as needed.

What needs improvement?

  • SUM cannot manage app control
  • Improve app control system as a whole
  • Extend support for SG until XG has improved significantly.

For how long have I used the solution?

Three to five years.
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 Sophos UTM Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: June 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Sophos UTM Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.