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IT Administrator at Jotna
Real User
This user-friendly solution is simple to manage, easy to configure, and has a fantastic support team
Pros and Cons
  • "It's user-friendly and quite easy to configure. It's easy to communicate with the Sophos support team."
  • "I would like to see a history of the monthly bandwidth utilization, the bandwidth consumption for a period of time."

What is our primary use case?

This solution is like our gateway to the internet. We use it for access control. 

What is most valuable?

This solution is very simple to manage. It's user-friendly and quite easy to configure. It's easy to communicate with the Sophos support team.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see a history of the monthly bandwidth utilization, the bandwidth consumption for a period of time. Right now, I know they have something where you can see the live bandwidth utilization when you go to reports. However, there is not a history where you can go back and say, "I want to see what was consumed during the last month." You can't get that history. I know there are other third-party tools that do that, but if Sophos could have it integrated into its file device, that would be cool. 

I would like to see them reduce the price.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have had experience with this tool for about three years now.

Buyer's Guide
Sophos XGS
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Sophos XGS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable product. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is scalable. There are currently 250 systems connected to this solution. 

How are customer service and support?

My experience with the Sophos technical team has been fantastic. I was trying to set up a VPN tunnel through a SAP X server, so I was having some challenges, and our consultant tried and then he just decided to set up an appointment with the Sophos technical team. Within a short period of time, we were able to pinpoint where the problem was coming from and we got the problem solved. I would rate the technical support as a five out of five.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is quite easy. It's not a challenge. On a scale of one to five, where one is difficult and five is easy, I would give it a four. 

What about the implementation team?

It was done in-house but we consulted a third party that is more experienced with Sophos.

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

The price of this solution is quite high. Currently in my country, in Nigeria, we are facing a lot of problems with products. The value of the naira and the dollar keep heating up, and it's not good for us here Nigeria, so the Sophos price is not friendly. I think the price needs to be worked on so that it can at least be commercially available to us here in Nigeria. I would rate the pricing as a three out of five.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Sophos is always my preferred solution. I've worked with Sophos, Fortinet, and MikroTik in terms of configuring VPN access to the routers. I find it very, very easy to do it on Sophos, so I prefer to use it instead of the other two solutions. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution as a nine 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
Data Center Engineer at Emerging Communications Limited
Real User
Has security synchronization, a user-friendly setup, and competitive pricing
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is very user-friendly because they have graphical user interface options and command line interface options. I would give the initial setup a rating of five out of five."
  • "It would be nice to have features like the network access control (NAC) that Cisco has for Identity Services Engine. In the next release, I would also like to see an increase in the performance of the processing units."

What is our primary use case?

We use it to secure the enterprise endpoint devices, whether they are servers, laptops, or mobile phones.

What is most valuable?

Security synchronization is one of the best features because it integrates the firewall with the endpoint devices.

What needs improvement?

It would be nice to have features like the network access control (NAC) that Cisco has for Identity Services Engine.

In the next release, I would also like to see an increase in the performance of the processing units.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Sophos XGS for about four years now.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good. They have a support portal where you can log in a case and have direct support from one of the experts.

They are responsive and follow up closely, so I would give them a ten out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very user-friendly because they have graphical user interface options and command line interface options. I would give the initial setup a rating of five out of five.

It has three modes of deployment. You can have it deployed as physical hardware, as a virtual machine, or as software in the cloud.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it through an in-house team.

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

The pricing for Sophos is much better compared to that of Fortinet and Check Point. On a scale from one to five with one being expensive and five being competitive, I would rate Sophos' pricing at four.

The pricing can be for the hardware appliance and the license, or it can be subscription-based. It can be around 3000 USD up to 25,000 USD per year depending on the model or series of the hardware you choose to buy.

What other advice do I have?

Sophos XGS is suitable for enterprise customers and SMBs.

Overall, I would rate Sophos XGS at 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
Sophos XGS
June 2025
Learn what your peers think about Sophos XGS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Jitender_Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of IT at Somani
Real User
Good threat detection and prevention but scalability needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "Sophos XGS' most valuable features are protection and intrusion prevention detection."
  • "Sophos XGS's response to zero-day attacks could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

Primarily, I use XGS for security and authentication.

What is most valuable?

Sophos XGS' most valuable features are protection and intrusion prevention detection.

What needs improvement?

Sophos XGS's response to zero-day attacks could be improved. In the next release, Sophos XGS should include signature filtering, hybrid cloud support, and the ability to scale without replacing the hardware.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Sophos XGS for four to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Sophos XGS is a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Sophos XGS can scale up and down to 1,200 users, but if you want more users, you have to change the appliances too.

How are customer service and support?

Sophos' technical support is good.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

Sophos XGS is easy to set up if you have knowledge of the system.

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

Sophos XGS costs around $6,000 for a basic license.

What other advice do I have?

I would give Sophos XGS a rating of seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Ryan Dominic Momblan - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at Microgenesis Business Systems
Real User
Simple setup, good reporting and great synchronized security
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is stable."
  • "Support is great, however, it can always be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution as a firewall.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the Sophos management or the central management, including the reporting and managing of multiple firewalls using Sophos Central.

The synchronized security, which also integrates with the Sophos endpoint, is great. That's one of a few of the main features which is beneficial with Sophos XGS.

The solution is stable.

The setup is simple.

What needs improvement?

There were certain lacking capabilities, for example, the searching of its settings et cetera, previously in Sophos XG. There have been some features that were not visible or unavailable compared to the one here on Sophos XGS. Right now, Sophos XGS is stable with its current firmware and hardware versions. It’s gotten better.

I can’t speak to which features could be added.

As long as they just maintain the stability of the firmware version, we will remain happy.

Support is great, however, it can always be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I’ve been working with the solution for one year. We’ve used it since 2021.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We’ve found the product to be stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn’t crash or freeze. It’s reliable and the performance is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In general, the solution is scalable.

Its features and configuration can expand. As long as the engineer or the implementer knows which policies are needed, the Sophos firewall integrator can also help with that. If he or she does not know any complicated solution, Sophos support is also there to help.

How are customer service and support?

I’ve had interactions with Sophos support.

They are actually quite responsive with their cases, as long as the open cases is properly informed or properly included with the right information.

They could always improve support a little bit.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is just a simple set of options. Sophos also provides a lot of data sheets and tutorials online. During the initial setup, there is a guide, which the user can just follow as long as he or she knows their internal network. It’s pretty straightforward.

The maintenance isn’t too intense. However, it is on a case-by-case basis and depends on the complexity of the environment and size.

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

I really don't have visibility with the pricing. However, the price depends on the size of the box, which indicates that the more users you have, the bigger the box, the higher the price you have to pay.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I haven't had the opportunity to work with other solutions. There are a lot, like Palo Alto, which, in terms of security, are much better than Sophos, as people say. However, Sophos can also work well. It just depends on the company's complexity or preference in the firewall.

What other advice do I have?

I'm currently an agent and a Sophos engineer here in the Philippines. We’re partners.

While we work primarily with on-premises deployments, it is also available on the cloud.

I’d rate the solution eight 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
AliImran - PeerSpot reviewer
MIS Officer at Interloop
Real User
Works well with thin client environments but needs to improve technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "In this solution, the most valuable feature is that it's a security device. Maintaining security is very valuable for us. The other feature that we did not find in other products is that it works well with thin client environments."
  • "Sometimes, we haven't received proper support. They couldn't find the solutions that we required. One thing that we need is an NTP server facility. The Sophos XGS device does not have this capacity or this feature."

What is our primary use case?

Mainly, we use it as our internet gateway firewall for scanning internet traffic that comes to our network from WAN and for internet distribution such as thin client. We have a thin client environment. It also works as a distribution layer for internet users, especially in thin client environments. It scans the traffic that passes from this device.

What is most valuable?

In this solution, the most valuable feature is that it's a security device. Maintaining security is very valuable for us.

The other feature that we did not find in other products is that it works well with thin client environments.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes, we haven't received proper support. They couldn't find the solutions that we required.

One thing that we need is an NTP server facility. The Sophos XGS device does not have this capacity or this feature.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using Sophos XGS for almost one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable. We haven't had any issues with it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I don't think it's scalable. It's a product that we bought with a specification, and we cannot improve that. We cannot upgrade; we can only upgrade its OS; nothing more.

Only the network administrator uses it, but we might set it up in another business unit next year.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate technical support at six out of ten because we haven't received proper support sometimes.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

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

We worked with Cyberoam, and when it reached the end of life, we replaced it with Sophos.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy, and I'd give it a two out of five.

What was our ROI?

Because this is a security appliance, we cannot calculate the ROI exactly. However, every time security devices work well and guard us from attacks, it is a good ROI. This device has a good ROI.

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

The licensing cost is in the normal range and is not very costly.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, we have had a good experience with Sophos XGS and would rate it at six on a scale from one to 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
Md Masud Parvez - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Assistant Director Information Technology at a non-tech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 10
Well priced with good features but needs technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is stable and reliable."
  • "In Sophos, the user portal is not user-friendly."

What is our primary use case?

Basically, we are using these products for our waste filtering, then application filtering and bandwidth management purpose.

How has it helped my organization?

The major benefit is that I can shape my bandwidth, basically. In Bangladesh, we do not have a lot of bandwidth management or bandwidth capacity. We have a limited capacity and we share the many people in this capacity. I can shape my bandwidth using this Sophos file, so everyone gets a minimum level of bandwidth. If the user is higher-end, then getting the lower end and the user has the minimum level or less than 1000 or 500, and they're getting better than that.

What is most valuable?

Sophos has a feature for user credentials, which means if users are not logging into the capital portal of Sophos, they're not using any internet. We can advertise some products and features using these portals for our university. Basically, I am working at a university, so the university's different features and the different departments are using this portal. If students see this advertisement and then after they log in to the credential in the capital portal and use the internet.

What needs improvement?

Sophos is good for a mid-level company, not a large-level one. If the user level is very large, Sophos is not capable of handling such a high level of users. It, therefore, needs to improve the devices so that they work in larger organizations and with a large number of users.

When we use the hardware level of the device, the RAM or other storage capacity is fixed. We could not change the memory or other capacity of this device. If we need some improvement in capacity, we get different types of problems. If RAM usage is too high or capacity moves higher, the Sophos device does not work properly.

Sophos has a number of additional features, however, the user graphical interface, the graphical interface when we are using CyberRoam, the user portal, or user interfaces, are so much smarter than Sophos. In Sophos, the user portal is not user-friendly. This needs to change, the UI.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've worked with the solution for the last four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. I'd rate the performance at 75%. Some improvements could be made. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 4,000 or 5,000 people that are connected in Sophos.

It is not easily scalable as it has fixed capabilities and that means C2 RAM is fixed. That makes it not easily scalable.

We use the product on a daily basis. 

How are customer service and support?

Sophos' technical support is not good. I have not been getting better support from their technical people. The response time needs to be better.

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

I am also using the Cisco Firepower model 4110.

The main difference is basically Sophos is not like a Firepower. Sophos we can call by the UTM device management. For security purposes, we are using a Cisco firewall for different types of attacks. For bandwidth management with filtering and other activities, just normal activities, we are using Sophos.

How was the initial setup?

The initial deployment is not complex, however, it's mid-level. You do need some experience. It depends on the device model. If we purchase the higher model, then the price or other investment is also more.

The deployment takes a maximum of one month. We do maintenance on the devices maybe once a year. 

What about the implementation team?

For the deployment process, the partner helped us deploy the devices and three people were working on the deployment.

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

The initial price is high and we purchased a three-year licensing model. Every three years, after every three years, we need to renew Sophos. Everything is included under the license. 

The pricing is quite low, and we are quite happy with it.

What other advice do I have?

We're a customer and end-user.

We are using the hardware version of the product. It's the latest version. 

I'd rate the 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
Presales Consultant Information Security Services at Team Computers
Consultant
A good VPN solution that has valuable threat management, IPS and IDS features
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Sophos is the VPN solution. I also value their threat management, IPS IDS features and login features with single sign-on."
  • "Sophos XGS needs improvement with the threshold values. Other solutions have the capacity to handle more users."

What is our primary use case?

We use Sophos XGS in 15 locations with 15 firewalls for the XG. We dedicate one person to maintain the solution.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Sophos is the VPN solution. I also value their threat management, IPS, IDS, and login features with single sign-on.

What needs improvement?

Sophos XGS needs improvement with the threshold values. Other solutions have the capacity to handle more users.

I would like to see virtualization security included in the next release.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Sophos XGS for more than two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Sophos XGS is stable as long as the capacity is not exceeded, then it becomes slow.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability needs to be improved by increasing the threshold value. The bulk capacity can handle 300 users, if you have more users, it does not work well.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is okay. They are responsive but limited with knowledge and need to escalate to the upper levels. It takes time to resolve issues.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of the solution was straightforward. It is easy to use and convenient.

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

The license for Sophos XGS is for three years, paid on a yearly basis. Everything is included with the license; there are no additional fees.

What other advice do I have?

Sophos SGS is a nice solution. I would rate this solution an 8 out of 10.

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
Bhanu Brahmaji - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at Prospecta Technologies
Real User
Sophos XG firewall is the Best protection and security Management, authentication, hashing, and encryption; unfortunately updating policies can create a lag meshing with administrators' environment,
Pros and Cons
  • "There are good KCL rules and policies as well as NATing rules."
  • "There can be lag time when updating an operating policy."

What is our primary use case?

We use Sophos XGS for web security and web policies, it's our primary solution. authentication VPN site to site, SSL VPNs installations. Sophos Firewall designed its extreme protection IT Rules and policies security level Authentication is good sometimes it's tricky and very helpful. Sophos Firewall delivers advanced threat protection to instantly identify bots and other advanced threats while defending your network from today's sophisticated attacks. current live user activities diagnostics to generate logs and objectionable site restrictions, daily reports are a great solution for the work environment.

How has it helped my organization?

With the increase in cybersecurity threats, this solution has helped us at an organizational level. We have always been hit by someone at the end of our desk or hidden somewhere ex:- spoofing attacks, a man in the middle attacks, and ransomware new era of cybersecurity pain full concept, Mail spoof attacks, all these have to improve DMZ and secure the firewall policies and server-client Antivirus solutions. Daily monitoring manually or trusted third-party vendors monitoring tools. finally, we are worried about how strong we are at the cybersecurity level.

What is most valuable?

This is a great solution for security, authentication, hashing, and encryption level. Sophos is good at ACL rules, Port forwarding, SDWAN route policies, IT Rules and policies as well as Natting rules. It's a reliable product to secure web securities. whenever we want we switch to the ports securely Heartbeat monitoring live user activities is great to execute on a production level. Bandwidth control sometimes referred to as traffic shaping is one of the best firewall features. Link aggregation and SD-WAN (Software-defined Wide Area Network) are great features for businesses that need multiple links to the internet. thank you

What needs improvement?

There are occasional issues when we update an operating firmware there's some lag time. Updating requires us to reboot the firewall, in this scenario 24/7 organization will be the most effective. In addition, I'd like to see more focus on customer support calls we were waiting for hours to connect with them. In some cases, Sophos's team is extraordinarily helpful to solve any issues in the firewall. Sophos needs to focus on customer support through a chatbot or call management quickly so we can find some help on the client side. Thank you

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable despite having to restart when we update. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is very scalable and we're able to handle all the pressure in our organization. We have over 100 VPNs and it all works well, Authentications, port forwarding, and all kind of security levels are much appreciated. 

How are customer service and support?

Customer support needs to be improved. They're very helpful once you get them on the line but sometimes take up to an hour before we can speak to someone who can fix a problem. when a problem occurs at the production level we freeze and everything goes blank so a faster customer support call is much more appreciated.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is complex. Sophos has some features like rules and policies, NATing, and PATing so deployment might take more time than if we were using an alternate solution. Deployment can take up to two weeks because every policy and VPN requires checking and that takes time. I've been working for the past 10+ years experience in network engineering and firewall configuration so we deployed in-house but we contacted Sophos for assistance when we needed it.

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

The Sophos or any kind of firewall is worthy to buy when we have dedicated servers and switches to implementation.

What other advice do I have?

There are some very good features in this firewall and also some areas that need improving. I rate this product seven out of 10. 

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