Untangle NG Firewall Reviews

We use the solution as a firewall.

The interface is very good. 

We use the web sensor, the virus blocker, the spam blocker, bandwidth control, application control, and firewall options. We're quite happy with all of it.

The pricing is not as good as it was some time ago. They've since skipped offering a lot of individual features.

In the future, Untangle should offer a web server feature. That's the only application Sophos gave us which Untangle doesn't have.

There have been no issues with stability. I've been quite surprised.

We don't have many users, so I'm unsure about the product's scalability potential. 

We've never had to reach out to technical support, as we have yet to face any issues using the solution.

We've used multiple solutions. We were previously using Sophos, but we switched because of its high price tag.

The initial setup was straightforward. Deployment took about 45 minutes. You only need about one person for maintenance.

I handled the implementation myself.

We pay $350 USD per year for the solution. There are no additional costs. As long as you're not using a physical appliance, that's all you need.

Before choosing this solution we tried both Sophos and WatchGuard.

It's very easy to use the product. In comparison, Sophos has a bigger learning curve.

I would rate the solution ten out of ten.

We are using a lot of applications which are running on Untangle. We use web filtering, application control, firewall, and VPN services.

Web filtering is very reliable. I can say all the features are very useful. We haven't been using much ad blockers or phish blockers. We've bee using web filtering, application control, policy manager, IP filtering, and VPN. They have been very useful.

The hardware can be improved. Now, we're using hardware appliances. In terms of processing power, I think it can actually be improved further, because, in terms of the number of requests, especially if you are using web filtering, the number of requests that should be coming onto the appliance is quite large and it needs a bit more processing power.

If the solution included a unified device tracker and management, that would be great. So that we could actually include other endpoints, like our laptops, or mobile devices. We need something to help in terms of mobile device management. I think it's one critical feature which is required by another interface because people are now bringing their own devices to the workplace to get services. I think MDM is quite critical to be included in that.

Generally, in terms of the administration, it's a team of about five users who administer the appliance. In terms of using the functionality or the features, there are about 800 users.  All are accessing the appliance through various means, through the web filtering, and through the access VPN.

We are planning to actually activate a number of additional features and see if we are going to be able to fully utilize additional features from one failover and one balancer so that we can actually then put them in a cluster and be able to fully utilize all our internet service provider links.

In terms of technical support, the service is excellent. Considering that there is a command center where you can actually just draw a ticket and they get in through the command and will be able to assist you even on the appliances, remotely, and be able to resolve the issues is great. I would say the only major issue is only the time difference between us in Zimbabwe and America because we are on different time zones. Generally, the support is very good.

Previously, we had been using various other solutions from Cisco. I've seen that Untangle is quite easy to administer and quite straightforward in terms of how to configure the various features which are found there. The main reason was to try to get a simplified solution that is resilient and able to scale up, and have all the solutions on one portal. 

In this instance, using one appliance, which can actually give you all of these applications, is a plus for enterprise organizations like us. We are required to have just one appliance to be able to address various issues, like web filtering, spam blockers, application control, load balancer. I think it's easier rather than having various vendors with various technologies. In terms of reporting, you would need to get to all those appliances to get different reports of what is happening.

The initial setup is very straightforward. It's very simple. You just plugin and then you use the web interface and it's quite straightforward for a tech guy. In terms of deployment, because we are deploying two firewalls, it only takes about two days to do the configuration.

In terms of distribution, maybe it's because we're in Zimbabwe, it's a bit of a challenge. It's a hassle. It's not very visible here in Zimbabwe and Africa. It's something which we got over the internet. There is only one distributor, locally, but now, we are dealing directly with Untangle.

This is a very good product. In terms of sizing, you really need to understand your requirements at the outset and be able to get the correct appliance. Especially in terms of the number of functionalities. You should be looking into that in particular so that you get the correct appliance and be able to utilize it.

I would rate this solution a 9.5 out of 10. Having various solutions in one appliance, one portal, that's easy to implement, with excellent customer service makes for a sound solution. And it's not harsh on the pocket, in terms of the budgets, in terms of the license renewals etc. It's quite affordable. It's quite reasonable. It makes sense. I would say it's a very good product when you are comparing all those metrics.

I primarily use the solution for internet and email filtering.

Right now the network is well maintained. Initially, we were blacklisted because of spamming, but that was by our ISP and that is now corrected.

The features I have found the most useful are the web filter, the captive portal, the SSL inspector, and the ad-blocker. They're awesome.

There quite a number of modules I've not used. For the web filter, I think they can do better especially on the free model. They have a free and a licensed model. If you use the free model, is not that effective. You have to use the commercial module for you to get effective results.

Functionality wise, they should try to put more options on some of the modules like web filtering capability. I know it has the capability to block specific IPs but I have not seen the capability to block a specific range of IPs. For example, you want to block a range of between 50 and 100 of an IP, I haven't seen that capability. I believe there are more functionalities which they can improve and prevent for security and management of internet within a corporate environment.

For example, I've seen firewalls where, let's say for example there's an infected machine within your network, they give you an alert or automatically block it from your network or mailing system. There're a number of functionalities missing in Untangle. It needs improvement but I believe every solution needs improvement.

The solution is very stable. I've never had issues with it.

The solution is pretty scalable. We have about 50 people using the solution.

In terms of customer support, so far I've not needed to contact them because I've not had any issues with the solution.

Previously, I didn't use a different solution.

The initial setup was straightforward.

I can't remember how long the deployment originally took. It was less than an hour, most likely. I downloaded then contacted Untangled NG directly. I did it myself with the help of support.

We actually have 30 staff, that's why I have 50 licenses. The modules are licensed on a yearly basis, and it's not really expensive. But the only problem is they sell it in a modular form. If you want the web filter, it has its own cost. If you want the captive portal, they sell that too. If you want the active directory connector, it has its own cost. So, if you were to bundle all the modules, it will end up being very expensive.

Before choosing, I just did a bit of research on the internet to try to figure out how I can be able to use some of these products to sort out my issues and I bumped into Untangle. I know about other products, like Check Point, but I chose Untangle in particular to solve the problem and the issues I was having at the moment.

For the NG firewall, it works better for just filtering and managing the internet, but it will not work on other security areas. It will not act like a perimeter firewall. For the users who are looking for that kind of solution, I think there are different solutions out there for every security issue you're looking at. It has worked perfectly for the need I was looking for. But I wouldn't use it as the main firewall for the network.

I would rate the solution a 7 out of 10.

It performs very well, because you can deploy it on any hardware. You don't need to use an appliance from the company. We can use any server the company currently has, saving them money, or we can get an appliance from Untangle and deploy it.

None of my clients has had a ransom or breach using Untangle, whereas my Cyberoam and Sophos clients have been breached. 

It is the easiest product to use. Features include:

• Phishing
• Spam filtering
• Web filtering
• Application filtering
• Web cache
• SSL filtering.

It would be much easier if there was a mobile app.

It is very stable. The last three versions have been stable.

It is very scalable. With my Untangle box, I can easily stick in 4G of RAM and I add 500 users.

The technical support is very good. With all the licenses, they give you free 24-hour support. If the system gives an issue, you just click on the support button, type in your error, and click submit. Then, in the cloud, they log on and fix the error for you immediately.

My clients wanted to switch because they had been breached and/or their VPN did not work like it should.

It is the most cost-effective to use.

On our shortlist was Untangle, Fortinet, and Kerio Control.

• WatchGuard is useless.
• Cyberoam can't get their VPN to work, so it crashes all the time.
• Salesforce is amazing, but it costs you an arm and a leg. Then, you have to get a technician and spend a fortune to train someone just to read the reports.
• Check Point is great, but only if you're a bank.

Don't listen to media people who promote products because they get kickbacks or are paid by companies to promote products.

Most important criteria for selecting a vendor: price to performance.

• Effective Web Filter
• Easy VPN setup
• Load balancing
• SD-WAN
• Antivirus, etc.
  

We have had incredibly good results with all of its features. Web Cache has saved us a lot of bandwidth and Web Filter can block all Windows 10 updates.

• Web Filter for its effectiveness
• Web Cache for its bandwidth savings
• Easy VPN setup (including OpenVPN) takes just a few clicks.

In general, this solution is easy to learn.

The ability to setup a DDNS for each WAN independently would be a very handy feature.

My company, Kaizen Internetworking, has been deployed multiple types of firewalls, and we have found Untangle to suit SMB and some enterprise deployments.

It has improved and secured multiple clients. We have very good retention on maintaining our clients who run Untangle.

It is not attached to an appliance, meaning if you get a good PC/server, then you can already run a firewall.

The product needs to have a better support group for its online support, specifically for its help desk. 

The management console for partners is a bit tricky (buggy).

It is very easy to deploy and monitor. 

It is up-to-date and can compete even with the more expensive firewalls.