WatchGuard Firebox Reviews

We primarily use WatchGuard Firebox like a typical firewall, to protect ourselves from outside and inside threats. 

I have the WatchGuard Firebox M270, deployed on-premise. 

WatchGuard Firebox improved our organization by acting as a firewall, with all the specific components of one. If you have an antiviral solution, you can see how many were blocked; from where they were blocked; what the statistics are on the areas that the attacks came from; and if there are attempts, or if they do get through the firewall, where they came from and where they went. You know exactly what to look for, to see if there is any kind of penetration inside your system, or if anything has been compromised, and you can take any measurements against these threats. 

All of the features have been valuable. There's nothing on my M270 that I'm not using. If you have remote access, you can see how many users are coming from the outside world to be connected to the systems, through the virus systems that we have behind the firewall, in order to gain access to their files and do their work. We can also see how long they stay online and whether these connections are closed forcefully or for any other reasons, such as a glitch or some kind of misbehavior, to see if internet traffic is optimized and if that particular traffic is under company policies, concerning which websites were visited. 

There's always room for improvement, especially if the threats are getting more sophisticated and the IT department cannot sufficiently meet this kind of sophistication with their own knowledge and experience. Knowing that this solution can get up to the level of addressing a lot of these threats is something that everybody wishes for. If we look at the dark web and the lawful web, they are two opposites, and if these two good and bad collide in the world of the internet, you want the best possible product—especially if you cannot get to that point of knowledge. I am just an individual and end user, with limited knowledge of usage. That's why I say there's always room for improvement, from their side and also from mine, because by knowing exactly what they can achieve and the knowledge that they can get on an everyday basis, and the portion that is understandable to me, it's an improvement for them as well. 

Most of the features that I have right now are more than okay with me, but something like a better interface is always worth suggesting. Also, things like computer-based training on firewalls and specific solutions—especially in things that have been deployed on every new version—is usually something that we need to see in order to understand what, exactly, these people have created for us. 

I have been a WatchGuard user since 2004. 

This solution is stable. 

I am the only one who maintains the firewall—we don't have a team to handle it. 

This solution has been scalable to the level that my company wants. 

Behind the firewall, we have 60 users. On a daily basis, there are approximately 40 to 45 users in the office: they are people from the purchasing department, technical department, accounting department, operation department, etc. 

In general, their support is okay, and nothing fancy. We have had a few chats and a few cases on several things that I wanted to do by myself, but needed some guidance on. The speed is not the speed of light, but we are getting through to what we want to have within a day or so. 

I don't have any comparison to make with a solution that's on the same level as WatchGuard Firebox. We had some experience with all of the Cisco firewalls, but they didn't have the same level of security that we have with our existing firewall. Those were quite old, so I cannot really compare that old technology with something that is so new. 

The initial setup was quite straightforward because we are a small company. We have 50 people working at this company, so it's a rather small installation with no fancy or complex configuration. The deployment took an hour or so, but from that point on, there have been numerous hours of work to get up to the point we're at now with our firewall solution. 

It's quite easy to deploy because the initial installation doesn't involve many fancy things. Out of the box, it's quite clear that it has features that need to be blocked, and these features have already been blocked by default, to help anybody deploying this solution. It's like having 35%-40% of your configuration ready, so you only need to add another 25%-30% to reach approximately 70% of your full configuration, which takes no more than a couple of hours. The additional 30% are the small, exact things and the prediction correction, the things that are usually done on a firewall solution in the following hours, days, months, years by the users of the device. However, you can reach the level that you personally believe in, 100%, within a matter of days if you know exactly what you need to do. 

I implemented this solution all by myself, since I was lucky enough to have basic firewall knowledge. Our implementation strategy was to get to the level, as fast as possible, where I could meet the minimum requirements of the company, concerning its firewall policy. 

I have definitely seen a return on investment. To be exact, you cannot really value the return of investment on this kind of product because an IT product usually delivers services that cannot really be measured in money. Rather, it can be measure in things that we can do and things that we cannot do. So, money-wise, you cannot really measure it, but if I'm measuring it on things that I wanted to achieve with a device, there was a 100% return back. 

The licensing contract we have is on a three-year basis. There aren't any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees—usually, every three years, we just purchase or renew the same license and we are okay. Every six years, we completely change the firewall, but that's the usual schema. So after three years, we just renew the licenses for another three years, and then after that particular period of time, we just purchase another firewall equivalent to the ones that we currently use.

I rate WatchGuard Firebox an eight out of ten. 

This is a solid device and it delivers what it says. It doesn't do fancy or extraordinary things, but it does delivery exactly what it's supposed to deliver. 

We run education organizations. We have students and staff working on campus. We wanted to be protected within the campus as well as outside the campus.

I am using WatchGuard Firebox XTM 850, and I have its latest version.

In terms of users within the campus, the policy-based usage helps us where we allow something during the daytime, something after school hours, and something during the night. In terms of outside the campus, it helps us in monitoring our mail services. All our deployments are protected from external users.

Policy VPN, site-to-site VPN, traffic monitoring, anti-spam filters, and all other advanced features are valuable.

The way Secure Sign-On authentication is happening needs to be improved. When the Secure Sign-On portal is turned on, anybody who comes into the campus, whether he or she is a staff member or a guest, has to go past the initial portal. One of the shortcomings is the username. It shouldn't allow permutations or combinations with upper or lower cases. For example, when there is a username abc, it shouldn't allow ABC or Abc. It should not allow the same username, but currently, two separate people can go in. Therefore, its authentication or validation should be improved, and the case sensitiveness should be picked up. If I have restricted someone to two devices, they shouldn't be able to use different combinations of the same username and get into the third or fourth device. It shouldn't allow different combinations of alphabets to be used to log in. 

I have been using WatchGuard solutions for the last ten years.

It is very stable.

It is scalable. We have about 1,200 users at this point in time, but the number of devices exceeds 2,200. There are multiple devices per person in today's world. A staff member is using three or four devices, and students are using at least two, which makes it 2,500 or 3,000 devices.

Their technical support is very good. You get a response within 15 minutes to an hour at the max.

We had Cisco ASA Firewall. It was a very simple firewall.

Its initial setup is very straightforward. It took 30 minutes.

A consultant from WatchGuard was there. He showed it once, and our people could do it easily. They have deployed it again and again. It is pretty simple. 

You just need one person for its deployment and maintenance. Security personnel is the one who manages it.

They have an annual subscription license. Initially, we had opted for three years. After that, we went for another three years, and after that, we have been doing it yearly. They also have a license for five years.

We evaluated SonicWall, Palo Alto, and Cisco, but this was the best.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We have had some difficulty introducing the brand on the market because, in Angola, we have another brand with a more aggressive approach than WatchGuard. The end users prefer other brands like Sophos and Check Point over WatchGuard Firebox. We will soon be an expositor of WatchGuard Firebox. We have some customers that use Panda Security just for endpoints. We have some customers that use WatchGuard Firebox directly or indirectly.

WatchGuard Firebox is the most powerful firewall for Wi-Fi security.

The scalability of the solution needs improvement.

I have been using WatchGuard Firebox for more than one year.

WatchGuard Firebox is a stable solution.

I rate WatchGuard Firebox ten out of ten for stability.

At the moment we are providing support to five customers.

I rate WatchGuard Firebox a nine out of ten for scalability.

The solution’s technical support team is very good. We have always received quick responses from the support team.

WatchGuard Firebox’s initial setup is very easy. The configuration is easy since the solution is user-friendly and has an intuitive platform and dashboard.

The solution is not expensive and customers pay for a yearly license.

We have a direct relationship with the master distributor of WatchGuard Firebox in Angola and Africa. WatchGuard Firebox is the only solution we work with for firewalls and cybersecurity.

When we start WatchGuard Firebox's deployment, we redirect it to the cloud.

Overall, I rate WatchGuard Firebox ten out of ten.

The WatchGuard Firebox is our version of a firewall. It has several use cases. 

WatchGuard Firebox's two-factor authentication feature is particularly useful and provides an added layer of protection. It's been a reliable and stable solution for us.

When working with WatchGuard, specifically in configuring Panda Security on the portal for the first time, it was challenging for me. Creating the partner center and setting up the account in Panda Security was not straightforward. Although working with the Panda Security part itself is easy, I faced difficulties in creating the partner center. So, maybe this could be an area of improvement. 

Another area of improvement is the license. The price could be cheaper. 

We currently use WatchGuard Firebox T20 model.

There are around 26 users using this solution. In terms of user capacity, the T20 model can support up to 20 users.

WatchGuard Firebox is easy to use and set up. I work with the solution every day, so I'm quite familiar with it. In my experience, setting up WatchGuard has been straightforward. It didn't require much effort. 

Although I have spoken to others who mentioned that implementing it for the first time can be challenging, I personally found it easy. I had no issues with the setup.

Whether it was deployed in the cloud or locally, it took a month. I maintain the solution and provide technical support. 

I recall when I bought the first Firebox; someone advised me to start by seeking assistance from the WatchGuard support center. I found all the necessary information to implement the solution. That's why I believe it was relatively easy for me to implement it the first time. However, I am aware that many people find it challenging to implement WatchGuard on their first attempt.

Currently, we use an internal lead to sell WatchGuard to our clients. So, the price varies. However, it's worth mentioning that our internal use of WatchGuard includes Panda Security as well.

We do pay for a license. It's a three-year license. It is an expensive solution. The price could be lower.

WatchGuard is not a widely known solution in my country. People here tend to use CheckPoint, Fortinet, and Palo Alto more. However, I believe WatchGuard is a good solution that more people should be aware of and consider. We are actively working to promote it in Angola. In fact, there might be more companies in our country that could benefit from using the WatchGuard solution.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

WatchGuard integrates with our firewall to provide threat detection and remediation. 

I like WatchGuard's network segmentation features. It's easy to configure user policies.

WatchGuard should offer more visibility into user activity. For example, we should have more details when WatchGuard denies a user access to a port. 

I have used WatchGuard for about 10 years.

I rate WatchGuard nine out of 10 for stability. 

I rate WatchGuard nine out of 10 for scalability. 

WatchGuard is easy to set up.

We have seen an ROI. 

The price is excellent. 

I rate WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response nine out of 10. I recommend it. 

We primarily use the solution to secure our networks in branch via SSL and VPN. We also use it for our web pages hosted on our servers. This product handled everything UTM.

The solution has benefitted us by offering a secure connection. We don't spend as much time analyzing when traffic goes somewhere. We have clearance capabilities. We see what happens in our network.

The hardware is quite good.

The solution is fast. When we commit and change items in Firebox. It just works and it is simple. When you drop a connection, it gets dropped in a second. The speed is important to us.

It has everything we need in terms of functionality.

The solution is scalable.

It is stable and reliable. 

Pricing is reasonable. 

The UI and web view aren't nice. The fonts are too small, for example. 

I've been using the solution for three years. 

It is very stable. I haven't seen any issues with it. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It is reliable. I'd rate it nine out of ten in terms of stability.

The solution can scale quite well. If a company needs to expand, it can. I'd rate the ability to scale at an eight or a nine out of ten. It's easy.

I've never directly reached out to technical support.

When we need to make something really good, we need to take the time to ensure that's the case. However, the configurations are simple.

We had a business help us implement the solution. 

So far, the solution has been worth the cost.

The product isn't necessarily expensive to acquire. The pricing is reasonable. 

There are no extra costs or hidden fees. 

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. We've been pleased with the product overall. 

The main use case is to avoid zero-trust attacks because, from Application Control, I can only run known applications. Every unknown application is placed on hold or blocked.

Zero-trust and threat-hunting services are most valuable.

It is easy to use, and with the features it has, you feel that you are being protected.

The time they take to classify an application once they find that it is unknown can be better.

I have been using this solution for three years.

It is very stable. I would rate it a nine out of ten in terms of stability.

It is scalable. I would rate it a nine out of ten in terms of scalability.

Their technical support is very good. I would rate them a ten out of ten.

Positive

I would rate it a nine out of ten in terms of the setup. The duration depends on the number of computers. For less than a hundred computers, it can take one or two days. We have one engineer for its deployment and maintenance.

Our clients have seen an ROI. Because of its ease of use, they don't have to invest a lot in human resources to maintain this solution.

Its cost is okay. It is not too expensive, not too low. I would rate it a nine out of ten in terms of pricing.

To those who are planning to use WatchGuard Application Control, I would say that you can use it with confidence.

Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

My primary use case is for my network security even when I am out of the office.

WatchGuard Firebox has improved our organization one hundred percent from before we started using it.

I have found the DNS Watch feature for intrusion and prevention response and APT Locker most valuable to me.

I would like to see more training become available for us. I would like to see the port conflicts improved.

I have been using WatchGuard Firebox for the past five years.

The stability is good.

There is excellent scalability and we are using it at full capacity.

The initial setup is quite complex and difficult, especially for first-time users. You need to go on the website and study it before you start using the policy manager. Once you start using the policy manager it becomes easier.

We used a third party and the deployment time takes less than ten minutes.

The return on investment is that it saves us a lot of time from intruders creating problems.

The licensing can be a one-time purchase unless you need the extra services for example twenty-four seven support.

I did try pfSense and FortiGate and decided WatchGuard Firebox was what I needed.

I would rate WatchGuard Firebox a nine on a scale of one to ten.