WatchGuard Firebox Cloud (Hourly)

We distributed WatchGuard Firebox  as a selling point for business-to-business solutions. We configure those Fireboxes for certain companies and provide technical support for companies who have problems configuring their Fireboxes.

We deployed WatchGuard Firebox  in various companies, including partner companies and government offices. When deploying WatchGuard Firebox, we ask the client or customer if they want us to configure it based on their current setup or if they do not have a certain Firebox yet. If we want to configure WatchGuard Firebox automatically when there are no Fireboxes present, but if there is an ongoing or another brand of Firebox, we certainly configure it the way the old one does. The transition from other brands or vendors' Fireboxes is not significantly different when it comes to deploying WatchGuard Firebox. Most likely, it is an easy deployment when it comes to WatchGuard Firebox.

I configured the endpoint security of WatchGuard Firebox. At the same time, I did not examine the access points for WatchGuard Firebox, so those are the three products that I handled for the company.

WatchGuard Firebox has a unified platform that allows you to easily go through each product of WatchGuard Firebox. For example, you have your two-factor authenticator, you have your Fireboxes, you have your endpoint security, and so on. Those four pillars or mostly the products of WatchGuard Firebox can be handled into one platform or one dashboard, and it is accessed through the cloud. When it comes to the user experience, WatchGuard Firebox is one of the good products out there considering its price.

WatchGuard Firebox has a user-friendly platform that is beginner-friendly, so you do not have to go with the CLI or the Command Line Interface. You just have to click the configuration right there on the dashboard, so you do not really have to have a background in the commands that you have for configuring WatchGuard Firebox itself. WatchGuard Firebox also has a good reputation when it comes to securing your network, for example, your network in your company. It has a different approach when it comes to its endpoint security, and it has many features, such as Zero Trust. A lot of things are right there in those Fireboxes, so I would say that it is user-friendly, and at the same time, if you want to go into detail with those configurations, you can still do so. It is user-friendly and good for those who want to really configure it in an advanced way.

WatchGuard Firebox does really simplify things a lot when it comes to configuration. You do not have to be on-site. For example, when configuring an off-site Firebox, such as a satellite office, you do not need to go right there; you just have to configure it on the premises of your office and then send WatchGuard Firebox to that off-site office. It is already configured there, and you just have to turn it on. This is a really simplified way of configuring things. At the same time, WatchGuard Firebox has good quarantine blocking of certain attacks. Right there and then, you can see what are the things that your team or the SOC, for us the cybersecurity team, what are the threats that are going on in our network. So it really simplifies things a lot for us.

WatchGuard Firebox has spam blocking features. We configure it out; most likely, you do have to configure certain settings when it comes to the protocol or the network protocols that you have there or the ports related to emails. WatchGuard Firebox has that feature, and it is a good feature when it comes to that Firebox.

A recommendation for using WatchGuard Firebox is to stick with what is secure. Some configurations are meant to lay low on the threat blocking, so just configure it with Zero Trust and be mindful of your configuration because it may have consequences when it comes to lowering the guard when using WatchGuard Firebox.

WatchGuard Firebox does have some features that need enhancement. The dashboard itself has an outdated appearance, just the looks of WatchGuard Firebox; it looks really outdated. But again, as long as it is working, it is still working. When it comes to the looks, the dashboard of WatchGuard Firebox needs some revamping or updating. Overall, I do not have any more needs for improvements for WatchGuard Firebox itself.

It has been a while since I configured one of their Fireboxes; going for a year already.

Most likely, I did not encounter any bottlenecks or errors or reductions in system performance after deploying WatchGuard Firebox. It has some limits, but I did not encounter any issues when it comes to WatchGuard Firebox itself.

None for my end for now.

WatchGuard Firebox does figure things out a little bit much easier when it comes to technical support. They do have features like hiring them or utilizing their service as a service, so they could provide you with a security operational center. They will be the ones to protect or configure your Fireboxes, and they will send you real-time reports. When it comes to technical support, WatchGuard Firebox is really out there when it comes to helping customers or end users or support itself.

The tech support of WatchGuard Firebox is 8 out of 10. It is because of the time; they operate on US time, so mostly when it comes here in the Philippines, it is a real bummer. But most likely, if your case is urgent, they will be the one to give you full-on support.

I did work with FortiNet and Sophos.

The price itself for WatchGuard Firebox varies. We are a business-to-business entity, so the price really depends on the understanding of WatchGuard Firebox plus the end user. We do have some government contracts for bidding, so I do not have a specific price for each Firebox.

Some pros of WatchGuard Firebox over FortiNet are the software or firmware used. FortiNet uses an open-source firmware, making the dashboard difficult to navigate because it looks outdated. At the same time, it is open-source rather than the proprietary software of WatchGuard, which is a US brand. The looks of WatchGuard Firebox have certain differences. The support itself from WatchGuard as a good US company provides excellent technical support, in contrast, FortiNet's technical support is lacking, so users often need to refer to forums and manuals, making it hard for them to solve their problems. Those are some pros and cons I see when comparing those two products.

We primarily distributed WatchGuard Firebox as a business-to-business solution. WatchGuard Firebox is deployed for various companies and government offices. The deployment is often straightforward, with options for either automatic configuration when no previous Fireboxes are present or mirroring the configuration of existing Fireboxes from alternative brands. An effortless transition when implementing WatchGuard Firebox is typically reported when replacing another brand. I would rate WatchGuard Firebox a 10 out of 10.

We are using WatchGuard Firebox  for network maintenance for one of our clients, and if any network outage happens, we troubleshoot the issue and try to fix it as soon as possible as per our SLA. We use the T80 model, which is one of the very good products for a mid-range firewall. I can see that this product is very good for medium-sized company deployments.

We actually did not deploy this firewall; we are only maintaining the network for this device.

Maintenance for WatchGuard Firebox  is not necessary on our end since it is installed in a client server office and we access it remotely. We only track alerts and investigate issues. It does not require much maintenance, provided the temperature in the server room is good. We only need to take care of the software or firmware upgrades as per the recommended version.

My favorite aspect is that its security capabilities are very good, with all-in-one security service capabilities including Intrusion Prevention System, IPS, Gateway Antivirus, Application Control , and Web Filtering. These are the security parameters this product has. Additionally, it has a VPN tunnel capacity for site-to-site VPN connectivity, which is also available for remote access users through SSL VPN  connection, making it very reliable for a hybrid work environment. Another plus point is the centralized management; we access the GUI version, which is very simple and easy to use, not complex at all. It integrates with WatchGuard Cloud Manager, which simplifies the configuration and monitoring system, making it very useful for me as a NOC engineer handling our client side. Furthermore, as hardware, it has multiple Gigabit interfaces and good throughput for SMB traffic loads, and in my experience, the hardware reliability is very stable with a limited number of failures.

While the GUI version we are using is good, it still needs some upgrades compared to leader companies or firewall models like Palo Alto or FortiGate. The navigation system could also be improved; it needs a better navigation system. The only dependence I see is the license dependency, as it has an active license bundle and without a license, the features are very limited. These are the minus points.

I have not yet experienced a reduction in system bottlenecks after deploying WatchGuard Firebox.

I have been using this solution for around ten months.

I can confidently say that it is very stable; no lagging, crashing, or any sort of instability has occurred.

It is scalable, suitable for SMB offices, branch deployments, or even retail chains and distributed networks, but it is not much suitable for large enterprise networks. Therefore, companies tend to prefer Palo Alto and FortiGate more than this firewall, and I believe the company needs to focus on scalability.

I had contacted technical support one time.

The speed and quality of the support are very good.

The quality is indeed good; they are very supportive and resolve issues within a specific timeline, such as within SLA. In my case, it was resolved within one day, so I rate it as nine out of ten.

It is easy to deploy. We have been using it for the last ten months, and during deployment, I did not notice any issues or problems faced by the deployment team.

The initial deployment took almost three hours.

In terms of pricing, I can rate it as eight out of ten since it offers good value for money.

We use alternatives such as SonicWall firewall, and we also consider Palo Alto, which is one of the leaders, as well as FortiGate and Meraki. Additionally, we have used Cisco ASA  firewall.

Currently, in my opinion, Palo Alto is one of the best firewalls I am using due to its features, user-friendliness, overall tech support, and the very good features it offers. FortiGate is also good, but I consider Palo Alto to be the best.

My overall review rating for this solution is eight out of ten.

WatchGuard Firebox  serves as the main use case for perimeter protection in my company. I use WatchGuard Firebox  for perimeter protection as the core of the network, where subnet segmentation is carried out.

We could also add everything related to geolocation services, geolocation of connections, traffic inspection, and network intelligence in terms of how we use WatchGuard Firebox in the core of the network for perimeter protection.

The best features offered by WatchGuard Firebox include the solutions, the ease of use, having a single appliance where I can incorporate practically all security services, and the management seems intuitive and quite easy to me, which is what I would highlight the most.

The ease of using the features of WatchGuard Firebox has made a difference in my day-to-day work as the Firebox configurations are done in an intuitive way, the application of different policies, network management, how very easily I can create a DHCP service for a specific network, and the VPN system is very easy to configure.

WatchGuard Firebox has had a positive impact on my organization because the improvement in security is evident, and economically, it is a product that is at a very good price point, allowing us to easily have remote clients connected via VPN in an extremely easy way with a lightweight client, which has had a very positive impact.

WatchGuard Firebox has simplified aspects of my work, for example, the process of enabling remote work has been advantageous because by deploying an automated Windows agent, it already deploys the VPN client quickly and easily.

I think WatchGuard Firebox could improve by making WatchGuard Cloud functionality more intuitive and by having better speed performance on VPN networks.

My impression of WatchGuard's spam-blocking capabilities is that this might be the weakest point of the product, as it does not have great spam management compared to other competitors in the market, but it has not affected us excessively.

I have not experienced improvements in terms of reduction in system bottlenecks after implementing WatchGuard Firebox.

I have been using WatchGuard Firebox for seven years.

Based on my experience, I consider WatchGuard Firebox to be a stable solution.

I find that WatchGuard Firebox's scalability adapts perfectly, and I have not noticed any problem that has prevented me from growing due to Firebox itself.

My experience with WatchGuard Firebox technical support has always been very satisfactory.

I previously used a Cisco solution before WatchGuard Firebox, and I decided to switch because of ease of use, technical features, and price.

I have noticed a return on investment since I started using WatchGuard Firebox because the solution is somewhat cheaper than that of competitors, but I have not had any staff reductions thanks to Firebox.

My experience with the pricing, implementation cost, and licenses of WatchGuard Firebox has been quite happy because it is cheaper compared to other competitors.

Before choosing WatchGuard Firebox, I evaluated other options, including Fortinet.

My advice to other professionals considering using WatchGuard Firebox is to use local management. I have provided this review with an overall rating of 10.

My main use case for WatchGuard Firebox  is MSSP . It depends on the requirements of the customers. For example, we have a food company with two branches. We have an M390 as a main firewall and an M390 high availability as the backup firewall, with two T80s in the branches. We have a VPN for the connections.

WatchGuard Firebox  cloud console for remote management is valuable feedback from my technical team. It is very useful, and it is free, whereas other products have a fee.

Ease  of use and VPN are how WatchGuard Firebox helps enable remote work for my team and my clients. WatchGuard Firebox is a well-branded company, but it is very behind Fortinet and Check Point, which is how it has impacted my organization positively.

WatchGuard Firebox is adequate, but the commercial policy is poor. I have seen better products regarding the spam blocking capabilities of WatchGuard Firebox, and this has affected my email management negatively.

Customer support is awful, as there is no customer support in Greece, which is why I changed vendors. I recommend changing the leadership in Greece and the distributors.

I have been using WatchGuard Firebox for about six or seven years.

WatchGuard Firebox is stable.

Customer support is awful, as there is no customer support in Greece, and that is why I changed.

I switched to Fortinet because WatchGuard Firebox is too expensive.

I find the pricing, setup cost, and licensing to be very expensive.

I evaluated Check Point before choosing WatchGuard Firebox.

I advise others looking into using WatchGuard Firebox to not use it.

I work with WatchGuard Firebox  as a partner. I use WatchGuard Firebox  only for firewall.

The most valuable features of WatchGuard Firebox are its simplicity and easy-to-learn approach. It simplifies policy management and firewall management.

WatchGuard Firebox's security module needs improvement; the security service needs to work better and provide security feedback that I could use.

Also, it needs to work better on some features that are at a baseline compared to other solutions or vendors.

I have been using WatchGuard Firebox for six years.

I rate the stability of WatchGuard Firebox a nine.

I rate the scalability of WatchGuard Firebox a seven because the performance needed from WatchGuard Firebox changes a lot based on the security services or deep inspection enabled.

I rate the technical support of WatchGuard Firebox a nine out of ten.

WatchGuard Firebox's pricing is good and just right.

I have not experienced a reduction in system bottlenecks after deploying WatchGuard Firebox.

WatchGuard Firebox requires sometimes just the upgrade for maintenance. The maintenance of WatchGuard Firebox has become easier in the last year.

My impression of WatchGuard Firebox's spam blocking capabilities is that it is not used. This feature cannot be used because today, no one has an on-premises email server.

I recommend WatchGuard Firebox to other users in small companies because it is simple, stable, and the costs are good and right. However, I think that when a company becomes larger or needs security features like deep inspection, they need to switch to something with more capabilities.