Cisco Firepower 1000 Series vs. WatchGuard Network Security

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Firepower 1000 Series
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
The Cisco Firepower® 1000 Series for small to medium-size businesses and branch offices is a family of four threat-focused Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) security platforms designed to deliver business resiliency through superior threat defense. The vendor provides that they offers exceptional sustained performance when advanced threat functions are enabled. The 1000 Series’ throughput range addresses use cases from the small office, home office, remote branch office to the Internet edge. The…N/A
WatchGuard Network Security
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
WatchGuard Network Security is a network security and firewall software. WatchGuard includes secure Wi-Fi, multi-factor authentication, and network intelligence products and services designed for SMB’s.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Firepower 1000 SeriesWatchGuard Network Security
Editions & Modules
Firepower 1000
1,000-5,000
per appliance
Support
Contact sales team
Contact sales team
Basic Security
Contact sales team
Contact sales team
Total Security
Contact sales team
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Firepower 1000 SeriesWatchGuard Network Security
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Firepower 1000 SeriesWatchGuard Network Security
Features
Cisco Firepower 1000 SeriesWatchGuard Network Security
Firewall
Comparison of Firewall features of Product A and Product B
Cisco Firepower 1000 Series
8.3
Ratings
4% below category average
WatchGuard Network Security
8.9
Ratings
3% above category average
Identification Technologies8.00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Visualization Tools7.20 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Content Inspection8.30 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Policy-based Controls8.70 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Active Directory and LDAP8.40 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Firewall Management Console7.20 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Reporting and Logging8.30 Ratings8.90 Ratings
VPN9.10 Ratings9.40 Ratings
High Availability9.20 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Stateful Inspection8.80 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Proxy Server00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
User Ratings
Cisco Firepower 1000 SeriesWatchGuard Network Security
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(0 ratings)
7.8
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.1
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.3
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.1
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Firepower 1000 SeriesWatchGuard Network Security
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco Firepower 1000 Series is best and required for every organization. It will give you more control [over] incoming and outgoing traffic and more visibility on user traffic. Sandbox is one of the best features [that] provides you [with] deep-level packet scans and gives you multilayered security. It can stop any malware attack on your organization. The support of Cisco is very fast and lots of documentation are available on the Cisco website.
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Watchguard is well suited for small businesses without significantly complex networks and infrastructure. WatchGuard firewalls perform well on IPv4 networks and offer basic security features that match other vendors that target the small business market. WatchGuard firewalls are less appropriate for mid-sized business and larger. There is limited IPv6 support, and the firmware often lacks some or all of more advanced features that businesses that size often need.
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Pros
  • My organization is all Cisco and wants to stay in the Cisco life cycle, Firepower 1000 series is great for small to medium-size office.
  • Very robust enterprise-grade security solution with updated threat features to handle any current and upcoming threats. The solution is backed by Cisco to ensure constant security updates. Integrated AnyConnect remote client VPN is a big plus to allow for secure remote workers access. Easier to set up a site to site VPN due to the large user base and case studies published on integrating to other manufacturer solutions.
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  • Incoming Torrent attempts were blocked, but outgoing (by a user) were permitted. Similarly, other direct attempts were summarily blocked.
  • provides full administrative support for analysis of usage and scope.
  • strong Wi-Fi support and security - area wi-fi maps
  • They think of all the things secure and I don't have to worry about it.
  • I have not identified anything else that needs improvement - I am well satisfied.
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Cons
  • ACLS in gui are PIA cant see object details
  • Objects in ACLs dont show IP addresses
  • Have to renames every object to name+ip to make acl GUI useable
  • Speed to data can use improvement.
  • Health warnings should allow you to resolve you have to dig n search in some cases.
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  • Better integration with VoIP services, such as templates for policies handling traffic for Bria or Asterisk endponts and servers.
  • Get webblocker to work without breaking secure websites.
  • Lower cost on endpoint agents for antivirus and include application control and webblocker with the agents.
  • Make the cost per endpoint with TDR and Netowrk access control lower than the cost of Antivirus licensing that is not integrated.
  • Make it easier to set up network access control and VLAN assignment by device, perhaps with templates.
  • Get webblocker and application control working with QUIC.
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Likelihood to Renew
It is quite good, robust and reliable but not always so easy to manage and configure. The tools could be improved and the price is not low for an entry level firewall
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I'm giving this note to WatchGuard Network Security due to its ease of daily support (after acquiring necessary knowledge in the solution), which allows agility in configuration changes, its integration of several reliable security features (such as SSL VPN, VPN Virtual Interfaces between companies, and others) and functional and stability in operation, with no downtime in the equipment due to problems or malfunctions
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Usability
Firepowers are secure, reliable, central management and configuration is easy and they fit in well with our existing Cisco infrastructure. Good feature set and support. Good management and control with chassis manager and central control with additional Firepower Management Centre.
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Although it might take some time to figure out, we have been able to use WatchGuard's online reference library and tech support to create/implement/modify all of our filtering rules and exceptions needed. There really has not been a shortcoming other than perhaps a learning curve.
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Reliability and Availability
At the beginining there were some bugs
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Availability has always been a strong point of this product, it is rare that watchguard does not have a solution for customers' network monitoring needs.
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Performance
Great performance even on the lower end model of the series. You can push a lot of traffic through these devices without much performance impact. If you decide you want to inspect encrypted traffic however, you may take a big hit on the cpu and memory of the box, but they still manage to keep up even with all the bells and whistles turned on.
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The performance of WatchGuard Network Security is very good, in the years that we have used the solution we have only had a single error and Watchguard itself was able to solve it. Furthermore, when purchasing any product, the partner always evaluates the capacity of the solution to recommend the most appropriate product for our needs.
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Support Rating
Where's the 0 option... It sucks if you do not have an active Cisco contract. From my experience, trying to get the original batch of encryption licenses added was a nightmare and without it the firewalls are not secure. Just include basic security by default and don't require a registration.
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For something that is considered business critical they should be far more responsive. Security isn't something to take lightly in today's work environment and so long as its working you are happy. But when it doesn't and you need that professional assistance, they weren't always there and I ultimately resolved my issues with the help of Google.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
We participate to a in person training and the three days of learning was really useful and complete to gain skill to solve the major part of the problem we encounter during our life. And more the in person training give us the opportunity to create a network with other WatchGuard partner.
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
Online training is good for learning how to use the product. It does not teach security strategy because that is not its intent.
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Implementation Rating
Utilize the new FMC cloud which is available in Cisco Defense Orchestrator.
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I had my key information for setting up the firewall, and they assisted me in finding the settings and appropriate places to enter data. They also helped troubleshoot when I didn't understand some of their feature concepts, and we got it running.
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Alternatives Considered
We use both devices for different purposes. Both have their benefits, which we try to bring to best use in our environment. This makes it hard to compare them. All I can say for sure is, that they work quite well as a team, each leveling out the others flaws.
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I think the solutions are comparable, but the cloud management piece is critical for MSPs these days. We need to be able to schedule and push out updates as soon as they are stable and ready. Insurance companies and government regulations mandate this.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
This product is very scalable since previously everything related to Watchguard was on premises but that has now changed with the inclusion of watchguard cloud. Now the product has evolved to have full control of firewalls at the cloud level.
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Return on Investment
  • This product has kept hackers, malware, and viruses at bay for large hospitals and small alike. Very valuable data can reside behind this so long as it is set up correctly.
  • The value is great with SnortV3. Very versatile if you need a hybrid scenario with Multi-Cloud support.
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  • at least 3-5X a year (that I know of), this device has single-handedly prevented members of our staff from inadvertently connecting to services they did not intend and could have resulted in security disruption
  • although you can never rule out human-behaviour-engineered threat, it's helpful to know that our network has a higher level, enterprise-class control and monitoring behind it
  • any time our network might be showing signs of abnormal performance, the WatchGuard control panel is the first place I turn to help identify the level of concern. It can quickly set my mind at ease and help to identify the specific device that might be out of compliance
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ScreenShots

WatchGuard Network Security Screenshots

Screenshot of WatchGuard Cloud Customizable DashboardScreenshot of Threat Monitoring SummaryScreenshot of Device Security SummaryScreenshot of Automated ReportingScreenshot of User Authentication SummaryScreenshot of Endpoint Protection Summary