We are an MSP and use WatchGuard for firewall, proxy, and MFA functions. It has been our principle security appliance for small to medium organizations in our market area. We find it integrates well with other monitoring tools and allows us to provide a comprehensive security offering while carefully controlling costs and complexity.
Pros
Inexpensive, reliable function.
Easy to configure and manage.
Good renewal tracking as a partner.
Cons
Reputation in industry. Not considered an enterprise.
SD-WAN functionality is weak.
SEIM integration and XDR are somewhat light.
Likelihood to Recommend
Small businesses with minimal requirements and low traffic on their web servers are good targets. The product will meet most cybersecurity insurance requirements. Many small offices using cable modems or other 'consumer-grade' internet connections that need to be managed by a small team are a good target. Large-scale integration into SOCs or with specific SDWAN or other tool integrations may not work well.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Sales (Telecommunications company, 201-500 employees)
We internally use, sell, and support their full product line. From the EPDR solution to hardware firewall, MFA, and wireless, we leverage the complete product line and suite. The product(s) cover the needs of UTM Firewall Suites, Security solutions, AV/EDR/EPDR, and MFA solutions, and they include a simple Cloud-based UI for most management.
Pros
Firewall Security Services (UTM)
MFA
Ease of deployment.
Simple firewall management.
Simple firmware management and configuration backup.
Cons
N/A
Likelihood to Recommend
I can make Watchguard solutions work from SMB to Enterprise. They fit across the spectrum.
VU
Verified User
Executive in Corporate (Computer Networking company, 11-50 employees)
WatchGuard Network Security has been my go to solution for firewalls and WAN security for many years. I like the scalability of the devices and the licensing options. I appreciate the different licensing options for the solutions including the different add on services for increased security offerings like botnet scanning, IPS, gateway a/v, etc.
Pros
IPS
Content Filtering
Geolocation
Gateway A/V
Botnet Filtering
Spam Prevention/Blocking
Cons
no issues with the product at this time
Likelihood to Recommend
WatchGuard Network Security is a scalable solution that works well for any small/medium business all the way up to enterprise level organizations from my experience. I can't say anything negative about the product at this time. I have been using the products for many years and have had no issues with this solution.
We are a relatively small operation with less than 50 employees, two internal domains, and 30 internal systems. WatchGuard Network Security has made it easy for us to secure our external and internal networks. It also makes it easy to quickly scale up as well. Wether we are managing a single system or a group of them, WatchGuard Network Security's management system makes applying changes quick and painless. WatchGuard Network Security's VPN options were a tremendous benefit to us as we transitioned to an all remote workforce as well. From a networking perspecitve, the ease of setup made that transition go off without a hitch.
Pros
Easy configuration of VPN
Excellent tools for troubleshooting
Extensive logging and notification functionality
Easy integration with Active Directory, LDAP, and RADIUS
Cons
TFA is the standard today, but WatchGuard Network Security charges extra to use it
Finding some lesser used utilities can be complicated
Likelihood to Recommend
One of the biggest reasons we remain with WatchGuard Network Security has been there support. They are quick, friendly, and thorough. We have never once had a negative experience with them from that standpoint. When we submit a criticla support issue they begin by treating it as critical even when in the end it is determined to be a lesser concern. They know we are concerned about it, and they help us deal with it.
We have many clients with firebox firewalls deployed. We manage these firewalls for our clients and use them for things like secure vpn access, as well as securing their edge with the firewall policies
Pros
Simplified deployment wizards
Good technical support
SD wan built in without additional license
Cons
UI is outdated and slow
Some features feel clunky, like authentication
Have to go to multiple places in the hi to achieve one thing
Likelihood to Recommend
As someone with considerable Fortinet experience coming to WatchGuard Network Security I find them affordable but clunky. If a very cost conscious client needed a solution I would consider recommending WatchGuard Network Security.
Our business is using WatchGuard Network Security in many location across small and mid size businesses as essential firewall and security appliance and integral part of networking infrastructure. It allows us to implement firewall rules to control inbound and outbound traffic based on many parameters as well as providing intrusion prevention & VPN remote access.
Pros
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
Logging and Reporting
Cons
Web Interface
Config Backup and Restore
Automatic Firmware Updates
Likelihood to Recommend
Small size businesses can often implemet WatchGuard Network Security firewalls and security appliances to protect their networks from threats such as malware, unauthorized access, and data breaches.Also if a business enterprise has remote offices and branch locations, branch office VPN solution works very well in our opinion. Industries like retail and hospitality can leverage guest Wi-Fi access securely for their many clients.
VU
Verified User
Account Manager in Information Technology (Computer Networking company, 11-50 employees)
We use WatchGuard's Fireboxes for our main perimeter security. The products acts are our primary deference for traffic into our organisation. It gives us great insight into our network traffic, types and quantity of traffic we are managing. It allows us to have web proxies at our perimeter in addition to our other security products.
Pros
Support
Web Proxies
Traffic Management
Policy Management
Cons
Ability to find where network alias objects are in use
Likelihood to Recommend
When we have had issues with configuration. The support team are very quick to respond and are extremely knowledgeable. The team members take ownership of our tickets and are vey detailed in their responses to us. They have a deep insight into their products and understand how to solve difficult problems we have thrown at them
VU
Verified User
Board Member in Research & Development (Computer Software company, 51-200 employees)
I use WatchGuard Network Security to protect the company infrastructure, VPN Branch Office secure access to external collaborators via VPN client. Management of multiple WAN connections via SDWAN. I also manage navigation rules with groups on Active Directory (Application controller, web blocker etc.).
Pros
simple and intuitive configuration
excellent monitoring management via real-time logs, host watch etc.
device management via dimension and/or WatchGuard Cloud is excellent
Cons
possibility of managing bidirectional communication on sslvpn (openvpn) connections so as to be able to exploit this channel to route traffic to the remote peer.
Likelihood to Recommend
VU
Verified User
Consultant in Information Technology (Computer Networking company, 1-10 employees)
We use WatchGuard for firewalls, DHCP, DNS and other networking abilities it offers. For our larger clients its proven to be a truly robust firewall. for out smaller clients, the T series is a beneficial part of their networking ecosystem for DHCP and DNS services, as well ad still being a solid firewall.
Pros
Firewall
Network Switching and routing
dhcp and dns
traffic routing
Cons
training
documentation
local user database management
ad authentication
Likelihood to Recommend
great at what it does for a firewall, duo integration needs some help. overall, they make a good product
VU
Verified User
Employee in Engineering (Computer Networking company, 1-10 employees)
When I get to the engineers at WatchGuard their support is fantastic. Configuration and issues causing conflict are always responded to well and relatively quickly with the right motivation relating to response need.
Pros
Escalate quickly
work from a position of information.
Cons
Answering calls quickly and efficiently
Quickly asking about urgency of issues
Likelihood to Recommend
I work specifically with clients with 25 or less workstations, and the WatchGuard products I use are perfect for this.
