Cisco Routers vs WatchGuard Network Security | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 8.9 out of 10

Based on 228 reviews and ratings

Router Selector Tool

Score 9 out of 10

Based on 176 reviews and ratings

Feature Rating Comparison

Cisco Routers

WatchGuard Network Security

Identification Technologies

Visualization Tools

Content Inspection

Policy-based Controls

Active Directory and LDAP

Firewall Management Console

Reporting and Logging

VPN

High Availability

Stateful Inspection

Proxy Server

Pros

Security. You can run VPN services on these routers along with core function of routing.
Rate limiting for DDOS or traffic on WAN links can help to prioritise the actual user traffic.
Routing. This is main feature of these devices and they do it really well.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Computer Networking Company, 1001-5000 employees

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URL Filtering: Extremely effective for blocking of questionable content and protecting from phishing sites.
Antivirus: Our clients have seen far fewer active threats when a WatchGuard Network Security Device is in place.
Data Loss Prevention: A valuable tool for our clients who require more security when it comes to metadata and personal data leaving the network.

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Senior Support Specialist / Project Manager

Tech HelpInformation Technology and Services, 1-10 employees

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Cons

Firmware improvements as the routers (at least the models I used) can sometimes crash while setting up.
In two RV042 that I had to configure and monitor, I had problems where they stopped working properly (crashes, loss of settings, bug). In another model, the VPN did not connect and only after a router restart did it work.
Three WAN options on RV line.

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Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Law Practice Company, 51-200 employees

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Partner communications on technical issues. For example the undocumented feature of SDWAN hidden route. There is still no documentation on that.
Too infrequent communications about high incidence technical support issues. We do not want to have to be encountering known issues and then having outages or problems that we then have to put in tickets about.
Pay attention to your most highly technical partners, not just those that sell a lot of equipment. The highly technical partners can and do provide very usable feedback that can make the products better.
WG wants partners to build relationships with people inside WG so we can drive solutions to problems, but too frequently, we get no response to emails sent to the proper internal resources about legitimate issues.

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President

Quality Plus ConsultingInformation Technology and Services, 1-10 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

WatchGuard Network Security 9.8

Based on 3 answers

To be replaced, we would need to see a clear set of reasons that acutely address the points I have made in favor of this solution, and they would need to be Cheaper, easier to use, give more clarity into the networking, and create easier dashboards and reports for managemnt of users networking and threat actors attempts to compromise the network.

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IT Director

Wayne Transports, Inc.Transportation/Trucking/Railroad, 501-1000 employees

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Usability

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

WatchGuard Network Security 8.5

Based on 98 answers

I first started using WatchGuard firewalls about 20 years ago and found them easy to pick up and learn. Since then I have had experience with many other types--Sonicwalls, Palo Altos, and Cisco Meraki, just to name a few--and I still find the that WatchGuard is the easiest to deploy and work with. I still use the management software (vs. the newer web interface) and it's just very easy to find what I need and to make changes.

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IT Director

LSLCPAsFinancial Services, 51-200 employees

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Support Rating

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

WatchGuard Network Security 8.0

Based on 7 answers

I give this rating as a result of almost 20 years of interfacing with WatchGuard technical support. Of all my vendors that I have to deal with WatchGuard is one of the best I have ever dealt with bar none. I have seldom finished a call to them without a solution. If they by chance don't have the solution, they will figure it out and get back to you ASAP as well as update the casefile online. Technical support is available via phone and web portal. It takes a few minutes to create a case online, assign a priority and submit. They get back to you depending on the critical nature of the issue, but you can expect urgent attention for critical and catastrophic issues.

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Director Of Information Technology

Fort Walton Machining, Inc.Aviation & Aerospace, 51-200 employees

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In-Person Training

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

WatchGuard Network Security 9.1

Based on 1 answer

In person training is very good for the interaction with qualified trainers

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President

Quality Plus ConsultingInformation Technology and Services, 1-10 employees

View all 1 answers on this topic

Online Training

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

WatchGuard Network Security 6.4

Based on 1 answer

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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President

Quality Plus ConsultingInformation Technology and Services, 1-10 employees

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Implementation Rating

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

WatchGuard Network Security 8.4

Based on 108 answers

Implementation of a device, with knowledge of the WatchGuard system, can be fairly straightforward for a typical school/branch office. Anywhere with a few servers will have the policy list grow exponentially and end up with a big mess of policies. We have 30 servers, along with providing local Internet. We have over 100 policies and growing.

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Verified User

Project Manager in Information Technology

Primary/Secondary Education Company, 201-500 employees

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Alternatives Considered

I haven't used other routers in my career. We evaluated Palo Alto but quickly realized we needed to stay with Cisco, as they never gave us a reason to change. Palo Alto also was a much greater financial investment we were not willing to take, along with the learning curve to support their hardware.

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Client Executive(CIO)/Executive Director of Information Technology

CareTech SolutionsHigher Education, 201-500 employees

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I find Watchguard much easier to deploy and maintain than Sonicwall devices. I find they offer a comparable range of products and features, however, I liked the deployment process of Watchguards much more. The Cisco ASA is a great firewall as well, however, can require more in-depth knowledge to deploy. Watchguard dual WAN functionality is better than the ASA as well which requires routers outside of the ASA to maintain a true dual WAN setup.

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Senior Network Engineer

DiamondITInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

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Return on Investment

It has helped increase IT productivity by making network management easier
The yearly subscription fee is too expensive and isn't worth it

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Verified User

Professional in Information Technology

Consumer Goods Company, 51-200 employees

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Blocking bad websites has saved many of our clients from any infection which saves time and money from a business being down and needing files restored perspective.
Automatic end user training has saved time not having to go onsite to do it ourselves.
Traffic and Security Reports that we use with clients to show them employee usage, blocked security threats, and growth projections.

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Joshua Churchwell

Project Engineer

Echopath, LLCComputer & Network Security, 11-50 employees

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Screenshots

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See All (4) WatchGuard Network Security Screenshots

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

Yes

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Rating Summary

Cisco Routers

WatchGuard Network Security

Cisco Routers

WatchGuard Network Security

Cisco Routers

WatchGuard Network Security

Cisco Routers

WatchGuard Network Security

Cisco Routers

WatchGuard Network Security

Cisco Routers

WatchGuard Network Security

Cisco Routers

WatchGuard Network Security

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