WatchGuard DNSWatchGO provides DNS-level protection and content filtering that keeps the user's business safe from phishing, ransomware, and other attacks even when a user is outside of the network, without requiring a VPN.
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WatchGuard Network Security
Score 8.8 out of 10
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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.
What we really liked in the WatchGuard Network Security was the fact that it offered an integrated proxy (explicit proxy), as at the time we wanted to replace the old proxy (Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway) we were using up to then. This was the main reason we …
The client-server management tool provides better efficiency on the daily tasks when having a lot of firewalls. The policy manager tool is very easy to use, making it easy the understand and change the actual policy rules The multi-wan feature is a more robust and flexible …
While DNSWatchgo offers the same categories as Application Control offers on the Watchguard firewalls, the WebBlocker categories are not offered. This is really a disappointment and Watchgurad should really consider adding the extra WebBlocker categories to DMSWatchGo. In my opinion, reporting in DNSWatchGo is minimal to say the least and could use drastic additions. as it is today it does offer very little info to the admins. The identification of registered clients is flawed. It seems that the same clients are registered multiple times on the management platform, thus unnecessarily consuming licenses. In my experience, it is really annoying to have to remove the duplicate clients every time again and again. On the positive side, when one already has Watchguard firewalls seting up DNSWatchGo is really easy, as it shares the same categories with Watchguard firewall Application Control. So easily one can almost the firewall functionality on laptops. And we say almost, because DNSWatchGo is missing the WebBlocker categories / blocking capabilities to be considered a full firewall replacement.
We recently had an issue with our Microsoft patch management that resulted in severely high bandwidth usage. We reached out to Microsoft, for support, which was useless. WatchGuard Network Security helped us create a firewall rule to fix the image the same day. Customer support is US centric and quick to respond. Support team is very friendly and knowledgeable.
While DNSWatchgo offers the same categories as Application Control offers on the Watchguard firewalls, the WebBlocker categories are not offered.
Reporting is minimal and could use massive upgrades.
The identification of registered clients is flawed. It seems that the same clients are registered multiple times on the management platform, thus unnecessarily consuming licenses.
We really need an extra layer of protection for our laptops. Choosing the DNSWatchGo makes sense as we have Watchguard firewall. If we had another brand of firewalls we would probably use anther product instead!
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
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.
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.
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.
We have only had to contact them once during the initial set up to help bring the internet back on line. After that for the most part our systems have been automated, and could easily be checked form their online FAQ and Knowledge base that they provide. Everything else is easily handled from their browser based interface
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.
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.
At the time we were looking for a DNS based protection solution we had also tried "Blue Shield Umbrella". Both programs had similar behavior, but the main reason we eventually decided to go with DNSWatchGo was the fact the we have WatchGurd firewalls. So deploying DNSWatchGo was easy as we just copied the Application Control settings from our firewalls to the DNSWatchGo setup. Also Watchguard firewalls already have the DNSWatch service for the PCs that are connected to them while inside the company network, so it makes sense to equip them with the same shield while outside the company network.
WatchGuard is what I use exclusively now. I have removed all other firewalls. WatchGuard is easier to maintain and easier to set up, PLUS WatchGuard Tech Support is very responsive and helpful. I am very familiar with both the System Management software and the Web-based access to the firewalls, and feel comfortable with the programming and troubleshooting in both areas.
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.
WatchGuard is a well-established company in the industry, and we are confident in its security solutions.
This solution meets/exceeds our security objectives for CMMC and the DoD standards.
I wish their cloud management were much stronger and provided more features similar to those of Meraki. If it did, we would exclusively sell these devices.
