TrustRadius Insights for Untangle NG Firewall are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
Comprehensive and Effective Multi-Layer Security: Users have praised Untangle NG Firewall for its multi-layer security approach, including features like Web Filter, Virus Scanner, Bandwidth Control, Application Control, SSL Inspection, IDS IPS, and Threat Prevention. Many users have found this comprehensive suite of security features to be effective in protecting their network from various threats.
Detailed Logs and Reporting: Reviewers have appreciated the detailed and extensive logs and reporting provided by Untangle NG Firewall. While some beginners may find it overwhelming at first, many users have mentioned that once they became familiar with the system, the reporting feature has proven invaluable in identifying potential security issues. The rich and detailed reports not only provide insights into network activity but also help in addressing any problems that may arise.
Strong Support and Community Forums: Users have expressed satisfaction with the support provided by Untangle. Many reviewers have specifically mentioned the helpfulness of the support team as well as the strength of the community forums. This robust support system ensures that users can get assistance whenever they need it, enhancing their overall experience with Untangle NG Firewall.
Untangle NG Firewall serves many purposes for our clients including comprehensive firewall, easy to configure VPN, fast routing, and internet filtering.
Pros
Secure firewall
Easy to use VPN (with OpenVPN)
Active directory connector with 2fa for VPN is very easy to implement
Fairly intuitive internet filter
Great support
Cons
Only issue is that the device limits are anemic. Far too low for most SMBs in an iot era.
Likelihood to Recommend
SMBs looking to implement a well-supported firewall / vpn appliance with the capacity for internet filtering would do well to consider Untangle's NG Firewall. We have successfully implemented Untangle NG Firewall in medical practices, law firms, manufacturing plants, accounting firms, and more. The support is generally very good and the partner plan is fair. There have been more bugs since Arista took over.
VU
Verified User
Executive in Information Technology (1-10 employees)
LCA uses Untangle as its primary router, firewall, and filter. It serves the entire organization. Since it is the primary edge security device, it solves the filtering and security issues that existed before its implementation, as well as improves the overall performance of the Internet connection. Untangle is the primary reason why LCA's Internet access is CIPA compliant for the students.
Pros
Multiple security apps (Web Filter, Virus Scanner, Bandwidth Control, Application Control, SSL Inspection, IDS/IPS, Threat Prevention, etc) all work together to provide a multi-layer security approach.
The logs and reporting are detailed and extensive. That can sometimes be overwhelming, but also invaluable once you know how to use them.
Untangle is much, much more than "just" a web filter. The academic discount is completely worth what is provided.
Of course, Untangle support is very good. Their community forums are also very strong.
Cons
These areas of improvement have already been submitted to Untangle for review. One of them is the ability to filter by user groups the login access used by the Captive Portal app.
This is always under improvement, but working on the reports to help them to not be as overwhelming to new users. Also the ability to have a dedicated reporting "dashboard" for specific users, especially if parents request that information. It can be done, but it isn't that easy to set up.
Finally, due to recent academic developments, the ability to expand an existing Untangle appliance to the cloud for cloud-based filtering would be amazing for schools. That is easy to say, but obviously more difficult to achieve.
Likelihood to Recommend
Untangle is very strong in the "traditional" sense of security. That means an edge appliance that either works with an existing router or is the router itself (recommended). This approach has also been adapted well to cloud environments in order to protect virtual servers and VDI workstations.
As mentioned earlier, many schools are using cloud-based filtering for their 1:1 solutions for their students. This is an area where Untangle is unable to serve. Some have used an instance of Untangle in the cloud with VPN to serve their remote needs, but it is not the same as solutions that are designed for cloud-based filtering of devices without VPN.
<div>Currently used for both hosted and on prem services. This covers multiple services within our company such as VPNs, Access controls, Proxy server, Webfilters, Virus controls. </div><div>With the the world knowing the amazing year that was 2020, this brought big changes to us as a company. With all staff going to remote working we needed to secure connection to internal services that were not available outside of the office but also protect all end devices that staff would be using working from home. Without Untangle this would have been a much harder project to have completed in a short amount of time.</div><div>The support and awareness training supplied by untangle was at a top level.
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Pros
VPNs.
Access Control.
Location Control.
Web Filter.
Proxy.
Threat Prevention.
Firewall.
Application Control.
Reporting.
Active Directory/LDAP connections.
Intrusion Prevention.
Ease of use.
Cons
Documentation.
More access to logs via Web UI.
Likelihood to Recommend
VU
Verified User
Professional in Information Technology (51-200 employees)
Untangle is a modern firewall/router platform that you can buy their hardware or use your own. I purchased a used Dell R720 server to run this on and use it as our main firewall. We also purchased a few other modules that we needed for our organization. It is very easy and intuitive for anyone that has worked with other firewall and routers. It helps protect use while on the internet and provides VPN access to other locations. It has proven itself over and over since I first started using it about 10 years ago. They constantly update it to provide up-to-date security and new features. I have used this for home and office use. It does have a large following for school applications and if anything is good for schools it's great for businesses.
Pros
Easy to understand with its graphical interface.
Runs on Linux so it's durable and safe.
Supports major VPN's and is compatible with Cisco.
Protecting kids while on internet with modules it has that some cost.
Can run on many types of hardware from servers to some home firewall units.
Cons
The full suite can be expensive for business but will be powerful enough.
The full suite for home or small office isn't that bad of a price but may be out of reach for most home users but remember the basics are FREE so anyone can get started with it.
I would like to see it promoted for mid to large businesses as I think it can handle it.
Likelihood to Recommend
Midsized business is where I have used it. Have used it to connect to other Untangle boxes across town and in other countries with NO issues and works with MS Domains across these VPN connections. Probably less appropriate for small home networks or large businesses.
VU
Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology (11-50 employees)
We are an MSP, so we are a huge target. I started looking hard at our security. I was trying to decide on a firewall that we could use for ourselves as well as our clients. Untangle NG Firewall has a great partner program. These firewalls are fantastic. The reporting is fascinating. I feel so secure since installing Untangle NG Firewall on our network. The software is built on Debian, so it is incredibly flexible.
Pros
Security
Reporting
Cons
Support documents a little vague.
Interface can be confusing.
Likelihood to Recommend
Untangle NG Firewall is excellent in just about any business. It doesn't matter if you have three workstations or 1000, it will work well. Of course, you need the hardware power. I'm not sure where it would not work. Maybe if you only have 1 or 2 workstations.
Untangle NG firewall is being used as a firewall, as a web filter, as a VPN and most importantly as a way to achieve PCI compliance and as a way to keep the internal network as safe as possible by limiting access in any direction to just what is needed and by checking all traffic.
Pros
The firewall is easy to set up and manage.
The open VPN while not as feature rich as some other options is rock solid and consistently needs nothing
The web filter app is great, it's easy to block broad categories or specific things as well as white list whatever is needed.
Support is responsive and accurate.
Cons
The dashboard could be a little more customizable.
I've run into situations where custom reports do not save correctly.
It's not always clear where certain configurations are located, but it's still easy to find them quickly.
Likelihood to Recommend
I think for anyone that is concerned about security or connectivity Untangle has you covered from a home user protecting the family with a free product to a large organization using the full paid service NG Firewall is a very capable tool in the toolbox for anyone looking to keep the bad stuff out while still maintaining full functionality.
VU
Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology (51-200 employees)
I use Untangle mostly for homes, and schools and enterprises where internet filtering is required. Untangle does a fantastic job of integrating with AD and creating user/group based policies, traffic rate-limiting/squashing; permitting pertinent social media, but blocking things like Facebook games that add no value to a day to day business environment. The newly created integration of SD-WAN functionality makes connecting your remote offices a breeze (which I've done with a company that manages 10 different apartment complexes in 3 states).
Pros
Web Filtering is strong, and can also do application fingerprinting to allow Facebook, but not Facebook games. Secondly, a separate partition called a "rack" can be set up to give one subnet or group of users different web filtering policies than another. For example, teachers would get more freedom to browse the web than students at a school.
Built-in SD-WAN connectivity as part of your license. IPSEC tunnel creation is also amazingly easy.
Will install on any x86 hardware created in the last 5-10 years. Ram and processor requirements per user are very low.
Reporting is phenomenal, however you can get death by details very easily.
Cons
The UI could be a little flashier.
Getting your license file moved from one firewall to another can be tough at times... but support is great if you need it.
Ability to upload reports to a portal versus getting them emailed would be best (some reports can get 100+ Mb depending on all the bells and whistles).
Likelihood to Recommend
Places where it's well suited:
<ul><li>Churches/schools/small to medium businesses</li><li>SD-WAN</li><li>Web filtering appliance</li><li>Captive portal for guest wifi</li></ul>
VU
Verified User
Professional in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees)
I use Untangle NG Firewall at our main facility, our offsite clinic locations and I installed one for a private clinic. We use it mainly for web filtration but we also utilize the antivirus, intrusion detection, ad blocking etc. Untangle protects our whole organization. Untangle has almost completely stopped malware infections and prevents bandwidth from being wasted on non-business related activities. We have policies configured so that some users are directed through specific racks that are not as restrictive as the default rack. It just works and does not impact the business processes of the organization.
Pros
Web filtration works well and is very easy to manage. The interface is intuitive and makes dealing with end user issues quick and easy to resolve.
Bandwidth control is a nice feature that quickly lets you determine where the offending bandwidth consumer is.
The reporting feature is rich and the emailed reports help you determine any potential problems that may need to be addressed.
Cons
Probably the documentation, the online tutorials could be a little more up to date and clearer.
Likelihood to Recommend
I think the Untangle NG Firewall is well suited for any environment even for home use. It's possible it may not be well suited for very large networks but I think they build appliances to accommodate several sizes of networks.
We use Untangle NG Firewall to protect our network from viruses, spam, phishing, and advertisements. In addition to those features, we use it to prevent users from going to websites that they shouldn't be going to while at work. It is deployed for the whole organization and has helped reduce malware infections from our domain computers while improving employee productivity.
Pros
Filters websites by category.
Blocks and quarantines large amounts of spam.
The reporting module is very detailed.
Support team is very responsive.
The dashboard is a great feature.
Cons
A network inventory app would be helpful.
Likelihood to Recommend
Untangle NG Firewall is well suited in most scenarios where you are looking for a piece of software that can perform many functions, such as web filtering, spam prevention, phishing prevention, application control, and IP Sec VPN. They offer different licensing options with the paid product. The free product comes with a handful of apps and does not include technical support.
