WatchGuard Network Security

Score8.7 out of 10

999 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for WatchGuard Network Security are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Quick Escalation Process: Reviewers have appreciated the quick escalation process provided by the product, which has enabled timely resolution of issues and efficient problem-solving. The streamlined escalation procedure has been particularly beneficial during critical situations, ensuring that users receive prompt assistance and support when needed.

Valuable Security Features: Users have found the URL filtering, intrusion prevention, and DOS monitoring features to be valuable in maintaining security and effectively safeguarding their networks from potential threats. These robust security measures have played a crucial role in preventing cyber attacks and ensuring data protection for businesses utilizing the product.

Excellent Customer Support: The excellent support offered by the customer service team has been praised for being helpful, responsive, and consistently providing valuable assistance when needed. Reviewers have highlighted instances where the support team went above and beyond to address queries promptly and offer expert guidance on optimizing the product's performance for specific use cases.

Reviews

548 Reviews

Satisfied

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

May 14, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use WatchGuard Network Security primarily as a filter for inappropriate websites. The issue of pornography is something that we don't want to spend time on filtering or guarding against, and WatchGuard Network Security has simplified this for us.

Pros

Blocks gaming
blocks pornography
restricts hours of use

Cons

User interface has been challenging

Likelihood to Recommend

WatchGuard Network Security has done well to guard temptations to view porn. It has blocked distractions from the workplace. It has prevented us from accessing VPNs which circumvent these restrictions.

Verified User

Administrator in Corporate (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

WatchGuard Review.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

May 10, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use WatchGuard network security devices as our edge devices in our enterprise networks. These devices allow us to create secondary networks, VPNs, and traffic rules for incoming traffic to a network. Additionally, we use these products in conjunction with WAP's, which provide network connectivity throughout our offices. The UI is incredibly user-friendly, and the devices allow us to implement enterprise-grade security.

Pros

These devices allow us to easily enroll WAP's.
These devices allow us to block countries via geolocation blocking.
These devices allow us to monitor traffic and view packets being dropped.

Cons

I believe the documentation for these devices could be organized in a better fashion.

Likelihood to Recommend

One scenario where WatchGuard Network Security is well-suited for a task is when a site needs to be whitelisted. For example, if a site is whitelisted and hosted in a country blocked by geolocation, we can bypass the block and route traffic to the site. This is particularly helpful with CDN's.

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

WatchGuard Network Security is a great package

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

May 6, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use both EPDR and MFA along with WatchGuard Firewalls to secure the desktop and network environments. The EPDR provides advanced antivirus security while the MFA provides 2 factor for accessing the desktop. The firewalls provide DNS filtering and traffic blocking via signatures along with IDS and general antivirus protection. We use the Total Security version.

Pros

Single Pane of glass
Ease of moving between different software on dashboard
Good alerting

Cons

Sometimes MFA doesn't send alert without refresh
Automatic https certificates
EPDR doesn't always make it easy to know the pc has been isolated

Likelihood to Recommend

Small business environment like car dealerships that have NADA requirements and businesses that have compliance needs. Corporate environments that need mfa protection are good candidates. IT companies that want a single pane of glass to manage would be good msp candidates. This may not be ideal for really small companies or companies that don't have high security priorities.

Verified User

Director in Information Technology (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

Reseller

5 years of experience

Best Firewall Management for MSPs

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

May 4, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

These are the primary firewalls we use across all customers we managed. Helps keep companies protected by blocking certain sites/regions and key words. They run in a fire cluster as well which makes things ideal for redundancy.

Pros

Block Malicious IPs if repeated failed logins
Restricts with geolocation
Traffic monitor

Cons

Improved software - windows can get stuck minimized or program will freeze
Allow for username creds to be saved for login instead of having to enter each time in the pc app

Likelihood to Recommend

Nice product line for different types of sites. Core sites can use bigger firewalls and smaller more remote sites can use the T-series. Nice being able to import configs for setup.

Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

Affordable, easy to use.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

May 4, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Since our organization operates with a fully open IPv4/IPv6 dual stack network, protecting groups of sensitive systems, computer labs, etc. is more complicated than when set up systems behind network border controls. Further, departments and divisions operate their own equipment so there is no central resource to rely on. As a result, we run multiple WatchGuard devices in data centers to protect groups of systems.

Pros

IDS/IPS
Logging
Usable GUI to easily configure rulesets
IPv6

Cons

Documentation
IPS/IDS global exceptions (such as for outside scanners)

Likelihood to Recommend

We use it to secure groups of systems instead of whole networks. The easy to configure rulesets allow us to meet the needs of multiple compliance standards without losing our minds. The rule use reporting has allowed easy debugging when tracing issues. Further the ability to have rules that are hostname specific instead of just IP based rules has made it extremely easy to write rules overall.

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology (10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

20 years of experience

WatchGuard Review

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

May 4, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use WG firewalls and wireless access points. These help provide advanced security for my clients, great wifi coverage and VPN connections with MFA.

Pros

Firewall protection with its subscription services.
VPN access for remote clients with MFA linked to MS 365
wireless access

Cons

I'm honestly very impressed how things currently work.
Sometimes there are a few layers to go through to get at what you are looking for, but that is often needed due to complexity
I do not like working with the cloud managed firewalls. It seems very different than the locally managed.

Likelihood to Recommend

I do for for clients that have PCI and HIPPA requirement. This are best suited for using WG products. Larger clients also need a firewall that handle a larger number of endpoints.

Dave Huttner

IT Consultant in Information Technology at Destination Transport (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

22 years of experience

WatchGuard keeps you protected

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

May 4, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use WatchGuard Network Security as our main firewall and first line of defense into our network. We use the VPN features to give employees access to internal systems when they are remote. We also use various tools to control what is allowed and not allowed to be accessed from different sections of our network. I like the graphical user interface and ease of use. Also, with various promos we have been able to upgrade to a new version of our firewall every couple of years for the same cost that it would have been to just renew the service contract.

Pros

VPN Access
DHCP for multiple networks
Access Control

Cons

The Traffic Monitor search function does not always get the results you want
Sometimes it is hard to find what you are looking for
it logs me out too quickly

Likelihood to Recommend

It does its job well just some of the navigation and user interface stuff is hard at times. When something breaks and you are trying to figure it out it can be frustrating trying to find where a certain feature or configuration is located in the menu system. Luckily searching online can usually point you in the right direction.

Mike Eldridge

Network Administrator in Information Technology at Innerspace Healthcare (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

Reliable but simple -- possibly too simple.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Incentivized

April 27, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Configuring firewalls, VLANs, monitoring DHCP leases and MAC addresses, assigning DHCP reservations to devices like servers, printers, and network equipment. WatchGuard firewalls are common among customers we support, so the certification was a good way to familiarize myself with them. As a partner, we also need to maintain a certain number of certified individuals. By obtaining this certification, I gained WatchGuard specific skills but also helped our organization meet the partner requirements.

Pros

It touches on a wide range of networking topics
It explains NAT very well
It is a mix of general principles and vendor-specifics
The certification is not free, but the training is free which is great

Cons

I think the exam did not align with the Network Security course completely. The course covered a lot of specific areas and the exam seemed focused on general concepts. There were a mix of questions, but the exam seemed difficult because the course had a lot of different content.
The course did not have quizzes or anything like that. It would be great to have quizzes to track progress and retention of certain categories. Maybe one quiz for each section.
I think the course could have focused more on policies and things of that nature. Sure, NAT, DHCP, VLANs, and all the networking stuff is important. However, a firewall is typically viewed as something that keeps stuff out of the network. I think the policies, ports and how to limit exposure, and the general security features should be focused on more.

Likelihood to Recommend

If I had to recommend a business get a firewall, I'd probably suggest Ubiquiti if I'm being honest. They have tons of development and nice to have features with no licensing or subscriptions. For example, if you use their switches and APs to, you can see a diagram of the network and the port each Ubiquiti device is connected to.

WatchGuard firewalls, especially when cloud managed, are very basic. Locally managed fireboxes have much more capabilities than a cloud managed one. Comparing to SonicWall, Cisco, Meraki, and other brands I've worked on, WatchGuard is the least granular in the options you have available to you. Maybe that is intentional so it can appeal to teams who don't want to learn a ton of stuff about firewalls. However, you really need to know the firewall as it's the first line of defense keeping the internet off your network.

I'd like to see the locally managed firewall features in WatchGuard Cloud firstly. Secondly, I'd like the interfaces to be consistent between cloud managed and locally managed.

Verified User

Technician in Information Technology (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

Reseller

1 year of experience

Our WatchGuard System.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

April 23, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It acts as our router and border threat detection device. It lets us know about any external DDoS or hacking attempts.

Pros

Good technical support.
Good options for VPN access.
At more intuitive user interface than other comparable brands.

Cons

Would like an option for more straightforward, simplified port forwarding setup page.
Would like simplified process for setting up Internet failover.
Maybe scripts that can be downloaded and used for simpler IPSec configuration in Windows.

Likelihood to Recommend

The WatchGuard appliance we use is at an effective price point, with a feature delta, and offers good technical support. It provides the scaling we need for features and performance, without being over- or underpowered. Our vendor also seems knowledgeable about the product and its options, which helps with decision-making.

Verified User

Administrator in Information Technology (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

8 years of experience

WatchGuard Network Security a huge win for the value

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

March 26, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We've partnered with WatchGuard for many years. Our focus has been on the Firebox edge security appliances primarily, but we've also used the MFA and subscription services. WatchGuard Network Security has provided an excellent product for protecting network infrastructure and client resources. It's very cost competitive with other vendors and the support is great. Even as more workloads move to cloud services, we still find interface and payment systems in the local environments that need protecting.

Pros

WatchGuard Network Security streamlines the creation of policy objects, allowing them to be used in multiple security policies without recreating them or having to manually create global objects.
WatchGuard Network Security also provides a clear and simplified configuration interface rather than requiring a complex CLI.
There are a couple of options for centralized management, both in the cloud and on a private server, which allows for ease of visibility into multiple devices. Features are consistently being added to the cloud offering as well.

Cons

Some of the logic in the security policies of the Auth-Point Identity management doesn't follow the same as the appliances. It's not as clear as it could be when creating conditional access policies.
The Endpoint security offerings are still lacking some integration and feel like they need to be more mature before we'd consider deploying them.
I can understand the reasoning behind offering wireless network hardware, but it seems unnecessary and isn't as robust as other vendor hardware.

Likelihood to Recommend

WatchGuard Network Security is a true next generation firewall vendor, and they are constantly improving their products. The account management is engaged, and support is responsive and knowledgeable. We've had consistent quality experiences with deployment and warranty response. The feature set is robust and effective when properly configured. Any questions or concerns with configuration have always been handled efficiently and effectively. They've been a great vendor to partner with.

Nathan Parrish

Professional Services Solutions Architect in Information Technology at SkyTide Group (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

Reseller

15 years of experience

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Reliable but simple -- possibly too simple.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Incentivized

April 27, 2026

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

It touches on a wide range of networking topics
It explains NAT very well
It is a mix of general principles and vendor-specifics
The certification is not free, but the training is free which is great

Cons

I think the exam did not align with the Network Security course completely. The course covered a lot of specific areas and the exam seemed focused on general concepts. There were a mix of questions, but the exam seemed difficult because the course had a lot of different content.
The course did not have quizzes or anything like that. It would be great to have quizzes to track progress and retention of certain categories. Maybe one quiz for each section.
I think the course could have focused more on policies and things of that nature. Sure, NAT, DHCP, VLANs, and all the networking stuff is important. However, a firewall is typically viewed as something that keeps stuff out of the network. I think the policies, ports and how to limit exposure, and the general security features should be focused on more.

Likelihood to Recommend

I'd like to see the locally managed firewall features in WatchGuard Cloud firstly. Secondly, I'd like the interfaces to be consistent between cloud managed and locally managed.

Verified User

Technician in Information Technology (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

Reseller

1 year of experience