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Easy to install, fine blocking functionality, minimal reports, missing Web Blocker categories
Updated March 07, 2024

Easy to install, fine blocking functionality, minimal reports, missing Web Blocker categories

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with WatchGuard DNSWatchGO

We have deployed DNSWatchGo on all our company laptops. The main reason for doing this is to add another protection layer for are remote users, when they are not behind our firewalls, that protect their systems when they are within the company premises. As the protection of our firewalls can only help them when they are local or connected to our network via VPN, we need a replacement for the protections our Watchguard firewalls are providing to our company laptops, when they are online outside the company network.
  • Category based application control
  • IP based filtering of IPs that have been flagged as suspicious on the Watchguard databases
  • Protection from phishing and other threats
  • 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.
  • DNS based filtering.
  • Works with the need for a connection to our company network.
  • Protections from phishing and zero day attacks.
  • As the pandemic has pushed as to buy more laptops the need for an extra protection layer was bigger than ever. DNSWatchGo has cover this need.
  • Having the same rules as the Application Control on Watchguard firewalls has minimized the implementation effort required for setup DNSWatchGo.
  • Having DNSWatchGo installed allowed us to unblock internet access for laptop users when they are not connected to our company network.
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.

Do you think WatchGuard DNSWatchGO delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with WatchGuard DNSWatchGO's feature set?

No

Did WatchGuard DNSWatchGO live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of WatchGuard DNSWatchGO go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy WatchGuard DNSWatchGO again?

Yes

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.

Using WatchGuard DNSWatchGO

40 - We have installed DNSWatchGo on all company laptops. So all users with a laptop are protected by it. These users cover all functions of the company. There is no sense to install DNSWatch go on desktop PCs, as there are already covered by our Watchguard firewalls and the DNSWatch service they offer.
1 - Firewall admin is the most suited one the administer DNSWatchGo as Well. No sense in handling it any other way.
  • DNS based filtering.
  • Protections from phishing attacks.
  • Protection from zero day attacks.
  • Nothing really unexpected happened.
  • All worked just as expected.
  • We are happy about this!
  • We just hope Web Blocker categories will be added to DNSWatchGo.
  • More and better reports are a must! We expect them yesterday!
  • Better identification of clients where DNSWatchGo is installed, so that no duplicate entries are found on the installed client list.
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!

Evaluating WatchGuard DNSWatchGO and Competitors

  • Other
The fact that we already had Watchguard firewalls! If we have firewalls of another brand we would probably have selected another DNS based protections solutions!
As already said the most important factor for us that lead us to choose DNSWatchGo, was the fact the we already had Watchguard firewalls. DNSWatchGo and Watchguard firewall just pair very well together.
Yes, DNSWatchGo has terrible reporting and we are missing the Web Blocker categories that we have on the Watchguard Firewalls but not on DNSWatchGo, but it's a one way decision if you have Watchguard firewalls. Maybe that's why Watchguard seems to not be very active with adding new features to DNSWatchGo!