WatchGuard Firewalls from a Small Business Standpoint.
June 12, 2021

WatchGuard Firewalls from a Small Business Standpoint.

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

Overall Satisfaction with WatchGuard Network Security

We currently use a WatchGuard firewall to protect our network and file servers, as well as provide a way for users to VPN in and work from home. It provides us with a way to easily monitor and control network traffic, and a number of extra features to guard the network from ever-changing threats.
  • Traffic monitoring and control.
  • VPN-Active Directory credential integration.
  • Automatic malware blocking.
  • Technical support is top notch.
  • Policy configuration can be tricky and require nuance.
  • Purchasing their products can be a hassle, as you need to contact a reseller. Local companies near me are not very easy to get straightforward answers from.
  • Data security is hard to measure in terms of ROI, but it is invaluable.
  • Tunneling into the network is quick and easy, from any type of device. It has allowed me to securely work from any location.
  • Since upgrading to the Total Security Suite, our firewall has protect the network from only a few unseen threats. But that's not a risk I am willing to take.
CTI Technology in Elgin, IL. They were prompt and polite, but pretty hands off. I went in already knowing what I wanted so it wasn't an issue.
If you have an existing Firebox installation, it is very easy to get the config file exported and copied to the new device. Implementing extra features from a familiar starting point is a breeze.
This packaging makes it approachable for a smaller company. Having a single device controlling the entire network makes troubleshooting issues easy. Managing the device is a clean and easy experience through the Web UI, though the documentation on that is a bit lacking when compared to the desktop configuration manager.
If you have any data to protect or any desire to deeply control the traffic on your network, WatchGuard is a great option. The additional suite of features offered really brings a lot to the table. Any Mom-and-Pop really has no need for a firewall. If you only want a network-level anti-virus, WatchGuard might be a bit much.

WatchGuard Network Security Feature Ratings

Identification Technologies
10
Visualization Tools
7
Content Inspection
6
Policy-based Controls
7
Active Directory and LDAP
8
Firewall Management Console
8
Reporting and Logging
10
VPN
10
High Availability
10
Stateful Inspection
10
Proxy Server
10