Happy WatchGuard Firebox Customer
November 10, 2023
Happy WatchGuard Firebox Customer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Modules Used
- WatchGuard Network Security
Overall Satisfaction with WatchGuard Network Security
We use the Watchguard Firebox firewall in our organization. It protects our network from intrusions with TSS, helps us to host our web server and on-prem MS Exchange servers, and also provides services for our users such as VPN access. We use multiple fireboxes at a few different locations and connect them with the Branch Office VPN feature.
- Intrusion Prevention
- Mostly user intuitive
- Regular updates
- Help with a better solution for working with MS Exchange on-prem so that we can secure the ECP and OWA from the outside without losing functionality for active sync for cell phones and such.
- Even more affordable smaller boxes for home use.
- Built-in ways to handle the newer network protocols/features such as QUIC protocols that services like google are using so that we don't have to block all of that type of traffic just to be able to block youtube from loading for users that we don't want using it.
- Our old firewalls were old Cisco PIX and ASA units. We worked with Meraki's at another business and they are terrible. It looks like in the current market for mediam business that we would be considering SonicWalls vs WatchGuards as far as connection speeds go and the equivalent 3 year of advanced/total security support saves us at least $2,000 going with WatchGuard instead of SonicWall.
I believe we purchased our first WatchGuard through either Provantage or CDW. We had already done research and settled on WatchGuard before we started looking for a vendor so there wasn't a lot for either partner to do besides work on pricing with us and connecting us with a WatchGuard rep. We were recommended towards using WatchGuard by our phone system support company because they are known to work with well Avaya phone systems as well. I also liked the detailed documentation on the branch office vpn setups.
We haven't really used this per say. The only current product we have is a few of the Fireboxes connected via BOVPN. We have our endpoint solutions with another vendor mostly to prevent keeping all of our eggs in one basket. I would a unified console would be helpful if we had more of the products/devices in our network than the fireboxes.
The cloud products we use are the ones such as DNS Watch to help keep our network more secure. There really isn't a lot of impact on our organization since setting this up in the cloud is kind of a set and forget with Firebox's TSS unless there is an issue that needs to be addressed.
We evaluated Cisco's current ASA firewall at the time back then when we decided to go with WatchGuard. It was a lot more expensive and not as easy to configure and work with.
Do you think WatchGuard Network Security delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with WatchGuard Network Security's feature set?
Yes
Did WatchGuard Network Security live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of WatchGuard Network Security go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy WatchGuard Network Security again?
Yes
WatchGuard Network Security Feature Ratings
Using WatchGuard Network Security
2 - Network Administrator and Director of IT
2 -
Network administration skills and over 15+ years experience managing all parts of the network, computers, etc for the organization.
WatchGuard Firebox itself is fairly intuitive if you understand how rules and policies work in a firewall in general.
- Security
- VPN Access
- Serving website(s)
- Serving on-prem MS Exchange
- We were able to recently work with support to figure out how to block QUIC protocols for a certain user group/Wifi connection via an ADUC security group and specific subnet. This helped us to disallow youtube for our general production employee access. Not sure this was truly innovate, but it was definitely unexpected that the default built-in features for blocking media streaming weren't working anymore with youtube and the watchguard tech and I had to get creative to block the traffic. We were able to accomplish it though, thankfully!
- We may entertain adding on MFA/Authpoint at some point as needed.