Overall, users find CloudGuard Network Security to excel in robust firewall capabilities, user-friendly interface, advanced threat prevention, pricing transparency, and satisfactory ROI. On the other hand, Hillstone E-Series is praised for its quick installation, exceptional performance, robust security features, affordability, positive ROI, and excellent customer support. However, users noted that CloudGuard has better integration, setup process, and user interface, while Hillstone users find the interface navigation challenging with limited customization options and delayed updates.
The summary above is based on 74 interviews we conducted recently with CloudGuard Network Security and Hillstone E-Series users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.
"The web filtering facility and application control are the most valuable features from the point of view of our clients. The VPN feature is also quite popular amongst our clients. Two-factor authentication is one of the good features in Fortinet. These features are important for the current scenario of security. Security has become a necessity nowadays. With cyber-attacks becoming more common, protecting an organization's data is one of the major tasks. It is also very stable and scalable, and it is very straightforward to configure. Their technical support is also good."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the ease of use and there are several operating systems that can include the hardware capacities. In the newer releases, the resources were more useful because they were included in the operating system."
"I appreciate FortiGate's flexibility, which allows for centralized management through FortiManager."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the SD-WAN and their IP4 policy."
"With FortiClient, you can easily connect when you are home, check out what you want to do, and connect to your network when you are not at work. You can switch on servers and you can check what is wrong."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are remote access, web filtering, and IPS."
"Its administrative panel is very intuitive and simple. It is simpler than the other solutions that we had. As an administrator, we are always looking for the easiest solution to manage network policies. We are able to filter everything on our network and also use the VPN feature, which is important these days when people are working remotely during COVID."
"We are using gateways, and I appreciate the high-availability gateways they have. They stand out more than the competitors."
"Additionally, the centralized reporting and management, accessible through a single pane of glass, offer consistency and efficiency across multi-cloud environments."
"It offers remarkable flexibility in how we configure and utilize the resources."
"Check Point CloudGuard is quick to deploy and easy for the customer to use."
"I like the firewall and the virtual machine. I also like that it's compatible with Amazon Web Services and Azure."
"I like the tool's ability to manage cloud traffic locally without routing it through our data centers."
"Monitoring using SmartConsole and all its features is extremely easy, and I find SmartEvent an excellent monitoring tool for spotting threats and user behaviour."
"The number of options it gives for deployment or security is valuable. When it comes to security, it has a feature that is super awesome for zero-day-based attacks. Their IPS is also very capable. We tested other firewalls, and we understood that it is the best one in the market."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The installation is easy, we have not had any complaints from our customers."
"Working with the Hillstone E-Series has, from a remote perspective, allowed me to give my clients a secure connectivity."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few hours to deploy."
"Five out of five ROI."
"Very reliable solution with good scalability and straightforward implementation."
"This solution has two main features that we find very valuable; a threat-intelligence option, and a web/application filtering option. The technical support team are very good and very quick."
"The most valuable features of the Hillstone E-Series are its hardware capacity, innovation, and the throughput that the hardware can take."
"There are just some services that aren't available. For example, the Ethernet or point-to-point protocols. They could add these services to their product offering - especially services for ISPs."
"I think they need to improve more in order to be a competitor with the leaders of the field."
"They should improve the interface to make it more user-friendly."
"For the migration, everyone has a firewall in use and I am selling Fortinet. Typically, I am replacing another firewall. Previously, there was a tool available to convert configurations from one firewall, such as Palo Alto, to Fortinet, but this tool is no longer free. If it could be made free again, it would be very beneficial."
"There is a lot of improvement needed with SSL-VPN."
"The solution can have more features in a single box that can be multi-applied to integrate everything."
"I have to say that the initial setup was complex. The deployment took a few days to get set up. Initially, we were using an IPVanish. We switched to this tool since we thought it would be easier. But it turns out it wasn't easier to set up and run."
"In terms of what could be improved, the SD-WAN is quite difficult, because if you install the new box, 15 is okay, but if you change from an old configuration, if there is already configuration and a policy when you change to SD-WAN, you must change the whole policy that you see in the interface."
"CloudGuard Network Security could be improved in the area of upgrading in place."
"The initial setup is complex and could be made simpler."
"The solution lacks the capability to scale effectively."
"We miss full blade support for all blades that are compatible with the cluster. Especially notable is the lack of support for Identity Awareness in active standby environments for customers. In our setup, transitioning to Connective clusters would be preferable for maintaining connections during failover situations."
"The threat scanning system should categorize the level of threats to enhance reliable data interpretation."
"The API integration is complex, which is an area that should be improved."
"When upgrading the firewall, the old VPC containing the firewalls needs to be destroyed. After that, a new firewall is redeployed in the setup. Additionally, there's a need to separate the routing, and the routing from the old VPC has to be recreated in the new one."
"The product needs to improve technical support."
"SSL VPN license cost is not cheap."
"Support from Hillstone E-Series has a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"Having frequent live webinars on a monthly basis would really help."
"The solution doesn't have a web proxy built into the system like Sophos. This is something they should work to change."
"I am not sure if this solution offers active directory integration. Adding that feature will definitely be an advantage."
"The tool provides just a general report. It does not provide a granular report. Hence, the tool should work on its reporting feature."
"The current usage reporting is very basic."
"The tool needs to improve its price."
More Check Point CloudGuard Network Security Pricing and Cost Advice →
Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is ranked 8th in Firewalls with 121 reviews while Hillstone E-Series is ranked 33rd in Firewalls with 9 reviews. Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is rated 8.6, while Hillstone E-Series is rated 9.0. The top reviewer of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security writes "Highly reliable, great visibility, and centralized management". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Hillstone E-Series writes "A user-friendly and marketable solution with a virtual switching capability". Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is most compared with Azure Firewall, VMware NSX, Akamai Guardicore Segmentation, Cisco Secure Firewall and Fortinet FortiGate-VM, whereas Hillstone E-Series is most compared with Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Sophos XG, OpenVPN Access Server, Netgate pfSense and Sangfor SSL VPN. See our Check Point CloudGuard Network Security vs. Hillstone E-Series report.
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