We performed a comparison between Meraki MX and SonicWall NSa based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Meraki MX has a slight edge in this comparison. Unlike SonicWall NSa, its users report a proven ROI.
"Fortinet FortiGate is easy to use. Anyone can easily maintain it."
"The product offers very good security."
"It can expand easily."
"The interface is very good."
"The most valuable feature of Fortinet FortiGate is security. They are known for efficiency and are on the top of Gartner Quadrant reviews. Fortinet FortiGate has an easy-to-use platform with a good graphical interface. The configuration is simple and the solution provides an overall good layer of security."
"Virtual Domains (VDOMs) are a feature that we found valuable."
"It is simple to manage, and there are a lot of functionalities in the same box."
"You can purchase switches and you don't need to do anything with them. You just put in the firewall and the switches get all the policies and rules that you already have in the firewall. With Fortinet, you just connect the FortiSwitch to the Fortinet and that's it."
"It is a robust SD-WAN solution."
"We switched to Meraki because it lets you see what's happening in your LAN and WAN in a graphic and web environment."
"The features we have found most valuable are the firewall and the monitoring tools."
"I love the simplicity of Meraki MX — specifically, the simplicity of the dashboard."
"Point-to-point VPNs can dynamically follow IP changes with no need for static IPs."
"It is very easy to use and manage. It is also very easy to scale."
"It has very good features; it's easy to use, configure, set up, and deploy."
"We work also with domain control (DC) from Microsoft or Amazon. We use a whole virtual appliance with Meraki."
"We can do the hosting and security all under one box. The UTM is a good feature."
"It allows us to block applications, i.e., websites by application type category. It is far more capable than content filtering alone."
"Deep packet inspection and intelligent application control are the most valuable features. It is a very updated solution. It is very current as compared to other brands and vendors."
"For me, the most valuable feature of SonicWall NSa is the UTM."
"The most valuable feature I've found is VPN and web protection, particularly with navigation assessment. We use the application control feature to create rules controlling specific application navigation."
"Our old firewall was running as HA (High Availability) on two different but identical rack mounted servers. Moving to SonicWall allowed the company to move to one unit, yet accommodate more connections because it had sixteen ports and handled fail-over better than the old firewall solution."
"Support has improved dramatically since their separation from Dell."
"SonicWall's sales support is much better than other vendors'."
"I would like some automated custom reporting."
"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."
"The solution could be more user friendly."
"Fortinet FortiGate could improve by having a frequent ask questions(FAQ) area for people to receive quick answers to popular questions. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an SMS notification feature. For example, if you cannot access your email you could receive an SMS message."
"In some cases, its initial setup could be hard for customers."
"Quality control on their firmware versions needs improvement. When they introduce new firmware, there tend to be bugs."
"They can do more tests before they release new versions because I would like to be more assured. We had some experiences where they release something new and great, but some of the old features are disabled or they don't work well, which impacts the product satisfaction. The manufacturer should be able to prove that everything works or not only that it might work. This is applicable to most of the other services, software, and hardware companies. They all should work on this. We cannot trust every new release, such as a beta release, on the first day. We wait for some comments on the forums and from other companies that we know. We always wait a few weeks before we use the updated version. They should also extend the VPN client application, especially for Linux versions. Currently, it has an application for Linux devices, but it doesn't work the way we want to connect to the VPN. They use only the old connection, not the new one. They have VPN client applications for Windows and Mac, but they can add more useful features to better manage the devices and monitor the current health of each device. Such features would be helpful for our company."
"There are some tiny bugs that sometimes affect the operations. In the past revision of it, there was a bug. Because of the bug, we had to downgrade the version. It happened only with the last revision."
"Management can be improved in Meraki MX."
"The configuration options for firewall and IPS have limitations."
"Right now, you can postpone the update but eventually, if you don't do the update, it will install the updates automatically for you and that's something that is not working for me."
"Direct logging is something that can be introduced. In the absence of cloud management, the possibility of local configurations and on-premise logins becomes restricted. This limitation stands as a primary concern. When it comes to resolving issues, the inability to access login options hampers troubleshooting efforts. The stability is noteworthy; but when compared to alternative products, its stability is comparatively lower. Additionally, certain limitations are observed in terms of remote control. Price-wise, the solution stands out for its competitive and cost-effective nature compared to other alternatives. Operationally, it is user-friendly and requires minimal effort from administrators, making configuration hassle-free."
"The solution's pricing should be reduced."
"The client-side VPN is weak. The product could be improved with deployment templates."
"The product is quite complex to set up."
"Meraki tech support staff have a lot more visibility into your network than you do, which is frustrating at times. I understand the approach is to keep the dashboard easier to understand. This will frustrate more advanced users at times."
"Do not even consider NetExtender - probably one of the most horrific, nightmare grade Java-based VPN clients. We have but all given up trying to make it work reliably."
"When it comes to security I think all of the features are currently open to improvement."
"Competitors provide SSL encryption licenses for free, whereas SonicWall only provides two licenses by default, but you have to pay for the rest of the licenses."
"The filter settings are confusing and overly complicated. The user interface can be improved."
"We have security as a service, and they make recommendations about adding to the denylist and other things. That part could be more accessible and more user-friendly. I'd like to see SonicWall add a user-friendly interface where our internal team can drag and drop everything."
"The scalability is something that should be improved."
"It's very hard to manage this box. You really need a lot of skills to operate the SonicWall. There is training and the like, but it's just hard to manage. Even if you have the knowledge, there are too many options. The menus are not very clear, where you should find the information."
"I'd like to see integration with Microsoft 365 for authentication."
Meraki MX is ranked 2nd in Unified Threat Management (UTM) with 59 reviews while SonicWall NSa is ranked 19th in Firewalls with 80 reviews. Meraki MX is rated 8.2, while SonicWall NSa is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Meraki MX writes "Cost-effective, simplified, easy to manage, and reliable with advanced security features and granular visibility". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SonicWall NSa writes "Great performance and security with reasonable pricing". Meraki MX is most compared with Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls, Cisco Secure Firewall, Sophos XG, SonicWall TZ and WatchGuard Firebox, whereas SonicWall NSa is most compared with SonicWall TZ, Sophos XG, Cisco Secure Firewall, Netgate pfSense and WatchGuard Firebox. See our Meraki MX vs. SonicWall NSa report.
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We monitor all Firewalls reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
