We performed a comparison between Netgate pfSense and Smoothwall Firewall based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out what your peers are saying about Netgate, Fortinet, OPNsense and others in Firewalls."It's very fast and easy to configure."
"We purchased Fortinet because of the pricing, its functionality, because it met our requirements, and the total cost of ownership over five years was quite reasonable. In the market, Fortinet is rated quite well."
"The most valuable features of Fortinet FortiGate are the different types of profiling. It has been the most effective for me. The WAF and the antivirus profile are the most effective in network protection."
"The next-generation firewall is great."
"Secure, user-friendly, stable, and scalable network security solution. Installation is straightforward."
"The initial installation is very straightforward."
"Overall security features and performance routing is good."
"The IPS is good. It protect my network from attackers."
"It's a good solution for end-users. It's pretty easy to work with."
"It is effective. We have not had any problems."
"The initial setup was straightforward, therefore I wanted to continue using the product."
"Easy to deploy and easy to use."
"The ability to create a VPN allows me to monitor branch offices from a central location."
"The concurrent users are perfect for us."
"The most valuable features are the VPN and the capture photo."
"This solution has increased the level of security, given us more control, provided a deep insight into network traffic, and is a great VPN solution."
"It was easy to initially deploy it."
"The security of Fortinet FortiGate could improve."
"There are some cloud-based features that could be much more flexible than they currently are."
"A lack of integration between our data centers."
"The ease of use could be improved."
"In the balance between links feature normally you can just choose one option to balance. It would be better for the solution to have more than one option, preferably three."
"FortiOS is not simple."
"There are a lot of bugs I have found in the solution and it is difficult to upgrade. These areas need improvement."
"There aren't really any negative aspects to discuss."
"Could be simplified for new users."
"The user interface can be improved to make it easier to add more features. And pfSense could be better integrated with other solutions, like antivirus."
"The configuration of the solution is a bit difficult."
"pfSense has some limitations in detecting site sessions. We want to control internet usage based on sites and their content, and pfSense doesn't perform this function."
"There are some bias issues and some intrusions in our network that have to be addressed. So, we're thinking of changing this firewall to something like a professional hardware-enabled firewall."
"This solution is good for small businesses but it is not as stable as other competitors such as Fortinet."
"I would like to see pfSense integrate WireGuard. Currently, pfSense uses OpenVPN, and there's nothing wrong with it, but WireGuard is a lot leaner and meaner."
"Lacks instructional videos."
"There is room for improvement in the UI. They can improve it by making it so that everything is in one place, so we don't have to jump around to different pages."
Netgate pfSense is ranked 1st in Firewalls with 128 reviews while Smoothwall Firewall is ranked 34th in Firewalls with 1 review. Netgate pfSense is rated 8.6, while Smoothwall Firewall is rated 9.0. The top reviewer of Netgate pfSense writes "User-friendly, easy to manage the firewall, rule-wise and interface-wise". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Smoothwall Firewall writes "Offers good scalability and monitoring features ". Netgate pfSense is most compared with OPNsense, Sophos XG, KerioControl, Sophos UTM and Cisco Secure Firewall, whereas Smoothwall Firewall is most compared with OPNsense.
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