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SonicWall TZ

Score8.3 out of 10

69 Reviews and Ratings

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What is SonicWall TZ?

SonicWall TZ is an entry to mid-tier NGFW for small to mid-sized companies. It is a Unified Threat Management solution, with additional native decryption and deep-packet inspection capabilities.

Categories & Use Cases

Media

Screenshot of the SonicWall TZ 570 appliance
Screenshot of the SonicWall TZ 370W appliance

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Screenshot of the SonicWall TZ 570 appliance

Key Features

Learn about the best (and worst!) features SonicWall TZ has to offer, as determined by TrustRadius' reviewers.
Based on 69 ratings of SonicWall TZ's features
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Top Performing Features

  • Identification Technologies

    Policy-based visibility and control over applications, users and content

    Category average: 8.4

  • High Availability

    Built-in capacity to prevent exposure if primary firewall stops working

    Category average: 8.8

  • VPN

    VPN's implement encryption and anonymize IP addresses

    Category average: 8.9

Areas for Improvement

  • Reporting and Logging

    Custom and summary reports, and log files enabling analysis of security incidents, application usage and traffic patterns

    Category average: 7.7

  • Firewall Management Console

    Either command-line or web-based interface for centralized control and management

    Category average: 8.4

  • Active Directory and LDAP

    Integration with Active Directory and LDAP directories

    Category average: 8.5

Reviews

What users are saying about SonicWall TZ.
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Easy choice but not for beginners!

Incentivized
Verified User
Account Manager in Information Technology (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our company purchases and technically maintains it infrastructure and networks for small to midsize businesses and we occasionally using SonicWall TZ firewall appliances in upgrades and setups of network security for our clients. It provides firewall protection, antivirus, remote access SSL VPN, as well as branch office (site to site) VPN between multiple locations of our organization.

Pros

  • Firewall Functionality
  • Event Logs
  • Network Interface Management

Cons

  • VPN Software Client seems outdated
  • Firewall & NAT rules interface could be simplified
  • SSL VPN license model is too expensive for larger clients

Return on Investment

  • Over 99% uptime for our network
  • No network based threats in the past 5 years

Usability

Alternatives Considered

WatchGuard Network Security, UBIqube Solutions and Fortinet FortiGate

Other Software Used

Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Malwarebytes, N-able N-sight RMM, N-able N-central, Sentinel

SonicWall TZ.. Our Saving Grace

Incentivized
Simon Tregear
IT Support in Information Technology at Proper Cornish LTD (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have a pair of SonicWall TZ working in a HA configuration - these are running our production, telephony, guest and maintenance vlans. With full DPI, SSO and Capture ATP activate and fully integrated with our on prem AD. This allows full minitoring and scanning of all our traffic with minimal overheads being noticed

Pros

  • DPI Inspection
  • Capture ATP - Almost invisibly monitors files downloaded
  • New improved user interaface
  • Simple rule management

Cons

  • Some logs are hard to find and understand
  • VOIP setup can be difficult
  • SSO agents when they fail can be hard to troubleshoot

Return on Investment

  • Has reduced downtime for updates
  • Alterted us to several VPN attacks - over 50 since install allowing us to take relevant action
  • HA saved us over 7 days downtime when a power spike damaged the main unit

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall

Other Software Used

Bitdefender GravityZone, Bitdefender Managed Detection and Response (MDR), Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows

Wonderful and Powerful Firewall to Protect Company

Incentivized
Ashley Clagett
Director of IT in Information Technology at Harmony Senior Services (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

They provide the network firewall for our 50 locations across the East Coast. We are able to remotely able to manage them.

Pros

  • Remote Management
  • VPN to file servers
  • Protection from online threats

Cons

  • Some of the interfaces could be a little more user friendly

Return on Investment

  • Protected our business from all online threats
  • Allows for remote VPNs to help increase productivity if someone needs to work from home.

Usability

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365

Reliable Choice but Youll Need a Little Tech Help to Configure

Incentivized
Verified User
C-Level Executive in Professional Services (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are longtime SonicWall TZ customers and currently use a TZ270W to support our SMB - 15 user operation. Being a smaller organization we do no have on-site technical resources so a few of us step in to handle basic functions like applying firmware upgrades. In the past we have reached out to SonicWall TZ Support for configuration issues. Security is a complex topic and we feel we are protected with SonicWall TZ but could use more assistance to make sure our configuration utilizes the options that the SonicWall TZ presents.
In addition, we find that the wireless WIFI produces a generally weak signal unless you are in the same room as the TZ270W - we use an extender to pump up the signal into offices that are further away from the SonicWall TZ - this issue was less of a problem with our previous SonicWall TZ unit before we upgraded. Not interested in changing from SonicWall TZ - probably just have to become more proficient in managing the device.

Pros

  • Scanning inbound email and attachments
  • Blocking potentially malicious programs
  • Ability to manage access to websites (whitelist and blacklist)

Cons

  • There are Service Bundles in SonicWall TZ that are Unlicensed and do not know why they have not be Activated - would need help to further understand benefits
  • Do not know why Standard Support is Unlicensed
  • WiFi range of TZ270W is very limited - need to add Access Points or Extended to obtain adequate coverage

Return on Investment

  • We were subject to a Ransomware attack several years ago and the SonicWall TZ is part of our defense from such attacks
  • Cost effective from the perspective of cost for the TZ270W and the supporting license although pricing varies by source

Usability

Other Software Used

LastPass for Business, SlideModel, Snagit, Webroot Endpoint Protection, Google Meet, Brevo

SonicWall TZ Features are Worth It

Incentivized
Verified User
Manager in Information Technology (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use multiple SonicWall TZ devices across several of our locations to act as a firewall as well as enabling VPN connections back to the main office. Our business has also subscribed to the content filter and antivirus components. One of our SonicWall TZ devices also has wireless capability, which is very useful as that office location is a shared space.

Pros

  • VPN tunneling
  • Antivirus
  • Security
  • Content filtering

Cons

  • Some of the settings related to maintaining industry standards are hard to find.
  • It’s hard to remove unwanted access rules when they are linked to other things.
  • I would like to see more documentation on best practices.

Return on Investment

  • We have three SonicWall TZ devices and they are very helpful in a VPN set up.
  • The subscription costs for the different features has a great return on investment. It is very well worth the money.
  • The antivirus component has been very effective on the computers and servers the SonicWall TZ device protects.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Symantec Advanced Threat Protection

Other Software Used

ServiceNow IT Asset Management, Microsoft 365, Medisoft Clinical, Laserfiche, Microsoft Teams